Mpowering Minds 2026 – Women’s Mental Health Summit: Championing a New Era of Well-Being

The MpoweringMinds – Women’s Mental Health Summit 2026 marks a pivotal moment in the mental health landscape. Building on previous editions that focused on mental health broadly and youth well-being, the 2026 summit places women’s mental health at the center of global and community-level conversations.

This summit aims to catalyze meaningful action, dismantle long-held stigma, and mobilize a coalition of policymakers, clinicians, advocates, and lived-experience voices to prioritize mental well-being for women across ages, socioeconomic contexts, and identities.

Why Women? Why Now?

Women face unique mental health challenges shaped by biological, psychological, social, and cultural forces. From higher rates of anxiety and depression to the emotional demands of caregiving, workplace pressures, reproductive health transitions, and systemic gender bias, women’s emotional wellbeing is not only a personal issue, but also an economic and social imperative.

• Women are nearly twice as likely as men to experience anxiety and depression
• 1 in 5 mothers encounter perinatal mental health disorders
• 39% of maternal deaths are linked to suicide
• Post-pandemic burnout among working women has doubled

These figures highlight the urgent need for awareness, early detection, supportive policies, and community empowerment. The 2026, Women' s Mental Health Summit is designed to meet this moment and spotlight the voices, strategies, and innovations necessary to ensure that women’s mental health is seen, heard, and supported across families, workplaces, and society at large.

Mpower and the MpoweringMinds Summit

Mpower is an initiative by the Aditya Birla Education Trust (ABET) dedicated to transforming mental health outcomes across India. Its work spans movement building, clinical care, outreach, education, and 1-on-1 support, creating a holistic ecosystem for mental wellness. Over the years, Mpower has pioneered campaigns, direct care programs, academic partnerships, and large-scale awareness movements — reaching millions across multiple cities.

The MpoweringMinds Summit serves as the flagship annual gathering, bringing together:

• Thought leaders
• Global experts
• Policy advocates
• Clinicians
• Community champions
• Individuals with lived experience

The goal? To forge shared understanding, spark dialogue, and chart actionable pathways that can transform how we approach mental health and well-being. While the 2025 edition focused on youth mental health, the 2026 Summit theme is women’s mental health — a deliberate choice reflecting shifting societal priorities and the need for targeted, gender-sensitive solutions.

Three Pillars of the Summit: Acceptance, Action, Advocacy

1. Acceptance

This pillar works to normalize women’s mental health as an integral part of everyday life by addressing stigma, cultural narratives, and public perceptions.

2. Action

Awareness without tangible change is not enough. Action focuses on practical, scalable interventions — from training healthcare providers to detect depression in maternity settings, to equipping caregivers with supportive tools, to strengthening local mental health infrastructure.

3. Advocacy

For long-term, sustainable change, advocacy must transform systems. This pillar pushes for gender-sensitive data collection, mental health screenings in public health protocols, and the inclusion of emotional literacy in curricula. Through advocacy, the summit seeks tangible policy shifts that benefit women across life stages.

Summit Agenda & Program Highlights

The 2026 Women’s Mental Health Summit offers a comprehensive agenda - blending research insights, lived experience narratives, expert panels, and interactive discussions. Highlights include:

Welcome & Opening Session

The summit opens with a Welcome Address and Inauguration, setting the tone for the day’s conversations, introducing key themes, and framing the urgent need to reimagine women’s mental health support.

Keynote: Lived Experiences & Intergenerational Trauma

An early keynote explores how intergenerational trauma — emotional patterns passed across families — influences women’s psychological well-being. This session looks at the science behind trauma, its behavioral markers, and therapeutic frameworks that can help break generational cycles.

Panel Discussion: Young Women in Focus

Young women today face a slew of pressures — academic expectations, body image stressors, cultural stigma, and mental load. This panel investigates how these forces intersect with mental health, shedding light on experiences of anxiety, depression, self-harm risks, and resilience building.

Lived Experience Spotlight

This session invites voices from the LGBTQ+ community to share personal journeys — underlining the diversity of experiences with mental health, the realities of stigma, and the power of resilience.

