Ruth C. White

Ruth C. White, PhD, MPH, MSW has been a professor for more than 20 years, teaching courses in social policy, community practice, research methods, data analysis, financial management and organizational leadership. She has taught several classes at the University of Toronto FIFSW, and leads a workshop in the Leading Change executive education program at the Rotman School of Management.

Dr. White began her teaching career at Seneca College one semester after graduating from McGill with her MSW in 1991. Her full time teaching roles have been at San Francisco State (ABD), Seattle University (tenured), and the University of Southern California in their industry-leading virtual program. At Seattle University she created a course in global development, developed innovative service-learning courses in social policy and community organization and development, led an interdisciplinary (with nursing) study-abroad course in Belize, and founded and led a community-based health program in Uganda. She has taught as an adjunct at Fordham University, Simmons, and UC-Berkeley. After USC, Dr. White spent 18 months as Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging at a San Francisco-based tech company, and then spent 2 years as Advisor in the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Office at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

Dr. White now runs her own Toronto-based private practice and mental health consultancy – a culmination of her social work practice with non-profits and government agencies in the UK, USA and Canada, and consulting with organizations around the globe. Inspired by her own journey of recovery and resilience with bipolar disorder, Dr. White is a mental health activist and advocate who helps organizations reduce stress, burnout and compassion fatigue, and create healthy high-performance teams and cultures.

Her groundbreaking research on the LGBTQ+ community in Jamaica led her to be an expert witness in more than a dozen deportation hearings in the USA, where she testified against deportation of LGBTQ+ Jamaicans based on this research. In this work she collaborated with Yale, NYU and Columbia Law Schools, law firms, and advocacy groups fighting for the rights of immigrants and LGBTQ+ people.

An in-demand speaker and workshop facilitator, Dr. White’s clients have included JPMorgan Chase, PwC, Indeed, Protiviti, Ontario Public Service, Aetna, Premera Blue Cross, Temerty School of Medicine, and the National Organization on Disability.

Her books include: ‘The Stress Management Workbook: De-stress in 10 minutes or less’  ‘Everyday Stress Relief: Essential techniques to boost resiliency and improve your health‘;  ‘Bipolar 101’; and, ‘Preventing Bipolar Relapse’.

Dr. White has written articles in the area of stress management for Harvard Business, Review, Fast Company, and Tracy Anderson Magazine. She has also written for Thrive Global, and authored several blogs including Provoking Policy, and the popular Culture-in-Mind blog on the Psychology Today platform. She currently authors the Be Well and Wander newsletter on Substack. Since 2020, Dr. White has appeared more than 30 times as a mental health contributor on KRON4 TV Bay Area. She has also been featured as a commentator on The Today Show, BBC World Service, CBS News LA, national radio shows, podcasts, and in popular media such as Marie Claire and Women’s Health.

Ruth’s community service includes being a board member for Pride at Work Canada and Lime Connect Canada, and she has previously served on several boards including the editorial board of the American Journal of Public Health, and the Medical Advisory Board for Movano Health, creator of the Evie ring – a smart ring for women’s health.

A global wanderer, she has added travel influencing and travel writing to her portfolio, publishing articles on Jamaica for Conde Nast Traveler UK & US editions, and Adventure.com. Ruth has earned PADI certifications in open water, Nitrox and open water, has kayaked white water on the Pacuare and White Nile, and has hiked to many peaks in the Pacific Northwest. Her favorite hiking partner is her adult daughter, Maya.

Contact: ruthcwhite@gmail.com

Web: https://wellmindplus.com  and https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruthcwhite/