Presenters
Victor Armstrong serves as Vice President for Health Equity and Engagement with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. In addition, he is the National Director of Soul Shop for Black Churches, a workshop that teaches faith leaders how to minister to congregants that may be dealing with suicidal desperation. Victor previously served as Chief Diversity Officer with Recovery Innovations International, and Chief Health Equity Officer for North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services. Victor has also served as Director of the NC Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services. Prior to his NC state government roles, Victor was Vice President of Behavioral Health with Atrium Health, based in Charlotte, NC.
Victor has over 30 years of experience in human services, primarily dedicated to building and strengthening community resources to serve individuals who have been historically marginalized. He is a nationally recognized speaker on issues regarding health equity and access to healthcare, particularly as it relates to individuals living with mental health challenges.
Victor currently serves on the steering committee of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. He also serves on the Board of Directors for RI International as well the Board of Directors for I2I Center for integrative health. He is a member of the Board of Advisors for East Carolina University School of Social Work, the Council of Advisors for St. Augustine’s University, and is the host of the “Strong Talk” podcast.
Victor graduated, Magna Cum Laude, from North Carolina Central University with a bachelor’s degree in business management and received his MSW from East Carolina University. He is the husband of Dr. Charletta Armstrong and the father of three sons, Carter, Alonzo, and Victor Jr.
 Ruby Brown-Herring is the CEO of RBH Wellness Solutions, where she assists businesses, government agencies and nonprofits with creating employee well-being strategies that support mental health at work while improving belonging, engagement, and retention.
She holds a Bachelor of Social Work from UNC Wilmington and a Master of Education in Student Personnel Services from the University of South Carolina. Ruby has over 20 years of experience in program management, adult, continuing and higher education. She is recognized as a state and national leader in corporate wellness and community mental health education. She served as North Carolina’s first MHFA state coordinator, where she coordinated the state’s initiative to disseminate MHFA across the state. Ruby is currently working with the NC Division of Child and Family Wellbeing to develop and implement a statewide initiative for youth and teen MHFA in schools and youth serving organizations across North Carolina. She also serves as a member of the National Trainers Corps for the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, where she trains Mental Health First Aid instructors across the US.
Ruby lives in Raleigh, NC with her husband and is the mother of college age twin daughters, both of whom have lived experience with mental health challenges.
 Captain Barrett Elwood is a Captain with the Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office. He started his career in May of 1999 as a Deputy assigned to the Communications Division. Barrett was promoted to Sergeant in January of 2001 in the Communications Division and supervised the 911 Center and the training of the Officers. In 2003, while still assigned to Communications, Barrett was sent to SWAT training through the NC Justice Academy, and in 2004 sent to Sniper 1 and Sniper 2 through Jacksonville Community College. In 2006, he attended NC General Instructor Training and Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor Training through the NC Justice Academy. In 2008, he was assigned to the Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office Community Policing Division, where he was an Investigator for the Towns of Harrisburg and Midland. Barrett was also sent to NC Rapid Deployment Instructor Training in 2008. In 2015, Barrett was given the opportunity to transfer to the School Resource Officer Division, being assigned to Hickory Ridge High School in Harrisburg, NC. He was promoted to Sergeant over School Resource Officers in 2019, and in 2021 promoted to Lieutenant. Most recently Barrett was promoted to Captain over School Resource Officers, Animal Control, Animal Shelter, Communications and Governmental Security.
Dorothy L. Espelage, Ph.D., is William C. Friday Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of North Carolina. She is the recipient of the APA Lifetime Achievement Award in Prevention Science and the 2016 APA Award for Distinguished Contributions to Research in Public Policy, and is a Fellow of APS, APA, and AERA. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Education, awarded the SPR Prevention Science Award in 2020, and received a lifetime mentoring award from the National Partnership to End Interpersonal Violence. She earned her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Indiana University in 1997.
Over the last 25 years, she has authored over 275 peer- reviewed articles, eight edited books, and 80 chapters on bullying, homophobic teasing, sexual harassment, dating violence, social-emotional learning interventions, and adolescent suicide. Her research focuses on translating empirical findings into prevention and intervention programming and she has secured over 20 million dollars of external funding. She advises members of Congress and Senate on bully prevention legislation. She conducts regular webinars for CDC, NIH, and NIJ to disseminate research. She has conducted randomized clinical trials to evaluate K-12 social-emotional learning programs to reduce youth aggression, peer-led interventions to address sexual violence and suicidal behaviors, and virtual reality-based bully prevention programs. Findings of her research are guiding state, national, and international efforts to prevent youth violence and promote positive school climates. She authored a 2011 White House Brief on bullying among LGBTQ youth and attended the White House Conference in 2011, and has been a consultant on the stopbullying.gov website and consultant to the National Anti-bullying Campaign, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). She has presented multiple times at the Federal Partnership to End Bullying Summit and Conference. She is a consultant to the National Institutes of Health Pathways to Prevention Initiative to address bullying and youth suicide. Dr. Espelage has appeared on many television news and talk shows, including The Today Show; CNN; CBS Evening News; The Oprah Winfrey Show, Anderson, Anderson 360 and has been quoted in the national print press, including Time Magazine, USA Today, People, Boston Globe, and the Wall Street Journal. Her dedicated team of undergraduate and graduate students are committed to the dissemination of the research through various mechanisms.
