Dr. Anitha Iyer is the Director of Behavioral Health Population Management at Mount Sinai Health Partners, and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. In her current role, she leads the strategy and implementation of programs that improve behavioral health access and integration across the health system where she aims to promote better and more equitable clinical outcomes for patients, streamline evaluation and treatment processes, and optimize provider performance. She is a recognized leader in the innovative delivery of crisis and behavioral health services. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the National Steering Committee for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and is an elected member of the Board for the Advancement for Psychology in the Public Interest (BAPPI) of the American Psychological Association.
Becky Stoll, LCSW – Co-chair of Committee, Centerstone, Senior Vice President, Crisis Services
Becky Stoll (she/her) is the Senior Vice President of Crisis Services at Centerstone, a nonprofit health system specializing in mental health and substance use disorder treatments. Stoll is responsible for leading both administrative and clinical operations for Centerstone’s multi-state footprint, including a crisis call center, a 988 crisis chat/text national backup center, mobile crisis response teams, and crisis stabilization units. Stoll has more than three decades of experience in crisis services, disaster mental health, and suicide prevention.
April Heinze, ENP – NENA: The 9-1-1 Association; VP, Chief of 9-1-1 Operations
April (she/her/hers) has spent her entire career in 9-1-1 focused on PSAP operations issues. She has a special knack for understanding 9-1-1 technology, operationalizing it to ensure it will work the way it is designed, and making it easily understandable for 9-1-1 Professionals. Before joining NENA, she worked for Eaton County Central Dispatch in Michigan, where she began her 24-year tenure as a Public Safety Telecommunicator and worked her way up to Director. In 2019, April joined the NENA team, focusing on industry and innovation awareness, operational standards development, event production, industry and media relations, and many other activities and projects. April’s role involves educating, advising, and advocating for 9-1-1 and PSAP operational issues on behalf of NENA with various industry associations and governmental organizations.
Organization Affiliation: Associate Director of Zero Suicide Institute at EDC
Organization Affiliation: CEO of NASMHPD
Organization Affiliation: Director of Regulatory Affairs, CTIA
Organization Affiliation: VA/VCL
Dwight Holton, J.D. – Lines for Life, Chief of Staff
Dwight Holton (he/him/his) is the CEO of Lines for Life, a leading suicide and substance abuse prevention non-profit in the Northwest. Lines for Life helps over 170,000 families a year with its crisis intervention and prevention services. Lines for Life also promotes healthy kids and communities through mental wellness promotion, advocacy, and public policy development.
Mr. Holton took the reins at Lines for Life after 15 years as a federal prosecutor, most recently as United States Attorney for Oregon. At Lines for Life, Mr. Holton has worked to carry Lines for Life programs and initiatives to diverse communities throughout Oregon including YouthLine satellites in Central Oregon, Warm Springs, and East Portland.
Mr. Holton serves on the boards of Salmon Safe and the Basic Rights Oregon PAC, the Oregon Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission, and supports his kids’ myriad sports teams. Since 2002, he has taught classes at Lewis and Clark Northwestern School of Law in Portland. Mr. Holton lives in Southeast Portland with his wife, Mary Ellen Glynn, and their children.
Jonathan Singer, PhD, LCSW – Loyola University Chicago, Professor
Jonathan B. Singer (he/him), Ph.D., LCSW is a Professor at Loyola University Chicago’s School of Social Work, Past President of the American Association of Suicidology, and coauthor of two editions of the best-selling text, Suicide in Schools: A Practitioner’s Guide to Multi-level Prevention, Assessment, Intervention, and Postvention. A well-regarded international speaker, Dr. Singer is the author of over 90 publications, and his research has been featured in national and international media outlets like NPR, BBC, Fox, Time Magazine, and The Guardian. His research collaborations have received private and public funding through the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the National Institute of Mental Health, and other organizations. Dr. Singer is the founder and host of the award-winning Social Work Podcast, the first podcast by and for social workers. In 2023, he was inducted as an NASW “Social Work Pioneer” for introducing podcasting to social work, and in 2024 he was inducted as a Fellow of the Society for Social Work and Research.
Karen Hearod, MSW ,LCSW – SAMHSA, Director/ Office of Tribal Affairs and Policy
CAPT Karen (Kari) Hearod is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and directs SAMHSA’s Office of Tribal Affairs and Policy (OTAP). Her office acts as SAMHSA’s primary point of contact for Tribal governments, Tribal organizations, federal departments and agencies, and other governments and organizations on behavioral health issues facing American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN).
