Christopher Jay Allen

Christopher “CJ” Allen Veteran Advocate | Suicide Prevention & Primary Prevention Specialist | Speaker | Trainer | Founder, Find the Next 6,000 Christopher “CJ” Allen is a retired U.S. military leader, suicide prevention advocate, trainer, speaker, and prevention professional whose work is centered on one fundamental belief: connection can save lives. After more than 26 years of combined military service in the U.S. Navy and South Carolina Army National Guard, CJ retired as a Master Sergeant in April 2025. His military journey began in 1988 and included service aboard the USS Wainwright (CG-28), deployment to the Mediterranean and Adriatic during the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, and a later return to military service following 9/11. As a member of the South Carolina Army National Guard, he deployed to Iraq and ultimately dedicated the latter part of his military career to resilience, suicide prevention, and integrated primary prevention. CJ has worked at the unit, state, and national levels to strengthen prevention efforts across military communities. His experience includes service with the National Guard Bureau’s Warrior Resilience and Fitness Division, suicide prevention and resilience programs, innovation initiatives, and integrated primary prevention. His work focuses on moving organizations upstream—addressing risk and protective factors before individuals and families reach a point of crisis. Beyond his military and government service, CJ is deeply involved in the broader suicide prevention community. He serves as a Suicide Prevention Manager with LivingWorks Education and has held leadership and volunteer roles supporting organizations including the American Association of Suicidology, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and other Veteran, military, mental-health, and community organizations. He is an experienced prevention educator and trainer whose training portfolio includes LivingWorks ASIST, safeTALK, Suicide to Hope, QPR, Mental Health First Aid, Resilience First Aid, Soul Shop, AFSP Talk Saves Lives, NAMI programs, and other evidence-informed approaches to suicide prevention, resilience, connectedness, and help-seeking. Find the Next 6,000 On January 1, 2026, CJ launched Find the Next 6,000, a growing movement inspired by the approximately 6,000 Veterans lost to suicide each year. But Find the Next 6,000 is not about finding 6,000 people in crisis. It is about finding people before crisis becomes their story. The initiative challenges communities to look upstream—to strengthen connection, belonging, purpose, hope, leadership, and access to support long before someone reaches their darkest moment. Its message is intentionally simple: Find one person. Start one conversation. Build one connection. CJ believes preventing Veteran suicide cannot belong solely to behavioral health professionals, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the military, or crisis services. It requires families, friends, faith communities, Veteran service organizations, employers, leaders, neighbors, and Veterans themselves working together. His approach reflects a lesson developed across decades of military leadership and prevention work: suicide prevention is ultimately about people taking care of people. Leadership Through Connection CJ’s work consistently returns to connectedness as one of the most powerful protective factors available to communities. He challenges leaders to create environments where asking for help is viewed as an act of strength rather than weakness, where people are known before they are needed, and where prevention becomes part of everyday leadership rather than something discussed only after tragedy. His philosophy can be summarized in three ideas: Connection is key. Hope can be built. One person can make a difference. Whether speaking to military leaders, Veterans, prevention professionals, faith communities, nonprofit organizations, or everyday citizens, CJ asks audiences to consider a simple question: Who is your one? Who needs a phone call? Who needs someone to listen? Who has quietly disconnected? Who needs to know they still matter? Finding the next 6,000 begins by finding the next one. Service Beyond the Uniform Retirement from military service did not end CJ’s commitment to serving others. Instead, it opened another chapter. Today, he continues working across military, Veteran, suicide prevention, nonprofit, and community spaces to build partnerships and strengthen prevention systems. He speaks about suicide prevention, primary prevention, leadership, hope, connectedness, help-seeking, postvention, Veteran suicide, and the responsibility communities share for creating environments where people can thrive. CJ’s professional work is deeply connected to a personal mission shaped by decades of military service, the people he has served alongside, and the understanding that prevention is not simply a program—it is a culture. His goal is ambitious but deliberately human: Change the culture surrounding Veteran suicide one relationship, one conversation, and one person at a time. Because behind every statistic is a person. Behind every person is a story. And every story is worth fighting for. It Matters. You Matter. Christopher “CJ” Allen Veteran Advocate for Suicide Prevention Founder, Find the Next 6,000 Suicide Prevention & Primary Prevention Specialist | Speaker | Trainer Connection is Key. Hope Matters. Find the Next One.