About
We are here to shine light on adversity and nurture seeds of strength and hope.
We understand that mental wellness is a journey influenced by many factors. There is power in safe community, sharing our stories and trusting our subtle instincts.
Mind Ally is cultivating peer-support networks and building diverse and collaborative learning opportunities informed by research and guided by mental illness survivors.
Ray Folkins is the Founder & CEO of Mind Ally, a Canadian registered Charity since January 1, 2013, in support of those affected by mental health, addictions and suicide challenges.
Ray is a seasoned Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and Social Entrepreneur, on a journey since 1973 to serve those with entrepreneurial ambitions to create prosperity for themselves, their families and their communities. The common thread throughout his career is to help empower people to achieve personal success through self-employment and small business entrepreneurship aligned with personal mental well-being.
Throughout his career, Ray suffered periodically from depression finding it challenging to work for any organization that did not fully understand and support his ups and downs. In 1983, at the age of 35, Ray created his own small business entrepreneurship consulting firm while earning on a part-time basis, his Certified Management Consultant (CMC) designation in 1987 and his MBA in entrepreneurship and business leadership in 1988.
In 1996, Ray became a focused Social Entrepreneur by establishing the Atlantic Canada region of a national Charity supporting youth entrepreneurial business start-ups. During 1996-2001, his region accounted for 40% of all the Charity’s supported business startups across Canada. In 2002, Ray earned the McGill Master of Management (MM) for Voluntary Sector Leadership. In 2003, Ray relocated from Halifax to the Ottawa area to establish his own CPA firm to serve only the not-for-profit and charity sectors, selling his firm in 2017 to focus his full attention and energies on building Mind Ally as a national/global mental health Charity.
Ray designed Mind Ally as a Collaborative Partner Alliance building organization to align with individuals and organizations assisting people, their families and workplace environments to achieve mental wellness by providing support programs and resources to improve mental health across Canada and to share our “lived experiences” knowledge, expertise and collaborative network building approach on a global basis.