Mehgan Sierra

Mehgan Sierra (she/her) graduated San Francisco State University with her undergraduate degree in Latino and Sexual Studies. During undergrad, she was involved in the mental health and primary care setting by volunteering at San Francisco Suicide Prevention and Clinical Martin-Baro.

After finishing undergrad, Mehgan began her career at Edgewood Center for Children and Families, a mental health non-profit organization. She worked in an array of roles and continued to grow in this area from a counselor to a community care manager, family conference facilitator, and training coordinator. While at Edgewood, Mehgan started graduate school at USF in the dual master's program, Masters of Public Health and Master of Science in Behavioral Health. Her fieldwork was at the Department of Psychiatry at UCSF in a research lab called PART (prodrome, assessment research, and treatment). There she did a qualitative study for folks with early-onset schizophrenia participating in a cognitive-based study in order to research the facilitators and barriers and access a cognitive-based app to help improve cognition.

After finishing graduate school, Mehgan managed the San Francisco Suicide Prevention hotline program where she oversaw a workforce of 250 staff and volunteers answering the 24-hour crisis suicide hotline during the pandemic. She then transitioned in 2022 to her current role as Director of Training — she oversees the agency training of clinicians, counselors and peer partners, teachers, and nurses.

Mehgan is also a trained samba dancer for a community group called Loco Bloco. The group is intergenerational and based in the Mission District. Their purpose is to provide a safe space for young women and utilize performance art to create an ancestral community in which we thrive as women of color.

• Suicide prevention
• Crisis de-escalation
• Dance

• Early onset schizophrenia and psychosis
• Compassion fatigue
• Suicide prevention
• Mental health

• University of San Francisco, MPH and MS in Behavioral Health, 2018
• San Francisco State University, BA in Latino Studies and Sexuality Studies, 2012

• Adjunct Professor in Public Health, USF
• Director of Training, Edgewood Center for Children and Families
• Hotline Manager, Felton Institute San Francisco Suicide Prevention