The Why Not I Story

Mental Health. Lived. Built. Delivered.

In elite sport, everybody is so focused on finding the world’s best fire fighters. Why Not I Wellbeing exists to prevent the fire so there’s nothing to fight.

Mental health in sport has too often been treated as reactive and fragmented — stepping in only once a crisis has already begun. We’ve built the first preventative mental health platform designed by elite athletes, for elite athletes.

At its core is the Why Not I Method — a framework built from lived elite athlete experience, psychology, and cutting-edge AI. The Method underpins every part of the platform:

  • For athletes: It powers a private, AI-driven space to manage and improve mental health. Through daily check-ins, journaling, and a personalised AI Athlete Self, players receive guidance shaped by the wisdom of world-class psychologists and elite performers. This isn’t just about tracking; it’s about actively building resilience, awareness, and emotional regulation in real time.

  • For organisations: The Why Not I Method translates individual data into bespoke, real-time insights. Staff gain visibility into readiness, mood, and culture, enabling them to protect players, reduce risk, and strengthen performance environments with precision.

Why Not I Wellbeing is a full-circle system built on the Why Not I Method — designed to strengthen athletes and the teams around them, safeguarding wellbeing, improving performance, and reshaping the culture of elite sport.

ABOUT WHY NOT I WELLBEING

Our mission is to transform how mental health is supported in elite sport.

We aim to:

  • Prevent, not just treat — shifting care from crisis response to everyday wellbeing management.

  • Empower athletes — giving them tools to understand and regulate their mindset, energy, and readiness.

  • Equip organisations — with bespoke, real-time data that informs decisions, protects players, and drives cultural change.

  • Bridge human expertise and technology — by embedding lived athlete experience, psychology, and AI into a trusted platform.

Ultimately, Why Not I exists to create healthier athletes, stronger teams, and more sustainable sporting environments.

Our Mission

Prevention First :
We believe the best support happens before crisis, not after.

Our values

Culture :
Performance thrives in environments where wellbeing is valued as highly as winning.

Athlete-Centred :
Every decision we make starts with the lived experience of athletes.

Trust :
Wellbeing data is sacred. We protect it with integrity, transparency, and respect.

MEET THE TEAM

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Young male athlete in a white England sports jacket being interviewed outdoors on a sports field, with other athletes and a basketball hoop in the background.

KOFI JOSEPHS - FOUNDER & CEO

Kofi Josephs is one of the UK’s most accomplished basketball players and a recognised pioneer in athlete wellbeing. A record-breaking scorer in the British Basketball League, he has represented Team England at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and the Great Britain Senior Men at EuroBasket 2017 in Istanbul, competing against the world’s best. His professional career has taken him across the globe — including Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Iceland, Australia, and the UK — after earning a collegiate scholarship in the United States.

Alongside his athletic career, Kofi is a psychology graduate and an influential mental health advocate. He has delivered talks, workshops, and culture programmes not only with professional clubs but also with national governing bodies, the NHS, Greater Manchester Police, universities, and corporate organisations. His impact has already reached hundreds of athletes and staff through the Why Not I Method — a framework blending lived experience, psychology, and preventative strategies to build resilience, awareness, and stronger team cultures.

Kofi has been recognised with the Benjamin Zephaniah Localism Award, invited to speak at the Houses of Parliament, and featured as a keynote and panelist at leading events such as the Wellbeing at Work Summit, the Manchester Tech Festival, and Brabners’ State of Play conference. Beyond Why Not I, he serves as an ambassador for ANDYSMANCLUB and Neurodiverse Sport, championing men’s mental health and neurodiversity inclusion across sport.

As Founder & CEO of Why Not I Wellbeing, Kofi brings together his lived elite sporting experience, academic grounding, and leadership as a mental health advocate to drive a new standard in athlete care: preventative, data-driven, and athlete-first.

Two basketball players, one in a white uniform and the other in a navy blue uniform, face off on the court during a game. The player in white is crouching over the ball, while the player in blue is defending closely.

advisory board

Our Advisory Board brings together leaders from sport, healthcare, law, and business.

They provide strategic guidance, governance expertise, and global perspective to ensure Why Not I Wellbeing sets the highest standard in athlete mental health.

Marie Burnham
Chair, South West Yorkshire NHS Foundation —

Healthcare & Safeguarding Leader

Health Systems & Governance Advisor

Arun Cowan
Founder & CEO, Empiriq Group —

Strategic Growth & Investment Advisor

David Andrew
Founder & Managing Partner, TIAKI —

Former Accenture, EY & IBM Executive

Strategic & Commercial Advisor

Michael Clohisy
Sports & Media Attorney —

Former Legal Counsel to the NBA & NFL

International Sports & Legal Advisor

Tegan Salter-George
Senior Software Engineer, JPMorgan Chase & Co. — Former Lead Engineer, Macquarie Group

Technical Advisor

Caragh McMurtry
Olympian & Team GB Rower —

Founder & CEO, Neurodiverse Sport

Neurodiversity & Inclusion Advisor

Lydia Edgar
Partner & Head of Sport, Brabners LLP —

Legal & Governance Expert

Legal & Sports Governance Advisor

Andy Etches
Co-Founder, Rezzil

Founder & Sports Tech Advisor

Ron Thompson
Former Chief Data Officer & Deputy Digital Transformation Officer, NASA

Chief Data Strategy Advisor