| Karen Adams Training Manager Appriss Insights Karen Adams is a training manager for Appriss Insights, providing training on Appriss technology solutions, such as VINE (Victim Information and Notification Everyday), to victims, service providers, advocates, law enforcement, and criminal justice professionals. Her combined 20 years of experience as an administrator, trainer, facilitator, and mediator complement her passion for educating others on victim resources and services. In addition to managing the Appriss Insights training program, Ms. Adams speaks regularly at national victim services and law enforcement conferences. | |
| 0 | Julie Aldrich Grant Program Specialist Office on Violence Against Women Julie Aldrich has worked in the justice field for 15 years, beginning in the court system and for the last four years as a grant program specialist at the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) for the Justice for Families Program that focuses on courts, training, civil legal services, and supervised visitation for families that have experienced domestic violence. At OVW, Ms. Aldrich has worked on national projects that focus on family court enhancements for victims of domestic violence, training for custody evaluators assessing families with a history of domestic violence, and issues in navigating supervised visitation and exchange services for families experiencing domestic violence. |
| Jeanne Allert Founder & Executive Director The Samaritan Women Jeanne Allert is the founder and director of The Samaritan Women, a national, faith-based organization providing restorative care to survivors of domestic sex trafficking and the Institute for Shelter Care, which serves as a research, training and equipping entity to help establish new shelter programs and facilitate qualified research to advance national standards of care and best practices. In 2015, Ms. Allert co-authored Guide for Residential Service Providers for Human Trafficking Survivors with the U.S. Department of Justice. In 2016, she authored Funding Landscape for Residential Service Provider Agencies for Victims of Domestic Sex Trafficking and the national survey report in 2017. In 2018, Ms. Allert helped establish the National Trafficking Sheltered Alliance, which serves as a trade association for shelter programs across the country. | |
| Katie Amber Founder/CEO End Coercive Control USA Katie Amber is a survivor and certified ADA advocate with lived experience in coercive control and is the Founder of End Coercive Control USA (ECCUSA). ECCUSA is dedicated to restoring the agency and dignity of adult and child survivors of coercive control and is focused on changing the way the country understands, responds to, and prevents intimate partner violence. As a survivor of childhood domestic violence, sexual assault, kidnapping, and severe trauma, Ms. Amber knows the mental, physical, and emotional consequences of living with physical and non-physical forms of violence and coercive control. | |
| Jane Anderson Attorney Advisor AEquitas Jane Anderson is an attorney advisor at AEquitas. Prior to joining AEquitas, Ms. Anderson served as an assistant state attorney with Florida's 11th Judicial Circuit and has tried many of the state's first human trafficking cases. In her role as a founding member of the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Human Trafficking Unit and Task Force, Ms. Anderson developed policies and procedures to better identify and provide services to trafficking victims while ensuring offender accountability. Before focusing on human trafficking, Ms. Anderson served as the Chief of Litigation for the Misdemeanor Domestic Violence Unit, where she trained new attorneys and oversaw the prosecution of domestic violence, stalking, and violations of civil protection orders. Throughout her career, Ms. Anderson has prosecuted all types of felony level crimes. Ms. Anderson provides trainings and technical assistance related to investigations, case analysis, and trial strategy and develops resources, publications, and training curricula. | |
| Rachel Apfelbaum Program Manager International Association of Chiefs of Police Rachel Apfelbaum is a project manager for the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), where she aims to enhance law enforcement’s response to violence against women. Previously, Ms. Apfelbaum was as a project assistant for the National Law Enforcement Leadership Institute on Violence Against Women and later as project coordinator for IACP’s Trauma Informed Sexual Assault Investigation Training Initiative. Ms. Apfelbaum interned with the Alexandria Domestic Violence Program as a court advocate, where she assisted victims filing for protective orders and acted as a mediator between victims and the court system. Additionally, she was a shelter supervisor at the Domestic Violence Program, where she assisted in meeting the needs of victims and answered the 24-hour hotline. In 2012, Ms. Apfelbaum interned with the Batterer’s Intervention Program in Harrisonburg, VA where she worked with perpetrators of domestic violence and victims by assisting with the facilitation of group discussions and classes. | |
| Juan Carlos Arean Program Director, Children and Youth Programs Futures Without Violence Juan Carlos Arean is an internationally-recognized activist, public speaker, trainer and facilitator, and published author. Since 1991, he has worked to engage men across different cultures to become better fathers, intimate partners and allies to end domestic violence and achieve gender equity. Mr. Arean works as a program director at Futures Without Violence. | |
| Maureen Astley Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Franklin County Prosecutor's Office Maureen Astley is a senior deputy prosecuting attorney with the Franklin County Prosecutor's Office in Pasco, WA. Since 2011, Ms. Astley has exclusively prosecuted felonies and arguing a case in front of the Washington State Supreme Court. Ms. Astley's cases largely focus on crimes against children, sexual assault, sex trafficking, domestic violence, and violent crimes against persons. She exclusively prosecutes all the Failure to Register as a Sex Offender crimes for her jurisdiction. Ms. Astley is a member of the Benton/Franklin County Sex Offender Risk Assessment and Accountability Committee, as well as the Department of Corrections Work Release Screening Committee and the Tri-Cities Coalition Against Trafficking. | |
| Branville Bard Commissioner Law Enforcement Action Partnership Branville Bard began his law enforcement career as an officer in the Philadelphia Police Department. For over 25 years, Commissioner Bard served as the commanding officer of the Education and Training Division, captain of the 22nd District, and police inspector. In 2015, Commissioner Bard became chief of police and director of Public Safety with the Philadelphia Housing Authority which included outfitting all officers with body cameras, tightening patrols, and introducing a program which encouraged Philadelphia residents to become police officers. In 2016, Bard's community-policing led to a 41% drop in Philadelphia property crime. In 2017, Bard was appointed Commissioner of the Cambridge Police Department, where he currently serves. Commissioner Bard teaches criminal justice at Eastern University, public administration at Post University, and is a member of the political science graduate faculty at Valdosta University. He authored the book Racial Profiling: Towards Simplicity and Eradication and numerous academic publications. | |
| Margaret Bassett Deputy Director Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Margaret Bassett is the deputy director and director of the Expert Witness Program at the Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault (IDVSA) at the Univ. of Texas at Austin. Ms. Bassett provides consultation and training on the use of expert witnesses in cases involving interpersonal crimes. She has worked in the field of domestic violence and sexual assault for more than 30 years in a variety of settings, most recently in the criminal justice system working with victims of intimate partner violence felony crimes. Ms. Bassett testifies as an expert witness in criminal and civil court cases and is an adjunct professor at the Univ. of Texas at Austin. | |
| Heather Bellino CEO Texas Advocacy Project, Inc. Heather Bellino is the Chief Executive Officer at Texas Advocacy Project, Inc., an agency whose mission is to end dating and domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking in Texas as well as empowering survivors through free legal services and access to the justice system and advances prevention through public outreach and education. In 2005, Ms. Bellino has been involved in efforts to help survivors of violence find safety and hope for themselves and their families and oversees the agency's operations, funding, and service delivery. Ms. Bellino participates on a number of committees, such as the Texas Council on Family Violence’s Public Policy Committee. She was also a member of the PROJECT SAFE Expert Panel born from Senate Bill 434 Task Force. In 2021, Ms. Bellino was appointed to the Office of the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force. | |
| Ruhi Bengali Associate Research Director Everytown for Gun Safety Ruhi Bengali is the Associate Research Director at Everytown for Gun Safety and leads their research efforts on the intersection of intimate partner violence and guns. Ms. Bengali has years of experience in policy research and data analysis on issue areas ranging from gun violence, immigration reform to affordable housing. | |
| Bronwyn Blake Legal Director Texas Advocacy Project Bronwyn Blake is the legal director of the Texas Advocacy Project and the founder of their Teen Justice Initiative, a program that advocates for teen victims of dating violence. Ms. Blake has been featured on America's Most Wanted and Court TV as an expert on teen dating violence and has previously clerked at the Family Justice Division of the Travis County DA's Office and at Break the Cycle, a nonprofit in D.C. | |
| Donna Bloom Director of Legal Services Denton County Friends of the Family Donna Bloom has more than 24 years of experience in the domestic violence field, having served as an executive director, community educator, and client advocate. In 2008, Ms. Bloom became the director of Legal Services, where she provides civil legal services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Additionally, Ms. Bloom is seen as an expert in the field throughout Texas, and is a sought-after speaker and trainer on the complex issues associated with the intersection between domestic violence, child abuse, and neglect. | |
| Justin Boardman Retired Detective Boardman Training & Consulting Justin Boardman is a retired police detective from the West Valley City Police Department in Utah. Det. Boardman, along with Donna Kelly, ESQ., co-authored a Trauma-Informed Victim Interview protocol for adult victims of sexual assault. This guideline uses the Neurobiology of Trauma to gain additional information to be used in an investigation and has been shown to increase prosecutions along with procedure changes. After retirement, Det. Boardman has focused on culture change within the community and presents and consults nationally and internationally on a variety of subjects. | |
| Heidi Bonner Associate Professor East Carolina University Heidi Bonner is an associate professor and department chair in the Department of Criminal Justice at East Carolina University. Dr. Bonner's research focuses on the administration of the criminal justice process, with an emphasis on police decision-making and the effects of policies and programs on police operations, including intervention in intimate partner violence. Dr. Bonner is a senior fellow at the John F. Finn Institute for Public Safety and serves on the Institute’s Board of Trustees as well as on the Board of Directors for the Center for Family Violence Prevention. | |
| Patrick Brady Asst. Professor Dept. of Criminology, University of West Georgia Patrick Brady is an assistant professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of West Georgia. After working for a number of years with justice-involved juveniles, Mr. Brady's work focuses on improving community and justice system responses to stalking, domestic and sexual violence, and reducing burnout among criminal justice professionals. | |
| Barbie Brashear Executive Director Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council Barbie Brashear is the executive director for the Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, a non-profit organization that works to coordinate a community response to domestic violence in Harris County, Texas. Ms. Brashear is an expert witness in domestic violence cases and an expert trainer in Domestic Violence Dynamics, Safety Planning and Lethality Assessment, Screening and Assessing for Domestic Violence in the Healthcare Setting, Understanding Risk Assessment for Battering Intervention, Coordinated Community Response, Case Management with survivors, Trauma Informed Care with Survivors, Self-Care for Professionals, Domestic Violence Impact on Children, The Intersection of Domestic Violence and Homelessness, Understanding Domestic Violence and Mental Illness, Crisis Intervention for Survivors, Boundaries and Stress. Ms. Brasher has presented, provided case management, and conducted training to hundreds of law enforcement professionals, health care professionals, advocates, social service providers, criminal justice system professionals, teachers, students, and the general public. | |
| Larry Braunstein Partner Braunstein & Zuckerman Esqs. Lawrence Braunstein is a partner in the law firm of Braunstein & Zuckerman, Esqs. Mr. Braunstein regularly lectures as an invited speaker, both nationally and internationally, in the areas of child sexual abuse, physical abuse and shaken baby, child custody litigation, expert witness testimony, courtroom psychology, trial procedures, and on various other criminal, family, and matrimonial law topics to judges, attorneys, medical and mental health professionals, law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, and child protection service personnel. In 2004, Mr. Braunstein was the only defense attorney invited by the FBI to participate as a member of the working group to plan the International Online Child Sexual Victimization Symposium, and to present to both the working group and the Symposium. Mr. Braunstein has conducted hundreds of trainings with police departments across the county, with the FBI Behavioral Analysis Units and serves as faculty of the New York City Police Department Homicide Investigator Course. | |
| Jessica Brazeal Chief Programs Officer New Friends New Life Jessica Brazeal is the chief programs officer at New Friends New Life, an agency that serves trafficked and sexually exploited women and children. Ms. Brazeal is a licensed professional counselor – supervisor, EMDR certified, and an EMDR consultant in training. Ms. Brazeal has provided therapeutic services to women and children victims of domestic violence, sex trafficking, and sexual exploitation for over 10 years, as well as provided expert testimony in both criminal and civil courts in Texas. Ms. Brazeal has a background of speaking extensively in the community regarding the issue of domestic violence, sex trafficking, and trauma’s impact on the brain. Ms. Brazeal has also been trained in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Trauma Focused – Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics. | |
