Hopelab is excited to announce the growth of our investments team with the hiring of Nathaan Demers as Principal Investor. Nathaan is a psychologist with a variety of clinical and leadership experiences who has worked at the intersection of behavioral health, technology, and systems of care in nonprofit and start-up spaces. He joins us after seven years of developing clinical programs and strategic partnerships at Grit Digital Health and, most recently, VC-backed Mantra Health.
Erin Sietstra, Hopelab’s Head of Investments, sat down with Nathaan for this Q&A.
Erin: Can you share a bit about your career journey and what inspired you to make the switch from clinical psychology to social impact investing?
Nathaan: I started my career in the field of psychology leading backpacking trips at a therapeutic boarding school in Montana for students with severe anxiety, depression, substance use, and suicidality. It was incredibly rewarding work and also had a profound impact on my view of how principles of psychology can be utilized to support individuals’ mental health journies beyond the traditional confines of traditional one-on-one therapy. Given this experience, in addition to focusing my training on trauma, adolescents, and young adults during my doctoral studies, I adopted a focus area in administration. This led me to join a nonprofit after graduation which focused on bringing quality mental health services to rural and underserved areas in the Western 15 States and American Territories in the Pacific. This role further solidified my belief that therapy can come in many forms, as the reality is many frontier geographies within the U.S. lack adequate mental health providers (and while a challenge even in the present, it was even more so prior to the uptick of telehealth). With a solid clinical foundation and a systemic understanding of behavioral health systems, I was lucky enough to join an incredible start-up, Grit Digital Health, in 2016 where I proudly worked for just about seven years. Here, I developed a passion for digital solutions to promote mental wellness at scale, while also getting a glimpse of the impact investing world. I then joined a VC-backed company, Mantra Health, which confirmed my passion for the venture work; however, specifically from a social impact lens. As with many things, the timing was right and I am extremely proud and grateful to join the Hopelab Ventures team.
Erin: What is your vision for the future of mental health support and technology?
Nathaan: This is a tough one that clearly cannot be summarized in a few sentences, but I’ll do my best. As a clinician, I firmly believe that therapy is one of the most incredible, and in many cases essential, aspects of an individual’s mental health journey. And while I do believe that everyone/anyone can benefit from therapy, I do not believe that everyone needs therapy. At present, the data speaks for itself: there are much greater mental health needs than there are providers to address them. I believe that technology can play an instrumental role in expanding the capacity of our behavioral health workforce, to promote mental wellness, not only treat mental illness. Many digital tools are focusing on this more “upstream” oriented work that helps individuals build resilience, understand mental wellness in more meaningful ways, and connect individuals to care, some of which is indeed delivered through digital and/or telehealth modalities. With this, we are at a major inflection point in which it is essential that many of these innovations focus on utilizing best practices, rely on rigorous research protocols, and put in dedicated efforts to ensure these tools are inclusive. I’m really excited (and hopeful) to be able to shape these essential aspects to ensure these digital tools scale to reach those who need them most.
Erin: How do you take care of your mental health?
Nathaan: As a passionate outdoors enthusiast and soccer player nearly all my life, being active, getting outside, and spending time with friends and family is a must in my world. While it’s easy to let these things slip when life gets busy (i.e. work, life, kids), I’ve learned that in times of stress, that is the exact time to turn up the presence of self-care in one’s life, rather than turning it down. While I don’t always succeed, I’m known to sneak in bike rides after dark with a headlamp or take conference calls on an exercise bike. Self-care sometimes takes getting pretty creative.
Erin: On a lighter note, what would your superpower be and why?
Nathaan: I’m a connector, and if I could supercharge this ability, I would connect all the right people in the world with one another to exponentially amplify the work being done to support some of the world’s biggest issues (while also just connecting people to have flourishing friendships and have some fun!). While we live in a world of seemingly ultimate connection with the Internet and social media at our fingertips, all too often work is accidentally replicated, research findings aren’t used to create products, and world-changing collaborations are missed due to the many silos that exist within our ecosystems. So, maybe an odd answer, but I’d be The Ultimate Connector for Good (and yes, I have to work on that name).
Nathaan’s background provides a unique perspective for the Hopelab Ventures team, and we’re excited for him to join us. Learn more about Hopelab Ventures and our investment portfolio here.
