David O’Brien
Director of Infant, Child and Youth Mental Health, Yorktown Family Services
2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
David O’Brien is the Director of Mental Health at Yorktown Family Services. He has spent over 25 years working in the field of mental health within various settings, including hospitals, shelters, and residential treatment centres. David has held different frontline and managerial positions along with co-developing several system access networks and services for people seeking mental and social health supports, including; What’s up walk-in, Canada’s first 6-day-a-week mental health walk-in clinic, HIPS (Human, Trafficking Prevention Strategy), youth wellness hubs, and recently Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) a program that uses an interdisciplinary behavioral health approach to redirect people away from hate groups and acts of terrorism. David is also a media resource for some of Canada’s major media networks, including CBC, CTV, Global News, amongst others.
At the Summit
The inaugural Eradicate Hate Summit was a truly impressive gathering of leaders dedicated to finding lasting and effective solutions to violent extremism. I was particularly moved by the prominence given to survivors and family members of victims of hate and violence throughout the event. Their stories and those of so many others must be at the center of what we do and why we do it.