| Khara Breeden Founder & CEO Texas Forensic Nurse Examiners: Forensic Center of Excellence Khara Breeden is the CEO of Texas Forensic Nurse Examiners: Forensic Center of Excellence, and was challenged to aid in closing the gap in medical forensic services for victims of violence by developing a collaborative approach. The Forensic Center is a community-based forensic nursing program that responds to 38 locations throughout Harris and surrounding counties and includes an adult forensic interviewing program and is continually seeking creative ways to improve outcomes for victims of violence. | |
| Christie Brungardt Co-Founder & Volunteer Education & Prevention Specialist Jana's Campaign, Inc. Christie Brungardt is an emeritus professor of Leadership Studies at Fort Hays State University. Together, Dr. Brungardt and her husband Dr. Curt Brungardt have 51 combined years of service to the University. On July 3, 2008, their lives changed forever. Their daughter Jana, a 25 year-old law student at Kansas University, was murdered by her ex-boyfriend. Since then, they have been active in the effort to reduce gender violence nationally. They established Jana's Campaign, which is a national prevention education organization with the single mission of reducing gender and relationship violence. In honor of Jana, and other victims and survivors, Jana's Campaign delivers educational programs that prevent domestic/dating/sexual violence and stalking. | |
| Jason Buckner Victim Services Program Manager Office of the Governor, Criminal Justice Division Jason Buckner is a native Texan who returned home after serving for five years as a Non-Commissioned Officer in the U.S Army. Mr. Buckner's past work history includes assignments with both the Texas Veterans Commission and the Department of Public Safety. Mr. Buckner serves as the state VOCA and VAWA administrator, and has been committed to improving essential services for victims in the state of Texas. He has been with Governor’s Office since 2011 and has worked with Homeland Security and Criminal Justice Grants in various roles during this time. | |
| Becky Bullard Senior Director of Programs Metro Nashville Office of Family Safety Becky Owens Bullard is the senior director of Programs for the Nashville Office of Family Safety (OFS) where she oversees the work of OFS programs and manages citywide multidisciplinary teams examining domestic & sexual violence high-risk cases, strangulation, firearms dispossession, human trafficking, and fatality review. Ms. Bullard is also a consultant for OVC TTAC on multidisciplinary collaboration, leadership, and the intersections of human trafficking & domestic & sexual violence. Previously, Ms. Bullard created & directed the Denver Anti-Trafficking Alliance, a multidisciplinary collaborative leading the response to human trafficking in Denver, CO. Ms. Bullard’s work extends nationally to her time at Polaris & the National Human Trafficking Hotline where she trained national and international audiences & created the Human Trafficking Power & Control Wheel. Ms. Bullard has authored articles published by the NCADV and the Domestic Violence Report. | |
| Matt Cain Lieutenant Denton Police Department Matt Cain has worked for the Denton Police Department for 22 years. Lt. Cain has helped to create a Domestic Violence High Risk Team while he was serving as the supervisor for the department’s child abuse and domestic violence units. Lt. Cain promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in 2018 and is currently assigned as a shift commander. | |
| Jason Campo Assistant District Attorney Cameron County Prosecutor's Office Jason Campo has been an assistant district attorney since December, 2015 in Cameron County, TX, and currently serves as a felony prosecutor in charge of the Family Violence Unit, a position he has held since November, 2016. Mr. Campo serves as a board member for the Salvation Army of South Texas and chairs the Board of Directors of the Valley AIDS Council. He has worked to combat family violence in many different forms, including initiating the Cameron Co. Domestic Violence Task Force and serving as a trainer on the use of expert witnesses in family violence cases through the Institute for Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault at UT Austin’s Steve Hicks School of Social Work. Mr. Campo also presents on issues related to challenges and successes in prosecuting domestic violence cases and the use of expert witnesses. | |
| Christine Cesa Survivor Advocate Dignity Health/CASTLA Christine Cesa is a survivor of the commercial sexual exploitation of children and certified in the Ending the Game curriculum and a certified instructor who meets with local law enforcement to develop a curriculum that will be used to train law enforcement throughout California. Ms. Cesa also partners with area Los Angeles anti-trafficking organizations. Ms. Cesa is an advocate and trainer for human trafficking, gender-based violence, the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, at-risk issues pertaining to girls and women and the need for care and support. Over the last three years, Ms. Cesa has trained numerous groups throughout the United States including foster care parents, high school students, various professional groups including social workers and medical professionals, faith communities, graduate schools, senators and collaborated with law enforcement. | |
| Sulan Chang Program Director Mosaic Family Services Sulan Chang is the Program Director of Victim Services at Mosaic Family Services, a safe haven for survivors of human trafficking and family violence. Ms. Chang has over ten years of dedicated experience in intensive case and program management, working with survivors from diverse backgrounds, including labor and sex trafficking, foreign nationals and US citizens, and all genders. Ms. Chang provides professional training, community education, and technical assistance for local and national organizations, events, and conferences on the dynamics and intersectionality of human trafficking, family violence, trauma-informed care, and other related topics. Mosaic Family Services provides shelter, legal, counseling, case management, and other support services. Mosaic is also a founder and member of the North Texas Anti-Trafficking Task Force, the North Texas Coalition Against Human Trafficking, and part of the Freedom Network USA, the nation’s largest coalition working to ensure that trafficked persons have access to justice, safety, and opportunity. | |
| Martina Chesonis Director of Communications Service Women's Action Network (SWAN) Martina Chesonis works as the Director of Communications for the non-profit advocacy group, the Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN). SWAN is a national, non-partisan organization and member-driven community network advocating for the individual and collective needs of service women and women veterans. To date, SWAN has played a major role in opening all military jobs to service women, holding sex offenders accountable in the military justice system, eliminating barriers to disability claims for those who have experienced military sexual trauma, and expanding access to a broad range of reproductive healthcare services for military women. In addition to her work at SWAN, Captain Chesonis is also the Administrator for the Military Women's Coalition and a Captain in the US Air Force Reserves. | |
| Lauren Cisneros Chief of the Protective Order Division Travis County Attorney's Office: Protective Order Division Lauren Cisneros is currently chief of the Protective Order Division in Travis County. After passing the Texas Bar in November 2012, Ms. Cisneros began working for the Travis County Attorney’s Office in January of 2013, and is in her eighth year with the Family Violence Division. Ms. Cisneros also serves on the Travis County Family Violence Task Force and leads the Travis County Supervisors Committee. | |
| Micala Clark Legal Counsel Texas Forensic Nurse Examiners Micala Clark is currently licensed to practice law in the State of Texas and works for the Texas Forensic Nurse Examiners as their legal counsel, where she assists survivors of family violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking navigate the criminal justice system and provides legal advocacy services. As an Assistant District Attorney, Ms. Clark did a rotation in the Family Criminal Law Division working with survivors of family violence. She spent a majority of her time as an Assistant District Attorney in the Sex Crimes Division seeking justice for survivors of Human Trafficking, Sexual Assault, and Child Exploitation. Ms. Clark has tried cases involving victims of sexual assault and has worked extensively with law enforcement in filing Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation cases. | |
| Carvana Cloud Executive Director Community Empowerment Solutions Carvana Cloud is the executive director of Community Empowerment Solutions, a legal services collaborative designed to support and empower victims and communities affected by crime. As a former prosecutor, Ms. Cloud structured and managed the Special Victims Bureau of the Harris Co. District Attorney’s Office. Ms. Cloud is committed to improving public safety by envisioning innovative strategies designed to ensure victim safety and offender accountability specifically in regards domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking crimes. Ms. Cloud’s litigation experience informed the creation of several homicide prevention initiatives such as the Harris Co. Domestic Abuse Response Team and the Cultural Outreach Program, systems-based advocacy programs designed to provide crisis intervention, victim stabilization, and safety planning to survivors in a trauma-informed manner. Ms. Cloud frequently trains on strangulation, the role of expert witness testimony, and the importance of culturally-specific advocacy in criminal investigations and prosecutions. | |
| Steven Cobb Anti-Money Laundering Officer CIBC Steven Cobb is an Anti-Money Laundering officer at CIBC Bank USA. Mr. Cobb serves as the Enhanced Due Diligence Team lead within the Financial Crimes Compliance department, where he oversees the establishment of new client relationships ensuring all Anti-Money Laundering/Know Your Customer requirements are met. Mr. Cobb is a certified Anti-Money Laundering specialist and a member of the Illinois Bar. | |
| Michael Crumrine Sergeant Austin Police Department Michael Crumrine is a Sergeant with the Austin Texas Police Department with over thirty-two years of law enforcement experience, he is currently a sergeant in the Child Abuse Unit. Sgt. Crumrine began his investigative career in the Sex Crimes Unit where he investigated sexually related offenses against adult victims. His investigative career includes being a detective in both the Homicide and the Sex Offender Apprehension and Registration Units. Sergeant Crumrine is the current President of the Lesbian and Gay Peace Officers Association - Austin, the first and only LGBTQ+ Peace Officers Association in Texas. He continues to create training and policies for the Austin Police Department and was instrumental in the department’s adoption of a gender-neutral affidavit which is a step towards ending gender bias and providing victims some amount of anonymity in public documents. Sergeant Crumrine continues to consult nationally in the field of sexual and intimate partner violence. | |
| Kristine Cruz Legal Program Director Mosaic Family Services Kristine Cruz is the Legal Program director at Mosaic Family Services. Prior to completing law school, Ms. Cruz completed a post-graduate fellowship at Polaris in Washington D.C. Before coming to Mosaic as a staff attorney, Ms. Cruz completed a Fellowship where she practiced constitutional and immigration law, challenging discriminatory immigration laws in federal court. | |
| Ramona Curtis Director of Diversity Outreach Programs Tulsa Community College Ramona Curtis is the director of Diversity Outreach Programs at Tulsa Community College with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education industry. Ms. Curtis has experience in Community Engagement, Student Development, Community Corrections, Adult Education, and Criminal Justice. | |
| Kim D'Avignon Assistant Criminal District Attorney Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney's Office Kim D'Avignon is an assistant criminal district attorney in the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office, and is currently heading up the new Adult Sexual Assault Team which began in 2019. Ms. D'Avignon has worked as an ACDA since 2001 where she has been assigned to various departments including Family Violence, Narcotics, and Crimes Against Children. Ms. D'Avignon is board certified in Criminal Law and has been a chief in the office since 2015. | |
| Heather Daley Hotline Advocate Abused Deaf Women's Advocacy Services (ADWAS) Heather Daley is a hotline advocate for National Deaf Domestic Violence Hotline at Abused Deaf Women’s Advocacy Services (ADWAS). ADWAS is the #1 Deaf DV/SA agency in the U.S. that provides deaf hotline services. Ms. Daley has been in the DV/SA field for more than two years. Ms. Daley is profoundly Deaf and uses ASL as her first language. As a hotline advocate, she has worked with a lot of deaf survivors who struggled to find resources, shelters, and support due to communication barriers. Through the Deaf Hotline, Ms. Daley provides comfort to deaf survivors and helps them navigate the struggles within the deaf community. | |
| Heather Davies Project Specialist Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center, Inc. Heather Davies is the project specialist for National Training and Technical Assistance at the Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center in Amesbury, MA. Ms. Davies works with communities around the country to implement the Domestic Violence High Risk Team Model and the Danger Assessment for Law Enforcement. Before joining the Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center, Ms. Davies worked for five years at Casa Myrna as the coordinator of SafeLink, the Massachusetts statewide domestic violence crisis hotline. Ms. Davies began her career as an attorney and she practiced law as a civil litigator for 11 years prior to joining Casa Myrna. | |
| Brittany Davis Coordinator, Gender & Family Justice Center for Court Innovation Brittany Davis is the senior program manager for Gender and Family Justice at the Center for Court Innovation. Ms. Davis provides expert assistance to courts and communities across the country that seek to enhance their response to gender-based violence issues. Ms. Davis also helped to coordinate Project SAFE, an OVW-funded initiative aimed at enhancing services for criminalized Black women who were survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, and recently worked on a team that developed an abusive partner intervention curriculum for court-mandated individuals in New York City. Prior to her work at the Center, Ms. Davis was an applied research fellow at Polaris, a leading nonprofit that works to combat and prevent human trafficking, and also a social work intern at the Legal Aid Society’s Exploitation Intervention Project, where she worked on a team providing holistic defense services to individuals with a history of commercial sex involvement and/or trafficking victimization. | |
| Kaylin Dawson Sexual Assault Nurse Coordinator, RN, BSN, SANE-A, NYSAFE Albany Medical Center Kaylin Dawson is the sexual assault nurse coordinator for Albany Medical Center and has been an ER nurse for 15 years and an examiner for over 13 years. She is nationally certified in the Adult Sexual Assault Patient and is NYSDOH certified in the Adult/Adolescent SA patient. Ms. Dawson currently manages a forensic program of 13 examiners that see all victims of violence including sexual assault, child abuse/maltreatment, human trafficking, and adult victims of violence. Ms. Dawson is a member of the Albany County SART, The NYS Justice Center Task Force, Albany County Child Fatality Review Team, the Albany County Multi-Disciplinary Team, Multi-Disciplinary Policy and Planning Committee and the Albany County Safe Harbor Task Force. She has attended specialized training for the care of the forensic patient including the adult and pediatric sexual assault, human trafficking, child abuse, forensic investigations, and trial preparation courses. | |
