Her Story
About Lavida
Lavida Davison is the Executive Director of the Suicide and Crisis Center of North Texas, where she leads with a mission-centered focus on suicide prevention, crisis response, and community education across North Texas. Since joining the organization in January, she has guided daily operations, including oversight of survivor support groups, crisis line responsiveness, and coordination of community speaking engagements. In this role, she works to ensure that individuals in crisis and those affected by suicide loss receive compassionate, timely, and consistent support.
In addition to her executive leadership responsibilities, Lavida serves in a dual capacity through the Teens Can Survive program, where she engages directly with students from elementary through high school. She conducts behavioral health screenings, educates young people on suicide warning signs, and emphasizes the importance of peer awareness and support. She also works closely with parents, schools, and community organizations, serving as a trusted voice and resource for suicide prevention education and awareness. Her approach centers on equipping communities with the tools to recognize risk, respond appropriately, and foster open conversations about mental health.
Lavida’s commitment to this work is deeply personal. After the loss of her nephew to suicide in February 2024, she became even more dedicated to breaking stigma and expanding access to life-saving resources. She often speaks to the reality that suicide affects individuals across all cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds, reinforcing the urgency of prevention and awareness. As the first Black woman to serve as Executive Director of the Suicide and Crisis Center since its founding in 1969, she brings both lived experience and professional expertise to a role defined by advocacy, compassion, and a commitment to saving lives.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Lavida
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute a lot of my success to my mom. My parents divorced when I was young, but because of her strength, her love, her caring, her pouring into me, and her always helping others, I saw that and it motivated me. I saw her just working hard and realizing, you know, her struggles, and all of that motivated me to just keep pushing and being strong. I was the first one in my family to graduate college - I have two older siblings - so that was one thing I always wanted to do within my family.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I ever received was from a manager who told me once that a pen can either hurt or help you. What she meant by that was that whatever she wrote down about me could be positive or be negative, and that right there could go a long way. So I've always carried that with me, and I always want to make a lasting impression, and I always wanted to be positive. The way I look at it is that you don't know what people are going through at this time, and so you could be that person that, you know, your hello, your goodbye, your response could be how they react throughout the day. It's sad that that's where we are, but yeah, I like to make a lasting impression on people.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would tell them whatever you strive to be or strive to do, put your all into it. Whatever you want to do, if you feel like you don't have to get paid to do it, to me that's what you were called to do. Personally, right now, what I'm doing, I don't have to get paid. I talk to people all the time about suicide, I talk to people about relationships. I love it, I thrive in that. I tell them don't give up, keep pushing. Age has no limit on how far you can go or how old you are or when you can start a new path. It doesn't matter, just keep pushing and keep striving to be the best person that you can be.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the challenges is because we are a non-profit, and a lot of people make this financial, so we're seeing that as a struggle. Also, with me working with the youth, because of the new house bill that came in the state of Texas, the struggle was me going into the schools and continuing to do the screening with the kids because of the new house bill. My workaround for that was that I was still able to go into the schools and speak to the students about suicide and do the screenings. It's not really overwhelming where I can't do this, it's just understanding this role, understanding your focus and seeing where you are, and coming in every day and not taking it home with me. I do what I can while I'm there, leave work at work, and then come home and be present as a mom and wife.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
What I value most right now is my faith. My faith is really strong, and that helps me to be able to be mindful of how I speak to people, whether that's positive or negative, because I know conflict is inevitable. There will be conflict, but it's my response and how I handle that that's important. Because of my faith, I want people to see me in a certain way. I don't want people to see the negative or the old version - and I call it the old version because there should be a change in a person as you grow - and I want people to see that positive in me.
Keep Exploring
More Influential Women · Texas
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.