Dec. 2 is a big day for Kenneth Cole and the social causes meaningful to the brand, as it rings in another Day of Purpose with the donation of kennethcole.com sales on this year’s Giving Tuesday, a Purposeful Voices campaign in partnership with the Broadway show “Liberation” and the third annual Wellbeing at Work event.
Third annual Wellbeing at Work Day.
The event hosted by Kenneth Cole and The Mental Health Coalition, which Cole founded, gathered more than 200 chief executive officers, corporate leaders, mental health experts, creators, advocates and the Mental Health Coalition’s 50-plus coalition partners. Hosted again by ABC correspondent Will Reeve, the initiative aims to create healthier, more productive workplaces nationwide. Below, FN rounds up key takeaways from the event, which took place on Tuesday morning at Kenneth Cole Gallery in New York City.
Redirecting Funds
Designer and social activist Kenneth Cole noted in his opening remarks that more Americans receive their health care via their workplace than anywhere else, significantly more than Medicare and Medicaid combined; he cited that businesses spent $1.3 trillion on health care in 2024. Cole explained that despite the money spent on health care, employees aren’t healthier and neither are business’ balance sheets. He noted that appealing to compassion in regards to the importance of mental health is rarely successful, but appealing to business needs is effective. Untreated mental health at work costs the global economy more than $1 trillion annually, he shared.
Cole said, “If companies would just redirect just two to 5 percent of their existing health care spend toward prevention, toward early intervention and mental well-being programs — you’ll hear about some of them here this morning — the returns would be immediate and dramatic.”
Cole continued, “This small shift could fund therapy access and navigation, resilience and prevention programs, manager training, culture building, crisis avoidance, infrastructure on site or virtual mental health support and would have return yields that would reflect 20 to 50 percent lower turnover, improve retention and engagement, fewer disability claims, reduce chronic medical spend, higher morale, creativity, collaboration, and five to 10 times return on investment.”
Will Reeve and Kenneth Cole attend the third annual Kenneth Cole x Mental Health Coalition: Wellbeing at Work Day.
Taking Time for Oneself and Communicating Needs
The first panel, “Building Better Workplaces,” featured insights from Debra O’Connell, president, ABC News Group and Disney Entertainment Networks, The Walt Disney Company; David Ko, CEO and board member, Calm, and Rawle Andrews Jr., Esq., executive director, American Psychiatric Association Foundation.
O’Connell emphasized the importance of reiterating to her employees that they should take the time to care for their well-being, referencing the concept that people have to hear a message seven times for it to register.
“I can’t say it enough, especially after we have really heartbreaking news that we’re covering, we make sure we do send notes out to our team members,” O’Connell said. “We remind them of the services we offer: our EAP plan, which is our Employee Assistance Plan, that people can engage in counseling and have opportunities to really think about how they can focus on their mental health. It makes everyone better in the long run. And to trust each other, which is a message that I try to send because someone has to cover for you when you’re taking that time, and that’s really important.”
Ko brought up how it’s likely more approachable than ever to discuss mental health, but it’s still difficult to broach in the workplace.
“Why is that when we go to work, people are expected to be a different person? This is not like the TV show ‘Severance,’ right, where all of a sudden we are separated from work and what’s at home. Your mental health will follow you. So for myself, it’s about making sure we have that balance. It’s about practicing what we preach. It’s about making sure that we give our employees the tools that are needed to have conversation, but also giving them the space.”
Ko shared that he respects employees’ personal time and stressed the importance of clearly communicating to employees what is expected of them, which can trickle down and help to establish the culture of the workplace.
On a similar note of respecting personal time, Andrews shared, “The one thing that we have said, it is still true today, nobody has ever asked to take a day off and hadn’t been allowed to do so.”
Teamwork and Community Support
Dr. Kensa Gunter, clinical and sport psychologist and director of Mind Health for the NBA and WNBA, spoke as part of the conversation Peak Performance in Sports and at Work.
Gunter spoke to the importance of community, saying, “Certainly with the team sports, the team element becomes more visible. If you think about an NBA game nobody wins the game alone. Somebody might hit the game winning shot, but there’s a lot of teamwork that went into getting to the position for that shot to even be taken. And so you have to think about, who are you around, who’s around you, who’s in your circle? Because we’re human, as this was said, we’re human beings, and we are meant to be in community with others. So I think it really is one of those essential elements.”
In conversation with O’Connell and Ko, Andrews discussed how training is key to wellness, and spoke of the American Psychiatric Association Foundation’s Notice. Talk. Act. Framework.
“It’s a medically vetted framework, but it is, how do we notice as non-clinicians signs and symptoms of distress in a teammate? But then, how do we become better active listeners so we can have a conversation, not indicting you, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ But ‘I’m concerned about what I see as atypical behavior from you, and help me with my concern in that situation.” And then act: What are the culturally appropriate — and I’m emphasizing culturally appropriate — tools, tips and resources to get a better outcome? Because truth be told, if you are a woman or a person of color and you’re thought to be less than coming in, it’s hard to be vulnerable if you didn’t think I was a full loaf to begin with.”
Rosie performs at the third annual Kenneth Cole x Mental Health Coalition: Wellbeing at Work Day.
The event also featured Kristin Sudeikis, founder and CEO, Forward Space; Jay Glazer, sports reporter, NFL Insider, co-founder of Merging Vets and Players Organization; Dr. Ashwin Vasan, senior fellow at Yale, senior advisor, Commonwealth Ventures, former New York City Health Commissioner and MHC board member; Jon Cohen, CEO of Talkspace; Dr. Dan Reidenberg, program director, Safe Online Standards (SOS); and Marc Brackett, Ph.D, founding director, Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. Additionally, singer-songwriter Rosie performed.
