Prince Harry speaking at The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health ahead of the Invictus Games 2017 in Toronto, Canada.
Prince Harry speaking at The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health ahead of the Invictus Games 2017 in Toronto, Canada.
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  • Prince Harry has a new role as Chief Impact Officer at BetterUp, the Wall Street Journal reports.
  • The Duke will join the San Franciso-based mental health and coaching startup.
  • "It's a meaningful and meaty role," BetterUp CEO Alexi Robichaux told the newspaper.
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Prince Harry is taking on a new executive role at BetterUp Inc., a Silicon Valley mental health and coaching startup.

In an exclusive report by the Wall Street Journal's Chip Cutter, the Duke of Sussex was announced as the firm's new Chief Impact Officer – a role that will focus on "product strategy decisions and charitable contributions, and advocate publicly on topics related to mental health."

"I intend to help create impact in people's lives," Harry told the publication. "Proactive coaching provides endless possibilities for personal development, increased awareness, and an all-round better life."

Since Harry and Meghan Markle announced that they would step back as senior royals in January 2020, they've secured a roster of lucrative gigs including content creation partnerships with Netflix and Spotify.

Harry was financially cut off from the royal family and living off an inheritance provided by his late mother Princess Diana, but by September, he and Markle independently had a collective net worth of $30 million.

While the San Franciso-based firm did not reveal Harry's compensation to the Wall Street Journal, CEO Alexi Robichaux, who met Harry through a mutual friend last fall, referred to the role as "meaningful and meaty."

In a blog post sent to Insider, Robichaux described Harry as "a true citizen of the world," and said that "he has dedicated his life's work to bringing attention to the diverse needs of people everywhere and advocating for mental health initiatives."

In the same post, Harry touched on his journey with mental health, writing: "Being attuned with your mind, and having a support structure around you, are critical to finding your own version of peak performance."

"What I've learned in my own life is the power of transforming pain into purpose," the post continues.

Harry has used his platform to discuss his personal mental health in the past. In a 2017 podcast interview with Telegraph columnist Bryony Gordon, he said "I just couldn't put my finger on it. I just didn't know what was wrong with me."

"I can safely say that losing my mum at the age of 12, and therefore shutting down all of my emotions for the last 20 years, has had a quite serious effect on not only my personal life but my work as well," he told the podcast host.

The BetterUp app, which Harry says he used for a few months before he took on the role, matches coaches with corporate clients, which reportedly include Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Google, and Airbnb.

Since launching in 2013, the firm says it's used coaching, AI technology, and behavioral science to help mentees become more effective businesses, organizations, and employees.

Read the original article on Insider