THE REAL Story That Resonates.
Leaders are expected to talk about mental health—but most conversations stay surface-level.Audiences are burned out. Teams are disconnected. Leaders are asked to inspire resilience and humanity without the language or tools to do it authentically.What’s missing isn’t awareness. It’s honesty, courage, and lived experience.
Why Shawn?
Shawn Lesser doesn’t speak about mental health—he lived THE REAL story.
After years of silent struggle, Shawn experienced a complete breakdown, spending time in treatment and psych wards. That experience led him to ask: How can I use what I’ve learned to help others?
The answer became THE REAL Mental Health Foundation—and a mission to bring the same focus, capital, and innovation he once brought to finance into mental health.
Global Voice for Mental Health & Finance.
Today, Shawn speaks globally on adversity, reinvention, and vulnerability as a leadership strength. He has delivered keynotes at Davos, Deutsche Bank, TIGER 21, Nixon Peabody and The Carter Center blending lived experience with strategic insight—leaving audiences inspired and equipped to act.
In Their Words
“We’ve hosted hundreds of speakers. Shawn’s talk was one of the few that left the entire room both reflective and inspired. He’s not just talking about mental health—he’s changing lives.”
Ron Diamond,
Chair, TIGER 21
“Shawn’s story and authentic leadership strongly align with Foundation House’s mission to drive meaningful change in mental health and community wellbeing.”
Richard Zimmerman, Executive Director, Foundation House
His message belongs
in every workplace, from HR to leadership. Men especially need someone they can relate to, laugh with, and open up to. Shawn is that speaker."
Paul Cooney
Vice President
& Financial Advisor
“Three days after our son Jesse died by suicide, I heard Shawn speak. In my grief, his story brought comfort, clarity, and hope—and led me to join the mission for real change in mental health.”
Seilla Andreen
Founder & CEO,
Impactful Group Inc.
On Mental Health, Leadership, and Being Human
From impact investing pioneer to mental health advocate, Shawn Lesser is using community and conversation to drive global change.
At Davos 2026, Shawn Lesser—founder of The Real, a men’s mental health foundation—joins Worth chairman Jim McCann to discuss why mental health has become an urgent global issue for business, families, and society.
Rewriting the Narrative on Men’s Mental Health: A Conversation with Patrick Kennedy & Shawn Lesser
