Amit Thaker is a champion of mental health advocacy, focusing on increasing access to care and decreasing the stigma associated with mental health treatment. In 2017, while serving on the Sr. Leadership team of an acute care psychiatric hospital, he witnessed the immense issues with the way the system worked. He spent the next two years creating and launching ReferralGPS, a company laser focused on tackling the problem of connecting patients into treatment. Partnering with schools and other organizations, ReferralGPS has been able to move the needle and help thousands of individuals obtain appropriate care.

Prior to launching ReferralGPS, he led initiatives at area health systems including primary care mental health integration, community relations, psychiatric recruitment and strategic planning. Amit is personable and encouraging. He partners and collaborates with school social workers to help understand how to connect students with the services that they need outside of school. He has a personal connection to a system that he’s worked in and allowed his knowledge of the healthcare system to impact his growth. He has a special perspective on the importance of mental health because of his role inside of hospital administration and his partnering with schools across the state of Illinois.

Common Ground Education Podcast is happy to welcome Amit Thaker to the podcast to further our conversation about the importance of mental health. Amit is welcomed to the show to bring us closer as a network and offer school social workers knowledge outside our professional domain. Join us by listening this month to our special guest Amit Thaker as we honor the vital recognition of mental health awareness.