So, as it turns out I’m a bit of a mental illness stigma eraser – or at least so sayeth the amazing folks at Didi Hirsch. I’m extremely proud, honoured and humbled to announce that Didi Hirsch will be honouring me at this year’s Erasing the Stigma Leadership Awards in Los Angeles.

What’s the Erasing the Stigma Leadership Award by Didi Hirsch?

The Erasing the Stigma Leadership Awards are held annually to honor advocates for mental health.

The 2014 Awards, #erasingthestigma celebrates the social media revolution, honoring those men and women who harness the power of social media to accelerate change and help erase the stigma of mental illness.

#erasingthestigma supports the work of Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services. Didi Hirsch has fought stigma and helped those struggling with mental illness and substance abuse for more than 70 years. Didi Hirsch serves more than 74,000 children, adults and families each year at 11 locations and more than 90 schools throughout Los Angeles County. Over 90% of those we serve live in poverty. The Didi Hirsch Suicide Prevention Center is one of the first and largest in the country. Its Crisis Line handles calls from all of Southern California.

Erasing the Stigma Leadership Awards and Natasha TracyBasically, the Didi Hirsch people are like angels for people with mental illness and I’m lucky to be mentioned in the same breath as them.

Previous honorees of the Erasing the Stigma Leadership Awards include First Ladies, actors, film producers, musicians and humanitarians including such amazing folks as Quincy Jones, Kay Redfild Jamison, Carrie Fisher and many others. Honestly, I’m astonished to be in such great company.

Join Me at the Erasing the Stigma Leadership Awards 2014

All this is to say, you can buy a ticket to the award ceremony and hear me speak, if you’re so inclined. (Check out last year’s event.) Now, these aren’t tickets that your average folks can afford as this is a fundraiser. But, if you want to make a worthy donation, I highly recommend the Didi Hirsch organization. No, not just because they’re honoring me, but because they do amazing work for people with mental illnesses who have no other avenues of help. I can’t imagine the number of lives that have been saved by their suicide hotline alone. The more I look into them, the more I like them.

The Erasing the Stigma Leadership Awards are on April 24th in Beverly Hills, California. I would love to say “hi” to you there.