The mission of the Office of Suicide Prevention is to serve as the lead entity for suicide prevention, intervention supports, and postvention efforts in Colorado, collaborating with communities statewide to reduce the number of suicide deaths and attempts.
We envision a transformed Colorado that honors the overlap of race, ethnicity, gender & sex identity, sexual orientation, education, age, language, religion, ability, marital status, & geography.
Lena Heilmann, PhD, MNM
(she/her/hers)
Director
I support this incredible team and our community partners, communicating our hope and resiliency-based prevention work to the rest of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and other state agencies, all to hold ourselves accountable to making suicide as preventable as possible. My work honors my sister Danielle, who died by suicide in 2012.
Bryce Sedlmayr, MPH
(he/him/his)
Veteran Suicide Prevention Coordinator
I serve as a hub for resources, programming, and support geared towards suicide prevention for veterans and military-involved folx in Colorado. Through initiatives like Operation Veteran Strong, ManTherapy, and the Colorado Gun Shop Project, my work promotes resilience, reduces stigma, and fosters connections among veterans.
Conlin Bass, MPH
(he/him/his)
Health Systems Suicide Prevention Manager
I help adapt suicide prevention quality improvement initiatives to health systems, an approach that combines targeted funding for framework implementation, follow-up services for people transitioning between care environments, clinical training, and collaborative learning, community, and capacity-building efforts. My work at OSP honors loved ones lost to suicide, my Uncle Pat and good friend Kia.
Dymond Ruybal, MPH
(she/her/hers)
Comprehensive Suicide Prevention Program Manager
Through the six pillars of improving Connectedness, Economic Stability and Support, Education, and Awareness, Access to Safer Suicide Care, Lethal Means Safety, and Postvention, I help create a shared strategy, structure, and momentum for comprehensive community-based suicide prevention initiatives.
Hana Fageeh, MPA
(she/her/hers)
Youth Suicide Prevention Coordinator
I help support Colorado's youth and young adults, working with communities statewide to empower youth as peer leaders in mental health. I focus on upstream programs like Sources of Strength, helping to create comprehensive, equity-based, and youth-focused suicide prevention structures.
Jazmin Murguia, MA
(she/her/ella)
Suicide Prevention Follow-Up Coordinator
In coordinating statewide efforts to create a more integrated system of care, I ensure that supportive follow-up contacts are made to all patients who could use a caring connection after being discharged from a hospital. I help hospitals and partner organizations maintain this infrastructure to improve care coordination and advance health equity statewide. My work in OSP is driven by my own experience with PMDD, and the stories behind every xicanx person living with suicidality; you are loved, you are poderosx.
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Kaleigh Kessel, MSW
(she/her/hers)
Suicide and Overdose Prevention Coordinator
My work falls at the intersection and shared risk/protective factors of overdose and suicide deaths. I support training and education for mental health and substance use treatment providers and aim to increase the use of interventions rooted in harm reduction for people who use drugs to prevent unintentional and intentional overdoses.
Katherine Harvey, MPH
(she/her/hers)
Rural Strategies Specialist
I support our rural, frontier, and agricultural communities around the state in adapting and implementing comprehensive suicide prevention strategies to their unique contexts. I work with local county-level grantees through the Colorado-National Collaborative, lead the Rural Communities Workgroup of the Suicide Prevention Commission, and champion rural voices in suicide prevention and mental health promotion at the state level.
Kirstin Hoagland
(she/her/hers)
Prosocial and Community Connectedness Specialist
I help fund comprehensive suicide prevention strategies, including youth and adult gatekeeper trainings, school crisis and suicide prevention policy development, and upstream efforts like Sources of Strength and Gender Sexuality Alliances. These activities promote connectedness, prevent bullying, and support Colorado youth in schools.
Meghna Patta, MPH
(she/her/hers)
Community Outreach Specialist
I assist in leading various communication strategies and state policy/legislative needs. I also co-lead the Postvention Workgroup (and its sub-working group) of the Suicide Prevention Commission, which includes identifying already translated postvention resources in different languages. My work in the OSP ultimately centers on and honors my mom, who is a suicide attempt survivor.
Seth Tyra, MS
(they/them/elle)
Suicide Prevention Commission Coordinator
I coordinate the Suicide Prevention Commission, which serves as an advisory board to the Office of Suicide Prevention (OSP). The Commission uses the latest data-driven and evidence-based information to make inclusive and comprehensive recommendations that aim to prevent suicidal despair, suicide attempts, and deaths in Colorado. Additionally, I collaborate with Coroners and Medical Examiners to better understand and prevent suicide deaths by utilizing the Suicide Death Investigation Form. I do this work to honor my dad, Steve, who died by suicide in 2004.
Tate Steidley, PhD
(he/him/his)
Suicide Prevention Evaluator
I support OSP by providing data analysis and evaluation services for OSP programs. I work with OSP team members and stakeholders across programs to support program evaluations that provide data-informed insights on program implementation and impact. I also support the OSP team in making reports that communicate OSP’s work to external stakeholders, government agencies, the public, and the General Assembly.