On June 7, the Mission Daybreak team presented an in-depth overview of the $20 million grand challenge and discussed the challenge’s goal to develop suicide prevention solutions that meet the diverse needs of Veterans.

Following the presentation, the team answered questions from attendees. Watch the session recording and read on for highlights from the virtual event. Also, see the presentation slides and a summary of questions and answers.



Advancing novel solutions through transformative collaboration

Suicide has no single cause, and no single strategy can end Veteran suicide. That’s why Mission Daybreak is fostering solutions across a broad spectrum of focus areas. A diversity of solutions will only be possible if a diversity of solvers — including Veterans, researchers, technologists, advocates, clinicians, health innovators, and service members — answer the call to collaborate and share their expertise.

“While there’s good ideas and good things that you could do individually, you come up with a lot more solutions and better solutions when a broader group and a diverse group is brought together… This challenge is going to bring in broader and diverse representation, subject matter expertise, and experience, and think big within that.”
Dr. Matthew Miller, Executive Director of Suicide Prevention, VA Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention

Enter Mission Daybreak by July 8

Solvers should submit detailed concept papers to Phase 1 by 4:59 p.m. EDT on July 8, 2022. Some innovators will have market-ready solutions, while others will have early concepts — in Phase 1 of Mission Daybreak, the quality of the idea and potential for viability is more critical than present-day maturity.

30 finalists will be selected to participate in a virtual accelerator, which will provide resources — from exclusive data sets to networking and mentorship — to help solvers prepare their final submissions.

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