The award was presented to Selena Gomez on October 6th, by the Stanford Healthcare Innovation Lab for her work in mental health advocacy during the first Mental Healthcare Innovations Summit. Hosted at Stanford, the summit was organized by the Stanford Healthcare Innovation Lab and the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.

 The award recognises Selena’s pioneering work in digital health. With Selena using her digital platform via the ‘The Rare Impact Fund’ and sharing her voice on mental health with millions of followers on her social media accounts. Through these platforms, she inspires and empowers millions of people to access better care, and to combat the stigma and shame around mental illness.

The trophy is based on the artist’s Aurea sculptures, which are currently exhibited at the Inner Temple in London and Lodz in Poland. The sculptures are part of the impact Art Movement, supported among others by PossibleX, Singularity University, Accenture and Natura. The sculptures are inspired by the Japanese art of Kintsugi – golden repair. Kintsugi art signifies the opportunity to heal, and the hope and the beauty that this creates.

Symbolically, the art demonstrates how our mental health can chip and crack like pottery. But this fragility isn’t physical, it is invisible, but the pain and scars are still as strong. That is why Kintsugi, the art of repairing broken pottery with gold, is a great metaphor for our mental well-being.

Kintsugi art is an impeccable example of the beauty of healing, be it physical or mental, and the strength that comes through experiencing this type of adversity.