| Raquel DeHerrera Project Coordinator Red Wind Consulting Raquel DeHerrera works for Red Wind Consulting, Inc. and is of Taos Pueblo, Chiricahua Apache, and Mexican descent. Ms. DeHerrera is a trainer for the National Tribal Advocate Center where she co-facilitates the 40-Hour Sexual Assault Training Institute that provides training to build the critical framework for tribal sexual abuse advocates to effectively and appropriately respond to sexual assault survivors in their communities. Ms. DeHerrera also has provided webinars on documentation within tribal transitional housing programs, safety planning in a transitional housing program, education groups, and decolonizing trauma. Ms. DeHerrera has worked with Tribal housing authorities and Native programs nationally with: strategic planning, capacity building, trauma-informed care, violence, collaboration, policy and protocol development, and harm reduction. Ms. DeHerrera has also presented at Red Wind’s Creating Sister Space: Creating an Interconnected Web of Support on decolonizing trauma work and safety planning in a transitional housing program. | |
| Krista Del Gallo Policy Manager Texas Council on Family Violence Krista Del Gallo is a Policy Manager at the Texas Council on Family Violence working enhance systems’ response and expand relief and options for survivors of domestic violence with focus on immigration, housing and economic stability, child custody and health. Ms. Del Gallo has been working in the anti-domestic and sexual violence fields since 1994 in numerous capacities including direct advocacy with adult survivors, their children and families, hotline advocacy and community outreach and awareness efforts. | |
| Oscar Delgado Training & Field Building Lead Collective Liberty Oscar Delgado is the training and field building lead at Collective Liberty, and has worked in anti- human trafficking efforts in various capacities and roles across the U.S. and Mexico. Mr. Delgado has coordinated with government, NGOs, and law enforcement for trainings and creating survivor-centered, trauma-informed responses over the past 12 years. Prior to joining Collective Liberty, Mr. Delgado was the co-director of a National Anti-Trafficking Prevention Program in Mexico that was used in 22 Mexican States, created regional anti-trafficking campaigns in schools and communities, and conducted research on trafficking patterns between the United States and Mexico. He has also conducted trainings for the Mexican Anti-Trafficking Hotline, major Mexican airlines, law enforcement, and hospitals in Mexico and the U.S., and assisted in training the first group of hotline responders for the Mexican National Hotline in partnership with the Mexican National Supreme Court and Consejo Ciudadano. | |
| Wilma Dennis Advocate Abused Deaf Women's Advocacy Services (ADWAS) Wilma Dennis is an advocate at Abused Deaf Women Advocacy Services (ADWAS). ADWAS is the #1 Deaf DV/SA agency in the U.S. that has supportive housing for mothers and children. Ms. Dennis has been in the DV/SA field for almost three years and is Deaf, with ASL as her native language. Ms. Dennis helps survivors navigate through the complexities of the legal systems, understand their rights as a survivor, and helps them have a safer and stable future. | |
| Michael Denton Hon. Judge (ret.) Mike Denton has served Travis County for more than 30 years, first as a young lawyer prosecuting offenders in our County courts; later as the Director of the Trial Division for the Travis County Attorney’s Office, and; for the past 20 years, as Judge for Travis County’s domestic violence court (County Court-at-Law #4). Bringing passion and commitment to this service, Judge Denton's advocacy began during his time as a volunteer for Austin’s (then) Rape Crisis Center, answering crisis calls and visiting the hospital to help survivors and family members. In the 1990s, Judge Denton was Co-Chair of the Austin-Travis County Domestic Violence Task Force. Working across agency lines, including law enforcement and non-profit organizations, the Task Force reformed how Travis County approached domestic violence, including the creation of a specialty court for Domestic Violence. | |
| Kaiti Dinges Executive Director Jana's Campaign, Inc. Kaiti Dinges is the executive director of Jana's Campaign, Inc., a national education and violence prevention organization with the single mission of reducing gender and relationship violence. Ms. Dinges has been deeply involved in the gender-based violence prevention field for a little over five years and works with thousands of students and citizens educating them on healthy (and unhealthy) relationship behaviors, and how to be active bystanders. | |
| Emily Dixon Assistant Criminal District Attorney Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney's Office Emily Dixon is an assistant criminal district attorney in the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney's (TCDA) Office. Ms. Dixon has worked in the TCDA's office since 2014 and has been assigned to misdemeanor, Felony, and the Special Victim's Unit. She is currently the assistant chief of the Adult Sexual Assault Team. | |
| Dennis Domagas Senior Police Officer Houston Police Department Dennis Domagas is a senior police office who is currently assigned to the Differential Response Team (DRT) in the Houston Police Department’s Vice Division. DRT is a team of police officers that utilize non-traditional policing methods and practice Problem-Oriented Policing with Community-Oriented Policing to improve the quality of life in the community. The Vice Division investigates crimes involving prostitution, human trafficking, gambling, sexually-oriented business enforcement, and Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code violations. Working on the DRT for the Vice Division, Officer Domagas’ duties and responsibilities are to conduct inspections of business establishments for compliance with state codes, county regulations and municipal ordinances. Officer Domagas is a certified instructor and has taught a variety of subjects, including Human Trafficking Awareness, to law enforcement departments and agencies, as well as to civilian groups and organizations. | |
| Kelly Dunne Chief of Operations Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center Kelly Dunne is the chief of Operations and director of Training and Technical Assistance for the Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center in Massachusetts. Ms. Dunne has focused her work on analyzing the response systems created to protect victims and hold offenders accountable. In 2003, she created the nationally-acclaimed Domestic Violence High Risk Team Model (DVHRT). Based on Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell’s Danger Assessment, the Model seeks to reduce domestic violence homicides and re-assaults by employing risk assessment practices to identify potentially lethal offenders, establishes case-specific multidisciplinary responses, and coordinates monitoring of high-risk domestic violence cases. The Model has been replicated in 25 communities across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and over 200 communities nationally. Under a grant from the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women, Ms. Dunne provides national technical assistance and training to communities to replicate the Domestic Violence High Risk Team Model and Danger Assessment for Law Enforcement. | |
| Amy Durall SAKI TTA Subject Matter Expert International Association of Chiefs of Police Amy Durall is a project manager for the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) with a portfolio including the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, Enhancing Law Enforcement Response to Victims, and Law Enforcement-Based Victim Services. Prior to joining the IACP, Ms. Durall served as Victim Services director for two separate law enforcement agencies. | |
| Ramani Durvasula Clinical Psychologist Clinical Psychologist Ramani Durvasula is a clinical psychologist, author, and the CEO & founder of LUNA (Learning/Understanding Narcissistic Abuse), Education, Training & Consulting, LLC. Dr. Durvasula is also a professor of Psychology at California State University, Los Angeles, and has authored three books, including two on narcissistic personalities in relationships and numerous peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Durvasula's work is focused on training clinicians, advocates, and survivors on the dynamics of these personalities and relationships with an eye to facilitating clinical intervention, policy development, workplace consulting, and better clinical outcomes. Dr. Durvasula's work has been featured at SxSW, TEDx, and on a wide range of media platforms. | |
| Amanda Elkanick Oder Survivor Services & Training Director Texas Advocacy Project Amanda Elkanick Oder is currently the Survivor Services and Training director with Texas Advocacy Project, a non-profit law firm offering free legal services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Ms. Oder has been working with survivors for the past 13 years in varying roles; such as shelter advocate, program director, and policy analyst. These varying positions have brought an invaluable perspective to her statewide work. Ms. Oder has served on statewide task forces, community planning groups, and committees that are centered on ending intimate partner violence and sexual assault. | |
| Gwen England Program Manager CATCH Court Columbus Gwen England has served in the criminal justice system for over a decade and has specialized in working with women who suffer from multiple complex trauma and addiction. Previously, Ms. England served as the supervising officer for the CATCH Court specialized docket in Columbus, OH. CATCH is a restorative justice docket designed to provide healing and dignity to women who have survived the life of prostitution and sex trafficking. Ms. England is the program leader for the CATCH docket. | |
| Rachel Fischer Forensic Nurse Examiner Forensic Nursing Consulting & Education LLC Rachel Fisher is a survivor leader and pioneer in the fight against human trafficking. Ms. Fisher specializes in human trafficking research and rescue, as well as adult and pediatric forensic nursing. Ms. Fisher published her autobiography, Taking Back the Pen and collaborates with several anti-trafficking agencies, both statewide and international, to combat trafficking. She has also traveled to several countries conducting research and undercover mission work collecting intelligence from pimps and trafficked victims. Ms. Fisher has undertaken several rescue operations in retrieval of missing children, and testifies in state and federal court as an expert witness. As a lived experience expert, Ms. Fisher consults with governmental and non-governmental agencies to formulate the best plan of action to fight sex trafficking on both the demand and the supply side. Additionally, Ms. Fisher trains officers on insider's investigation tips and trains healthcare professionals on the identification of trafficking victims using verbal and non-verbal cues. | |
| Fred Fletcher Chief of Police (ret.) Fred Fletcher is the founder of Fletcher Consulting which specializes in leadership and victim-focused and trauma-informed policing. Now retired, Chief Fletcher learned early the value and impact of a victim-centered and trauma-informed approach and, in command roles, implemented those approaches including expanded systems-based advocacy services, robust community advocacy partnerships, and creative initiatives like restorative justice. In Chattanooga, Chief Fletcher helped build the city’s first Family Justice Center and Victim Services Unit from the ground up to bring law enforcement together with community-based and systems-based advocacy to better support victims of crime, violence, and trauma. Chief Fletcher remains passionate about supporting agencies who want to build victim-centered and trauma-informed organizations through customized consulting, training, and strategic planning. | |
| Bryan Franke President/Founder 2C Solutions Bryan Franke is a 32-year veteran of the Longmont Police Department, and is the current president and founder of 2C Solutions, LLC. As a detective, Det. Franke was assigned to, and was instrumental in forming, the Cyber Crimes Unit, as well as the development of the Boulder County Computer Forensics Lab made up of personnel from four agencies. Det. Franke has performed forensic examinations on computers, cell phones, GPS units, and other portable devices such as tablets, external HDD, credit card skimmers, and various types of flash storage. 2C Solutions, LLC is an organization dedicated to training other professionals on how to investigate, prosecute, and proactively monitor the use of technology by probation clients, as well as how to deal with various digital crime/technology based investigations. 2C Solutions, LLC has provided training to military, federal, state, and local agency personnel, as well as private sector personnel internationally. | |
| 0 | Allison Franklin Director CARES Program, Safe Alliance Allison Franklin is the Director of the CARES program at SAFE Alliance and is a nationally recognized survivor leader, subject matter expert, and accomplished speaker who addresses sex trafficking and sexual exploitation with the comorbidity of drug abuse, mental health issues, and intersections with the criminal justice system. At SAFE, Ms. Franklin provides comprehensive services for trafficked youth ages 12 to 24, such as a drop-in center and 24/7 crisis response for law enforcement and hospitals. Ms. Franklin has extensive experience advocating for survivors with both a top-down and bottom up approach, working at national, state and local levels with numerous stakeholders, to find innovative solutions to fight human trafficking. Additionally, she provides technical assistance and trains law enforcement, prosecutors, healthcare professionals and human trafficking courts across the US. |
| Robert Frechette Detective Rochester Police Department Robert Frechette is a detective with the Rochester Police Department in NH, specializing in domestic and gender-based violence investigations since 2005. Det. Frechette has also worked as a patrol officer and was assigned to a regional SWAT team for 13 years. Additionally, Det. Frechette is a nationally-registered paramedic working part-time for an Emergency Department-based advanced life support service. Det. Frechette is one of the founders of the Strafford County Family Justice Center and past chair of its governing body. Det. Frechette serves on the NH Attorney General’s Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee Executive Board, Lethality Assessment Program Steering Committee, and is one of the authors of the Attorney General’s Domestic Violence Protocol for Law Enforcement. Det. Frechette is a court-qualified expert on strangulation and domestic violence, as well as a trainer for the International Association of Chiefs of Police. | |
