Morgan Manzer — Lived Experience, Leadership, and Showing Up Authentically

Keep Talking with The Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia

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Wednesday, 18 March 2026 - 30 minutes

In this episode of Keep Talking, host Sam Madore sits down with Morgan Manzer, a lawyer with Nova Scotia Legal Aid and Chair of the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia’s Board of Trustees, for an honest and insightful conversation about lived experience, advocacy, and leadership.Morgan shares how both his personal experience with mental health and his professional work in child protection law have shaped his commitment to supporting others. He speaks to the real impact of community-based programs, the barriers many people face in accessing care, and what it means to see that impact firsthand through the clients he works with every day.Together, they explore the courage it takes to share your story, the importance of showing up authentically — especially in professional spaces — and how lived experience can become a source of empathy, connection, and strength. Morgan also reflects on the small but meaningful ways we can care for our own mental wellness in the midst of busy, demanding lives.We also continue the conversation with the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia’s President and CEO, Starr Cunningham, reflecting on how leadership and lived experience can help shape more compassionate, accessible systems of care.Keep Talking is a podcast from the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia, featuring honest conversations around mental health, lived experience, and hope.Content note: This episode includes discussion of suicide. Listener discretion is advised.New episodes of Keep Talking are available on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.This episode was recorded and edited by Tiny Rhino Studios and produced by Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia.Music: “I Must Believe” by T. Thomason⸻Support & ResourcesThis episode may include discussion of mental health or suicide. If this brings up difficult feelings, help is available.​Canada Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call or text 988 (24/7)​Mental Health Mobile Crisis Team (NS): 1-888-429-8167​Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868 or text 686868If you’re in immediate danger, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.⸻About Keep TalkingKeep Talking is a podcast by the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia, which funds community-based mental health and addictions programs across the province. The Foundation does not provide direct services.Learn more or support our work: mentalhealthns.ca⸻About Morgan ManzerMorgan Manzer (he/him) is a Staff Lawyer for Nova Scotia Legal Aid (NSLA) practicing child protection and family law. Morgan is presently finishing his Masters of Laws in Dispute Resolution with a focus on culture, equity, and power at Osgoode Hall Law School.At the Nova Scotia Barrister's Society Morgan has served as a Council member since 2021 and also serves on the Racial Equity and Fitness to Practices committees. For the first half of 2020, Morgan was seconded to the Society’s Equity and Access Office to advise on equity and access issues affecting the legal profession.Over the past several years, Morgan has also been a practice manager for the bar admission program (PREP). Within Nova Scotia Legal Aid Morgan is an active member of their equity and racial diversity Committee. In early 2021 Morgan concluded four and a half years as Chair of Halifax Pride’s board of directors. He also presently serves as Vice-Chair of the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia, and as a member of Global News’s DEI Advisory Committee.In 2019, he was presented the Zöe Odei Young Lawyers Award from the Canadian Bar Association (CBA), Nova Scotia Branch, for his work within the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and he is a recent recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee Medal for his volunteerism in the areas of mental health and equity.

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