Organization Affiliation: Deputy Director, Bureau of Crisis, Emergency, and Stabilization Initiatives at the New York State Office of Mental Health
Organization Affiliation: Illinois Department of Human Services/Division of Mental Health, Deputy Director of Policy, Planning and Innovation
Liz Clark, Ed.D. – Director of the Department of Defense Suicide Prevention Office
Dr. Liz Clark (she/her/hers), a member of the Senior Executive Service, serves as the Director of the Defense Suicide Prevention Office in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. In this position, she is responsible for policy, oversight, and advocacy of DoD suicide prevention programs, which include non-clinical suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention efforts including policy, program development and evaluation, data surveillance, research, and outreach and engagement in support of more than 2M Service members and over 2.5M military family members worldwide. Dr. Clark served as an Army Officer for over nine years in the Ordnance Corps and Adjutant General Corps. Dr. Clark holds a Doctorate in Education from Vanderbilt University in Leadership and Learning in Organizations, a Masters Degree from Georgetown University in Human Resources Management, and a Bachelors Degree from McDaniel College in Sociology.
Organization Affiliation: Founder of Floramind
Mahmoud Khedr (he/him) is an Egyptian-American Muslim & Founder of Flora, a leading globally-recognized youth mental health company building accessible solutions to empower every young person to flourish. Flora has impacted 50K+ young people through its programs and 15M+ through social media campaigns globally. He has traveled the world advising school districts, corporations, and governments on mental health.
Mahmoud has received fellowships and awards from the White House, Stanford, and Forbes for his advocacy for youth mental health. In 2023, he partnered with MTV to launch Hidden Healers, first-of-its-kind national campaign for culturally-grounded healing. This year, Mahmoud was selected to join the board of Mental Health America, the largest mental health org in the country, as the first young person on the board.
Michael H. Allen, M.D. -Medical Director at Rocky Mountain Crisis Partners, Professor of Psychiatry and Emergency at the University of Colorado School of Medicine
Dr. Allen (he/him/his) is a professor at the University of Colorado in Psychiatry and Emergency Medicine. He is past president of the Am Assoc for Emergency Psychiatry, chaired the Am Psychiatric Assoc Task Force on Psychiatric Emergency Services, and led the Expert Consensus Guideline for Behavioral Emergencies. He was a principal investigator for the Emerg Dept Safety Assessment and Follow-up Evaluation Study and helped develop Colorado’s Hospital Follow Up Program serving 75 hospitals from the state’s 988 call center at Rocky Mountain Crisis Partners while medical director there. He has served as a consultant to the USDOJ Civil Rights Division, SAMHSA, NIH, CMS, TJC, AFSP, and others.
Organization Affiliation: META
Quinita Garrett, LCPS – Baltimore Crisis Response, Inc. , Director of Call Center and System Coordination
Quinita Garrett (she/her/hers), Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC), is the Director of Call Center & System Coordination at Baltimore Crisis Response Inc., where she oversees Call Center, Mobile Crisis Services, and emergency services collaborations through 911 diversion. In this role, she ensures acceptable levels of quality and quantity in the delivery of services and works alongside multiple community organizations to collaborate and enhance client care.
She has over 15 years of experience in the behavioral field providing services to a diverse client population, including crisis management, trauma-based care, education, and suicide prevention and awareness in outpatient and residential treatment settings.
Rob Morrison, E.D. – Executive Director, National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD)
Robert (he/him) has served NASADAD in different roles for 24 years and currently serves as Executive Director. Robert began his career working for a U.S. Senator. He then worked for an Association management firm where he worked in government affairs with various health specialty organizations.
Organization Affiliation: Executive Director for Suicide Prevention Research Center (SPRC)
Victor Armstrong, MSW – American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Vice President for Health Equity and Engagement
Victor Armstrong (he/him/his) serves as Vice President for Health Equity and Engagement with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Victor also previously served as Chief Diversity Officer for RI International. Prior to his role with RI, Victor served as North Carolina DHH’s inaugural, Chief Health Equity Officer, with responsibility for leading the overarching strategy and operational goals to promote health equity, diversity, and inclusion across all the agency’s health and human services. Prior to the CHEO role, Victor served as Director of the NC Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, Substance Abuse Services with responsibility and oversight of the public community-based mental health, intellectual and other developmental disabilities, substance use, and traumatic brain injury system in North Carolina. Victor has over 30 years of experience in human services, primarily dedicated to building and strengthening community resources to serve individuals who have been historically marginalized. He is a nationally recognized speaker on issues regarding health equity and access to healthcare, particularly as it relates to individuals living with mental health challenges