| Rachael Frost CEO Frost ICED Rachael Frost is the CEO of Frost Investigation, Consultation, Education, & Development, and a retired master investigator. A nationally-recognized trainer and speaker, Ms. Frost is a 20-year law enforcement veteran specializing in multidisciplinary team program development, implementation, and operation through information and enterprise system management. Ms. Frost has investigated and testified as an expert witness in numerous cases regarding domestic violence, sexual assault, strangulation, and stalking. Ms. Frost is a member of the Law Enforcement Committee for the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals. Ms. Frost is also a member of the California Homicide Investigators Association and the California Sexual Assault Investigators Association. Ms. Frost is the chief financial officer for Kids Court, aiming to reduce the trauma of child witnesses and victims exposed to the court system. Ms. Frost is part of the original Cadre of Experts for End Violence Against Women International as a sexual assault expert. | |
| Krista Fultz Director of Advocacy & Education Genesis Women's Shelter & Support Krista Fultz is the director of Advocacy and Education at Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support in Dallas, TX. At Genesis, Ms. Fultz supervises both outreach and residential advocacy. Additionally, Ms. Fultz oversees all community education efforts, including speaking engagement requests, and court accompaniment programs. Ms. Fultz also participates in multiple coordinated community response teams on behalf of the agency. Prior to Genesis, Ms. Fultz worked at Haven House, a domestic violence shelter in Buffalo, NY, as a justice courts victim advocate and children's counselor. | |
| Kathleen Gately Advocate Herring Pond Tribe Kathleen Gately is a proud member of the Herring Pond Wampanoag tribe and serves on the Enrollment Committee. Previously, she served as a board member for 4 years. Ms. Gately has been educating herself and taking extensive trainings with many organizations, to help combat substance abuse, domestic violence and sexual exploitation in her tribal community. She hopes to open up a program to serve Natives on the east coast and be of service and continue her advocacy work with empowering Native women. | |
| Jordan Gates Women & Children's Therapist Genesis Women's Shelter & Support Jordan Gates has been a Women & Children's therapist at Genesis Women's Shelter & Support since August 2016. Ms. Gates provides individual and group therapy at both the Outreach and Residential locations. She is trained in EMDR, TF-CBT, CPT, play therapy, and attachment therapy. | |
| Lisa Geller State Affairs Manager Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence Lisa Geller is the State Affairs Manager at the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence. In this role, Ms. Geller works to pass and implement evidence-based gun violence prevention policies at the state level. Specifically, her work focuses on the passage and implementation of extreme risk protection orders and domestic violence protective orders. Ms. Geller has conducted research into the role of domestic violence in mass shootings in the U.S. Additionally, Ms. Geller helps manage DisarmDV.org, a comprehensive and interactive website that compares laws between states, presents statistics about gun violence, and provides information on the statutory process of firearm removal in cases of domestic violence protective orders. | |
| Julie Germann Attorney Finding the Right, LLC Julie Germann is the founder of Finding the Right, LLC, where she provides training and technical assistance to improve response to sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse. Ms. Germann is a former prosecutor with over a decade of experience prosecuting cases of violence against women and children. Ms. Germann has worked with sexual assault and child abuse multidisciplinary teams and trains nationally. She provides best practice reviews, and contributes to legislative advancements and policy manuals, such as the SART Toolkit published by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. | |
| Teresa Gil Psychotherapist Psychotherapist Teresa Gil has been a psychotherapist, professor, and trainer for over 25 years. Dr. Gil has a private practice working with women, children, and families dealing with addictions and recovery from child abuse and trauma. Dr. Gil is also a professor at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York, where her courses emphasize biological, psychological, and sociological factors that shape human growth and development. Dr. Gil has worked as a trainer and consultant in human service settings and has developed and facilitated dozens of workshops and trainings on pertinent clinical issues. Dr. Gil is an author of a book on Survivor Moms and has a blog in Psychology Today. | |
| Sara Gilmer Senior Policy Advisor and Victim Services Program Coordinator Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime Sara Gilmer leads victim services policy and programming at the Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) Human Trafficking Division. Ms. Gilmer guides OVC’s management of the largest amount of federal funding for services for trafficking survivors. As of December 2020, OVC manages approximately 400 awards totaling more than $270 million. Ms. Gilmer enhances the quality and quantity of services available to victims of all forms of trafficking through analyzing policy and legislation, designing and implementing award programs and performance measures, developing and managing national training and technical assistance initiatives, and collaborating with interagency partners. Ms. Gilmer previously drove human trafficking engagement in Latin America, Canada, and Europe with the Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. Ms. Gilmer also served as a policy advisor, drafted narratives of the Trafficking in Persons Report, and conducted diplomacy in the United States and abroad. | |
| Catherine Glenn BSN Nurse Texas Presbyterian Hospital Catherine Glenn is the injury prevention trauma outreach coordinator for Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, TX, teaching injury and violence prevention. Ms. Glenn is also a registered nurse with 15 years of experience, and has a background in emergency room and trauma nursing. | |
| Barry Goldstein Author Stop Abuse Campaign Barry Goldstein is one of the leading national and international experts regarding domestic violence. He has a unique range of experiences that include service as a board member to a local battered women’s shelter, attorney for domestic violence survivors, instructor in a NY Model Batterer Program and writer of some of the leading books and articles in the field. Mr. Goldstein has a strong grasp of the most current and important research concerning domestic violence and innovative ideas for using the research to create the needed reforms. | |
| Erika Gonzalez Training and Technical Assistance Program Manager Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST) Erika Gonzalez is a program coordinator and senior attorney at the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST) in Los Angeles, CA. As a senior attorney, Ms. Gonzalez provides training and technical consultation to legal and social service providers across the U.S. on comprehensive legal services for trafficking survivors. Ms. Gonzalez started at CAST in 2014 as a staff attorney where she worked with the Foreign National population to provide comprehensive, direct legal services in the areas of immigration and criminal law. Before joining CAST, Ms. Gonzalez was the Immigration Legal Services Program manager at Opening Doors, Inc. in Sacramento, CA, where she started a low-bono immigration program that focused on assisting victims of domestic violence and trafficking. | |
| James Gonzalez Director of Program Operations Coalition for the Homeless James Gonzalez is the director of Housing at The Coalition for the Homeless. Mr. Gonzalez works with homeless and domestic violence providers in Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties. Mr. Gonzalez has a special interest in social justice, gender/ gender identity issues, concentrated poverty, affordable housing, economic inequality, and the cultural impacts of family and intimate partner violence. | |
| Jay Gordon Prosecutor, Adult Sex Crimes Harris County District Attorney's Office Jay Gordon has been with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office since 2015, and currently serves as a prosecutor in its Adult Sex Crimes Division, recently trying 10 jury trials involving either murder or sexual assault. Mr. Gordon works alongside officers, deputies, investigators, and social workers from all Harris County law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of sexual assault, and seek justice for survivors. | |
| Rachel Graber Director of Public Policy National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) Rachel Graber is the director of Public Policy at National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), amplifying the voices of victims, survivors, and advocates in the nation’s capital. Ms. Graber has both organized and participated in numerous congressional briefings about domestic violence, and she has been instrumental in the development and passage of important legislation to protect survivors, provide services, and keep firearms out of the hands of abusers. Ms. Graber is the co-chair of the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence’s (NTF) Firearms Subcommittee, the co-chair of the NTF’s Outreach Committee, and is an active participant in many other areas of domestic violence-related and intersectional public policy. Ms. Graber was also one of the primary creative forces behind Disarm Domestic Violence, a project of NCADV, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, the Alliance for Gun Responsibility, and Prosecutors Against Gun Violence. | |
| Michael Graves Chief of Family Violence Division Denton County District Attorney's Office Michael Graves is Chief of the Family Violence Division for the Denton County District Attorney's Office. Prior to his work in the DA's office, Mr. Graves served in law enforcement for 18 years. Mr. Graves specializes in training on jury selection, trial skills, family violence prosecution, capital litigation, and capital and non-capital training for the prosecution. | |
| Brooke Grona-Robb Assistant Attorney General Office of the Attorney General of Texas Brooke Grona-Robb is an assistant attorney general in Texas. Previously, Ms. Grona-Robb was deputy chief prosecutor of the Crimes Against Children Division for the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, where she prosecuted Human Trafficking and Internet Crimes Against Children cases for 14 years. | |
| John Guard Chief Deputy Pitt County Sheriff's Office John Guard is a chief deputy at the Pitt County Sheriff's Office in Greenville, NC, with over 27 years of experience of line level response, investigative response, first and second level supervision, and agency management. For over two decades, Chief Dep. Guard has specialized in investigating domestic violence cases. He has been instrumental in developing policies and procedures related to domestic violence response. Chief Dep. Guard also has experience in facilitating legislative and judicial change related to domestic violence response to victims and has implemented several innovative programs designed to increase victim safety and offender accountability. Chief Dep. Guard provides training to officers and allied professionals on domestic violence and offender accountability on the local, state, and national level. Chief Dep. Guard is also an experienced consultant who shares his experience and knowledge with communities across the country seeking to improve their response to victims of domestic violence. | |
| Ruth Guerreiro Senior Director of Clinical & Professional Services Genesis Women's Shelter & Support Ruth Guerreiro is the senior director of Clinical and Non-Residential Services at Genesis Women’s Shelter and Support. Ms. Guerreiro is a board-approved supervisor and is EMDR certified, and has been practicing therapy since 2005. At Genesis, she supervises all of the clinical staff, provides trainings to Genesis staff and community members, provides expert testimony in court, and oversees the counseling and advocacy services provided at the non-residential location. Ms. Guerreiro has worked directly with over 1,000 victims of domestic violence during her nine years of employment at Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support. Ms. Guerreiro is trained in three evidence-based, trauma-informed counseling models: EMDR, CPT, and TF-CBT. Her expertise includes trauma, domestic violence, attachment, and parenting support. | |
| Leslie A. Hagen National Indian Country Training Coordinator U.S. Department of Justice Leslie A. Hagen serves as the Department of Justice’s first National Indian Country training coordinator and is responsible for planning, developing and coordinating training in a broad range of matters relating to the administration of justice in Indian Country. Previously, Ms. Hagen served as the Native American Issues coordinator for the Executive Office for United States Attorneys and the principal legal advisor on all matters pertaining to American Indian and Alaska Native issues. Ms. Hagen started with USDOJ as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Western District of Michigan. She was assigned to Violent Crime in Indian Country, handling federal prosecutions and training on issues of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse affecting the 11 federally-recognized tribes in the Western District of Michigan. Ms. Hagen has worked on criminal justice issues related to child abuse, domestic violence, and sexual assault for over 30 years. | |
| Scott Hampton Director Ending The Violence Scott Hampton has been working with batterers, sex offenders, victims, and child witnesses for 30 years. Dr. Hampton is the director of Ending the Violence, a Dover, NH-based organization that provides educational classes to perpetrators of domestic and sexual violence. He is also the project coordinator for Strafford County’s Supervised Visitation Center. Dr. Hampton writes and speaks frequently on issues related to interpersonal violence. He spends much of his time consulting with other professionals on the handling of domestic and sexual violence cases, conducting workshops, and testifying in court as an expert witness in interpersonal violence-related cases. Dr. Hampton is a past president of the National Supervised Visitation Network, a peer reviewer for the U.S. Dept. of Justice, and has been serving on New Hampshire’s Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee since its inception in the late 1990s. | |
| 0 | Maureen Therese Hannah Psychologist Dr. Hannah is a Professor of Psychology at Siena College in Loudonville, New York, where, since 1992, she has taught courses on abnormal psychology, intimate relationships, counseling theories and techniques, and other clinically-relevant courses. Dr. Hannah is the Editor of Family and Intimate Partner Violence Quarterly, published by Civic Research Institute. She has authored seven books and edited a number of books, articles, and presentations revolving around the topics of intimate relationships, intimate partner abuse, child custody litigation involving domestic violence, and grief therapy. Dr. Hannah is an Advanced Clinician in Imago Relationship Therapy. |
| Ashley Harkness Assistant District Attorney Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office Ashley Harkness is a Felony Prosecutor in the Human Trafficking Division of the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office and handles the prosecution of all Human Trafficking cases and related offenses. Ms. Harkness has been a prosecutor for nine years and has worked in Dallas County, Harris County, and now Fort Bend County. She has worked in regular trial courts handling simple assaults up to murders, and has also spent time working in Domestic Violence, Intake, Human Trafficking, and Adult Sex Crimes. Ms. Harkness worked in Adult Sex Crimes in Harris County for almost two years, handling the intake of adult sex crimes cases as well as handling those cases from their inception to trial. In her time in Adult Sex Crimes Ms. Harkness tried eleven sexual assault trials, including sex assault of a child, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, and serial sex crimes cases. | |
