Dese’Rae L. Stage is an artist, mom, suicidologist, and public speaker. She created Live Through This, a multimedia storytelling series that aims to reduce prejudice and discrimination against suicide attempt survivors. Live Through This reminds us that suicide is a human issue by elevating and amplifying survivors’ voices through raw, honest stories of survival, and pairing them with portraits—putting faces and names to the statistics that have been the only representation of attempt survivors in the past.

Dese’Rae speaks about her work at universities, conferences, and events nationwide. She has received awards for her work, including the SAMHSA Voice Award, the SXSW Community Service Award, Investigation Discovery’s Inspire a Difference Everyday Hero Award, and the American Association of Suicidology’s inaugural Transforming Lived Experience Award. Live Through This has received media coverage from the New York Times, Associated Press, NPR, CBS Evening News, and more.