Marla-Joy
Founder

Many moons ago when I started OrangeMouth, our approach at the time was, ‘An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.’ There were other organisations addressing mental illness, so I wanted to focus on mental health and wellbeing; encouraging people to get healthy and stay (as) healthy (as possible).

Since then, much about the world and the way I view it has changed. Existing in society as a Black girl or woman brings a unique set of challenges that are only compounded by additional intersecting identities. Completing my postgraduate thesis on Black Maternal Mortality (introduction here) helped further confirm for me that our health – physical and mental – is in crisis and that something must be done.