| Teri Harsin Training Manager Nlets - The International Justice and Public Safety Network Teri Harsin is the training and development manager at Nlets. Ms. Harsin served in the Marine Corps, and has been teaching in the law enforcement/criminal justice community for over 14 years. Ms. Harsin is currently responsible for the development and delivery of training on matters related to Nlets. She previously worked for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and was responsible for conducting training and auditing in the field on state and national information sharing systems, such as Nlets and FBI CJIS services. Ms. Harsin has traveled extensively throughout the U.S. educating professionals in the law enforcement and criminal justice communities. | |
| Ric Hertel Ripley County Prosecuting Attorney Ripley County Prosecutor's Office Ric Hertel is an elected prosecuting attorney and presents regularly to state, county, and local police agencies on a variety of different topics including 4th Amendment issues, domestic violence, OWI law, sexual assault, and updating officers on changes in statutory and case law. Mr. Hertel has presented for the Indiana Prosecuting Attorney’s Council, and is currently on the Board of Directors of the Association of Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Inc. Mr. Hertel has acted as faculty at the National Advocacy Center and for the National District Attorney’s Association throughout the country on various topics, including trial advocacy, sexual assault, domestic violence, ethics, community prosecution, Crawford, prosecuting public figures, and civil liability. Mr. Hertel was instrumental in starting the Region 15 Conference Against Children (CAC), Indiana’s first regional CAC that serves six rural counties, including his, and currently serves on the board of directors. | |
| Liana Hill Forensic Nurse Program Director Crisis Services of North Alabama Liana Hill is the Forensic Nurse Examiner Program director for CSNA, providing direct services to victims of assault. The program began in the mid 90’s, providing examinations to sexual assault victims. Ms. Hill began the first Domestic Violence Nurse Examiner program in the state, which has expanded services to provide all victims across the life span assault care. Ms. Hill began her career in the U.K., and is one of four nurses in Alabama that holds both SANE-A and SANE-P certifications. She trains and educates nurses and peers in the field on Forensic Nursing and in 2019, her program became the first in country to have all SANE training's approved by the IAFN. Ms. Hill is president of the Alabama Chapter of the IAFN and a board member of the Alabama Coalition against Rape and a director at large with the IAFN. | |
| Emily Hollerbach Support & Growth Specialist Ending the Game Emily Hollerbach is Support and Growth specialist with Ending the Game, an intervention curriculum for victims of trafficking and CSE. Ms. Hollerbach is also a personal survivor of domestic sex trafficking and is passionate about identifying and unrooting shame from sexual exploitation, fostering sisterhood through survivor community and education. Ms. Hollerbach has previous experience in administration and program management and seeks to help survivors of trafficking and CSE become empowered and free from the destructive beliefs that once imprisoned them. | |
| Melissa Hoppmeyer Chief, Special Victims & Family Violence Unit Prince George's County State's Attorney's Office Melissa Hoppmeyer is the chief of the Special Victims and Family Violence Unit in Prince George’s County, the second largest State’s Attorney’s Office in Maryland. Ms. Hoppmeyer has assisted in drafting numerous legislative bills and has testified before the Maryland General Assembly on numerous occasions to help implement stronger criminal laws for crimes of violence and to ensure that domestic violence and sexual assault victims are treated fairly throughout the civil and criminal judicial system. During the 2020 Maryland legislative session, Ms. Hoppmeyer lobbied to make strangulation a first degree assault, allowing Maryland to join the 48 other states that categorize strangulation as a felony. Ms. Hoppmeyer also serves as a technical trainer for law enforcement, fellow prosecutors, and the community. Ms. Hoppmeyer serves on the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee; Domestic Violence Coordinating Council; Sexual Assault Response Team, and the Prince George’s County Human Trafficking Task Force. | |
| Doreen Hunter Chair Stop Abuse Campaign Doreen Hunter is the chair of the Stop Abuse Campaign in Texas, and has lobbied and testified at the State Capitol on the Texas version of the Safe Child Act #HB3121. In April 2019, Ms. Hunter held a rally on the south steps at the Texas Capitol, bringing awareness to the issues of child filicide connected to family court and child abuse fatalities. On top of her work as advocate for survivors, Ms. Hunter is a victim, caught in the very system where her child is not being protected. She can speak to the current research for women and share her experiences as a survivor, Texas data of family violence, a growing trend in violence against women, and share from her own experience the need to address domestic violence, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and trauma. | |
| Cynthia Jones Professor University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Cynthia Jones is a professor of Philosophy at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and the founding director of Office for Victim Advocacy & Violence Prevention and the Gelman Constitutional Scholars Program, as well as the past director and co-founder of the University’s ethics center. At the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Dr. Jones teaches and lectures in numerous areas of Professional Ethics, such as Bioethics, Business Ethics, Technology Ethics, and Academic Ethics. Dr. Jones also conducts research and publishes on issues of advocacy, gender, violence, culture, and marginalization. Dr. Jones has extensive experience as a volunteer for domestic violence and rape crisis programs, is the PI on numerous grants, and serves pro bono as an expert witness for the Cameron County DA’s Office on domestic/dating violence and identifies as a survivor of domestic violence. | |
| Denise Jones Sergeant Clark County Ohio Sheriff's Office Denise Jones is a sergeant at the Clark County Sheriff's Office and has over 19 years of law enforcement experience. Sgt. Jones has served in multiple divisions, including corrections, court services, and road patrol. Sgt. Jones served as a supervisor in the Jail, Road, and Professional Standards Divisions before transferring to the Investigations Division Intimate Partner Crime Unit. She has been engaged in changing her department's culture in responding to and investigating intimate partner crime, especially those involving marginalized populations. | |
| Dave Keck Project Director National Resource Center on Domestic Violence & Firearms David Keck has been the project director for the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence and Firearms since its inception in January 2017. Mr. Keck provides training and technical assistance on enforcement and implementation of firearms prohibitions. Mr. Keck speaks frequently on topics related to firearms and domestic violence and was Court commissioner for Winnebago County, WI from 2006 until 2016, where he held domestic violence and harassment protection order hearings, as well as Family Court and Civil cases. Mr. Keck was instrumental in the development of a protocol for firearms surrender in protection order cases, which became the framework for Wisconsin’s SAFE Act, passed in 2014. Mr. Keck's previous legal experience was as a trial staff attorney with Wisconsin State Public Defender from 1993 until 2006. | |
| Donna Kelly Senior Deputy District Attorney Salt Lake District Attorney Donna Kelly has been a prosecutor for 30 years handling child abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence cases in more than 3,000 cases. In January 2012, Ms. Kelly served as the Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Resource prosecutor for the Utah Prosecution Council. In that same year, she co-authored a Trauma Informed Victim Interview guide to be used by officers in victim interviews. In February 2017, Ms. Kelly began working at the Salt Lake County DA’s Office and has been a passionate advocate for systems changes to improve outcomes for victims. | |
| Rochelle Keyhan CEO Collective Liberty Rochelle Keyhan is the CEO of Collective Liberty, where she develops and executes the organization’s strategic direction and collaborations focused on disrupting specific types of human trafficking, including recruiting and maintaining robust collaborative networks of law enforcement, agency stakeholders, and service providers. Prior to founding Collective Liberty, Ms. Keyhan was a prosecutor for six years in the Philadelphia Family Violence and Sexual Assault Unit, and then director of the Disruption Strategies Department at Polaris where she led the creation of the largest dataset in the U.S. on a specific type of trafficking. Ms. Keyhan and her team support over 100 jurisdictions in 36 states to develop their intelligence-driven, victim-centered closure of over 1,000 massage parlors. Ms. Keyhan's team is building similar datasets and providing this support across multiple types of sex and labor trafficking in the U.S. | |
| Krystal King SANE Registered Nurse Parkland Health & Hospital System Krystal King is a SANE nurse at Parkland Hospital. Prior to her work as a SANE, Ms. King worked as a nurse in the maternity ward. In 2016, she trained to become a Certified Adult Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner. She currently works on the hospital-wide screening and response team that addresses, not just sexual assault but all assaults on patients that present through the emergency department. Ms. King is dedicated to providing trauma-informed care and comprehensive medical forensic examinations to victim patient populations. | |
| Lindley King Mental Health Counselor Lindley King Counseling Lindley King has been working in the field of gender-based violence for nearly a decade and recently transitioned from working in a community domestic violence program to managing her own private practice. Ms. King's practice focuses on serving survivors of gender-based violence, multi-abuse trauma and substance use. Working from a harm reduction model, Ms. King is passionate about serving survivors at these intersections through a social justice framework. | |
| Julie Krawczyk Director Elder Financial Safety Center at The Senior Source Julie Krawczyk is the director of the Elder Financial Safety Center (EFSC), leading the nation in the prevention, protection, and prosecution of financial crimes and prevention of financial exploitation, frauds, and scams. Ms. Krawczyk oversees operations for this first-of-its-kind Center, which is a unique collaboration between The Senior Source, Dallas County Probate Courts, and Dallas County District Attorney’s Office. The EFSC serves over 20,000 clients and victims with a financial impact of $116 million, 500 protected incapacitated adults 50+, and 1,500 indictments of elder abuse. | |
| Robert Krupa Assistant Special Agent in Charge Federal Bureau of Investigation - San Antonio Division Robert Krupa is the assistant special agent in charge (ASAC) of the San Antonio Field Office. ASAC Krupa served as an FBI EEO Mediator for 15 years. In 2003, ASAC Krupa was assigned to the White Collar Crime/Public Corruption squad in Oklahoma and, in 2005, was promoted to supervisory special agent (SSA) at FBIHQ. ASAC Krupa assisted in developing the bonus program for agents transferred under the Rotational Transfer Program and for agents promoted to FBIHQ. In 2008, ASAC Krupa was assigned to the Public Corruption Squad in Denver and later named as SSA overseeing the Denver Field Office White Collar Crime Squad and all forensic accountants. In 2011, he was assigned to the Public Corruption Squad in San Antonio. In 2013, ASAC Krupa was named as SSA overseeing the San Antonio Field Office Public Corruption Program, White Collar Crime Squad, and all forensic accountants. | |
| Corey Lain Major Company "F", Texas Rangers Corey Lain serves as the commander of Texas Rangers Company "F”, where he supervises three Ranger lieutenants. Maj. Lain joined the Texas Department of Public Safety in 2000 and served as a highway patrol trooper then highway patrol sergeant in North Texas. In 2009, Maj. Lain joined the ranks of the Texas Ranger Division, Company “C” where he was involved in major and high profile criminal investigations throughout Texas. In 2013, Maj. Lain became a Ranger lieutenant for Company “D”, captain at Ranger Headquarters in 2016, and finally major of Company “F” in 2017 where he leads many Texas Ranger Division initiatives, including the Officer Involved Shooting Investigation Working Group, Region-6 Special Operations Group, the Unsolved Crimes Investigation Program, Central Texas Unmanned Aerial Systems, and incident commander for major criminal incidents. | |
| Diane Lance Department Head Metropolitan Government of Nashville- Davidson County Diane Lance has spent the majority of her career focusing on family violence. Ms. Lance's work in this area began in 1990 when she was the director of a domestic violence shelter in San Diego, CA. After law school, Ms. Lance was hired by the Nashville DA’s Office where she led their Domestic Violence and Child Sex Abuse Units. In 2008, Ms. Lance was hired as special counsel to then Mayor Karl Dean and had the privilege of leading Metro’s 2011 domestic violence safety and accountability assessment and the implementation of the report’s recommendations, including the creation of Nashville’s first court-based Family Justice Center, the Jean Crowe Advocacy Center in 2014. Ms. Lance serves as the Department head for Metro’s Office of Family Safety and oversees Metro’s Family Justice Center work, including the 2019 opening of the Family Safety Center. | |
| Jennifer Landhuis Director Stalking Prevention, Awareness, & Resource Center Jennifer Landhuis is the director of the Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center (SPARC), of AEquitas. SPARC is an initiative aimed at ensuring first responders and other allied professionals have the specialized knowledge to identify and respond to the crime of stalking. SPARC also provides the tools, resources, and support needed to promote victim safety and offender accountability in stalking cases. Ms. Landhuis has been an advocate and educator on the issues of stalking, domestic violence, and sexual assault for 23 years. | |
| Jose Juan Lara Jr. Project Manager Casa de Esperanza/National Latin@ Network Jose Juan Lara, Jr., MS, is a project manager at the National Latin@ Network a project of Casa de Esperanza, where he is responsible for managing, coordinating, and delivering training and technical assistance in the areas of enhancing cultural responsiveness in the courts and capacity to enhance services and increase leadership to Latina and/or culturally specific organizations. Mr. Lara began advocating for survivors of family violence in his hometown of Brownsville Texas in 1999 and has expertise in the areas of cultural competence and responsiveness, dynamics of gender-based violence, LGBTQ, language access, organizational development and victim’s advocacy. Mr. Lara has presented on these issues at the community level and nationally engaging a broad spectrum of multidisciplinary professionals from the areas of criminal justice, social services, policy, and health. | |
