The Kita Center
Board Member, Kita Group Leader,
Program Development Consultant
The Kita Center is a nurturing haven for those in need, offering various program including the flagship program, Camp Kita, a summer camp for young people who have had a loss to suicide. The Kita Center offers training programs, retreats for communities impacted by suicide, support groups, and is a sanctuary for social connection.
The mission is to prevent suicide by building intentional environments to foster connections and lifelong engagement with mental wellness with a a vision of generational transformation.
In his role, Steven supports the program development of the summer camp programming as well as weekend retreats for veterans, twenty somethings, teens, families, parents, members of the LGBTQ+ community and other communities impacted by suicide loss. Steven is also on the board and leads support groups for young people during the summer camp.
Sea Change
Consultant, Mentor, Education Specialist, & School Crisis Team Facilitator
Sea Change mission is to strengthen relationships in schools around the world. Sea Change helps schools ensure that both students and staff have the skills to build these relationships and provide safe, inclusive, and equitable learning.
In this role, Steven has led professional development sessions for international schools, parent and educator workshops on social emotions learning, emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, well-being and goal-setting.
Schools Steven has supported include French International School of Hong Kong, Munich International School, Garden International School in Bangkok, International School of Helsinki, American International School - Riyadh, International School of Prague, & the Inter-community School of Zurich.
He has also led crisis support groups for schools impacted by war and earthquakes including the Pechersk School International in Ukraine, Tarsus American School in Turkey, and Khartoum American School in Sudan.
Coping After Suicide
Peer Group Grief Support Leader, Consultant
In this role, Steven leads weekly peer group support for those who have had a loss to suicide. Steven leads a group for Teens, one for Twentysomethings, one for Adults Who’ve Lost a Parent, and one for members of the LGBTQIA+ community who have had a loss to suicide. These groups are built from evidence-informed strategies and resources for coping with this complicated and painful loss.
Steven facilitated and participated in 5-part conversational series of workshops on Helping Our Children Cope With Suicide Loss. Steven also helped to develop, produce, and host the documentary Talking OutLOUD - Teens and Suicide Loss: A Conversation to be released in November 2023.
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Samaritans, Inc
Consultant, Mentor
Steven’s most recent role in an organization was the Senior Director of Community Education and Outreach. Steven led projects to reframe the conversation and the learning around suicide prevention. For decades, suicide prevention has been broad and generalized for an entire population unintentionally making the assumption that all communities have the same suicide prevention and mental health needs. Samaritans, Inc. also includes Hey Sam - a dedicated peer-to-peer texting service for people up to 24 years old. Designed for and staffed by young people, Hey Sam gives youth the opportunity to reach peers if they are struggling, need someone to talk to, or need support.
One program developed during his tenure, was the collaboration with a grassroots organization, FollowSuit (a mentoring program already established in the black community with the mantra “changing young men’s lives one suit at a time) to develop specific suicide prevention programming for the young black male community - one of the most heavily impacted communities. Steven also collaborated with PFLAG to support the gay elder community as well as the young LGBTQIA+ community, BetterVet to support the veterinarian community, and local universities such as Harvard, Boston College, Boston University, Tufts, and Brandeis University to support college students and faculty.
Steven continues his support of Samaritans in the role of consultant and thought-partner.
