Keynote

Speakers

Our keynote speakers bring a wealth of experience, insight, and inspiration to the stage—each offering a unique perspective on fostering resilience, connection, and hope. Through powerful stories, professional expertise, and fresh approaches, they invite audiences to engage, reflect, and walk away with tools that make a lasting impact.

Mallori DeSalle – Breakfast Keynote

Mallori DeSalle brings 20 years of experience in mental health, substance abuse, and prevention, combining her expertise in Motivational Interviewing with a unique approach that uses humor as a tool for healing and connection. In her keynote, Laugh Lines for Lifelines: The Therapeutic Power of Humor, she blends storytelling, psychology, and lived experience to show how laughter can break stigma, ease emotional pain, and foster resilience in the face of mental health struggles and suicidal ideation. With equal parts vulnerability and levity, Mallori offers a fresh perspective on suicide prevention that leaves audiences with practical insights, renewed hope, and maybe even a few laugh lines of their own.

Paul Nestadt – Lunch Keynote

Paul Nestadt is the James Wah Professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School ofMedicine and the Medical Director of the Center for Suicide Prevention in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. As a clinician, Dr.Nestadt attends on the inpatient dual diagnosis unit at Hopkins, directs the Anxiety Disorders consultation clinic, and helped found the esketamine clinic at Hopkins. His research into suicide prevention centers the roles of firearms, opioids, and large scale data analysis as well as qualitative interviews with grieving families.Dr. Nestadt is the chair of Maryland’sSuicide Fatality Review Committee and has written dozens of chapters for leading psychiatric and medical textbooks, ~ 100 peer-reviewed papers, and has spoken nationally and internationally on the topics of suicide risk and the role of firearms, opiates, and the limitations of screening.

Leslie Weirch – Afternoon Keynote

Leslie Weirich has been a prominent advocate for suicide prevention since 2016. Her commitment to mental health support is deeply personal, having been greatly affected by the loss of her only son. She speaks all over the nation and has even had the honor of presenting her keynote talk to The Pentagon and West Point Academy during World Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month. Her talk entitled “One Second of Hope” focuses on practical tools that we can all use to start mental health conversations in our community. She shares her personals tory through a strong lens of hope for those impacted by suicide loss.