Sherry Rais

Sherry Rais is an entrepreneur and public health innovator focused on reducing human suffering. Before entering the healthcare sector, Rais consulted for more than 10 years with the United Nations and World Bank, implementing cash transfer programs at the national level in over 35 countries. Through this global work, Rais identified the strong connection between poverty and mental health, recognizing that poverty could not be fully addressed without considering mental health, even when accounting for access to basic healthcare, education, and infrastructure. This insight led her to shift her focus to mental health innovation.

Rais is the CEO and co-founder of Enthea, a licensed third-party administrator of health insurance benefits that provides access to psychedelic-assisted psychotherapies, beginning with ketamine therapy. Established as a public benefit corporation, Enthea is dedicated to expanding access to innovative mental health benefits and removing health equity barriers that prevent individuals from receiving effective mental healthcare services. The company operates as a benefit plan administrator, working with self-insured employers to offer insurance coverage for psychedelic therapy and access to a network of providers. By integrating Enthea with existing healthcare plans, employers can add therapies such as ketamine therapy for as little as $35 per employee per year.

Enthea's pilot program with Dr. Bronner's, the first employer to offer ketamine-assisted therapy as a workplace benefit, produced significant results. Data showed reductions in symptoms among participants: employees with PTSD experienced an 86 percent decrease in symptoms, those with depression saw a 67 percent reduction, and those with anxiety had a 65 percent improvement. These outcomes were achieved within a maximum of six ketamine sessions and monitored over 12 months. Three months after treatment, 80 percent of patients were no longer on antidepressants. Enthea has also expanded to offer psilocybin-assisted therapy as a workplace benefit in Oregon and Colorado, the two states where it is legal.

Rais's journey to founding Enthea was influenced by both intellectual curiosity and personal experience. After a decade of international work, she encountered personal challenges that led her to explore the psychedelic field from an academic perspective. She began advising and consulting for the California Institute of Integral Studies, helping the institution secure a grant that expanded its training capacity for psychedelic-assisted therapy from about 75 therapists per year to over 400. Rais also served as executive director of the Boston Psychedelic Research Group, a community of more than 1,600 members dedicated to advancing psychedelic research.

Rais holds a master's degree in public policy and management from the London School of Economics and a bachelor's degree in psychology and international development from McGill University. She also completed the Certificate in Psychedelic Therapies and Research from the California Institute of Integral Studies. Rais has been recognized as one of the 12 up-and-coming leaders in healthcare by Managed Healthcare Executive and is a frequent speaker on the future of mental healthcare, including appearances at the Behavioral Health Tech Conference and on various podcasts and media platforms. Her vision is to make psychedelic-assisted therapy as routine and accessible as dental or vision coverage, with Enthea providing coverage to millions of people across the United States.