Please contact Event Coordinator for Registration details as the deadline date is passed
LASPN 16th Annual Suicide Prevention Summit: The Strength We Share: Power in Community
Day 2: LASPN 16th Annual Suicide Prevention Summit
The Strength We Share: Power in Community
Date & Time
09/18/2026 08:00 AM - 04:00 PM
In-Person
Deadline Date
9/18/2026 or when capacity is reachedORGANIZER
Ana Verdin-Hernandezavhernandez@dmh.lacounty.gov
For additional information regarding the LA Suicide Prevention Network Summit contact:
Prevention Services Division/Family & Community Partners/Partners in Suicide Prevention
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
KEYNOTE SPEAKER INFORMATION
Description
The LASPN will be hosting the 16th Annual Suicide Prevention Summit. The LASPN Summit brings together the brightest minds in suicide prevention, to present talks that foster hope, demonstrate the pathways of hope, support, and connection, and continue to demonstrate understanding the role we all play in suicide prevention.
Daily Agenda
18 September
Friday
Registration
- 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Location: Quad-side entrance in front of the stairs to the Sexson Auditorium
Description: Check-in/sign-in
Creative Wellbeing WellNest
- 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Location: PCC Sexson Auditorium Room: c253
Description: Center for Empowerment of Families
Welcome & Opening Remarks
- 9:00 AM - 9:30 AM
Location: PCC Sexson Auditorium
Description: Welcome, Opening Remarks, Land Acknowledgement, and Creative Wellbeing Session
Community Perspectives (TED-Style Talk) - "What Will I Become?" (Lexie Bean)
- 9:30 AM - 9:50 AM
Location: PCC Sexson Auditorium
Description: What Will I Become? is a debut feature film co-directed by Lexie Bean and Logan Rozos, two trans suicide survivors whose lived experience grounds every dimension of this work. The film centers Blake and Kyler — two trans boys whose stories illuminate how the intersection of masculinity, transphobia, and systemic failure shapes the inner lives and survival of trans youth. Rather than approaching suicide as an individual tragedy, the film insists on understanding it as a public health crisis rooted in social and structural harm: the harm of being pushed from one constraining gender expression into another, of having one's imagination for the future foreclosed, and of being simultaneously pathologized and abandoned by the systems meant to provide care.
"Chosen Families: Key Lens to Support Queer and Trans Youth" (Julian Aguilar-Hernandez, Yesenia Sosa, and Dan Stevens)
- 9:50 AM - 10:35 AM
Location: PCC Sexson Auditorium
Description: There is a rich tradition of chosen families evident in formal and informal spaces, in-person and on-line, that queer and trans communities of color have formed in response to rejection and trauma. We will present a workshop based on lived and professional experience that centers the concept of chosen family as essential when engaging queer and trans youth in the child welfare system. For many youth in foster care, especially those who are transitioning into young adulthood as non-minor dependents, a key barrier to independence is the lack of a safe home to return to for support and guidance. Their family of origin, whether due to homophobia, transphobia or a combination of other forms of trauma, is not a haven. The isolation that stems from not having this support can directly contribute to suicidal ideation. To counter this, the concept of chosen family can be introduced as we work with queer and trans youth to help them understand the foundations of forming life-long bonds with others based on mutual respect, regard, and acceptance. A chosen family is comprised of those people who see us for all our complexities, faults and all, and love us. We will present concrete strategies for how to engage youth in our professional roles in ways that nurture the development of a core sense of self-worth and help youth connect with communities that reflect and celebrate their identity. The workshop will encourage active participation and discussion of the core strategies presented via guided art activities.
