Jessica C. Pirro, LMSW
President
Jessica C. Pirro serves as the President/CEO of Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service, Inc. (Crisis Services) in Buffalo, NY. Jessica received her undergraduate degree in Child and Family Studies and her Masters of Social Work from Syracuse University. She is a NYS Licensed Master Social Worker and began her work at Crisis Services in 1999 overseeing the Advocate Program, the NYS Department of Health Rape Crisis Center, and a NYS licensed non-residential domestic violence provider. She then was appointed to the role of Associate Director and was charged with overseeing all agency clinical operations 24 hours a day.
In September 2014, she was the first woman appointed to Chief Executive Officer of Crisis Services and leads the agency’s crisis first responders helping those impacted by crisis with specialty areas around suicide prevention, emergency mental health, trauma, domestic and sexual violence. Under Jessica’s leadership, the agency has seen significant staff and financial growth resulting in the need to move the agency to a new expanded location. She is a member of Leadership Buffalo Class of 2003; recognized as one of Business First’s 40 under Forty in 2010, honored as a Business First Women of Influence in 2016 and Excellence in Health Care award winner in 2020. She is Chair of the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Erie County and is a Health Foundation of Central and Western New York’s Fellow. She serves on the board for the Anti-Stigma Coalition for Erie County, is a member of the WNED Advisory Board, a member of the National Association of Crisis Organization Directors (NASCOD) and the NYS Suicide Prevention Advisory Council. Jessica resides in Buffalo, NY with her husband, step-son and her sweet fur kid Nash.
Levi Van Dyke
Vice President
Levi Van Dyke is the Senior Director of Behavioral Health at Volunteers of Levi Van Dyke is Chief Behavioral Health Officer at Volunteers of America Western Washington (VOAWW). He has spent the past 16 years working in crisis services throughout the State of Washington.
VOAWW operates a crisis contact center based in Everett, WA that answers over 20,000 inbound contacts per month across multiple lines of service. VOAWW is currently a national backup chat/text and LGBTQI+ youth subnetwork chat/text center and covers the entire state of Washington for 988 chat and text services. The center also provides primary 988 phone coverage for 32 of the 39 counties in Washington, Regional Crisis Line services for three Behavioral Health Administrative Service Organizations, and operates the Native and Strong Lifeline, offering culturally informed and specific services from Tribal crisis counselors for Washington’s indigenous residents.
Levi currently serves as Vice President of the National Association of Crisis Organization Directors (NASCOD) board and sits on numerous national, state, and regional crisis and behavioral health committees. He has dedicated significant time working with leadership and professional development programs and spent six years as a volunteer firefighter and EMT. Levi is a Washington State University alumnus (Go Cougs!) and received his graduate degree from Eastern Washington University. Western Washington (VOAWW). He has spent the past 15 years working directly with crisis line services throughout the state of Washington. VOAWW operates a crisis center based in Everett, WA that has over 19,000 inbound contacts per month across multiple lines of service. VOAWW is a national backup text/chat center and covers the entire state of Washington for 988 chat and text. They also provide 988 phone coverage for 32 of the 39 counties in Washington, Regional Crisis Line services for three Behavioral Health Administrative Service Organizations, and operate the newly launched Native and Strong Lifeline, offering culturally informed and specific services from Tribal crisis counselors for Washington’s indigenous residents.
In addition to the NASCOD Board, Levi is a member of numerous national, state, and regional crisis and behavioral health committees. He has also dedicated significant time working with leadership and professional development programs and spent six years as a volunteer firefighter and EMT. Levi is a Washington State University alumnus (Go Cougs!) and received his graduate degree from Eastern Washington University.
Meryl Cassidy, LMSW, ACSW
Secretary
Meryl Cassidy is Executive Director of Response Crisis Center, the Co-Chair of the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Long Island, and an Assistant Professor at Suffolk County Community College in the Human Services Program. She has been a professional social worker for over 30 years and has worked in a variety of settings and with diverse populations. For the past ten years of her career she has focused primarily on crisis intervention and suicide prevention, intervention and postvention. In addition to managing the operations of Suffolk County’s only 24/7 crisis center devoted to suicide prevention, she provides professional trainings for human service professionals and community members on a broad range of topics, including crisis theory, communication and listening skills, suicide risk assessment and safety planning as well as being a certified ASIST trainer, Sources of Strength Trainer, and Lifeline’s Postvention Trainer. She is co-chair of the Mental Health Subcommittee for the Division of Community Mental Hygiene, and a Board Member of NASCOD (National Association of Crisis Organization Directors). In 2015 she received the Excellence in Suicide Prevention Award from the Suicide Prevention Center of New York State, and in 2016 she received the “Making the Mission” award from NASCOD.
