Susie Reece has championed and led multiple county and state-level activism efforts revolving around suicide prevention, mental health, and systemic improvement efforts. She has been an active leader and strategist in the state of Arkansas for nearly 10 years.
Reece began her prevention career as a grassroots organizer of suicide prevention efforts and later became a substance use prevention specialist. In 2016, her community saw a 52% reduction of suicide. Reece’s substance use prevention role expanded to Reece becoming CHI St. Vincent’s first and only violence prevention specialist for the state of Arkansas.
In 2019, Reece left her role with CHI St. Vincent to begin an independent consulting firm, SFA (Speak Fearlessly Always) Consulting. Reece has developed and implemented both national and global (400 locations worldwide, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Australia, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, and Vietnam) level awareness initiatives through her consulting firm.
Reece’s lived experience background has recently garnered her inclusion in the first-ever Lived Experience Advisory Committee under the Suicide Prevention Resource Center’s recently formed group. At the national level, Reece is involved in the renewal of the National Best Practices Registry (formerly NREPP) and other such opportunities. Reece is a highly coveted public speaker, with her most requested content relating to suicide, mental health, trauma, wellbeing, and diversity. She has spoken, trained, and consulted on both the East and West coasts and in-between. Reece is considered a national expert in suicide prevention and is often called on to offer insight and direction for content related specifically to suicide.
Reece has developed trainings, educational programming, and strategic efforts both in the community and for organizations and agencies. Her varied involvement ranges from direct trainings of youth to active military personnel and first responder agencies. Her consulting efforts have resulted in millions of dollars of grants, donations, and awards being raised by the organizations she has contracted with, not to mention countless individual interventions and mental health support connections.
Reece is currently pursuing both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communication as an early entrant master’s student at the University of Arkansas. She has consistently received recognition as a Chancellor’s list student. Her expected graduation dates are spring of 2023 and fall of 2024, respectively. Reece has countless specialized certifications and has amassed over 160 hours of specialized instructor delivery hours from a variety of internationally recognized authorities. She has more than 500 hours of certification credentialing as well.
Reece serves as a member on several boards throughout the state of Arkansas and nationally. She is also the committee lead for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Corrections project, which falls under the AFSP Project 2025 strategy. Reece has received multiple recognitions and awards for her work. Learn more about her at susiereece.org/
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