| Tiffany Larsen Assistant District Attorney Harris County District Attorney's Office Tiffany Larsen has been working at the Harris County District Attorney's Office since 2010. As a prosecutor, Ms. Larsen has been assigned to specialty divisions including the Family Criminal Law Division, Intake Division, and Crimes Against Children Division, where she spent several years before becoming the office’s first dedicated Adult Sexual Assault prosecutor in 2015. As a sex crimes prosecutor, Ms. Larsen has worked closely with a variety of law enforcement agencies, sexual assault nurse examiners, doctors, advocates, and crime lab analysts to help bring justice to these survivors. Ms. Larsen was previously assigned to the Appellate Division, where she served as an expert advisor on legal issues related to sex crimes. Ms. Larsen is currently assigned as a chief prosecutor in the Civil Rights Division. | |
| Jordyn Lawson Senior Director of Residential Services Genesis Women's Shelter & Support Jordyn Lawson is the director of Residential Services at Genesis Women’s Shelter and Support, and has a passion for ending domestic violence and helping those who have experienced the pain of trauma heal and grow. Ms. Lawson supervises both the emergency shelter and Annie’s House transitional living program. Previously, Ms. Lawson was the assistant clinical director at Genesis, and has worked in the field of domestic violence and trauma recovery for over 12 years. During that time, Ms. Lawson has provided individual and group counseling services to women, adolescents, and children victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and childhood trauma. | |
| Meriel Lester Assistant Chief of the Criminal Division Stearns County Attorney's Office Meriel Lester began her career as an assistant county attorney in the Stearns County Attorney's Office. Ms. Lester is now an Assistant Chief of the Criminal Division, which includes supervising four assistant county attorneys in the Domestic Violence Unit. For the majority of her career, Ms. Lester has handled intimate partner violence crimes, including the caseload in the Stearns County Domestic Violence Court. Currently, Ms. Lester is the designated prosecutor for the Central Minnesota Human Trafficking Task Force and is also chairperson of the 7th Judicial District Family Violence Council. | |
| TK Logan Professor University of Kentucky, Dept. of Behavioral Science TK Logan is a professor at the University of Kentucky, Department of Behavioral Science. Dr. Logan's research and writings focus on stalking, partner abuse, sexual assault, protective order effectiveness, safety, and coping with victimization. Dr. Logan is an author on over 175 research articles, and serves on the editorial board of two international journals. Dr. Logan’s books include: Women and Victimization: Contributing Factors, Interventions, and Implications and Partner Stalking: How Women Respond, Cope, and Survive. Dr. Logan is also involved with several community boards and national organizations working to prevent violence against women. | |
| Timothy Lott Director of Operations SEARCH Tim Lott is Director of Operations and High-Tech Crime Training Services for SEARCH, responsible for managing, coordinating, and leading all financial and administrative functions for the organization. Mr. Lott also supports the High-Tech Crime Training Services Program of SEARCH, a national program that provides expert technical assistance and training to local, state, and federal justice and public safety agencies on successfully conducting electronic crimes investigations. | |
| Ashley Lucas Evidence Technician Pasco Police Department Ashley Lucas is the evidence technician for the Pasco Police Department in Pasco, WA. Ms. Lucas has been an evidence technician for the last 13 years. Ms. Lucas' job duties include managing an evidence room as well as responding to crime scenes. Ms. Lucas has attended a variety of trainings to include homicide basic & advanced crime scenes, FBI basic crime scene course, and blood spatter analysis and photography. She is a part of the WHIA (Washington Homicide Investigators Association), Tri-Cities SIU (Special Investigations Unit) and IAPE (International Association of Property and Evidence). The types of crime scenes Ms. Lucas responds to include sexual assaults, vehicular homicides/assaults, drive by shootings, and homicides as well as local officer-involved shootings or inmate deaths to help local regional detectives process and document the crime scenes. | |
| Linda MacDonald Human Rights Defender Persons Against Non-State Torture Linda MacDonald is a human rights defender and activist from Nova Scotia, Canada. In 1993, Ms. MacDonald started an independent nursing practice with Jeanne Sarson beginning by helping one woman heal from the crime of non-State torture (NST), which began in infancy at the hands of her parents, other family members, and human traffickers. After co-founding Persons Against Non-State Torture, Ms. MacDonald has been contacted by hundreds of women globally who have endured NST. Now a world leader on the reality of NST, Ms. MacDonald speaks at the United Nations, educates internationally, trains caregivers, researches on NST, and has many published articles on this crime. Her primary goals are to raise awareness of this very invisible crime against women, advocate for laws globally on non-State torture, and promote NST victimization-traumatization-informed care and prevention. | |
| James Markey Senior Law Enforcement Specialist RTI International James Markey is a retired detective sergeant and 30-year veteran of the Phoenix Police Dept. Det. Sgt. Markey was responsible for overseeing the adult sex crime unit, which investigated more than 7,000 rapes including over 100 serial rape suspects. In 2001, he developed the Phoenix Police Dept. Sexual Assault Cold Case Team. Currently, Det. Sgt. Markey is a senior law enforcement specialist for The Research Triangle Institute in Raleigh, N.C., providing technical assistance for the Dept. of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance Sexual Assault Kit Initiative. Det. Sgt. Markey was a member of both the National Institute of Justice Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Reporting Act and Cold Case Working Groups. He serves on the Arizona Supreme Court Committee on Victims in the Courts and Department of Defense Advisory Committee on the Investigation, Prosecution, and Defense of Sexual Assault in the Military. | |
| Kathryn Marsh Special Counsel, Assistant Chief Maryland Attorney's Office, Special Victims Family Violence Unit Kathryn Marsh serves as Special Counsel, Assistant Chief of the Special Victims Family Violence Unit, and Legislative & Co-Chair for the State’s Attorney’s Office in Prince George’s County, Maryland and Associate Professor with the National Criminal Justice Training Center of Fox Valley Technical College. Ms. Marsh also functions as professional trainer for Assistant State’s Attorneys and staff, as well as for law enforcement, community organizations, state organizations and other legal professionals. She has served on several National and State Task Forces and has been asked to assist in drafting legislation and has been called on to testify on behalf of criminal legislation before the Maryland legislature for a number of years. Ms. Marsh has also worked as an adjunct professor of Criminal Law for the University of Maryland University. In addition to her work with the in the criminal law field, Ms. Marsh also serves on many community boards. | |
| Louis Marven Training Specialist National Sexual Violence Resource Center Louie Marven is a Training Specialist at National Sexual Violence Resource Center, where he develops resources and provides technical assistance on serving male survivors. Mr. Marven has developed programs and provided training to meet the needs of LGBTQ communities, including youth and older adults. | |
| Kristin McGunnigle Product Trainer Thorn Kristin McGunnigle serves as a product trainer for Thorn, a nonprofit building technology to defend children from sexual abuse. Ms. McGunnigle leads and maintains user-facing training, support, and engagement with Thorn's core products. Driven by helping the world's most vulnerable children, Ms. McGunnigle comes to Thorn with nine years of experience in the nonprofit space, including nearly eight years in experiential engagement, partnership management, and fundraising at World Vision, one of the world's largest relief and development organizations. | |
| Kelsey McKay Consultant McKay Training & Consulting, LLC Kelsey McKay is the president of RESPOND Against Violence and McKay Training & Consulting, LLC. Ms. McKay trains and consults nationally to strengthen how communities collaborate, investigate, and prosecute strangulation, sexual violence, and intimate partner violence cases. She develops experts to testify and trains on the implementation of a strangulation supplement and community collaboration. Previously, Ms. McKay was a prosecutor in Travis County, TX for 12 years. For six years, she exclusively prosecuted strangulation-related crimes ranging from assault to capital murder. | |
| Beth McNamara Co-Executive Director Inspire Action for Social Change Beth McNamara is the co-founder and co-executive director of Inspire Action for Social Change, a non-profit organization working to create social change and improved opportunities for those experiencing barriers to safety as a result of domestic and sexual violence by promoting safety and healing for individuals, families, and communities. Ms. McNamara has contributed to multiple initiatives to help build the capacity of communities and organizations around the country. She has authored and contributed to numerous publications and training resources and has extensive experience developing and conducting national educational programs and professional training for practitioners. | |
| Scott Miller Co-Director Domestic Abuse Intervention Project Scott Miller is the co-director for the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project since 2000 where he coordinates Duluth's Coordinated Community Response to domestic violence. Serving as both system advocate and coordinator of the men's nonviolence program, Mr. Miller is instrumental in the evolving work being done in Duluth. He trains nationally and internationally on the components of the Duluth Model of intervention and helps develop new resource materials and curricula for use in communities working to end violence against women. Additionally, Mr. Miller is a contract trainer and forensic interviewer for First Witness Child Abuse Resource Center in Duluth, responsible for conducting forensically sound interviews of children suspected of being physically or sexually abused as part of a criminal investigation. He also conducts trainings nationally on how to conduct interviews with children and work from a multidisciplinary team approach in the investigation of child abuse. | |
| Rocio Molina Deputy Director National Immigrant Women's Advocacy Project Rocío Molina is the deputy director for the National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project (NIWAP) at American University Washington College of Law, and is an immigration attorney serving immigrant survivors for over 12 years. Ms. Molina provides legal counsel, research, technical assistance, and training for the benefit of immigrant victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. She also serves as expert faculty and education coordinator for law enforcement, prosecutors, and advocates on U visa and language access. Ms. Molina leads NIWAP’s bi-monthly roundtables for law enforcement and prosecutors and Community of Practice for family law attorneys. Prior to joining the NIWAP team, Ms. Molina worked with the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence, where she represented hundreds of immigrant victims seeking immigration relief. She is also a founding board member of the Community Immigration Law Center, a free walk-in clinic in Madison, WI. | |
| Cassandra Munoz Domestic Violence Unit Supervisor Franklin County Municipal Court Department of Pretrial & Probation Services Cassandra Munoz is a Domestic Violence Unit supervisor for the Franklin County Municipal Court Dept. of Pretrial and Probation Services, and has worked specifically with domestic violence offenders for over 20 years at Franklin County. Prior to working with domestic violence offenders, Ms. Munoz was a victim advocate. In collaboration with her unit, she created a comprehensive strategic plan in order to implement the Colorado Domestic Violence Risk Needs Assessment and the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment in Franklin County Municipal Court. Ms. Munoz is a member of the strategic planning committee that has created a LGBTQ+ specific, domestic violence programming model as well as an extremely high-risk response team to domestic violence. Ms. Munoz has been a presenter for the Ohio Chief Probation Officers Association for the last 16 years. | |
| Kayce Munyeneh CEO Optimize, LLC Kayce Munyeneh is the founder of Optimize LLC, a full-service, minority and woman-owned agency that assists with strategic planning, change management, succession planning, leadership development, and executive coaching. In 2004, Mrs. Munyeneh worked with the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault and later became a court-based advocate through the Survivors and Advocates for Empowerment Program at DC Superior Court. From 2006 to 2010, Mrs. Munyeneh worked with the Metropolitan Police Department and the National Center for Victims of Crime as a liaison creating public policy and education initiatives, as well as advocated on behalf of over 50,000 victims of violent crime and vulnerable adults. Mrs. Munyeneh is also an adjunct professor for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security DVIP Program. In 2015, she started teaching Leadership and Change Management with the Business Development Reserve Program through CMT Services. | |
| Wendy Murphy Attorney New England Law, Boston Wendy Murphy is a former child abuse and sex crimes prosecutor who has been teaching sexual violence law for more than 15 years at New England Law, Boston, where she also directs the Women's and Children's Advocacy Project. A former visiting scholar at Harvard Law School whose work focused on women victims in the criminal justice system, Ms. Murphy is an impact litigator whose cases have helped to improve the constitutional and civil rights of abused women and children. She has published numerous law review articles on the rights of victimized women and children, and criminal justice policy. Ms. Murphy's Title IX work includes landmark victories against Harvard College, Harvard Law School, and Princeton University in 2002 and 2010, which led to the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter and widespread activism in support of women's educational civil rights. | |
| Kim Nash Forensic Nursing Specialist International Association of Forensic Nurses Kim Nash has been a registered nurse for 22 years and a forensic nurse examiner for the last 14 years. Currently, Ms. Nash is a Forensic Nurse specialist for the International Association of Forensic Nurses. For 12 years, she worked clinically in Colorado Springs, C.O. for a team that provides medical forensic care to more than 2,400 patients per year (sexual assault, intimate partner violence, child abuse, elder abuse, strangulation, human trafficking). She provides clinical skills training through simulation laboratories, utilizing live models to teach care for providers from across the U.S., with an emphasis on those working for under-served populations. Ms. Nash provides training and technical assistance on a national level including multidisciplinary trainings for healthcare professionals, law enforcement, attorneys, and advocates. Internationally, she has been involved with projects that addressed gender-based violence in the countries of Swaziland, Egypt, and Mexico. | |
