By Tammy Reese
Gerson, Set to Be Honored Next Month with the 2025 Grammy Salute to Industry Icons® Award, Joins Mental Health Tech Non-Profit’s Esteemed Collective including Carson Daly, Lisa Licht, Kalen Irsay Jackson, Paul Knopp and more
Project Healthy Minds, a Millennial/Gen Z-driven mental health tech non-profit, announced that Jody Gerson, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), a division of Universal Music Group, has been elected to the organization’s Board of Directors.
The first ever female chairman of a global music company, and the first woman to be named CEO of a major music publisher, Gerson has broken barriers and redefined leadership in the industry. Building on her long history of social activism at a time when a record-breaking number of artists are using their music to shine a light on mental health, Gerson will help accelerate Project Healthy Minds’ efforts to build deep partnerships across the music, entertainment, and media landscapes to scale the organization’s impact and mission to expand access to mental health services for all.
Gerson explains, “As a music executive, I’ve made it my life’s work to represent and protect artists and songwriters. Not only to help ensure that their creativity is respected and valued, but that their mental health and wellbeing are never overlooked on my watch. Anxiety and other mental health issues often walk hand-in-hand with artistry, and it’s my responsibility to let the creative people I work with know that they don’t have to deal with these issues on their own. In turn, artists can help to publicly dispel the notion that surviving in an often lonely and isolating world is just a matter of toughening up. Life is not easy, and seeking care for good mental health needs to be both destigmatized and encouraged. I’m honored to join the board of Project Healthy Minds and help fulfill Phil Schermer’s vision to bring the availability of mental health care to anyone who wants and needs it.”
“Jody Gerson’s career is best characterized by one word: trailblazer. She has an uncanny ability to see around corners and build great companies,” said Phillip Schermer, Founder and CEO of Project Healthy Minds. “One of the secrets to her success is her empathy for others — her ability to understand and advocate for artists. As we expand our partnerships with artists, songwriters, and creatives more broadly, I cannot imagine a better leader to join the Project Healthy Minds Board of Directors.”
Gerson joins existing board members Carson Daly (Host & Producer of NBC’s “The Voice” and Co-Host of NBC’s “TODAY Show”), Lisa Licht (Marketing Advisor), Kalen Jackson (Owner & Vice Chair, Indianapolis Colts), Michael E. Kassan (Chairman and CEO, 3C Ventures), Chris Zarou (Founder and CEO, Visionary Music Group), Jeff Yabuki (CEO, InvestCloud and Chairman, Motive Partners), Lisa S. Pritzker (Founder & Chair, LSP Family Foundation), Sally Yates (Partner, King & Spalding and Former Deputy Attorney General), Jacqui Canney (Chief People Officer, ServiceNow), Aaron Dworkin (Professor of Arts Leadership & Entrepreneurship, University of Michigan), Stan Galanski (President & CEO, G58 Capital), Paul Knopp (Chair and CEO, KPMG LLP), Bill Kolb (Chairman, McCann Worldgroup), Sukumar Nagendran, M.D. (President and Head of Research & Development, Taysha Gene Therapies, Inc.), Brian Offutt (President, VLS), and Andy C. Sekel, Ph.D. (Managing Partner, Marketplace Funds).
Project Healthy Minds Board Chair Lisa Licht added, “Jody is a powerhouse whose unparalleled ability to harness the power of music and culture to inspire change will be a tremendous asset to our mission. Her vision and commitment will help us reframe the dialogue about mental health and build a future that expands vital access to care for all.”
Gerson’s expansion of UMPG’s vast catalog of top global musicians led to the signings and extensions of songwriters, artists and catalogs including Bee Gees, Justin Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter, Coldplay, Bob Dylan, Billie Eilish, Elton John, Alicia Keys, Kendrick Lamar, Prince, Rosalia, Harry Styles, Taylor Swift, SZA, and many more. Next month, Gerson will receive the prestigious 2025 GRAMMY Salute To Industry Icons® honor at the 50th anniversary of the Pre-GRAMMY Gala.
Gerson also cofounded and serves on the Board of Directors for She Is The Music, a nonprofit championing equality and inclusion for women. She also serves on boards for the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) and The Archer School for Girls.
In January 2020, Gerson made history as the first woman and first music publishing executive to be named Billboard’s ‘Executive of the Year’ for the outlet’s most coveted Power 100 list, and annually ranks within that list’s Top Ten. She is the recipient of numerous other prestigious honors, including Billboard Power Players’ Choice Award; Variety’s Hitmakers Executive of the Year; Billboard’s 2015 Executive of the Year for their Women In Music issue; Rolling Stone’s ‘Future 25’; Variety’s Power of Women L.A.; The 2016 March of Dimes Inspiring Woman of the Year; and more.
