The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law

Lidia Bernik

Lidia S. Bernik, M.H.S. serves as director of network development for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Lifeline), a national network of crisis centers accessed through a series of toll-free numbers, which is funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Lidia joined the Lifeline as network development coordinator in July 2006 and became the division's director in April 2008. She is responsible for ensuring that the Lifeline maintains an adequate number of crisis centers across the country to sustain optimal network performance.

Lidia has appeared twice on Noticieros Televisa, a Spanish TV news show, as well as on Maln Fals Dilogo de Costa a Costa, a Spanish TV talk show, to talk about suicide prevention and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. She was also featured on WLIW21s award-winning mental health series, Healthy Minds.

Prior to joining the Lifeline, Lidia worked in Washington DC as program coordinator for the Suicide Prevention Action Network (SPAN-USA), a national suicide prevention organization focused on education and advocacy. She graduated from Cornell University with Distinction in 2000 with a Bachelor of Science in Human Service Studies and obtained her Master of Health Science degree in Mental Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2003. She is currently pursuing her MBA in Health Care Administration part-time at Baruch Colleges Zicklin School of Business. Having lost her sister to suicide in 2000, Lidias commitment to suicide prevention is both personal and professional.