| Amber Nealy Assistant Director of Clinical & Professional Services Genesis Women's Shelter & Support Amber Nealy is the assistant director of Clinical and Professional Services at Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support. Ms. Nealy has worked with diverse populations including survivors of domestic violence, victims of sex trafficking and prostitution, women with substance use disorders and probationers. Ms. Nealy started at Genesis as a women’s and children’s therapist in May 2017. Ms. Nealy is trained in EMDR, CPT, and Theraplay, which are all trauma-informed, evidenced-based models. She has also received training in TF-CBT, Expressive Arts Therapy, and Play Therapy. | |
| Lori Nelson Director of Engagment Denton County Friends of the Family Lori Nelson is the Director of Community Engagement with Denton County Friends of the Family (DCFOF) since September 2019. Her vision is to create a multidisciplinary team approach to family violence across Denton County. Currently, Ms. Nelson's primary focus is law enforcement, prosecution, probation, and other local non-profits. Ms. Nelson is also the facilitator of Denton’s Domestic Violence High-Risk Team (DVHRT) with DCFOF, Denton PD, the District Attorney's Office, Probation, and other key parties. Prior to DCFOF, Ms. Nelson worked at the Children's Advocacy Center of Denton County (CACDC) and later joined the Children's Advocacy Centers of Texas' Forensic Interviewing Training Faculty. In 2018, she became the Director of Partner Relations with a unique focus on the multidisciplinary team and partner agencies. Over the course of her 18 years at CACDC, Ms. Nelson facilitated over 600 multidisciplinary case review meetings and conducted over 1,100 forensic interviews. | |
| Kim Nguyen-Finn Supervising Consultant Counselor University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley Kim Nguyen-Finn has been a mental health counselor since 1998 and is a Texas Licensed Professional Counselor Board-approved Supervisor. Aside from serving as a lecturer in the School of Rehabilitation Counseling and Services, Dr. Finn provides individual, family, and couples counseling for a wide range of issues, including anxiety disorders, OCD, depression, trauma resolution, and gender identity. Currently, Dr. Finn also serves as supervising consultant counselor for UTRGV's Office for Victim Advocacy and Violence Prevention and is an expert witness for domestic violence and sexual assault cases. | |
| Florence Nocar Chief Equity & Diversity Officer University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Florence Raven Nocar serves as the Chief Equity and Diversity Officer of the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). In her role, Professor Nocar furthers UTRGV’s commitment to equal access, equity, non-discrimination, diversity and inclusion on behalf of staff, faculty and students. Ms. Nocar has over 18 years of diversity and inclusion higher education experience. She has previously served on the Native American Indian Organization, the Native American Law Students’ Association and as an Associate Editor for the Indigenous Peoples’ Journal of Law, Culture & Resistance. She also has provided pro bono legal services to homeless LGBTQ youth through the Outside in Legal Clinic and advocated on behalf of marginalized women through the American Civil Liberties Union. | |
| Nancy Oglesby Co-Founder Justice 3D Nancy Oglesby is co-founder of Justice 3D, a company that offers training and consulting to allied professionals nationally on issues of child abuse, domestic violence, and sexual assault. Ms. Oglesby has been a career prosecutor in Virginia for over 20 years. She is currently Virginia’s Domestic and Sexual Violence Resource prosecutor and has handled thousands of domestic violence, child abuse, and sexual assault cases. Additionally, Ms. Oglesby has provided training on these issues to many professionals including prosecutors, law enforcement officers, advocates, medical professionals, and forensic interviewers. Ms. Oglesby has also served a key role in the development of Virginia’s model law enforcement policies related to domestic and sexual violence. | |
| Kimberly Orts Detective Travis County Sheriff's Office Kimberly Orts has been employed with the Travis County Sheriff's Office for 26 years and is currently assigned to the Family Violence Unit, primarily investigating the spectrum of crimes involving intimate partner violence for the past five years. Her experience is diverse, working multiple assignments in Corrections and Law Enforcement to include two years as a full-time mental health officer. Det. Orts has been a part of the Crisis Negotiations Team for 13 years and is currently a team leader. She has also been an adjunct training instructor for eight years, providing presentations on mental health, crisis negotiations, and family violence within the Travis County Sheriff's Office and for agencies across Texas. | |
| Julie Owens Consultant Julie Owens Consulting Julie Owens became a victim advocate after surviving domestic violence-attempted murder. For three decades, Ms. Owens has consulted and trained nationally and internationally for organizations, governments, and professionals. She created a DV crisis team for ERs and a transitional shelter before directing DV trauma therapy research at the National Center for PTSD. Ms. Owens coordinated DV services in a YWCA and a county mental health department, and developed a shelter program for victims who are elderly, disabled, or undocumented, and those with mental health or addiction challenges. For nine years, Ms. Owens oversaw victim service agencies in a large region of N.C., and has served as an expert witness for many years. She consults and trains independently for organizations including the Office for Victims of Crime and the National Human Trafficking Center, with a focus on survivor-centered, trauma-informed victim advocacy in secular and faith-based settings. | |
| Brittany Pahl Director of Nursing Parkland Health & Hospital System Brittany Pahl serves as the Director of Nursing for Forensic Nursing and Community Programs. Ms. Pahl has worked as a Rapid Assessment Team Nurse, a SANE, and as a Supervisor for the SANE Program, expanding it to help all patients of violent crimes receive forensic nursing care. Additionally, she helped to plan, develop, and implement a hospital-wide screening and response to identify and provide trauma-informed forensic nursing care to patients who have experienced violent crimes. In 2019, she also worked closely with Representative Victoria Neave on the Sexual Violence Task Force where House Bill 8-Lavinia Masters Act and House Bill 616- Reimbursement for Sexual Assault Exams were passed with bipartisan support. Ms. Pahl continues to work to improve the quality of care received by all patients of violent crimes through direct and indirect patient care, professional and public education, and development of protocols and procedures. | |
| Melissa Paquette Counsel of Community Safety Initiatives Everytown for Gun Safety Melissa Paquette is Counsel of Community Safety Initiatives at Everytown for Gun Safety. In this role, Ms. Paquette works in a multi-disciplinary team to develop expertise in community-based gun violence reduction strategies. Ms. Paquette also collaborates with state and local government agencies, local gun violence prevention groups, and other stakeholders to support faithful implementation and sustained funding of gun violence prevention strategies. Prior to joining Everytown, Ms. Paquette was Director of Legal Services at the Safe Horizon Domestic Violence Law Project where she managed a team of attorneys and paralegals to provide legal services to survivors of domestic violence in New York City. | |
| Kathrina Peterson Acting Deputy Director DOJ Office for Victims of Crime Kathrina Peterson currently serves as the acting deputy director over the State Compensation and Assistance Division, where she oversees the Office for Victims of Crime’s (OVC) state formula funding programs. Ms. Peterson also advises the OVC director on legislative, regulatory, policy, and legal matters as an attorney advisor. In 2016, Ms. Peterson received the Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General’s Employee of the Year award for her work on the Victims of Crime Act Victim Assistance Rule, which expanded the allowable uses of victim assistance funding. She previously worked in the Office on Violence Against Women, where she managed state formula grant programs. Ms. Peterson served as a Women’s Law and Public Policy Teaching fellow in the Georgetown University Law Center’s Domestic Violence Clinic. | |
| Jen Peuplie Adult Forensic Interviewing Program Manager Forensic Center of Excellence Jen Peuplie is the Adult Forensic Interview Program Manager with The Forensic Center of Excellence and has been advocating for families and individuals of crime in the community for over twenty years. Ms. Peuplie's advocacy journey began in the hospital advocating for patients in Labor & Delivery, Mother/Baby, NICU, Pediatrics, and the Emergency Room. Ms. Peuplie has experience working with victims and witnesses of domestic violence, elder abuse, human trafficking, sexual assault, and strangulation. She is passionate for empowerment through choices, being present with the victim emotionally during a crisis, while fostering hope and belief survivors' abuse will not define their future. | |
| Allie Phillips Founder/CEO Sheltering Animals & Families Together (SAF-T) Allie Phillips is an author, attorney, advocate, and founder and CEO of the Sheltering Animals & Families Together (SAF-T) Program™, the first and only global initiative helping domestic violence shelters to create on-site pet housing. Ms. Phillips is a former prosecuting attorney who has worked for the National District Attorney’s Association as the founder/director of the National Center for Prosecution of Animal Abuse and deputy director of the National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse. Ms. Phillips was the vice president of Public Policy and vice president of Human-Animal Strategic Initiatives for American Humane Association. She is an award-winning book author, and is on the steering committee of the National Link Coalition, chair of the State Bar of Michigan’s Animal Law Section, member of the Coalition on Violence Against Animals, and National Alliance of Victims’ Rights Attorneys. | |
| Kim Piechowiak Domestic Violence Training Attorney Texas Office of Court Administration Kimberly Piechowiak is the Domestic Violence Training attorney for the Texas Office of Court Administration. Ms. Piechowiak has prosecuted family violence cases for 20 years in San Antonio, and implemented the family violence prosecution program at San Antonio Municipal Court. She has been training law enforcement officers, attorneys, and judges since 1997 on the issue of DV for many local, state, and national agencies, including the San Antonio Police Training Academy, the National District Attorneys Association, the Texas Center for the Judiciary, Texas Municipal Courts Education Center, the Texas Council on Family Violence, the Texas Criminal Justice Information Users Group, and the Texas District and County Attorneys Association. | |
| 0 | Cara Pierce Section Chief Texas Attorney General's Office Cara Foos Pierce served as the Human Trafficking Coordinator for the Northern District of Texas for eight years, before joining the Texas Attorney General’s Office as the Chief over the Human Trafficking and Transnational Organized Crime section in 2020. She has prosecuted more than 80 child and adult sex trafficking cases, including trying and convicting a commercial sex customer for conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a 12-year-old girl, one of the first such cases in federal court. In addition, Ms. Pierce convicted 13 gang members and associates of child sex trafficking in Ft. Worth and Dallas, and has obtained several life sentences in human trafficking cases. |
| Trinka Porrata Consultant Porrata Consulting Trinka Porrata, retired Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) detective of 25 years, is a widely-recognized presenter on the investigation of drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA). Ms. Porrata’s expertise is in sexual assaults and narcotics, especially trendy drugs of abuse. Since retiring from LAPD, she has provided training internationally for agencies from local to federal, medical personnel, and community resources. Ms. Porrata is an expert witness and president of Project GHB (gamma hydroxy butyrate), a nonprofit organization dedicated to DFSA, drug abuse prevention, and treatment issues regarding GHB and other drugs. She operates a GHB Addiction Helpline working with more than 4,000 GHB addicts in 22 countries. | |
| Patricia Powers Attorney Advisor AEquitas Patricia D. Powers, Attorney Adviser for AEquitas, brings extensive litigation expertise as a Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney who specialized in sexual violence, domestic violence, child sexual and physical abuse, homicides, and cold cases for the past 27 years. Ms. Powers has been appointed as a Highly Qualified Expert on an intermittent basis for the United States Army Criminal Investigative Division, consulted on sexual assault and domestic violence cases for the armed forces, and provided specialized training for Criminal Investigations (CID) Special Agents and the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. Ms. Powers contributed to the curriculum for the Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Unit and served as the prosecutor presenter for the Legal Momentum’s National Judicial Education Program. Ms. Powers also co-founded a county sexual assault task force in Yakima and has served as an Assistant Attorney General for Washington State and Lead Attorney for the Yakama Nation Public Defender’s Office. | |
| Danielle Pugh-Markie Director of Judicial Education & Leadership Center for Court Innovation Danielle Pugh-Markie is the director of Judicial Education and Leadership at the Center for Court Innovation (CCI). Ms. Pugh-Markie implements judicial training and leadership programs in courts nationally and internationally. Prior to joining CCI, she was the director of Program Development and Judicial Engagement for the Family Violence and Domestic Relations Program (FVDR) at the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ). At NCJFCJ, Ms. Pugh-Markie oversaw several training and technical assistance projects to judges including the seminal National Judicial Institute on Domestic Violence and directed the implementation of the National Judicial Institute on Domestic Child Sex Trafficking. Ms. Pugh-Markie also worked at the Washington State Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) where she served as administrative manager of the Washington State Supreme Court Commissions on Gender and Justice, Minority and Justice, and Court Interpreters and the Office of Trial Court Services and Judicial Education. | |
