Suzanne Clifford

Activist, Business mentor, Change agent, Connector, Engineer, Foodie, Idea generator, Parent, Philanthropist, Policy maker, Social entrepreneur, World traveler

I am a passionate advocate for health and social justice. After working in the private sector in the pharmaceutical industry, I wanted to make a bigger impact, so I served as the director of a state government mental health and addiction prevention/treatment system for two governors. Next, I became a social entrepreneur focused on health, employment and education. After that, I worked at a large non-profit health system as the Vice President of Behavioral Health, CEO of a community mental health center, and then the Senior Vice President of Integrated Primary Care. I founded Inspiring Transformations to be a catalyst to improve health, education, employment and social outcomes by collaborating with schools, healthcare, non-profits, youth organizations, government and interfaith groups. I also serve as the Senior Advisor for Give an Hour Indiana. I am partnering with the Women’s Fund, Marion County Health Department and Give an Hour to launch a program to promote the wellbeing of girls and women in underserved communities. I am fascinated with public policy. I served on national boards and committees such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) board, National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) board, Chair of the NAMI National Children’s Policy Committee, Chair of the NAMI National Education and Information Committee, Co-chair of the NRI National Quality and Accountability Committee and the National Behavioral Health Care PTAC for The Joint Commission (JCAHO). I enjoy building innovative public-private partnerships that drive broad system transformation such as Zero Suicide for Indiana Youth, HaveHope.com and the creation of a mentally health city model. Our employment program for people with disabilities who were homeless was selected as the Lodestar Foundation/Collaboration Prize Top 30 Most Effective Non-Profit Collaborations in the US. I am passionate about improving overall wellbeing for children, parents and our world.

Promoting wellbeing especially when our brains are being bombarded with so much negative information. I am concerned about suicide rates as well as poor health, educational and economic outcomes. I am interested in collaborating to help children, parents and our society improve their overall wellbeing.

As stress, technology, nutrition, hate and other factors impact our brains, we need to rethink the way we educate youth, parent and promote overall wellbeing.

Brains, Education, Educational Neuroscience, Girls, Health, Healthcare Transformation, Job Training Programs, Mental Health, Mentoring, Parenting, Prevention, Relationships, Social Emotional Learning, Social Entrepreneurship, Social impact, Social justice, Stress, Suicide Prevention, Wellbeing, Youth

I loved watching my friend, Jill Bolte Taylor, and TED grow and inspire others. I introduced Jill to my sons who eagerly learned as much about the brain as Jill would teach them. We recognized that youth and parents needed to learn about the teenage brain, so my sons invited Jill over for a brunch that they prepared and asked her to be the keynote speaker for the first TEDx Youth Indianapolis event. We worked with youth leaders to create an amazing event including Jill’s talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzT_SBl31-s

Trying new things such as the flying trapeze, repelling down a waterfall, creating a flower out of molten glass, surfing, and cliff diving.