Dixon Chibanda, is the founder of Friendship Bench. He is a leader in the global conversation to democratize mental health care, published researcher, and author of ‘The Friendship Bench: How Fourteen Grandmothers Inspired a Mental Health Revolution’. He is a medical doctor and professor of psychiatry & global mental health at the University of Zimbabwe and The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. He is the Director of the African Mental Health Initiative (AMARI) and a founding member of Coalition for Scaling Mental Health. Dixon started the Friendship Bench in Mbare, Zimbabwe, in 2006 and which has since scaled nationwide and has been replicated in over 10 countries. He has been for over a decade a key player in bringing the various stakeholders from health authorities, health professionals, international researchers, and donors together to form successful collaborations. In his role as PI, he has led the team through the rigorous exercise of randomized control trials (RCT), including a randomized controlled trial published in JAMA. In addition, over 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications of the program are accessible online. Dixon has explored the intersection of indigenous knowledge and western models of care to develop sustainable interventions in global health. His TED talk has been viewed over 3.2 million times, and the Friendship Bench project has been featured in major media like The PBS News Hour, CBS, New York Times, LA Times, BBC World Service, and more.
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