On October 10, Project Healthy Minds held its third annual World Mental Health Day Festival and second annual World Mental Health Day Gala in New York City. The daytime festival featured mainstage panel conversations with award-winning musician, actor and advocate Demi Lovato, Founder and CEO of OBB Media, Michael D. Ratner, and TODAY co-anchor Carson Daly; New York Governor Kathy Hochul; comedian Gary Gulman; and entrepreneurs Andy Dunn, Founding CEO of Bonobos and Pie, and Julie Rice, Co-Founder of SoulCycle and Peoplehood. The evening gala, hosted by Daly with an intro from TODAY co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, featured a performance by three-time Grammy winner Chance the Rapper, who was presented with the inaugural Project Healthy Minds Trailblazer of the Year Award; Michael D. Ratner received the Storyteller of the Year Award for his pioneering documentaries with Demi Lovato, Justin Bieber, The Kid Laroi, and others widening the lens on mental health and contemporary culture. For full information on both events, including all festival activities and gala awards, visit projecthealthyminds.com/events.
To learn more about Project Healthy Minds, visit projecthealthyminds.com.
JODY GERSON BIO
Jody Gerson is Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group [UMPG] and a member of Universal Music Group’s [UMG’s] Executive Management Board. One of the industry’s most respected and accomplished executives, Gerson leads a global company with 48 offices in 40 countries and more than 850 employees. She made history as the first female chairman of a global music company and the first woman to be named CEO of a major music publisher.
Since joining UMPG in 2015, Gerson has transformed the company into a global powerhouse that owns and administers more than 5 million copyrights and is the industry’s best global home for songwriters.
A highly respected creative authority and thought leader in our culture, Gerson has signed and works with the world’s biggest superstars, including Adele, Bee Gees, Bad Bunny, Justin Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter, Lana Del Rey, Ariana Grande, Coldplay, Drake, Billie Eilish, H.E.R., Elton John, Alicia Keys, Steve Lacy, Kendrick Lamar, Post Malone, Maren Morris, the Prince estate, Rosalia, Harry Styles, Taylor Swift, SZA, The Weeknd, and more. She also led UMPG’s historic and highly competitive acquisitions of the iconic catalogs of Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Sting, and others.
As a champion for women in music and advocate for education, Gerson cofounded the global nonprofit She Is The Music. She also serves on Boards for the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the National Music Publishers Association, New Roads School, and Project Healthy Minds.
In January 2020, Gerson made history as the first woman and first music publishing executive to be named Billboard’s ‘Executive of the Year’ for that outlet’s most coveted Power 100 list, and annually ranks within that list’s Top Ten. She is the recipient of numerous other prestigious honors, including Billboard Power Players’ Choice Award; Variety’s Hitmakers Executive of the Year; Billboard’s 2015 Executive of the Year for their Women In Music issue; Rolling Stone’s ‘Future 25’; Variety’s Power of Women L.A.; The 2016 March of Dimes Inspiring Woman of the Year; and more.
Gerson jointly oversees Polygram Entertainment, a film and television development and production division of UMG which produces award-winning feature-length films and music-centric series. In 2024 alone, she served as Executive Producer on a broad array of projects, including Music Box: Yacht Rock: A DOCKumentary; The Beach Boys; STAX: Soulsville, U.S.A.; and Billy Preston: That’s The Way God Planned It. Other recent projects that Gerson Executive Produced include The Bee Gees: How to Mend a Broken Heart and HBO’s Music Box series. Among her and Polygram’s many projects in development are documentaries on Bernie Taupin and Prince.
ABOUT PROJECT HEALTHY MINDS:
Project Healthy Minds is a Millennial and Gen Z-driven mental health tech non-profit startup that is democratizing access to mental health services by building the world’s first digital mental health marketplace, destigmatizing mental health by partnering with culture-makers, and improving access and affordability by advocating for innovative workplace investments in employee mental health. The non-profit is focused on closing the treatment gap in America by attacking these primary barriers to care: stigma, discoverability, and affordability. Project Healthy Minds’ programmatic initiatives have served more than 400,000 Americans.
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TAMMY REESE
Tammy Reese began her career as a theater actress performing in 60 live stage shows a year with The Media Unit TV and Stage Production Company. She also directed the weekly live TV show Rough Times Live.
Eventually, she went to Empire State College to obtain her degree in media studies. After graduation, she did more theater and wrote and produced her own videos to spread awareness on social issues through the arts.
Tammy is an award-winning journalist and is best known for her legendary interviews with Angela Bassett, Sigourney Weaver, Jennifer Connelly, Laurence Fishburne, Phylicia Rashad, Ginuwine, Neyo, Sharon Stone, Jasmine Guy, Geena Davis, Billy Porter, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Steven Yeun, Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Lauren Cohan, Giancarlo Esposito, Donell Jones, Morris Chestnut, Vivica A. Fox, Omar Epps, Joseph Sikora, Ryan Coogler, Carmen Electra, Tom Arnold, Theo Rossi and many more.
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