THE REAL Summit NYC Unites Investors to Advance $10B Mental Health Mission

The October Summit convened investors, family offices & leaders across healthcare, science and business to accelerate mental and brain health innovation by 2030

NEW YORK CITY, NY, UNITED STATES, October 27, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — THE REAL Summit NYC convened investors, family office representatives, banking executives, high-net-worth individuals and leaders across healthcare, science and business on October 22–23 to advance a shared mission: mobilizing $10 billion in new capital for mental and brain health innovation by 2030.
Hosted by THE REAL, the summit focused on connecting promising innovations with the capital, partnerships and leadership needed to accelerate the development and adoption of transformative mental and brain health solutions.

Featured speakers included Andrew Yang, former presidential candidate and CEO of Noble Mobile, who appeared Friday morning; Kevin Johnson, retired Starbucks president and CEO and Goldman Sachs board member, who appeared Thursday evening; Glen Coppersmith, Director of the Proactive Health Office at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Rachel Self, PhD, MS, Director of Patient Advocacy & Stakeholder Management at Otsuka Pharmaceutical Companies; and Dr. Benjamin Kelmendi, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor of Transcend Therapeutics and Co-Director of the Yale Program for Psychedelic Science.

Together, the speakers represented the range of expertise needed to advance mental and brain health innovation, spanning business leadership, public-sector research, patient advocacy, psychiatric science and emerging therapeutic approaches.

Coppersmith brings a public-sector innovation perspective through his work at ARPA-H, which supports ambitious approaches to health research. Self brings expertise in patient advocacy and stakeholder engagement, helping ensure patient needs and lived experiences inform conversations about mental health innovation and emerging treatments. Kelmendi contributes expertise in psychiatric research and psychedelic science, including the investigation of psychedelics’ effects on the brain and their potential therapeutic applications.

By bringing these perspectives together with investors and financial leaders, THE REAL Summit NYC aimed to strengthen connections between scientific discovery, patient needs and the capital required to advance promising solutions toward real-world impact.

“THE REAL exists to accelerate the future of mental health by mobilizing $10 billion in new capital into mental and brain health innovation by 2030,” said Heather Kelly, Executive Director of THE REAL. “Attending THE REAL Summit NYC is an opportunity to be part of that mission—to connect breakthrough innovation with the investment, partnerships and leadership needed to bring transformative solutions to life. Because changing the future of mental health requires more than ideas; it requires capital, commitment and action.”

Founded by Shawn Lesser, THE REAL brings together individuals committed to advancing mental health through connection, collaboration and collective action. The broader REAL movement has grown to more than 1,400 Ambassadors and Allies across more than 60 countries.

“The right person to join THE REAL is simple: somebody who wants to be part of something bigger than themselves,” said Shawn Lesser, Founder of THE REAL. “I’ve spent 30 years in finance, and I’ve never seen anything like this. More than 1,400 Ambassadors and Allies across more than 60 countries, and it runs on one thing: conversation. Men and women who were strangers are now showing up for each other every single day. Conversation creates change. I believe that with everything I have.”

While THE REAL movement also emphasizes human connection and peer support, the summit’s central investment objective is distinct: mobilizing $10 billion in new capital for mental and brain health innovation by 2030. The NYC gathering provided a forum for investors, innovators and industry leaders to explore opportunities for collaboration and help bring promising solutions to scale.

For more information, visit https://www.thereal.care/

About THE REAL
THE REAL is a global movement and community committed to advancing mental health through human connection, conversation and collective action. Through its network of Ambassadors and Allies, THE REAL fosters meaningful relationships and encourages individuals to show up for one another. THE REAL Summit advances the organization’s mission to mobilize $10 billion in new capital for mental and brain health innovation by 2030, connecting investors, industry leaders and innovators to help accelerate solutions with the potential to transform mental and brain health.

Maggie Rose Macar
zant, inc.
support@zant.app
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