Ariana Alexander-Sefre

Ariana Alexander-Sefre is a social innovator, writer and systems thinker working at the intersection of music, mental health and cultural change. She is the founder of SPOKE, the multi-award-winning platform that brought clinically grounded mental health tools to young people through music, language and cultural relevance.

With over nine years of experience exploring mental health as a systemic global issue, Ariana is now focused on shaping the future of healing and leadership through storytelling, strategy, and cultural work that blends truth, hope and disruption. Her work recognises that our mental health is deeply tied to the climate crisis, the legacies of colonisation, and the need to dismantle extractive systems in favour of those that restore balance and dignity.

She is the creator of We The Sound, a newsletter exploring how music, creativity and community can build a more humane world, and Social Innovators For Justice, a global Cambridge alumni group of social innovators working on justice and anti-oppression projects. 

Ariana is a 2x founder and TEDx speaker, recognised with awards including the SXSW Innovation Award (2024), WISE100 Women in Social Enterprise, the East London Innovator Award, and NatWest’s Trailblazer Award, to name a few. She speaks regularly at global events, universities and institutions on cultural healing, systems change and the future of mental health.