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 America 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
Treasurer
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 Enterprise & 988 Crisis Services for Centerstone, a non-profit behavioral healthcare organization based in Nashville. Kelly oversees a 24/7 suicide prevention hotline and mobile crisis dispatch team that covers 20 counties in Middle Tennessee, 7 counties in Illinois, and 10 counties in Indiana. Kelly also oversees a team that serves as 988 National back-up centers for Chat/Text, including answering the dedicated line for LGBTQIA+.
During the Pandemic, she served as the Project Director of a federally funded 16-month Suicide Prevention grant with a focus on assisting survivors of Domestic Violence. 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
Director
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.
Pat Morris, M.Ed
Director of Business Operations
Pat Morris is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Master Addiction Counselor in the State of Washington. After 44 years working in the behavioral health field, Pat retired from the nonprofit world in 2022 and is currently a Behavioral Health consultant in her own private consulting business, Morris Consulting. She currently is the Director of Business Operations for NASCOD. Pat served as the Senior Director of Behavioral health at Volunteers of America Western Washington from 2006-2022. During that time, she served as the chief administrator of a AAS and ICH Accredited 24/7 professionally staffed crisis line and chat/text center. Pat has been a member of many regional and national boards, served as the President of NASCOD from 2019-2022 and had been a NASCOD board member since 2009. She was a member of the Lifeline Steering Committee since 2009=2021. She also served the Crisis Center Division Chair for AAS from 2013-2016. During her career, she has worked in mental health emergency services and crisis lines in Washington, Idaho and Oregon and has developed and implemented countless programs in the mental health, disaster behavioral health and chemical dependency fields.