Case Study | Kate Spade New York x Prospira Global
How Prospira Global supported Kate Spade New York to mainstream mental health across its social impact and brand
Impact Summary
Since 2021, Kate Spade New York has partnered with Prospira Global to embed mental health as a core pillar of its brand and social impact work - evolving it from a philanthropic priority into an authentic, business-wide commitment.
Mental health is now fully embedded in Kate Spade New York’s social impact and brand strategy
Since 2012, Kate Spade New York has invested over $32 million for women and girls' mental health and empowerment and now aims toreach 250,000 women and girls globally with access to mental health resources by 2030.
Prospira Global’s landmark ‘Women’s Empowerment Through Mental Health’, commissioned by Kate Spade New York, research demonstrated how mental health is foundational to women’s empowerment and is influencing funders and organizations worldwide
The Annual Summit on Women’s Mental Health has become a global convening on mental health for the women’s empowerment community
Through clear guidelines and resource tools to develop appropriate language, internal teams are empowered and equipped to lead with purposes
CLIENT OVERVIEW
Kate Spade New York is a global fashion and lifestyle brand. Their social impact purpose journey has always been focused on women’s empowerment and mental health, beginning with the launch of On Purpose in Rwanda, supporting women artisans. In 2014, they became a social impact investor and client to an employee owned, BCorp certified manufacturing business, Abahizi Rwanda. It was through this close partnership that they saw first-hand the impact of integrating mental health into a more traditional economic empowerment intervention.
In June of 2018, the brand lost their Founder, Kate Brosnahan Spade, to death by suicide. Although she had left the company almost a decade earlier, this tragedy impacted their team and customers greatly. At the time, the Kate Spade New York Foundation donated $1 million to suicide prevention and began exploring how to integrate mental health more fully into its business operations and social impact work.
Today, this work continues through the Global Fund for Women’s Mental Health, a donor-advised fund powered and advised by Kate Spade New York at Panorama Global, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
THE NEED
Though mental health was an emerging philanthropic priority, it had yet to be mainstreamed across Kate Spade New York’s business. The company sought to:
● Develop a new, first of its kind, mental health strategy that aligned across teams and touchpoints
● Honor the brand’s legacy and purpose
● Respond to growing consumer interest in mental health
● Equip teams to speak about mental health with confidence and care
● Mitigate reputational risks and establish leadership in this space
Kate Spade New York engaged Prospira Global for its expertise in global mental health strategy, research, philanthropy, and brand integration.
WHAT PROSPIRA GLOBAL DID
Since 2021 the Prospira Global team has worked closely with the Kate Spade New York, and now the Global Fund for Women’s Mental Health, team as a long-term partner offering strategic advisory, research and implementation support.
1. Social Impact Strategy Development
2. Advisory & Support
3. Research
4. Mental Health Comms Due Diligence & Guidelines
5. Holistic Brand Strategy & Reporting Metrics
1. Social Impact Strategy Development
Our work with Kate Spade New York began by asking a foundational question: how could the brand uniquely contribute to the mental health space in a way that was authentic, credible, and aligned with its purpose and identity?
Together, we evaluated existing investments, partnerships, and positioning — identifying opportunities to elevate impact while supporting brand relevance and resonance. We then developed a global social impact strategy that placed mental health at the heart of women’s empowerment as the brand’s two core pillars and a new impactful approach to these two topics. This strategy was rooted in Kate Spade New York’s heritage of supporting women and girls but expanded its scope and structure to include long-term goals, clearer pathways to influence, and the internal systems needed to deliver on its promise.
2. Advisory and Support
We recommended and supported the formation of the Kate Spade Social Impact Council - a cross-functional group to champion mental health integration across the business. Prospira Global provided secretariat services, facilitating collaboration and alignment.
We also advised on philanthropy strategy and due diligence, identified new grantee partners, and facilitated new global partnerships. To further connect with the broader field, we provided a range of stakeholder introductions and partnered with the Kate Spade New York team to co-design and deliver the Annual Summit for Women’s Mental Health, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in its first years, a new global convening bringing together leaders across business, philanthropy and civil society.
