Peter Bolland is a professor of philosophy and humanities at Southwestern College near San Diego, California where he has taught world religions, world mythology, Asian philosophy, and ethics for thirty-four years. The author of The Seven Stone Path: An Everyday Journey to Wisdom, Bolland also speaks and leads workshops at spiritual centers and lifelong learning communities throughout the country. His popular YouTube channel, Substack newsletter, and guided meditations on the Insight Timer app help people all over the world deepen into the wisdom of their own lives.

Robert Bogue’s personal journey with suicide includes the death of his son, Alex. He co-develops solutions to reduce pain, suffering, and suicide while increasing happiness and joy. One of these developments, Suicide Myths (https://SuicideMyths.org), addresses the harmful myths that create guilt, shame, and self-blame. 

Anna Lieber, LCMHC, is a mental health therapist with over 25 years of experience in behavioral health. However, Anna has been living with expressions of suicidal experiences all of her life. She is a suicide loss survivor, a loved one to a person with persistent suicidal behaviors, and has her own lived experience with suicidal crises. Professionally, Anna is the current Clinical Director of Westminster University’s Master of Clinical Mental Health Counseling program and runs a free mental health clinic. Prior to starting at Westminster Anna was the Chief Clinical Officer of a 118-bed psychiatric hospital and oversaw all inpatient and outpatient clinical services. In that role Anna experienced both the benefits and harms of both voluntary and involuntary inpatient hospitalization and developed policy changes and best practices to improve patient care and decrease unnecessary inpatient admissions. Anna currently owns a small private practice and consulting agency and provides training on the treatment of suicidal behaviors to organizations and academic settings internationally.

Bruce Simpson has been a trial lawyer for 42 years with a practice focus on civil rights and land use law. He practiced with two of the largest firms in Kentucky for 20 years and now is a solo practitioner. Bruce has always maintained an active pro bone caseload involving some high-profile cases including one that was featured on the CBS national news program, “60 Minutes.” He has served as president of numerous nonprofit organizations including the Fayette County Bar Association. Bruce is a United States Army infantry veteran, having served 2 years active duty and 4 years reserve duty. He received his B.A. and MSW from the University of Kentucky, and his J.D. from the J. David Rosenberg College of Law. For the past 2 years, Bruce has openly discussed his lifelong battle with depression and suicide ideation, which culminated in his suicide attempt in 2023. He has often presented to veterans’ groups, mental health conferences and the Kentucky Bar Association. Bruce has written extensively about his mental health struggles in the Kentucky Bench and Bar and his was the cover story in the December 2023, edition of the American Bar Association Journal magazine. Bruce became a certified adult peer support specialist in 2025. He frequently discusses mental health and suicide prevention on the LinkedIn and Facebook social media platforms where he also provides his personal cell number (859) 229-3436 and email, [email protected] for those contemplating suicide. Bruce has spoken with people from all over the world. He does not charge for any of his mental health advocacy work.

Elizabeth Sarber is an interrupted and self-interrupted attempt survivor who lives with ongoing suicidal ideation. She believes in a compassionate, person-centered approach to healing and handling suicidal ideation and is enthusiastic about how that has been formed by her Christian faith. A board member of the Suicide Prevention Alliance, Elizabeth spoke at Capitol Day last October. She is active in PAUSE and Living Beyond Suicide and is a part-time teacher/teacher's aide at a local homeschooling support organization.

Nina J. Gutin, Ph.D., is a Clinical Psychologist in Pasadena, California. In addition to her private practice, she conducts trainings in Suicide Assessment, Intervention and Postvention, is on the Advisory Board and facilitates “Survivors After Suicide” groups for the Didi Hirsch Suicide Prevention Center and is a member of the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Network. She is on the Board of Directors at Austen Riggs Center, an open residential treatment facility in Stockbridge, MA. She is co-chair of the Coalition of Clinician-Survivors (which supports clinicians after personal and professional suicide losses) and has published several articles about Suicide Loss and Postvention. Since the loss of her brother to suicide in 1995, she has worked with a variety of organizations that aim to promote comprehensive responses to the needs for effective suicide reduction, intervention and postvention. She is also involved with several organizations which aim to challenge the ways in which suicidal experiences are conventionally understood and treated.

David A. Jobes, Ph.D., ABPP, is a Professor of Psychology, Director of the Suicide Prevention Laboratory, and Associate Director of Clinical Training at The Catholic University of America. He is the author of seven books and hundreds of articles and book chapters. Dr. Jobes is a past President of the American Association of Suicidology (AAS) and the recipient of various awards for his scientific work including the 1995 AAS “Shneidman Award”, the 2012 AAS “Dublin Award”, and the 2016 AAS “Linehan Award”. He is the recipient of the 2022 Alfred M. Wellner Award for Lifetime Achievement from the National Register of Health Service Psychologists. He has been a consultant to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Academy of Medicine, the National Institute of Mental Health, and others. Dr. Jobes is a Board Member of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and he is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and is board certified in clinical psychology. Dr. Jobes maintains a private clinical and consulting practice in Washington, D.C. and in Maryland.

Richard Ramsay is a Canadian emeritus professor of social work (2004), co-developer of ASIST (1983), co-organizer of interregional representatives from 12 nations to develop the UN Guidelines for national suicide prevention strategies (1996), past member of NSPL’s Standards and Practice Committee (2008-10) and member of Action Alliance’s National Suicide Prevention Strategy Revitalization Task Force (2011-12). Recent presentations include (W)holistic Suicide Prevention: Missing contexts in Method-driven Approaches to suicide prevention-suicide safer living (2020) and Understanding and Applying Principles of Social Tensegrity in Suicide and COVID safer-living (2022). He is a University of Calgary Peak Scholar (2020), recipient of AAS Chair’s Lifetime Excellence Award (2023), and is currently an active PAUSE planning group member.

J. Corey Feist, JD, MBA is a healthcare executive with over 20 years of experience. He is the CEO and Co-Founder of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation and Corey previously served as the CEO of the University of Virginia Physicians Group, the medical group practice of UVA Health composed of 1200+ physicians and advanced practice providers. Corey has authored numerous publications on the need to support the well-being of the healthcare workforce. He has served as an expert in multiple forums including as a keynote speaker, panelist, and moderator as well as provided formal testimony in the United States Congress. His advocacy efforts resulted in the first federal law focused on improving health worker well-being, Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act. In 2023, Corey and his wife, Jennifer, were both awarded the Surgeon General’s Medallion for Health, the highest honor the US Surgeon General can present to civilians, for their efforts at the Foundation.