Waterloo, IA – The Cedar Valley Mental Health Summit planning committee is proud to host Keynote Speaker, Sergeant Kevin Briggs AKA the Golden Gate Guardian at tomorrow’s Mental Health Summit.
Briggs, a retired California Highway Patrol sergeant, spent many years patrolling the Golden Gate Bridge. While on patrol, he encountered numerous individuals clinging to life by a thread – ready to jump off the bridge to what they assumed was a sudden death and ending of their pain and hopelessness.
Briggs, through his compassion, gentle voice, eye contact, and his innate ability of “listening to understand” encouraged more than 200 individuals over his career to not go over the bridge’s rail. These challenging, but rewarding efforts earned him the nickname “Guardian of the Golden Gate Bridge.” After a 23-year career with the California Highway Patrol, Briggs retired to dedicate his life to promote mental health awareness across the globe through Pivotal Points, an organization he founded.
Today, Briggs is mapping a movement as he speaks and trains others in suicide prevention, crisis management and negotiations. He shares his “Listening to Understand” skills followed up with key active listening points; his personal triad for healthy living; his RELEASE model to assist in communicating with someone in crisis and his crisis safety plan for those who may be struggling. He also discusses in depth his own personal mental health struggles. Briggs spends the majority of his time speaking/teaching at conferences, advocacy events, colleges and universities, first responder conferences, law enforcement (including FBI & Secret Service), and military bases. He also works with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), corporations, and other venues.
The Cedar Valley Mental Health Summit will be tomorrow, Friday, September 24, 2021 from 8:15am to 4:45pm at Hawkeye Community College’s Tama Hall. Briggs will be speaking from 8:30 to 10:00am with a meet and greet to follow.
See Briggs’ TED Talk, “The Bridge Between Suicide and Life” here: https://www.ted.com/talks/kevin_briggs_the_bridge_between_suicide_and_life?language=en
Learn more about the Cedar Valley Mental Health Summit at https://www.hawkeyecollege.edu/calendars/cedar-valley-mental-health-summit-2021