Mentor Spotlight: Jodi Gray

We are excited to highlight long-time Health Mentor Jodi Gray, who recently published her powerful self-memoir Evolution of Jodi: The Truth I Carried. Her book—an honest, courageous reflection on identity, resilience, and healing—was the spark behind featuring her in this month’s Mentor Spotlight. Evolution of Jodi is available on Amazon or at local bookstores throughout Vancouver, and we encourage you to support a local shop when you can.

For Jodi Gray, storytelling isn’t just something she does—it’s part of how she reclaimed her voice. She discovered the power of sharing lived experience, which ultimately led her to the Interprofessional Health Mentor Program in 2018. Since then, she has mentored seven cohorts of health professional students, offering insight, honesty, and a perspective shaped by resilience.

Originally from the United States, Jodi immigrated to Canada in 1999 as an accountant and settled in Vancouver in 2014. Her mental health journey was long and often painful—she spent years being dismissed as a “difficult patient,” her identity as a trans woman wrongly pathologized as borderline personality disorder. Everything changed when one physician finally spoke to her with humanity and respect. In 2018, she received an accurate diagnosis of bipolar disorder, creating a turning point that allowed her to move forward with clarity and dignity.