 For 30 years, Jeannie Kerr has worked to meet the mental health needs of youth in both mental health and educational settings. After graduating from Meredith College, Jeannie worked on Capitol Hill as a Legislative Assistant gaining experience in policy and legislation development. After graduating with her Masters in Social Work from East Carolina University, Jeannie has worked as a licensed clinical social worker in public and private mental health settings and as a school mental health professional. Throughout her career, Jeannie has continually expanded her knowledge and skills in the treatment of mental health disorders, the effects of trauma, mental health wellness, and the development of social and emotional skills across the lifespan. Jeannie has provided grant oversight beginning with her work with TEDI BEAR: Children’s Advocacy Center in 1997 through her current position as Project AWARE Director for Nash County Public Schools. She is dedicated to advocating and supporting equitable mental health for all.
Don Phipps joined the Caldwell County Schools as superintendent in July 2018. Throughout his career, he has been a school psychologist, non-profit director of research and development, university professor and department chair, assistant principal, principal, executive director, and superintendent. He has earned the following degrees: Bachelor’s degree from Methodist College (now Methodist University) in Psychology and Management Psychology; Master’s degree and Certificate of Advanced Study from Appalachian State University in School Psychology; Education Doctorate from Appalachian State University in Education Leadership; and a Master’s of Education from UNC-Charlotte in Instructional Systems Technology. Dr. Phipps is actively involved in public education locally and across the state. He also serves on several local and state-level committees and boards. He has served as the President of the Northeast North Carolina Superintendents RESA and is currently the Chair of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s Testing Compliance Commission. Dr. Phipps is married to Nancy and they have four children and two grandchildren.
Margaret Phipps-Bennett, MSW, LCSWA graduated with her Bachelor of Social Work in 2021 and Master of Social Work in 2022, both from UNC Charlotte. She has a strong interest in practice and research. Currently, she serves as the Lab Manager for the Mental Health Research and Practice Lab at UNC Charlotte, which focuses heavily on culturally inclusive suicide prevention and intervention development. Margaret is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker Associate (LCSWA) and practices at Tabonuco Counseling in Charlotte, North Carolina. In this role, she works primarily with children who have experienced trauma using Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Child-Centered Play Therapy. She also works with adolescents and adults and prioritizes trauma-informed approaches.
 Sonyia Richardson, PhD., MSW, LCSW, is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work and the Founder and Director of the Mental Health Research and Practice Lab at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. As a clinical behavioral researcher, her agenda focuses on developing and testing novel interventions aimed at reducing suicide among Black youth. In her lab, she aims to identify and remove barriers to mental health treatment for racially minoritized populations and eliminate resulting disparities through mixed-methods, community-engaged research. As a respected scholar in the field of social work, she has published two co-edited books, produced numerous publications, and received over one million dollars in grant funding. Additionally, she received the North Carolina National Association of Social Workers Award for the 2021 Social Worker of the Year for her leadership and advocacy efforts.
Dr. Richardson earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, a Master of Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of North Carolina Charlotte.
 Jonathan B. Singer, Ph.D., LCSW is a Professor at Loyola University Chicago's School of Social Work, Past-President of the American Association of Suicidology and coauthor of two editions of the best-selling text, Suicide in Schools: A Practitioner's Guide to Multi-level Prevention, Assessment, Intervention, and Postvention. He is a two-time winner of the National Association of Social Workers Media Award (2012 and 2016). In 2023, he was inducted as an NASW "Social Work Pioneer" for introducing podcasting to social work, and in 2024 he was inducted as a Fellow of the Society for Social Work and Research.
Dr. Singer is a well-regarded international speaker who has given over a thousand continuing education workshops, keynote addresses, and presentations on youth suicide, ethics, technology, adolescent development and attachment-based family therapy in the USA, Latin America, Asia, and Europe. He is an NASW Expert, Healio Psychiatry Peer Perspective Board member, and has served on several national advisory boards including JED Foundation, Suicide Prevention Resource Center, and the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
He is the author of over 90 publications and his research has been featured in national and international media outlets like NPR, BBC, Fox, Time Magazine, and The Guardian. His co-authored article with Arielle Sheftall and John Ackerman about the news media's reporting on the suicide deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain won the prestigious 2019 SDX prize for research on journalism.
A pioneer in the integration of technology and social work, Dr. Singer is a founding member of the online suicide prevention social media community #SPSM, past-Treasurer for the international human services Information Technology association (http://husita.org/), co-lead for the Social Work Grand Challenge initiative "Harness Technology for Social Good" (https://grandchallengesforsocialwork.org/harness-technology-for-social-good/), and member of the Council on Social Work Education's Technology Advisory Group.
Dr. Singer is the founder and host of the award-winning Social Work Podcast (www.socialworkpodcast.com). Founded in January 2007, the Social Work Podcast is the first podcast by and for social workers, with over 50,000 followers on social media, listeners in 208 countries and territories, and over 8 million downloads.
Dr. Singer lives in Evanston, IL with his wife and three children and can be found on X/Twitter as @socworkpodcast and Facebook at facebook.com/swpodcast.
 Representative John Torbett is in his seventh term as Representative of the 108th district in Gaston County. John’s committee work spans a myriad of complex issues where he applies his strengths and focus for the people of the 108th district and those throughout North Carolina. He has been traveling around the state gathering information and hearing from folks regarding their ideas on how to design a new education system, since the one we have has been stretched and changed to the point it is no longer working. He is proud of his work as a previous Chair of the School Safety Committee, believes a heightened awareness was caused and progress was made, although we need to continue to work to do all we can to insure the safety of our schools in every way. John has been married to his wife Viddia for 43 years. Viddia also serves as his legislative assistant in the General Assembly. Together they have a daughter and two amazing grandsons.
 |
