Professional Bio

Shelby Rowe is the program manager for the Suicide Prevention Resource Center at the OU Health Science Center, and the 2016 Chickasaw Nation Dynamic Woman of the Year. A public health professional, crisis intervention expert, and suicide attempt survivor, Ms. Rowe has been a leader in the suicide prevention movement at the local, state and national level since 2007. 

Ms. Rowe is the elected secretary for the board of directors for the American Association of Suicidology and a board member for RI International. She currently serves on the American Indian/Alaska Native Task Force and the Care Transitions Advisory Group for the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, the Clinical Advisory Board for Crisis Text Line,  and is the co-chair for the Lived Experience Committee for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. In 2019, she co-founded the Indigenous Peoples’ Committee for the American Association of Suicidology, and in 2020, she was added as a faculty member for the Zero Suicide Institute.

Ms. Rowe is an experienced public speaker and regularly travels across the country to speak at mental health and suicide prevention conferences and trainings. Her story of recovery can be found on the Live Through This website, and she was recently featured in People Magazine and in a series of articles published by USA Today. She is a member of Matriarch, and Oklahoma-based intertribal women’s leadership group, and plays and active role in Oklahoma City’s urban indigenous community. Ms. Rowe holds a B.A. in Sociology and Philosophy, and an M.B.A.