Ruth Woods Dunham
Director
Ms. Woods Dunham currently serves as the Director of Caregiver SOAR (Sustainable Opportunities for Accessing Respite) at Riverside Community Care, following her role as the Director of Crisis Services at Samaritans of Boston from 2016 to 2023. She came to the Suicide Prevention Field with close to 24 years of Non-Profit Management, primarily working in the Domestic Violence and Substance Abuse field. In her role as the Director of Crisis Services, she managed a cross-functional Crisis Services Team of 20+ paid staff and over 150 volunteers providing 24-hour suicide prevention support services. She is skilled at creating and maintaining a team culture of compassion, collaboration, kindness and understanding with all she works with. She is an accomplished non-profit professional with a strong focus and passion for excellent service delivery and consumer satisfaction. She has been a member of the National Association of Crisis Center Directors since 2016 and joined the Board of Directors in August 2021. She is currently the Board Treasurer. Ms. Woods Dunham continues to work as Critical Incident Responder for Riverside Trauma Center. She holds a Master’s Degree in Management with a focus on Conflict Resolution from Cambridge College. She enjoys hiking the hills and trails in New Hampshire and lives on the beautiful North Shore with her dog Jack.
Jennifer Battle, MSW
Director
Jennifer Battle is the Vice President of Community Access and Engagement at The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD in Houston, Texas. Jennifer is proud to help support Harris County and the surrounding region’s mental health by overseeing operations of 988 for 46 Texas counties, 24 hour Crisis Lines for 7 Texas Local Mental Health Authorities, and several other dedicated crisis and emotional support lines. Jennifer led the development of the first of its kind in the nation 911/Behavioral Health co-located response system in partnership with Houston Police and Fire Departments and the Houston Emergency Communications Center.
Jennifer’s team offers a robust mental health and suicide prevention training portfolio to individuals, universities, businesses, faith communities and non-profits as well as coordinates and delivers information and awareness about behavioral health in culturally appropriate and community centered ways across the county.
In addition to these projects, Jennifer serves in several national roles including the Co-Chair of the Steering Committee for the National 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. She also serves on the Clinical Advisory Council for Crisis Text Line, the Board of the National Association of Crisis Center Directors and the Board of the Texas Alliance of Information and Referral Systems.
Robyn Codrington
Director
Robyn Codrington’s transformative leadership is backed by 20+ years of experience, education, and measurable results.
Robyn advocates for a wide breadth of models supporting individuals and organizations through revolutionary change for far-reaching growth. She has championed mental health in the workplace, and has focused on holistic therapies, redefining client models for achieving goals. Her human-centric approach is unique, flexible, and scalable.
In addition to serving as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Robyn is certified across multiple disciplines: Independent Social Work, Grief Counseling, Clinical Supervision, Play Therapy, Mental Health First Aid, and Suicide Prevention. She offers executive coaching, tailored leadership seminars / workshops with multi-faceted topics germane to the mental health industry.
Robyn is a former adjunct professor at Johnson C. Smith University, founder of Inner Strength Counseling Services, PLLC, a member of the National Association of Social Workers. She has served as the Chair Mecklenburg County Domestic Violence Advocacy Council, is the former Embark Million Dollar Authority VP-Concierge and Embark Bootcamp Accountability Coach. More recently she supported TIAA as a Behavioral Health Consultant, and she currently serves as Director at CriSyS, an Affiliated Santé Group Company.
Robyn is multilingual, and recharges with family, friends, and traveling.
Kelly Bombardiere
Director
Kelly Bombardiere is the Vice President of Crisis Services for Centerstone, a non-profit behavioral healthcare organization with operations in Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois and Florida.
