Ellyson Stout, a public health expert and managing project director, specializes in suicide prevention, social marketing, and health promotion. As the U.S. director for Community Suicide Prevention at EDC, she leads teams of subject matter experts working with states and communities to advance EDC’s Community-Led Suicide Prevention framework. She specializes in collaborating with states, Tribes, community groups, health systems, schools, and national organizations to improve suicide prevention and related efforts.

Currently, Elly directs EDC’s work on the VA Safeguard Veterans contract. Drawing on her expertise in program design, community suicide prevention, and capacity building, she leads a team that is evaluating and providing TA for bundled, community-based Veteran suicide prevention efforts in six pilot sites across the U.S.

Elly has over 25 years of experience in public health, strategic prevention, and community engagement. She regularly presents on suicide prevention, serves on national advisory groups and expert panels, and has co-authored articles in Journal of Primary Prevention and Journal of Rural Mental Health. In 2025, she served as a subject matter expert and planning committee member for the National Academies’ workshop, “Best Practices for Implementation and Evaluation of a Non-Clinical Community-Based Suicide Prevention Grants Program.” Before joining EDC, she worked domestically and internationally to improve health outcomes for adults, children, and families.

Elly holds an MS in Health Communication from Tufts University School of Medicine and is an Albert Schweitzer Fellow for Life.