Come to our weekly start-up and professional development speaker series!

In her role as associate vice chancellor for UCI Wellness, Health & Counseling Services, Dr. Marcelle Hayashida oversees Campus Recreation, the Office of Campus Social Work, CARE, Child Care Services, the Counseling Center, the Disability Services Center, the Student Health Center, and the Center for Student Wellness & Health Promotion. She supports the health of the campus as the point-person and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs’ representative on student wellness issues, and works to contribute constructive advocacy around issues that affect the mental and physical health and wellbeing of the campus community. She also chairs the Consultation Team, which is the campus’ threat assessment team.

As MHA’s Chief Program Officer and Vice President of Research and Innovation, Theresa works to improve access to mental health care through data and digital-based innovations. Her areas of special interest include prevention, early intervention, education, and building a full recovery-oriented mental health system of care. Theresa manages MHA’s programs including MHA Screening, The State of Mental Health in America, and Workplace Wellness. She oversees MHA’s research which explores the integration of peers into research, the use of technology to support people in the earliest stages of recovery, and how large scale data provides insight into gaps in supports systems across the country. 

Josh Gold has 30 years of aikido experience and is one of the most visible leaders in the global Aikido community, which now spans 140 countries. Josh is Executive Editor of Aikido Journal, the world’s leading Aikido media publication and digital community and is Executive Director of Ikazuchi Dojo. In 2019, Josh founded Budo Accelerator with a goal of using Aikido for social good. Budo Accelerator is a growing educational nonprofit that empowers low-opportunity youth to become the leaders of tomorrow. Its programs for high-school and first-generation college students build resilience, leadership capacity, and a powerful network of peers and mentors.

Ektha Aggarwal is the Chief Clinical Officer of OOTify and the founder of Shakti Therapy & Healing Services. She is a licensed Clinical Social Worker driving the clinical architecture and transforming health services with psychedelic-assisted therapy. Ektha is a leader in the mental health space who is dedicated to co-creating the next generation of healing systems.

Meeshu Agnihotri is a graduate researcher earning her Ph.D. in Informatics at the University of California, Irvine. Currently, she is designing mobile health technologies to support people with physical, emotional, social, and other aspects of their holistic well-being. She graduated from Georgia Tech’s MSHCI program with an interest in understanding user needs and building technologies to support them. She was also a UX/ Product Designer for consultancies and startups in Chicago, Atlanta, and Bangalore, India. Outside of work, she volunteers for community and career-focused non-profits such as Women Making News.

Ravi Sharma built a venture capital studio for active investment of personal and syndicated capital in underrepresented founders of tech-enabled businesses via iBOS Ventures. Supported industries include, but are not limited to: fintech, digital health, B2B, and web3 (crypto). He incubated and founded OOTify because he believes it will have an outsized impact on society as a proof-of-care, mental health web3 platform.