Kelly oversees Centerstone’s crisis services, including an Enterprise crisis call center, statewide 988 Illinois crisis call center, national chat/text back-up center, youth and young adult special population chat/text center, and mobile crisis response, crisis stabilization units and walk in centers throughout Centerstone’s four-state footprint.
In addition to her work at Centerstone and NASCOD, Kelly serves as an accreditation examiner for the American Association of Suicidology. She takes great pride as a visionary leader whose skill set includes implementing strategic initiatives, motivating and leading a dynamic team and creating powerful internal and external alliances to best support mental health consumers.
Jeremiah Mankin
Treasurer
Jeremiah Mankin serves as the Director of Text Services at Samaritans, Inc. in Boston where he oversees the Hey Sam peer to peer mental health textline for young people.
Jeremiah passionately finds innovative ways to leverage technology to enhance service delivery and reach people who might not otherwise utilize mental health services.
In addition to his work with Samaritans and NASCOD, Jeremiah serves as an accreditation examiner for the International Council for Helpllines.
When he is not working, Jeremiah enjoys going on coastal adventures with his corgi, Alwyn.
Shanay “Shay” Lett, MBA
Director
Shanay “Shay” Lett is a Director of Crisis Services for My Health My Resources of Tarrant County (MHMR Tarrant) in Fort Worth, Texas. With over 12 years of experience in Health and Human Services, including eight years specifically focused on Crisis Intervention, Shay brings a wealth of expertise and compassion to her role.
Shay supervises various crisis intervention programs, such as Crisis and Intake Lines, a Mobile Crisis Outreach Team, Crisis Respite, Residential Units, and a LOSS Team. Her primary responsibility involves overseeing the Call Center operations, which consists of a 24-hour crisis line that serves 4 Local Mental Health Authorities, 988 coverage for 69 Texas counties, and several other specialized lines dedicated to offering resources and connecting individuals with Mental Health, IDD, Housing, Substance Use, and Emotional Support Services.
Beyond providing crisis intervention, Shay is deeply passionate about training and developing future leaders in crisis intervention, recognizing the critical importance of nurturing talent within the field, and passing on her knowledge and experience to the next generation of professionals.
Fueled by a profound desire to make a difference, Shay takes pride in transforming lives and empowering all individuals through her innovative approach to crisis intervention. She consistently seeks new ideas and methods to serve the community better, pushing boundaries and exploring creative solutions.
Helen Littrell, PsyD, LP
Director
Dr. Littrell’s career in suicide prevention and crisis intervention began in 2012, when she worked answering crisis calls for Lifeline Australia and realized her passion for this field. Dr. Littrell holds Bachelor’s degrees in Commerce and Science (Psychology) from the Australian National University, and Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Clinical Psychology from the University of Denver. She is a Licensed Psychologist in Colorado, Ohio, and through PsyPact.
Dr. Littrell has prior experience as a caseworker, therapeutic residential community coordinator, psychological assessor in private practice, suicide prevention coordinator, and as a therapist in community mental health, sliding scale settings, mobile crisis, and acute treatment unit settings. For 3 years Dr. Littrell worked for Colorado’s statewide crisis line vendor as the Crisis Program Director and was integral to the successful 988 launch across the state.
She then transitioned to work as the Chief Clinical Officer for Behavioral Health Link (BHL) in 2024. At BHL, Dr. Littrell is responsible for mobile crisis programming in 4 of the 6 regions in Georgia, compliance, program evaluation, training, and clinical consulting. Dr. Littrell centers her decision-making process on her own lived experience and “peoples the room” with the perspectives of those who receive services.
Jared Auten, LMSW
Director
Jared Auten serves as Director of Crisis Communications at HealthSource Integrated Solutions based in Topeka, KS. He holds a Master’s of Social Welfare from the University of Kansas and has a background in suicide & crisis intervention, community mental health, and grief & loss support.
Jared has been a provider of suicide & crisis intervention services since 2013, and he began working on the implementation and operation of 988 in Kansas in 2020. He is passionate about access to high-quality and affordable crisis care for all. In his role at HealthSource Integrated Solutions, he strives to collaborate and innovate with partners to support a crisis continuum of care capable of responding promptly to the dynamic needs of individuals, families, and communities across Kansas.
Jared also serves on the board of directors of The Kita Center, a suicide bereavement organization located in Maine.