Sensibill is excited to announce that this summer we’re hosting the inaugural Mind Over Grind 5K run to support the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

Moving beyond the grind

When you’re a small team trying to accomplish big things, it’s hard not to glorify the grind. We get it, we’re as guilty as anyone--even our daily quiet period is called #getshitdone time. It’s true, some of that hustle is inevitable and necessary to make a startup work, but what people talk about less often is the negative mental health effects of the startup grind. When industry success stories revolve around being rockstars that are crushing it 24/7, it can feel like there isn’t room for sincere conversations about the pressures of entrepreneurship and startup life.

Mental health affects everyone, but the research shows that entrepreneurs and founders are often harder hit than the general population. A 2015 study at the University of California found that 49% of founders reported having a mental health condition. Even among non-founders, the fast-paced and often emotional nature of startups puts everyone under added stress. Studies have shown that 58% of tech workers deal with imposter syndrome and 57% report feeling burnt out.

Praying at the altar of productivity-at-all-costs isn’t sustainable, and companies have a role to play in taking care of their employees and their community.

Why Mind Over Grind?

Since launching our corporate social responsibility program, #Responsibill, earlier this year, we’ve implemented a lot of internal initiatives, including a workplace wellness program and organizing volunteer days at CAMH. We knew that we wanted to have a bigger impact, though. We wanted to do something that would raise money, increase awareness, and bring together our peers in the tech community to have real conversations about mental health.

Mind Over Grind is a 5K run for Toronto startups and tech companies that will be held at Leslie Spit (Tommy Thompson Park) on August 11, 2019 We’ll be raising money for CAMH, and speaking up about the realities of mental health in the workplace.

This is your invitation to join the conversation.

Register to run here!

Sponsorship enquiries can be sent to emma@getsensibill.com.

Can’t make it but still want to help? Visit our CAMH donation page.

Sensibill media contact: kirsty@getsensibill.com

About CAMH

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada's largest mental health teaching hospital and one of the world's leading research centres in its field. With a dedicated staff of more than 3,000 physicians, clinicians, researchers, educators and support staff, CAMH offers outstanding clinical care to more than 34,000 patients each year. The organization conducts groundbreaking research, provides expert training to health care professionals and scientists, develops innovative health promotion and prevention strategies, and advocates on public policy issues at all levels of government.

Find out more at camh.ca

Thanks to our sponsors!