Throughout, we facilitated key partner relationships and introductions - helping establish Kate Spade New York as a respected, collaborative voice in women’s mental health.
In 2024 we co-hosted a roundtable with Kate Spade New York, bringing together a range of corporate social impact leaders to encourage their support of the launch of the Global Fund for Women’s Mental Health.
3. Research
Recognizing a major gap in the field and to continue to inform this new strategy, we proposed undertaking new research to deeply understand the connection between women’s mental health and empowerment. Commissioned by Kate Spade New York and launched at Women Deliver 2023 in Rwanda, the Women and Girls: Empowerment Through Mental Health report positioned the brand as a thought leader and convenor in this emerging space. The signature ‘flower framework’ was developed as part of this research to explain this relationship and informs work on mental health and women’s empowerment worldwide.
Alongside this flagship publication, we also developed a structure for annual research and impact reporting, including stakeholder surveys that track global progress on this issue, identify gaps, and provide valuable data to shape evidence-based programming. Through this tracking over 50 organizations and funders to date worldwide have further integrated mental health into their women’s empowerment work.
Kate Spade New York Social Impact Council 2025
SOURCE: Tapestry, Inc.
4. Mental Health Communications Due Diligence and Guidelines
Evidence shows that public communications on mental health can shape stigma, influence help-seeking behaviors, and impact overall well-being outcomes. Similarly, negative impact can be created through unsafe communications. To ensure positive impact and reduce risks, Prospira Global initially provided sign-off and due diligence on all Kate Spade New York’s mental health-related content working closely with the social impact and brand teams.
Building on this foundation, we then developed brand-specific language and style guidelines to empower internal teams to communicate confidently and safely about mental health across campaigns, partnerships, and social channels. These guidelines help mitigate potential harm, support positive representation, and align with the brand’s joyful, empowering tone - backed by research into effective mental health communications.
5. Holistic Brand Strategy and Reporting Metrics
To sustain and scale the work, we advised on the development of metrics to track progress. This included advising on impact metrics, ensuring that the company could track and report progress internally and externally We advised on outcome frameworks, stakeholder narratives, and executive messaging that positioned mental health not as an add-on, but as a central component of how the brand defines success - for its business, its consumers, and the women and girls it serves.
IMPACT
Through this long-term partnership, Kate Spade New York has become a leading global voice on the intersection of mental health, gender equality and business through:
The development of a new social impact strategy, combining a new interest area (mental health) with an existing priority - women’s empowerment. Now, mental health is fully embedded in Kate Spade New York’s social impact and brand strategy.
Due diligence support for the global expansion of their philanthropic giving strategy: impacting over 250,000 women and girlsglobally to have access to mental health resources by 2030
A flagship global research report ‘Empowerment Through Mental Health’ and framework, together with annual industry and impact tracking; to date over 50 organizations and funders to date worldwide have further integrated mental health into their women’s empowerment work
The Annual Summit on Women’s Mental Health has become a global convening for the gender empowerment community on integrating mental health
Internal teams are aligned, empowered and equipped to lead with purpose, guided by custom best practice mental health language and guidelines
Consumers associating Kate Spade New York with genuine advocacy and care, strengthening brand heat and engagement
Key Services Delivered
● Mental health strategy development
● Advisory Council design and Secretariat facilitation support
● Global philanthropy portfolio design and impact due diligence
● Global research
● Brand integration and communications guidance
● Multi-stakeholder convenings and summit attendee and program delivery support
● Long-term implementation and advisory partnership
At Prospira Global we have the vision to mainstream mental health in the next generation of global financing through philanthropy and investment. Our mission is to design and deliver effective mental health solutions guided by intelligence, lived experience, and data. If you are interested in learning more about our work and how we could support you with similar support, please contact us directly at info@prospira.global.