Motherhood & Prenatal Health

Mental health during pregnancy and postpartum phases is often underrecognized. This track explores emotional health across conception, childbirth, hormonal transitions, and the realities of maternal expectations.

Attachment & Emotional Development

Exploring how early relationships shape emotional regulation, this session bridges psychology and lived experience, offering insights into attachment theory and lifelong well-being.

Menopause and Emotional Well-Being

A focused discussion on menopause looks at how hormonal, societal, and psychological changes affect emotional health - advocating for better awareness, clinical support, and community understanding.

Panel: Women Leaders & the Mental Load

Women in leadership often juggle professional ambition, family roles, and societal expectations. This discussion unpacks the 'unseen load' - the cognitive and emotional effort that frequently goes unrecognized — and offers organisational strategies for resilience and work-life balance.

Global Voices in Women’s Mental Health

Understanding that challenges transcend borders, this session gathers global perspectives - examining diverse cultural contexts, best practices, and international collaborations aimed at uplifting women’s mental health worldwide.

Fireside Chat with Mrs. Neerja Birla

A central part of the summit, this intimate discussion features Mrs. Neerja Birla - Founder & Chairperson of MpoweringMinds and Aditya Birla Education Trust —- speaking on building inclusive mental health systems, community engagement, and her vision for gender-responsive care.

Program Launch & Closing Sessions

The event concludes with a program launch and reflections on actionable commitments, inviting participants to carry the summit learnings into their professional and personal communities.

Distinguished Speakers & Changemakers

The summit brings together an inspiring roster of thought leaders, clinicians, advocates, and lived-experience champions. While the summit page lists many key contributors, here are some spotlighted voices (based on prior editions and evolving summit themes):

• Clinicians & Specialists – Experts in trauma, attachment, reproductive emotional health, and therapeutic practice.
• Advocates & Activists – Voices from gender rights, inclusion movements, and diverse community backgrounds.
• Lived Experience Speakers – Individuals sharing personal narratives that illuminate resilience and recovery.

These speakers reflect a shared commitment to destigmatizing mental health, centering women’s lived realities, and generating scalable solutions for care and support.

What Participants Can Expect

Whether you are a mental health professional, policymaker, caregiver, educator, student, or someone interested in emotional well-being, the summit offers:

• Research-backed insights
• Personal narratives
• Clinical tools & models
• Policy frameworks
• Community strategies
• Networking opportunities

The summit encourages attendees to leave not only better informed but ealso quipped with actionable approaches they can implement in their workplaces, families, and communities.

Why This Summit Matters

Women’s mental health has historically received limited public attention, despite its profound impact on families, workplaces, and societies. By centering women in mental health conversations, the summit addresses:

• Healthcare disparities
• Socioeconomic vulnerabilities
• Intersectional stressors
• Caregiver roles
• Reproductive transitions
• Workplace pressure

The 2026 summit serves as a unifying platform — bringing evidence, empathy, and empowerment together. It reframes mental health from a topic of private struggle to one of collective responsibility and shared care.

Looking Forward: The Legacy of MpoweringMinds

MpoweringMinds has evolved from a summit series to a movement — influencing policy, catalyzing community networks, and shaping how mental health is understood across generations. The 2026 Women’s Mental Health Summit deepens this legacy by placing an intentional spotlight on women’s lived experiences, resilience, and systemic gaps in care. As communities and institutions embrace the summit insights, their ripple effects are poised to influence:

• Public health frameworks
• Educational curricula
• Workplace wellness programs
• Community support models
• Advocacy coalitions

In doing so, the summit continues to chart a future where mental well-being is a priority for all — especially women who have long navigated complex emotional terrains with courage and grace.

Conclusion

The MpoweringMinds – Women’s Mental Health Summit 2026 is more than an event - it is a call to action. Through compelling conversations, expert insights, and lived experiences, it pushes society to rethink how we support women’s mental health. By fostering acceptance, driving action, and advocating for equitable systems, the summit aims to leave a lasting impact that resonates far beyond its program timeline.