She Left Wall Street To Advocate For Mental Health Benefits In The Workplace

Dilan Gomih works with companies like Google and Pinterest to create benefits employees really want

In today’s workplace, more than 90% of American workers say they value employer-sponsored mental health benefits, yet less than one-third actually use them.

Dilan Gomih is on a mission to change that. “Corporations are spending so much money on mental wellness,” she says. “But it’s a bad investment if they’re just spending money on lip service.”

Gomih, the founder of Dilagence, a consultancy that works with organizations and their employees to boost performance by bridging that gap, believes that when employees are offered the right benefits, and they are easy to use, utilization increases. And so does productivity.

From Wall Street to Wellness

Gomih’s career trajectory is far from typical. The daughter of Nigerian immigrants, Gomih earned her undergraduate degree at Yale before embarking on a high-powered career on Wall Street. While working at Bank of America, she began teaching spin classes at Flywheel and her passion for health and fitness quickly grew.

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“I could have just followed the traditional path,” says Gomih, “but I realized I had this passion for health and fitness, and I had a vision for what my career could be.” That realization pushed her to leave the corporate world and pursue graduate studies at Harvard Business School, where she served as Chief Wellness Officer for the Student Association.

“I knew that whatever my career path post-business school would be, it would have to combine health and fitness in a way that would help people be more impactful in their lives.”

The Link Between Movement and Mental Wellness

Gomih’s background in finance gave her an insider’s perspective on the demands of corporate life and the toll it can take on mental well-being.

“The mind and the body are not separate,” Gomih explains. “They reinforce each other. When they work in concert, it’s not only good for your well-being but it’s also good for your work.”

This understanding informs her work at Dilagence, where she helps organizations curate the wellness benefits their teams actually want; it also teaches employees how to harness the power of mindfulness and movement to improve their mental well-being and productivity.

Her work with organizations like Google, Thrive Market, Pinterest, Harvard Business School and Dartmouth College has shown that even small changes can have a significant impact. “Movement is linked to lowering stress, reducing anxiety, and improving overall mental health,” she says. “These are all factors that contribute to better job performance.”

Making Wellness Programs Work: For Organizations and Employees

Gomih realized early on that the key to bridging the gap between simply offering mental wellness programs and employees using them lies in simplifying how those benefits can be used.

“If you take the mental energy out of figuring out how and when to use the benefits, then employee utilization goes up.”

Gomih recommends that organizations stop focusing on the “what” and instead focus on the “how.” “It’s great if a company offers a free meditation app or fitness class discounts,” she says, “but if employees don’t know how to fit those activities into their workday, they’re not going to use them.”

Dilagence takes a unique approach by helping organizations understand the daily stressors their employees face. Gomih designs wellness programs that integrate mental health benefits into the flow of the workday, rather than asking employees to step outside of their work routines to take advantage of them.

Her strategies are rooted in practicality. “I make it make sense,” Gomih says. “I teach employees how to use the benefits their organization already provides in a way that enhances their performance. And I help organizations design programs that their employees will actually use.”

Practical Strategies for Mental Wellness and Productivity in the Workplace

Gomih customizes strategies for her clients, but some examples include:

1. Reclaiming lost lessons of childhood: In a recently published paper for Harvard, Gomih encourages workers to embrace lost lessons from childhood to become better leaders. Active movement, like school recess, enables the brain to reset and function more efficiently. Unstructured, device-free time, like outdoor play, leads to creativity. And fearlessness, like a child who doesn’t overthink decisions, leads to innovation.
2. Transforming Everyday Tasks into Opportunities for Movement: Stop focusing on hitting a specific step count, and instead work movement seamlessly into your workday. “What if, rather than having a meeting in your office, you invite your colleague to take a walk outdoors away from the stress of the office,” Gomih suggests. “Not only are you moving, but you’re also building human connections, which are critical for team dynamics.”
3. Starting Your Day with Intention: Gomih advises her clients to begin their day with mindfulness, not by checking emails or scrolling through social media. “Spend the first one or two minutes of your day setting an intention,” she says. “That way, when you do pick up your phone, anything that comes at you has to fit into your framework for the day.”

Dilan Gomih’s mission is clear: to make wellness programs more accessible and desirable for employees, and ultimately, to help organizations see a return on their mental wellness dollars. Her efforts are making work environments healthier and more productive.