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, Hite-Jones 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.
Hite-Jones has written about understanding and effectively preventing suicide in rural communities. Previously, she served as the program director for the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation.
Hite-Jones holds an MPH from the Ohio State University and a BA in Psychology and Communications from Lake Forest College.