Shari McDaid joined the Mental Health Foundation in 2019 and leads policy and public affairs in Scotland and Northern Ireland as Head of Evidence & Impact. She was CEO of the national coalition on mental health in the Republic of Ireland, Mental Health Reform, for six years. She has worked in policy roles in the Republic of Ireland since 1998, including at Amnesty International Ireland, the National Disability Authority and Shine: Supporting people affected by mental ill health. Prior to this, she worked in homeless services in London. Dr. McDaid received her doctorate in 2008 from the Equality Studies Centre at UCD with a thesis entitled Power, Empowerment and User Involvement in the Public Mental Health Services in Ireland. She is co-editor with Prof. Agnes Higgins of the text Mental Health in Ireland: Policy, practice and law published in 2014 by Gill & MacMillan. Her TedTalk 'From Helper to Leader' describes the experience of being a CEO while living with a mental health condition. Dr. McDaid has sat on numerous ministerial-appointed advisory committees including the Disability Stakeholders Group, Youth Mental Health Taskforce and the Oversight Group for the review of the national mental health policy A Vision for Change.