DION RAS

Ordinary Member (Youth)

Dion Ras is an advocate for youth mental health from the Netherlands. He is passionate about youth-led and youth-appropriate mental health initiatives. @ease, a Dutch peer-support organization, is one such example—here, he co-founded @ease's national youth council, is involved in peer-support research, and offers mental health support to young people. As a consultant at the World Health Organization, he has co-created a strategy for youth participation and is part of an expert group helping to develop international quality standards for youth mental healthcare. Of particular importance to Dion, are (1) the integration of community mental healthcare methods into the wider mental healthcare system and (2) fostering meaningful and impactful youth participation in initiatives aimed at helping young people.