Princess Diana ‘Went Where the Pain Was,’ Says The Diana Award CEO — and Now Her Sons Are Doing the Same (Exclusive)

Dr. Tessy Ojo tells PEOPLE that Prince William and Prince Harry “really changed the trajectory of how we talk about mental health in the U.K.”

During her life, Princess Diana “went where the pain was” — and her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, aren’t afraid to do the same.

That’s according to Dr. Tessy Ojo, who is CEO of The Diana Award — the only award bearing the late Princess of Wales’ name. Two years after her death following a car accident on Aug. 31, 1997, The Diana Award was formed in 1999, and it is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. It’s a cause that both William and Harry support.

“I think what you will see is the passion, the selflessness. In some senses, they say, ‘I’m not going to give up,’ ” Ojo tells PEOPLE at a Sept. 23 event for The Diana Award featuring her younger son, Harry, in New York City. She adds, “It’s so easy to pause, to stop and to say ‘This is too big. It’s too messy. I’m not going to get involved.’ And that’s the kind of thing we saw with Princess Diana. She went where the pain was. And usually where the pain is — it’s not always comfortable. It’s not easy. And that’s what you see. You see that same value, that principle of ‘We’re going to go where the pain is, however uncomfortable this is.’ ”

Related: Prince Harry Says the Younger Generation 'Give Me Hope' at Event Tied to Mom Princess Diana

Ojo points to William and Harry’s formation in 2016 of Heads Together as a moment that “really changed the trajectory of how we talk about mental health in the U.K.,” she says. (Kate Middleton also joined forces with the brothers to launch the campaign to end the stigma around mental health eight years ago.)

Ahead of Harry’s participation in a panel discussion today alongside Ojo and two recipients of The Diana Award, Chiara Riyanti Hutapea Zhang, 18, of Indonesia, and Christina Williams, 27, of Jamaica, “I think what we wanted him to bring was that same energy and really highlight why it’s important that we don’t sleepwalk into this crisis that we currently have, and that, actually, we’re going to shift the dial,” Ojo says of the conversation around mental health. “Young people and young voices had to be at the center of it. And I think the power of someone like him is how they can amplify the voices of young people, and that’s what we saw happen today.”

Williams, one of the award recipients, tells PEOPLE that “I think my impression of him was that here is someone who is in a high-level role, who really cares about young people — cares about our voices and our actions,” she says. “They say you never want to meet your heroes, but I met someone who I admire, and I am leaving the experience still maintaining that admiration, or even more admiration, to know that he really cares about the causes that he represents.”

Related: Prince Harry’s Heartfelt Tribute to Activists in N.Y.C.: ‘My Mom Would Be Incredibly Proud of You’

Of carrying the torch of Princess Diana’s work after her death, Williams says Harry is carrying it “bravely”: “I think his mother will be very proud, because her legacy is the support of young people,” Williams adds. “Her legacy is that young people can be the change that they want to see in the world. And through him carrying on the work and being such a vanguard or a protector of her legacy, he’s creating a new legacy of young people…Of young people who are able to change their world, their environment by using their voices.”

During the panel discussion, Harry, 40, told Zhang and Williams, “I applaud you for certainly, [at] your age, to be on this stage, to have the confidence that you do, and to be able to speak as clearly and as passionately as you do. And I know that my mom would be incredibly proud of you guys — not just you, but all of the award winners.”

The Diana Award was founded on Princess Diana’s belief that young people have the power to change the world, and the charity exists to empower young people to make positive change by unlocking potential, creating opportunities and inspiring action. On Sept. 23, The Diana Award launched an initiative called the “Decade of Youth Wellbeing,” that is a “bold, ambitious and collaborative plan to harness the power [of] young people, like Christina and Chiara, to lead positive change,” according to a release from The Diana Award.

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Of William and Harry, Ojo says of their involvement, “We are so honored, and what a privilege to have both her sons who support this work,” she tells PEOPLE. “And it is their mother’s legacy. They are both immensely committed to driving change. And we know it’s a privilege to have their support, and we will continue to work to make them proud and to keep their mother’s legacy alive.”

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