Creative Wellbeing Energy Sweeps
- 10:35 AM - 10:40 AM
Location: PCC Sexson Auditorium
Description: Creative Wellbeing Energy Sweeps
Community Perspectives (TED-Style Talk) - "Playlist Suicide" (Jasir Franklin)
- 10:40 AM - 11:00 AM
Location: PCC Sexson Auditorium
Description: Storytelling/Lived Experience Talk (TED Talks Style) - "Playlist Suicide" - (Jasir Franklin)
"Hip-Hop, Sound Baths and Songwriting for Youth Mental Health and Cultivating Joy" (Christal Sarah Mims & Jafar Woods)
- 11:00 AM - 12:05 PM
Location: PCC Sexson Auditorium
Description: Hip-Hop, Sound Baths & Songwriting for Youth Mental Health: Cultivating Joy, Voice, and Connection is an interactive, arts-based workshop that blends creative expression, lived experience, and embodied healing practices to support youth mental health and suicide prevention. This session integrates elements of hip-hop therapy, collaborative songwriting, and sound healing with moments of art activation and performance, offering participants both experiential engagement and reflective insight. Grounded in culturally responsive and trauma-informed approaches, the workshop centers the belief that creative expression is a powerful pathway for connection, identity development, and emotional regulation, particularly for youth navigating marginalization, systemic barriers, and mental health challenges.
LUNCH
- 12:05 PM - 1:15 PM
Location:
Description: Lunch (sponsored by First City Credit Union), Community Altar/Tribute Table, Creative Wellbeing WellNest, Networking
Creative Wellbeing Energizer
- 1:15 PM - 1:45 PM
Location:
Description: Creative Wellbeing Energizer: Contra-Tiempo & Project Knuckehead
"Seen, Heard, Held: Creative, Community-Led Approaches to Youth Mental Health" (Sara Bomani & Barak Bomani)
- 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM
Location: PCC Sexson Auditorium
Description: This interactive workshop explores how community-rooted spaces, creative expression, and healing-centered practices can support Transitional Aged Youth (TAY) in moving from isolation to belonging. Grounded in the work of Unearth & Empower Communities in Compton, this session highlights how community-driven, culturally responsive approaches can serve as powerful protective factors in suicide prevention and mental health support.
Creative Wellbeing Energy Sweeps
- 2:30 PM - 2:35 PM
Location:
Description: Creative Wellbeing Energy Sweeps
"Reverse Engineering Hope: Lived Experience, Psychoeducation, and Culturally Responsive Suicide Prevention" (Juan Diego Sanabria)
- 2:35 PM - 2:55 PM
Location: PCC Sexson Auditorium
Description: This presentation explores suicide prevention through lived experience, cultural responsiveness, trauma-informed psychoeducation, and community healing. As an immigrant, combat veteran, suicide attempt survivor, and mental health clinician, the presenter will share how stigma, silence, and cumulative trauma contribute to suicide risk, particularly among veterans, first responders, and other marginalized or trauma-exposed communities. The session will then introduce the presenter’s collaborative therapeutic approach, “Reverse Engineering,” which helps clients understand diagnoses such as PTSD, GAD, and MDD while examining the cumulative impact of traumatic experiences on the mind, body, and identity. By combining lived experience with practical clinical insight, this presentation offers an innovative, healing-centered framework for reducing stigma, increasing understanding, and strengthening suicide prevention efforts. It will close with an opportunity for those present to engage with questions, commentary or feedback, and a safe space to share what they are feeling.
"Reaching Youth Before Crisis: A Digital Suicide Prevention Model for Transition-Age Youth" (Dr. Tully)
- 2:55 PM - 3:30 PM
Location: PCC Sexson Auditorium
Description: Youth suicide remains a critical public health challenge, with suicide now the second leading cause of death among young people ages 10–24 and the majority of lifetime mental health conditions emerging by age 24. At the same time, stigma, cost, and fragmented systems continue to prevent youth, particularly transition-age youth (TAY), from accessing support early. Participants will gain practical insights into how digital tools, cross-sector partnerships, and care navigation can function together as a scalable, upstream suicide prevention strategy for TAY populations, using Soluna’s partnership with LA County as a use case.
Closing Remarks, Call to Action, and Creative Wellbeing
- 3:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Location: PCC Sexson Auditorium
Description: Closing Remarks, Call To Action, Creative Wellbeing Closing Ritual, and Survey/Evaluation