Introducing AFSP’s Newest Public Policy Council Member: Beverly Goldberg

Learn how you can get involved in an upcoming State Capitol Day event in your area.

Since 2009, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s National Public Policy Council has regularly convened to make recommendations on federal, state, and local policy issues for our organization, chapters and volunteers to support. The Council is comprised of AFSP National Board members, chapter leaders, behavioral health professionals, and researchers in suicide prevention.

In November of 2021, the Council welcomed Beverly Goldberg of Milwaukee, Wisconsin as its newest member. I recently spoke with Beverly about her experience as a loss survivor, a suicide prevention advocate, and an organizer with AFSP.

After losing their youngest daughter Abby in 2013 to suicide, Beverly and her family struggled to navigate the resources available to loss survivors. “If you aren’t from that world, you don’t know where to go to,” she told me. This further inspired her and her husband to get involved with AFSP to help others after a suicide loss.

Beverly attended the AFSP Advocacy Forum in Washington, D.C. in 2014. At the annual AFSP Advocacy Forum, volunteer advocates from across the country meet with representatives on Capitol Hill to share their experiences and explain the importance of legislation related to mental health and suicide prevention. “It was a great experience. You see that legislators and the people working in their offices are just like me, and you, and everybody else. You see that everybody gets a voice. You see how some offices are truly engaged and truly passionate.”

As a result of her AFSP Advocacy Forum experience, Beverly was inspired to continue suicide prevention advocacy work back in Wisconsin. “I saw it was a great way to make a difference. I thought: ‘I can do this.’”

Beverly hit the ground running by jumpstarting the AFSP Wisconsin Chapter’s advocacy work. [Find your local AFSP chapter here.] In years since, she has submitted testimony to support key suicide prevention legislation, taken part in advocacy email and phone campaigns, and met with policymakers including state legislators, members of Congress, and Governor Tony Evers.

In 2019, Beverly served as the Public Policy Chair and lead planner for AFSP Wisconsin’s first in-person State Capitol Day event. As a part of these efforts, Beverly says, the chapter sought to help Wisconsin advocates feel invited and included.

Fifty-five volunteers visited approximately 100 legislative offices at the Wisconsin State Capitol Building in Madison. As a result of this success, the AFSP Wisconsin Chapter earned an award for “Outstanding Chapter Advocacy Program.” Beverly hopes that the chapter’s State Capitol Day event will continue to grow in years to come.

I asked Beverly some questions related to her personal experience, about how anyone can make a difference, in their own communities, and beyond.

What advice would you give to a new suicide prevention advocate?

When you’re talking to an elected official – or anyone, really – try to communicate your passion. That passion can be contagious. People are receptive. You can find that common bond, that common acceptance along the way. Try to meet someone on a personal level, just as another person.

And when meeting with legislative offices, during State Capitol Day events, for instance, you don’t need to be an expert. The AFSP Public Policy Office prepares advocates before and after meetings. You won’t always know the answer to questions that come up and that’s okay. It’s a complicated subject, and you can always follow up.

What does having a #RealConvo about mental health look like to you? 

Honesty. Don’t fear having that conversation with the people you care about, no matter what it is. Hopefully there’s a good feeling and a good outcome. But have an openness to whatever needs to be discussed.

[Note: you can find tons of helpful strategies about having an open, direct conversation about mental health in our downloadable #Real Convo Guides, here.]

AFSP looks forward to the passion and perseverance that Beverly Goldberg will bring to the AFSP National Public Policy Council. In her new role as a Councilmember, she will support AFSP in its mission to save lives and bring hope to those affected by suicide.