Yashi Brown is an author, poet, spoken word artist and award winning mental health advocate. At nineteen she experienced severe depression that progressed into mania and psychosis where she was  eventually diagnosed with bipolar type I and schizoaffective. Today, Yashi is thriving in recovery and speaks out for mental health awareness, healing self imposed stigma and culture change. She participated in former President Obama’s groundbreaking National Dialogue on Mental Illness, which among other powerful advocates, featured her journey in recovery. In 2016 she received one of America’s highest mental health honors as recipient of a the 2016 SAMHSA Special Recognition Voice Award . Her spoken word, advocacy and poetry workshops have all been featured in leading media outlets nationwide.