Veteran journalist and communications leader joins national suicide prevention organization to expand its reach and impact

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — As SAVE – Suicide Awareness Voices of Education expands its national reach, the suicide prevention nonprofit is building its communications capacity with the appointment of veteran communications strategist and journalist Heidi Raschke as director of communications and public relations.

Raschke, who joins SAVE Oct. 13, comes to the organization from MPR News, where she served as a senior producer overseeing Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Her hiring comes as SAVE continues to expand the reach of its suicide education and training, advocacy, support for suicide loss survivors and lethal means safety work in Minnesota and across the country.

Since 2024, SAVE has significantly expanded the reach of its programs, resources, and advocacy efforts across the country. Highlights of that growth include:

• Education and Training: The Green Bandana Project, SAVE’s suicide prevention training for students, has expanded into 91 schools across 30 states. At the same time, One Step Ahead, SAVE’s self-led online suicide prevention training for adults, has expanded from 65 companies with 900-plus participants trained in 2024 to 277 companies and more than 4,600 people trained today.
• Advocacy: In Minnesota, SAVE helped secure $8 million for suicide prevention barriers on high-risk bridges and in buildings and passed the Kayla’s HOPE Act, bringing suicide prevention into statewide infrastructure policy.
• Support for Suicide Loss Survivors: SAVE has expanded its reach from 125 grief packets mailed in 2024 to 3,330 in 2026, connecting thousands of survivors with resources and support following a suicide loss.
• Lethal Means Safety: SAVE’s distribution of gun locks has grown from distributing 1,000-gun locks in 2024 to more than 10,000 across all 50 states in 2026.
• Fundraising: SAVE secured a major seven-figure matching grant from the Tosa Foundation to support the organization’s continued growth and expand the reach of its suicide prevention work.

“We’re thinking intentionally about how we tell the story of this organization and connect more people with our work,” said Erich Mische, chief executive officer of SAVE. “Heidi brings an unusual combination of journalism, strategic thinking, storytelling, and leadership. She understands how to build, how to bring people together around a strategy and how to find the human stories that make complex issues matter.”

At SAVE, Raschke will lead communications and public relations strategy and help build the organization’s communications function, developing new and innovative approaches to storytelling, media relations and audience engagement as SAVE expands its reach and impact.

“I’ve spent much of my career thinking about how we tell complicated, consequential stories in ways that help people understand their world,” Raschke said. “What excites me about SAVE is both the mission and the moment. This is an organization that is growing, thinking ambitiously about its future, and reaching more people with work that saves lives. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to help build the communications strategy that carries that work forward.”

During her time at MPR News, Raschke helped lead strategy for the organization’s flagship news programs, developed new storytelling initiatives, mentored early-career journalists, and worked across the newsroom to strengthen collaboration and audience-focused journalism.

“Communications isn’t simply about telling people what an organization does,” Raschke said. “It’s about helping people understand why the work matters and giving them a reason to connect with it. SAVE has extraordinary stories to tell about prevention, education, hope, and human connection. I can’t wait to help bring those stories to more people.”

About SAVE

SAVE – Suicide Awareness Voices of Education is a national nonprofit working to prevent the tragedy of suicide through education, advocacy, lethal means safety efforts, and support for suicide loss survivors.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, call, or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.