On December 7th, the leaders and practitioners in the Convergence Dialogue on Guns and Suicide Prevention marked the conclusion of their yearlong engagement by releasing their final report and convening a virtual public event to highlight its conclusions and strategies to save lives. Dialogue participants span diverse perspectives across America‘s deep guns divide. At the event, participants discussed the report findings and described their collaborative experience as successful, productive and eye-opening – not only the substantive work advising on pathways to prevent gun suicides, but also the collaborative dialogue approach that generated trust and the ability to reach common ground across the group’s differences. Dialogue participants included:
- Chris Cheng: The History Channel’s Top Shot Season 4 Champion
- Emmy Betz MD, MPH: Professor of Emergency Medicine at University of Colorado School of Medicine
- Doreen Marshall: Vice President of Mission Engagement, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP)
- Russell Krumnow: Senior Director of Projects, Convergence
In addition, two Dialogue participants discussed the suicide prevention work of their organizations that the report spotlighted: Casey Pick, Senior Fellow for Advocacy and Government Affairs at The Trevor Project, the nation’s largest suicide prevention organization for LGTBQ+ youth; and Mike Sodini, Founder and President of Walk the Talk America, which works directly with firearm manufacturers and retailers to promote mental health, suicide awareness and critical gun-safety practices.
