Recapping the 2026 SW/PA Coalition Summit: Leadership, Well-Being, and Workforce Resilience
On June 11, One Mind at Work’s Southwestern Pennsylvania Coalition brought together business leaders, HR professionals, healthcare experts, and community advocates in Pittsburgh for the 2nd Annual Mental Health at Work Regional Coalition Summit. Hosted by the Richard King Mellon Foundation, this year’s theme, “Leadership, Well-Being, and Workforce Resilience: Driving Regional Impact,” pushed the conversation past awareness and into action: what it actually takes to move workplace mental health from a compliance checkbox to a genuine driver of performance, talent, and culture.
A few highlights from what’s inside:
- Trust and transparency, not just benefits, are proving to be the real foundation of a healthy workplace culture
- Workplace mental health is shifting from a compliance checkbox to a genuine driver of performance, talent, and culture
- Leadership behavior is the biggest lever for culture change, and modeling openness at the top gives everyone else permission to follow
- Measurement builds accountability and momentum, with One Mind’s Mental Health at Work Index offering organizations across the region a way to assess their workforce mental health initiatives
- Real barriers were identified, like information gatekeeping and reaching those most resistant to change, along with practical, achievable steps organizations can take in the next 30 to 90 days to see progress
A Keynote Rooted in Strategic Foresight
Dr. Karen Hacker, MD, MPH, former Director of the CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, opened the day by framing mental health as a chronic condition inseparable from physical health, and leadership foresight as the skill that determines whether organizations manage a crisis or prevent one. Drawing on lessons from the pandemic and her own experience leading through downsizing, she left attendees with a challenge:
“There will always be downsizing. So the real question is, how do you do this in a strategic manner that helps preserve the mental health of your continuing workforce, and this next workforce, who, by the way, could become your workforce again?”
Turning Strategy Into Practice
A working session on building high-impact mental health programs paired One Mind at Work’s Mental Health at Work Index with real-world application. The Index benchmarking data revealed a clear gap: only 25% of organizations have a formal mental health strategy, yet those that do see 36% lower voluntary turnover. The Pittsburgh Penguins shared how they closed that gap themselves, moving from a pulse survey to a full Index baseline to measurable improvement in well-being. As Jessica Whalen of the Penguins put it:
“Mental health isn’t just a human resources topic or a ‘nice-to-have’—it’s a business imperative. The data shows a direct correlation between workforce mental health and organizational performance, including engagement, productivity, absenteeism, and the bottom line.”
Grounding the Work in Community
The day closed with a fireside chat connecting workplace strategy to the region’s broader mental health landscape, featuring voices from Awaken Pittsburgh and the PA Psychiatric Leadership Council. The conversation was a reminder that employees carry their communities with them into work, and that organizations have a role to play in the region’s collective well-being.
“In an era characterized by loneliness and disconnection, the power of people talking, listening and learning from each other about managing emotions in a group is a power we must not neglect.” —Dr. Ken Thompson
Naming the Barriers, Naming the Path Forward
Small-group discussions surfaced honest challenges facing the region, from information gatekeeping to the difficulty of reaching leaders and colleagues most resistant to change. Attendees left with concrete, achievable steps to take in the next 30 to 90 days, from completing the Mental Health at Work Index to bringing a formal proposal to leadership. As Dr. David Ballard of One Mind at Work reflected:
“Supporting workforce mental health isn’t just the right thing to do. It also has direct implications for performance, talent, culture, and community.”
Want the full picture, including session-by-session takeaways, the complete benchmarking data, and the region’s biggest barriers to culture change? Read the full Summit Summary Report.
What’s Next
As we build momentum across the SW/PA Coalition:
- Build leadership capability in workplace mental health: Coalition members receive exclusive access to One Mind at Work’s on-demand Masterclass series, equipping leaders with practical strategies to strengthen workplace culture, systems, and mental health initiatives.
- Shape the region’s workplace mental health benchmark: One Mind at Work is developing a Southwest Pennsylvania–specific Mental Health at Work Index benchmark to help organizations better understand and improve workforce mental health across the region. We encourage all Coalition members to complete the Mental Health at Work Index.
- Provide employees with trusted mental health resources: Coalition members can offer employees complimentary access to CredibleMind, a curated digital platform with thousands of expert-vetted mental health and well-being resources, tools, and personalized content.
Not yet an official Coalition member?
Membership in the SW/PA Coalition remains free for regional organizations, and we look forward to building on this momentum together!
We’d love your support in expanding our Coalition. If you know of an organization that might be interested in joining our work to strengthen workplace mental health across SWPA, please contact Kathy Risko, SW/PA Coalition Program Lead, at Kathy.Risko@onemind.org.