Ben Thomas is not only a director but the founder and it’s his passion that help create the vision for The Yellow Umbrella Foundation.

His personal experience and journey as a parent to a young child and helping them to not only navigate the complexity of life and the ever-changing landscape of what family should look and feel like has provided him some unique and firsthand insight into the struggle most parents face day to day with their children.

At times, the lack of mental health support for young children and the availability of resources and accessible programs have left Ben struggling to understand, why, we as a community have so many mental health programs for adults and more over the last few years has seen much press coverage and initiatives for men’s mental health but very little coverage on children’s mental health issues. The question that Ben kept returning to was, why are we so heavily invested in the current generation’s mental health but not nearly as invested in the mental health outcomes for emerging generations. 

Ben’s decision to create The Yellow Umbrella Foundation will enable him to bring together like-minded individuals and professionals that can amplify the impact of his efforts, creating a network that fosters positive change in the community which is his long-term vision for creating a better future for children in Australia.

By focusing on mental health and therefore advocation for organisations that woefully underfunded in this space, he would be addressing a fundamental aspect of a child's well-being that can have lasting effects on their overall development and therefore be a force of change for the whole community.