Pata Suyemoto (Chair of LEAC)

Dr. Pata Suyemoto is a feminist scholar, writer, educator, curriculum developer, equity trainer, mental health activist, jewelry designer, and avid bicyclist. She earned her doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, focusing her research on anti-racist education and issues of race and racism.

Dr. Suyemoto is the training director for the National Asian American Mental Health Association (NAAPIMHA), where she is a master trainer for the Achieving Whole Health Program and the director of the National Asian American Pacific Islander Empowerment Network, which is a network of AAPIs with lived-experience related to mental health concerns.  She is also the associate director of equity for the Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide Prevention (MCSP), the co-chair of the Greater Boston Regional Suicide Prevention Coalition, and the founder and co-chair of the MCSP Alliance for Equity.

Dr. Suyemoto is one of the authors of Widening the Lens: Exploring the Role of Social Justice in Suicide Prevention—A Racial Equity Toolkit. She has spoken and written about being a suicide attempt survivor and her struggles with chronic depression and PTSD. She is a co-founder of The Breaking Silences Project, which is an artistic endeavor that provides education about mental health issues among Asian American young women. Dr. Suyemoto is also a member of several boards and committees, including the MCSP’s Executive Committee, the planning committee for the annual Asian American Mental Health Forum, and the Equity Advisory Board for Carelon Health. Her claim to fame is that she rode her bicycle across the country in the summer of 2012.