Our Mission:

Empower youth
to speak up.

We found that encouraging students to be aware of warning signs and to speak up to a trusted adult about depression, suicide, grief, abuse and bullying is the first step to saving a life. These students save each other; we just give them the tools and resources to do it.

 
 

About the Conference

When students are in crisis, it's often the courage to take action or speak up that saves their lives. On January 30, 2024 more than 1,700 students gathered at Grand Canyon University for our Seventh Annual Conference to create life-lasting solutions on how to Speak Up, Stand Up, and Save A Life.

This was our first in-person conference in three years!

21+

Cities participating 

From Peoria to Gilbert, Phoenix to Glendale, Tucson to Flagstaff, Public and Private schools alike are banding together.

 

54+

Districts making a difference 

By caring enough to learn how to speak up and stand up in the face of bullying, depression and suicide.

 
 

420K

Students Impacted

Our research shows that the trickle effect spreads well beyond students, to families, teachers and friends.

 
 

Programs & Resources

With the right information, tools and recommended actions, we can teach our students (teachers and friends!) how to speak up, stand up and save a life. We have a list of resources that is constantly being updated to help with handling the things we talk about at our conference. Please utilize and share these resources—they exist to help!

 

mental health

NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) says 20% of youth ages 13-18 live with a mental health condition, and approximately 50% of students age 14 and older with a mental illness drop out of high school.
 

suicide prevention

Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death in youth ages 10 - 24, and results in approximately 4,600 lives lost each year. With the right tools, we can do something about it.

bullying

This is all about prevention: teaching kids how to identify bullying and how to stand up to it safely. When adults respond quickly and consistently to bullying behavior, they send the message that it is not acceptable.
 

Substance abuse

Odds of dying from accidental opioid overdose in the US surpass those of dying in car accident. In 2018, unintentional injury was found to be the leading cause of death in the US -- nearly twice as many as from cancer and heart disease combined. 

 
 
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from the founder

We agreed that real change for this issue could be achieved for students here locally, but to have a true impact it needed to involve every sector from schools to law enforcement, to community resource partners and local leaders.

Gina Godbehere / Read Full Article

 

 

Get Involved

From sharing how you are speaking up on social media with our #CareEnough tag to attending the conference or becoming a valued sponsor, explore how you’d like to get involved in the Speak Up, Stand Up, Save a Life movement in Arizona and beyond.

 

Nominate a #Differencemaker

These are the people who have made an incredible impact on you and our community. Let’s recognize them!

Volunteer with us

There’s no way we would be able to do this without our amazing volunteers. If you can help, please join us!

Become a Sponsor

Where would we be without our amazing sponsors? We have multiple packages available, please take a look!

 
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Special Thanks to our Sponsors

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