Dese’Rae Stage is an artist, mom, and suicide education activist. She created Live Through This (livethroughthis.org), a multimedia storytelling series that aims to reduce prejudice and discrimination against suicide attempt survivors. Live Through This reminds us that suicide is a human issue by elevating and amplifying survivors’ voices through raw, honest stories of survival, and pairing them with portraits – putting faces and names to the statistics that have been the only representation of attempt survivors in the past. Dese’Rae has received awards for her work, including the SAMHSAVoice Award, the SXSWCommunity Service Award, Investigation Discovery’s Inspire a Difference Everyday Hero Award, and the American Association of Suicidology’s inaugural Transforming Lived Experiences Award. Live Through This has received media coverage from the New York Times, Associated Press, NPR, CBS Evening News, and more. Dese’Rae is featured in a documentary about suicide prevention advocates called “The S Word,” currently screening nationwide.

Amanda Blue is the Outreach Manager for the College of Health Sciences at West Chester University and the Co-Chair of the Chester County Suicide Prevention Task Force.

After experiencing the loss of her husband to suicide in 2008, she became an active participant on the WCU Mental Health Awareness Committee organizing events, walks, and presentations for the campus. Following the loss of her husband by just four years, Amanda lost her 14 year old son to suicide. With increasing passion and commitment, Amanda has worked in suicide prevention through speaking, advocacy, and education. She has been an advisor to the student Active Minds Chapter, and created a campus wide program called, “Take a Mental Health Day.” This first all-campus mental health event provides an opportunity for the campus community to engage in interactive presentations regarding mental health. “Take A Mental Health Day” has become an annual event at WCU.

As a certified Mental Health First Aid instructor and program administrator on the WCU campus, Amanda has trained over 800 people. In addition, she is a certified QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer Suicide Prevention Training) Instructor. Amanda completed her Master’s degree in Public Health in 2018 with the intention to continue her work in awareness and education surrounding the public health crisis that suicide has become.