Elle King Performs during 30th One Mind Music Festival for Brain Health at Staglin Family Vineyard, Napa Valley

When it comes to mental health awareness and research, one Napa Valley family has taken their personal experience and turned it into a powerful catalyst for change. Shari and Garen Staglin, driven by their son Brandon’s schizophrenia diagnosis and recovery journey, not only founded One Mind – a non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating brain research – but also established the successful One Mind Music Festival for Brain Health.

With more than 400 guests, this year’s annual event held September 7th at Staglin Family Vineyard raised a record-breaking $3.56 million and featured Governor Gavin Newsom, Congressman Mike Thompson, American singer Elle King, the Science & Innovation Symposium, and the Annual Rising Star Awards.

Now in its 30th year, One Mind Music Festival for Brain Health has become a platform to raise awareness and funds for global mental health initiatives while showcasing top talent in music, neuropsychiatry, food, and wine. We interview Brandon Staglin to explore the origins of this incredible event and how it continues to inspire a better understanding and support for those living with mental illness.

Share the origin of the Music Festival for Brain Health.

Brandon Staglin: Co-Founder, Chief Advocacy and Engagement Officer, and Music Festival Chair at One Mind: My family founded One Mind 30 years ago, inspired by our shared experience with my schizophrenia diagnosis and recovery. Even though severe mental illness was (and still is) very stigmatized, we had met other families going through similar struggles, and we understood that research and innovation for better treatments would be essential to enable recovery for millions around the world.

My parents, Shari and Garen, knew the orchestral conductor Richard Williams, Chef Charlie Trotter and many vintners, and had the idea to host a festival combining science, music, delectable cuisine, and the finest wines from the Napa Valley and beyond to benefit this cause. Thus came the first One Mind Music Festival for Brain Health, and with it, the beginning of this organization.

Highlights from this year’s One Mind Music Festival wine reception. Video by Jennifer Boden, Best Wineries Founder.

In the 30 years since, One Mind has grown into a trusted nationwide organization on the forefront of mental health science and innovation whose initiatives have touched over 30 million lives. The One Mind Music Festival remains our main annual fundraising event and celebration of life that is the highlight of many people’s years.

Tell us about the highlights of this year’s Science & Innovation Symposium.

Brandon Staglin: This year’s symposium’s theme, People at the Heart of Mental Health Discovery and Innovation, reflected how much we and our collaborators care about the needs of people with lived experience of mental illness, and shaped the program.

The program included an electrifying keynote discussion with Dr. Susan Monarez, Deputy Director of the innovative, multi-billion dollar Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), inspiring talks by our three 2024 One Mind Rising Star Awardees and three of our 2024 One Mind Accelerator entrepreneurs, and a special talk about how our One Mind at Work program embraces “People and Science” to foster mental health through workplaces around the world.

The audience loved how every talk was surprisingly personal and engaging. Two of the most buzzworthy moments included a talk by One Mind Rising Star Dr. Ishmail Abdus-Saboor about his research toward someday developing a medical cream that could stimulate the brain’s touch circuits to heal anxiety and related mental illness.

One Mind Accelerator entrepreneur Sonia Garcia gave another inspiring talk about how her startup aims to provide communities with the kind of personalized, high-touch care she wishes her brother could have received in the US in the depths of his mental illness episodes.

What follows the symposium?

Brandon Staglin: First it’s about education then it’s all about entertainment. The symposium spotlights the impact our patrons fuel through their generosity, and provides learning, hope and inspiration to set the stage for the celebration ahead: Wine reception, concert and VIP dinner later in the evening.

From the mouthwatering hors d’oeuvres provided by San Francisco’s EPIC Steak and Waterbar restaurants for the Wine Tasting Reception to two-time James Beard Award-winner Chef Paul Bartolotta’s exquisite four-course dinner, the culinary experience was outstanding. Two standout dishes for me were Chef Josh Su’s juicy mini lamb burger sliders at the reception and Chef Bartolotta’s ricotta-filled agnolotti pasta at dinner.  

Do you believe singer and musician Elle King speaks to the mission of One Mind Music Festival?

Brandon Staglin: Elle King is an extraordinary artist who has overcome a challenging life history to grow  as a powerhouse entertainer and mental health advocate. As one of today’s rising star artists, her presence and performance underscored perfectly our focus on the future as we celebrated our 30th anniversary.

Would you like to share your mental health journey?

Brandon Staglin: I developed schizophrenia while a college freshman. After a stressful academic year which included a romantic relationship that ended harshly, followed by a failed search for my first summer job, I experienced growing existential anxiety as I questioned my self-worth. One night in the summer of 1990 as I tried to fall asleep, I experienced my first psychotic episode. I believed I had lost the right half of my identity. After three desperate days of wandering the community trying to regain my lost sense of self, a friend helped me check into a psychiatric hospital.

What do you wish more people knew about mental health?

Brandon Staglin: People who experience severe mental illness can learn patience, compassion, and resilience while overcoming their adversity. As we recover, we can bring tremendous strengths to our relationships, our communities, and to workforces. I believe people with lived experience (PWLE) of these conditions should have supported opportunities to lead within companies and institutions throughout our society. When this dream becomes a reality, imagine how much more empathic and inclusive our society can become.

Are we making strides in awareness? You mentioned feeling marginalized in the early days of your diagnosis. Is that still true today?

Brandon Staglin: I no longer feel personally marginalized. Thanks to the supports I have been blessed with and my own drive and curiosity, I have recovered to a life and career filled with goodwill, purpose and meaning.

However, despite improvements in our society’s acceptance of people with mental health challenges, some of which One Mind generated, a recent nationwide survey found schizophrenia is actually more stigmatized than ten years before. If we can provide more opportunities for PWLE to integrate throughout our communities and workforces, this can change.

What are 5 One Mind achievements or successes you’d like people to know about?

Brandon Staglin: First: Lives Influenced: Collectively, One Mind’s programs have touched almost 30 million lives since launch.

Second: One Mind at Work: 8 million people are employed at One Mind at Work member companies, benefiting from their employers’ intentional mental health practices.

Third: Rising Star Awards: Accelerated the careers of 48 young scientist leaders.

Fourth: One Mind Accelerator: Benefitted over 860,000 lives over two years through vital support for 21 of the most innovative mental health startups.

Fifth: Media Reach: Reached 20 million viewers through One Mind Media’s influential productions.