This powerful session explores how survivor-led advocacy can challenge dominant clinical paradigms in suicide prevention by prioritizing recovery values, social determinants of health (SDOH), and peer wisdom from members of culturally diverse communities. Drawing on lived experience, community organizing, and clinical suicide prevention and public health research, this session introduces a vision for suicide prevention rooted in lived expertise, structural accountability, equity, and care—not containment.

Participants will A) Understand the limitations of individual-level, risk-and-safety-centric suicide prevention frameworks; B) Identify how SDOH—such as housing, economic injustice, and systemic discrimination—shape both suicide risk and recovery; C) Explore how recovery-oriented, peer-led models offer viable, culturally affirming alternatives; and D) Gain strategies for advocating system change grounded in lived experience and survivor-centered values.

This session will feature panelists who share how they've used their lived experience as part of diverse communities to push for change, and invite the audience to participate in "lightning" shares about how they have used their lived experience as part of diverse and underrepresented communities as well. 

During the interactive phase of this session, small groups will work together to map local examples of structural drivers of suicide in their communities, such as housing costs, access to affordable, culturally inclusive mental health care, discrimination, and lack of culturally inclusive resources, outreach and messaging. Using a facilitated template, attendees will workshop a brief advocacy narrative (e.g., testimony, op-ed, social media post) that connects their lived experience with a policy or systems issue. Throughout the session, facilitators will invite verbal check-ins, reflections, and co-building of a shared language for justice-based suicide prevention.

Key take aways for this panel include: A) A customizable “Recovery Is Justice” Advocacy Toolkit, including messaging tips, op-ed templates, and organizing checklists; B) A one-page guide on integrating SDOH and peer values into suicide prevention program design; C) A peer-reviewed and gray literature resource list for survivor-advocates and policy change agents; and D) Concrete examples of peer-led models that have worked in systems resistant to change—plus ideas for how to build your own.

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS

Bre Banks-Angerer, PhD, MA, is a suicide prevention scientist, educator, and advocate with nearly twenty years of experience bridging lived experience, research, and practice. Rooted in her own lived experience of suicidality, Dr. Banks-Angerer has built a career committed to reshaping suicide prevention to center dignity, equity, and recovery.

She believes that research must serve communities, and that systems must be accountable to the people most affected.

She currently serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Social, Behavioral, and Population Sciences at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, where she teaches graduate and doctoral courses on program design, measurement and evaluation, social determinants of health, and partnership-based approaches. Her teaching and mentorship emphasize applied skills, critical reflection, and advocacy for equity in public health.

Dr. Banks-Angerer earned her PhD in Counselor Education with a cognate in Evaluation, Statistics, and Measurement from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, her MA in Mental Health Counseling from Argosy University, and her BA in Psychology and Political Science from the University of Tennessee at Martin.

She built her research career conducting applied research and evaluation on novel suicide interventions in community-based spaces, directing and evaluating SAMHSA-and foundation-funded projects at Centerstone Research Institute. There, she led the creation of the nation’s first community-based behavioral health simulation training center and oversaw multiple large-scale evaluations of crisis follow-up care and suicide -specific interventions. She has trained and supervised clinicians, peers, and community providers across the United States, integrating social determinants of health, peer leadership, and lived experience into suicide prevention systems.

She has also served as a Research Associate at the Education Development Center, advancing national projects for the Zero Suicide Institute and the Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, including development of the Zero Suicide Data Dashboard, care transitions best practice metrics, and workforce needs assessments. Her portfolio of work spans more than $40 million in federal and private funding and reflects a throughline of bringing research into real-world practice.

In addition to her academic and research leadership, Dr. Banks-Angerer is a board member with United Suicide Survivors International. Her scholarship includes peer-reviewed publications on recovery-oriented suicide interventions, dialectical behavior therapy, and suicide response preparedness in behavioral health providers. She is nationally recognized for her contributions to fidelity and competency evaluation, simulation-based training, and advancing lived experience leadership in research and practice. Above all, she is committed to living her motto, “Just not dead isn’t good enough,” ensuring that suicide prevention moves beyond risk management and toward creating spaces where people can build lives worth living on their own terms.

Julissa Soto – Suicide Prevention Commissioner for the State of Colorado | Global Health Equity Strategist | National Cultural Inclusion Authority - Julissa Soto is a nationally celebrated and globally respected voice in public health, cultural inclusion, and equity-driven systems transformation. Appointed as the Suicide Prevention Commissioner for the State of Colorado, she proudly holds the Attempt Survivor Seat, bringing both lived experience and policy expertise to one of the most critical public health crises of our time. Her work is not only personal—it’s revolutionary.

With over three decades of tireless advocacy, Julissa has emerged as one of the most influential Latina voices in health equity—impacting lives across Colorado, the United States, and the international stage. As the Founder and CEO of Julissa Soto Latino Health Equity Consulting, she partners with government agencies, health systems, and global institutions to dismantle structural barriers and advance culturally grounded health solutions.

Julissa has trained over 5,000 health professionals nationwide on the transformative framework she pioneered, The Power of Cultural Validation, equipping providers to serve communities with cultural humility, respect, and effectiveness. Her expertise is sought after by national task forces, international delegations, and high-level policy circles.

She is a TED Speaker, Vaccine Global Ambassador, LinkedIn Top Voice in Public Health, and a Public Radio Host—leveraging every platform available to elevate immigrant voices and disrupt systems of exclusion. Julissa has shared her work and insight in over 40 U.S. states and across Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America, including engagements in France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Turkey, and most recently, the United Arab Emirates, where she continues to build bridges between global public health leaders.

Julissa’s rare combination of grassroots credibility, policy acumen, and global perspective make her a trailblazer at the intersection of health equity and human dignity. Whether she is advising governors, mentoring future leaders, or sharing her story on a global stage, Julissa Soto remains anchored in her mission: To make equity visible, actionable, and transformative—especially for those who have been silenced, stigmatized, or forgotten.