Susie [수지] Reynolds Reece

Ph.D.

Director of Lived Experience Initiatives, Suicide Prevention Resource Center

Susie [수지] Reynolds Reece is the director of lived experience initiatives for the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC). In that capacity, Reece leads the development of multi-organisational inclusion practices, acts as a liaison and authority for national lived experience experts, and builds national guidance to centre lived experience across any field.

Expert Bio

Susie [수지] Reynolds Reece is the director of lived experience initiatives for the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC). In that capacity, Reece leads the development of multi-organisational inclusion practices, acts as a liaison and authority for national lived experience experts, and builds national guidance to centre lived experience across any field. Reece also bolsters lived experience engagement by elevating experts from diverse experiential backgrounds and perspectives.   Reece began her prevention career as a grassroots organiser in Arkansas. She worked in substance use prevention for several years before becoming the first and only violence prevention specialist for CHI St. Vincent-Arkansas. Reece has championed and led multiple county- and state-level activism efforts revolving around suicide prevention, mental health, social justice, and systemic improvement.   Reece was an inaugural member of SPRC’s first-ever Lived Experience Advisory Committee. The committee is a national group of leaders and advocates personally impacted by suicide who provide expertise and insights from their lived experience to help ensure that suicide prevention efforts effectively meet the needs of people affected by suicide. Committee members co-develop, support, and lead national mental health and suicide prevention efforts, moving lived experience inclusion beyond trauma-limited storytelling or tokenising practices to empowering strategies that elevate experiential perspectives in meaningful, substantive, and long-lasting ways.   Reece has been a recognised leader and suicide prevention strategist for nearly a decade. She centres her work around her lived experience of being a child survivor of suicide loss. At age 10, Reece lost her beloved father, a decorated army veteran. Her father’s traumatic death drastically altered the course of her life and pushed her down a path of having open and candid conversations about suicide. Reece’s lived experience of suicide loss and her struggles with suicide ideation, suicide attempts, and stigma ensure she continually centres the needs of those most affected by suicide.   Reece serves as a member on several boards throughout Arkansas and across the United States.