Please join us on Wednesday, August 20th, 2025, 2:00 – 3:00 PM ET. No registration is required – use this link to join.
This STAW will focus on creating space for young people to lead in the development of communication strategies for youth mental health promotion and suicide prevention. Presenters from the New Jersey Department of Health (members of the CSLC Cohort 1 Suicide and Self Harm Prevention Team) and the New Jersey Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics will describe how they recruited, engaged, trained and partnered with young people from across New Jersey to create a youth driven suicide prevention and awareness campaign that prioritized youth voice and personal experience. Presenters will share examples of messaging as well as their collaborative plan for distribution and data collection. Participants will have the opportunity to consider how they might apply similar youth-led strategies to their own health communications practices.
Presenters:
Jennie Blakney, MA.Ed received her dual master's degree in Human Sexuality Education and Marriage and Family Counseling from New York University and spent her early career working with youth in NYC. With a strong background in youth development, empowerment, mentoring, mental health and behavior change, Jennie spent several years researching, replicating, and evaluating evidence-based programs (EPBs) with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More recently, she has focused her efforts on delivery of EBPs, training and educating professionals, and expanding access to youth mental health and social and emotional learning programs. Currently, Jennie works for the New Jersey Department of Health as the Program Manager of the Child and Adolescent Health Program, where she oversees youth-focused programs and a robust statewide youth engagement initiative. Jennie is president of the National Network for State Adolescent Health Coordinators and the principal investigator for the New Jersey Garrett Lee Smith Youth Suicide Prevention Grant.
Lanette Mantle, MPH received her master’s degree from Rutgers University’s School of Public Health in 2022. Before coming to the New Jersey Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (NJAAP), she realized her love for interacting with youth by working as a Resident Assistant through her University. She mentored college-aged youth through programs focusing on mental health, sexual health, community, and leadership. Lanette also conducted research at the School of Public Health under the Center for Health, Identity, Behavior, and Prevention Studies (CHIBPS). The study, NJ & NY QVax, addressed the myriad health challenges faced by disparate populations when accessing adequate and competent healthcare. Coupled with her experience as Resident Assistant, the research study fostered Lanette’s mission to focus her career on addressing social determinants of health and enhancing access to care.
In her role as a Program Manager at NJAAP, Lanette manages the Youth Planning Committee, which consists of 25 youths between the ages of 15 and 22. The Youth Planning Committee provides a safe space for youth to discuss mental health, reduce stigma, and learn how to help themselves and their peers in a crisis. Most notably, the Youth Planning Committee designed a state-wide campaign and toolkit to address suicide prevention, which can be found on the www.PreventSuicideNJ.org website.