Shawna Hite-Jones is an experienced public health professional specializing in mental health promotion, suicide prevention, and health communication. A master certified health education specialist, Hite-Jones brings expertise in training and technical assistance, project management, and product development. She is passionate about promoting population-level prevention initiatives that seek to reduce risk factors and increase protective factors, particularly in rural communities.

As a senior prevention specialist with the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, Shawna provides support and develops resources on a public health approach to suicide prevention. As an EDC Solutions project manager, she supports schools in developing multi-tiered, system-level approaches to preventing youth suicide. As a subject matter expert on a Safe States and CDC-supported suicide prevention initiative, she is helping develop a website and tools to strengthen community-level suicide prevention capacity.

Shawna has written about understanding and effectively preventing suicide in rural communities. Previously, she served as the program director for the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation.

Shawna holds an MPH from the Ohio State University and a BA in Psychology and Communications from Lake Forest College.