| Ziwei Qi Assistant Professor Fort Hays State University Ziwei Qi is an assistant professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Fort Hays State University. Before arriving at Fort Hays State University, Dr. Qi taught in the Justice and Policy Studies Dept. at Guilford College, a private four-year liberal arts institution located in Greensboro, NC. Dr. Qi has been actively engaged in research involving gender and crime, restorative justice, social entrepreneurship in the criminal justice system, and experiential learning in the U.S. | |
| Rachel Ramirez Founder & Director, The Center on Partner Inflicted Brain Injury Ohio Domestic Violence Network Rachel Ramirez is the founder and director of the Center on Partner Inflicted Brain Injury, a project of the Ohio Domestic Violence Network (ODVN). The Center provides statewide, national, and international leadership to raise awareness on the emerging area of brain injury caused by domestic violence. For the past 13 years at ODVN, Ms. Ramirez has led multiple training and capacity-building initiatives on trauma-informed approaches, mental health, and substance use, with a recent national focus on partner inflicted brain injury. Ms. Ramirez co-authored Trauma-Informed Approaches: Promising Practices and Protocols for Ohio’s Domestic Violence Programs, as well as peer-reviewed academic journal articles in Journal of Family Violence and the Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma. | |
| Shelley Reader Program Manager The Crisis Center Shelley Reader is the program manager at The Crisis Center in Littleton, C.O., which provides shelter, advocacy, and therapy services to survivors of domestic violence. Ms. Reader has worked with survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence for 14 years. Her career began as a sexual assault advocate in a college setting, where she trained volunteer victim advocates and provided on-call support to survivors at police stations and hospitals. Ms. Reader transitioned into working with survivors of domestic violence where she has worked in confidential emergency shelters, community-based advocacy, and worked in collaboration with Douglas Co. Dept. of Human Services as a co-located advocate and a participant on child and adult protection teams. Her approach to advocacy is trauma-informed and strength-based. In 2016, Ms. Reader was an integral member of The Crisis Center team during the implementation of the Community Advocacy Program and the Lethality Assessment Program. | |
| Laura Richards Criminal Behavioural Analyst & Founder Paladin National Stalking Advocacy Service Laura Richards is an award-winning and world-renowned criminal behavioral analyst, investigator, and advocate. Ms. Richards worked for a decade at New Scotland Yard as head of the Homicide Prevention Unit, head of the Violent Crime Intelligence and Analysis Unit, and head of the Sexual Offences Section. Ms. Richards founded Paladin, a National Stalking Advocacy Service, following the success of the stalking law reform campaign. More recently, Ms. Richards spearheaded the Domestic Violence Law Reform campaign in England and Wales, which resulted in the offense of coercive control being introduced in 2015. She is author of the Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Harassment and Honour Based Abuse Risk Model, executive producer of Jennifer 42, and consulting producer of Dirty John: The Dirty Truth. | |
| Michelle Rivard Parks Associate Director Tribal Judicial Institute, University of North Dakota School of Law Michelle Parks is a licensed attorney and appointed member of the North Dakota Supreme Court State and Tribal Court Committee. In January 2011, Ms. Parks was appointed to serve on the U.S. Department of Justice Violence Against Women Federal & Tribal Prosecution Task Force. Ms. Parks is a former tribal prosecutor and current tribal attorney for the Spirit Lake Nation, as well as a former special judge for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and current chief justice of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation Supreme Court. She was previously on staff at the University of North Dakota School of Law as an adjunct professor, and taught courses on Federal Indian Law, Tribal Economic Development and the Law, and Tribal Law. Ms. Parks also serves as the associate director of the Tribal Judicial Institute providing training and technical assistance to tribal, state, and federal justice system officials. | |
| Elaina Roberts Technology Safety Legal Manager National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) Elaina Roberts is a Technology Safety Legal manager with the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), Safety Net project, where she provides training and technical assistance on technology abuse. Ms. Roberts also provides guidance and analysis on legal matters such as state and federal statutes. Prior to joining NNEDV, Ms. Roberts was with the National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC) where she served as the director of Strategic Initiatives. At NCVC, Ms. Roberts was also the legal director of the Stalking Resource Center, overseeing programmatic duties and providing training and technical assistance on all aspects of stalking to criminal justice and allied professionals. Prior to NCVS, she was an assistant district attorney in Albuquerque, N.M. where she prosecuted crimes in the Violent Crimes, Community Crimes, and Metropolitan Crimes Divisions. Ms. Roberts also served as the Mental Health and Drug Court prosecutor during her time at the DA’s Office. | |
| Kristen Roman Associate Chancellor & Chief of Police University of Wisconsin-Madison Kristen Roman was appointed Associate Vice Chancellor and Chief of Police of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department in January of 2017. Prior to her appointment, Chief Roman served for 26 years with the City of Madison Police Department. During her tenure there, she held a variety of positions including Police Officer, Recruiting Officer, Community Relations Sergeant, Professional Standards & Internal Affairs Lieutenant, Detective Lieutenant, Patrol Operations Lieutenant, Special Events Team Commander, Crisis Negotiation Team Commander, and Community Outreach Captain. In addition, she coordinated department Critical Incident Stress Management efforts and developed and supervised the department’s Peer Support Program. A defining feature of Chief Roman’s career is her extensive work in the area of improving police services to people with mental illness. A past board member of NAMI Dane County and Journey Mental Health Center, she has conducted multiple local, statewide, and national trainings/presentations on police-mental health response and collaboration. | |
| Jennifer Rose Co-Executive Director Inspire Action for Social Change Jennifer Rose is the co-director and founder at Inspire Action for Social Change and has been working to promote healing and reduce intimate partner violence for the past 28 years. Prior to co-founding Inspire Action in 2008, Ms. Rose held a number of leadership positions at local domestic violence programs. In her role as the director of Domestic Violence Services at WAWC, She worked to build a program that provided both crisis intervention and long-term advocacy to survivors and their families. Ms. Rose also opened a supervised visitation center that was part of a national demonstration initiative. She works as a consultant, providing training on the issues of violence against women and girls, engaging people who use violence, working with youth, community organizing, and LGBTQ+ issues. | |
| Kristene Ruddle Residential Client Advocate Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support Kristene Ruddle has served as a Residential Client Advocate for Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support for 9 years. As an advocate, Ms. Ruddle works with women, both single women and mothers with children, who have experienced intimate partner violence, engages community resources and establishes partnerships with other agencies and businesses. Kristene attends meetings at Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance, the MDHA Case Manager Round Table luncheons, and Advocate Roundtable on a monthly basis. She also participates in raising public awareness about domestic violence by delivering presentations at organizations and churches. | |
| Jeanne Sarson Co-Founder Persons Against Non-State Torture Jeanne Sarson is a Canadian feminist human rights defender. In 1993, Ms. Sarson focused her practice on exposing and naming family-based non-State torture (NST) as a specific form of violence against women and girls. With Linda MacDonald, Ms. Sarson developed models explaining NST, gathering insights into the torturers' MO, and shaping NST victimization-traumatization informed care when supporting women's recovery and freedom efforts. | |
| Melissa Scaia Director of International Training Global Rights for Women Melissa Scaia is the director of International Training for Global Rights for Women. Dr. Scaia was recently the executive director of Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs, known as “the Duluth Model”. Prior to that, Dr. Scaia was the executive director of Advocates for Family Peace for 17 years. She testifies as an expert witness on domestic violence in the state of Minnesota. Dr. Scaia has participated in numerous United Nations Expert Meetings on Violence Against Women (VAW) and has also written a number of publications and papers related to VAW. Dr. Scaia co-facilitates a batterers intervention program (BIP) and currently is part of an international research project related to BIPs. | |
| Joseph Scaramucci Detective McLennan County Sheriff's Office Joseph Scaramucci is a detective with the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office, and investigates crimes against persons. Since initiating investigations in human trafficking in 2014, Det. Scaramucci has participated in John Suppression events, arresting over 450 sex buyers. He has conducted sting operations resulting in the arrest of approximately 125 individuals for trafficking and related offenses, which lead to the recovery of approximately 215 trafficking victims and seizure of more than $300,000 in currency and assets. Det. Scaramucci has worked both state and federal investigation as a Task Force officer with H.S.I., and has led and trained numerous agencies throughout the U.S. on how to conduct operations. He is a consultant for Polaris, Collective Liberty, and the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and trains the Mongolian Federal Police and Prosecutor’s Offices, providing technical support for their human trafficking operations and investigations. | |
| Pam Schmidt Crime Scene Investigator (ret.) Pamela Schmidt is a retired Crime Scene Investigator with nearly 2000 hours of forensic and evidence training. Ms. Schmidt is Certified as a Senior Crime Scene Analyst through the International Association for Identification as well as a Certified Evidence Specialist through the Property & Evidence Association of Florida (PEAF) and played an integral part in the creation of the statewide Evidence Certification Program. Additionally, she was selected and invited to train with the New York City’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the Federal Bureau of Investigations. Ms. Schmidt has testified in court as an Expert Witness with 99% of cases that went to trial ended in a guilty verdict. Ms. Schmidt actively teaches at the Law Enforcement Academy on Crime Scene, serves on the executive board of PEAF, and is an active team member for Lifeguard Systems, delivering crime scene investigation presentations. | |
| Neil Schori Pastor The Edge Church Neil Schori is a pastor at The Edge Church in suburban Chicago. In 2007, Stacy Peterson, a woman he counseled, confided to him that her husband had killed his previous wife. She disappeared two months later. Amid a media firestorm, Pastor Schori tirelessly studied the epidemic of domestic violence and served as a key witness in Drew Peterson's subsequent murder trial. He also assisted victims and helped train church leaders to respond properly to victims. Pastor Shori worked with the late Susan Murphy-Milano to develop the Evidentiary Affidavit of Abuse, a tool that empowers victims and establishes a chain of custody in cases of severe physical violence, which was first used by Pastor Schori and Susan in his church in 2009. | |
| Lisa Shepperd Detective Prince George's County Police Dept. Lisa Shepperd has been with the Prince George’s County Police Dept. in Maryland since 2012. Det. Shepperd was on patrol from 2012 until June 2015, when she was transferred to the Regional Investigation Division, which handled assaults, such as shootings and cuttings. In January 2016, she was reassigned to the Criminal Investigation Division’s Domestic Violence Unit where she stayed until June 2016. From there, Det. Shepperd went on to work for the Child and Vulnerable Adult Abuse Unit until September 2017 before getting transferred to the Sexual Assault Unit. In October 2019, Det. Shepperd left the Sexual Assault Unit and went to the Homicide Unit. During the course of her investigative career, she has been the lead investigator on about 300 cases and has assisted in numerous other cases. | |
| Leigha Shoup Deputy Director Adult Advocacy Centers Leigha Shoup is the deputy director of the Adult Advocacy Centers and a registered advocate in Ohio. Ms. Shoup has served as the secretary of the Northwest Ohio Rescue & Restore Coalition, the regional response to human trafficking. She has over 17 years of experience working with children and adolescents living with disabilities and is a state, national, and international presenter on the topics of diversity, inclusion, and accessibility when working with multidisciplinary teams to serve survivors of crime. In July 2018, Ms. Shoup co-published Serving Survivors with Disabilities: An Advocate’s Guide. Her extensive knowledge of educational and victim advocacy for individuals living with disabilities propels her to continuously learn and lead in this movement. | |
| Bill Smock Police Surgeon Louisville Metro Police Department Bill Smock is a police surgeon for the Louisville Metro Police Department and directs the Clinical Forensic Medicine Program. Dr. Smock is also a clinical professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Louisville School of Medicine and chair of the Institute on Strangulation Prevention's National Medical Advisory Committee. | |
| Johna Stallings Chief Trafficking & Sex Crimes Harris County District Attorney's Office Johna Stallings worked at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office in the Consumer Fraud Division and later as a prosecutor for five years including a long stint in the Child Abuse Division. In 2008, Ms. Stallings was a district court chief at the Victoria County District Attorney’s Office and later, became first assistant until 2017. While there, she specialized in crimes against children and cybercrimes. Ms. Stallings has tried nearly 100 jury trials as first chair and assisted in investigations of hundreds of sex-related and cybercrimes. In March of 2017, Ms. Stallings returned to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and is currently the Division chief of Adult Sex Crimes, Sex Trafficking, and Child Exploitation. | |
| Scott Stevens Sergeant Iowa City Police Dept. Scott Stevens is a police officer with the Iowa City Police Department since 2003, spending eight of the last nine years in the Detectives Division, currently assigned to the Patrol Division. From 2013 to 2018, Sgt. Stevens served as Iowa City’s Domestic Violence Investigator where he worked on incidents of domestic abuse, harassment, stalking, and enforcement of protective orders. Sgt. Stevens served on the Domestic Abuse Response Team, University of Iowa Anti-Violence Coalition, Domestic Assault Investigation Team, and the Johnson County Coalition Against Domestic Violence. In 2016, Sgt. Stevens led a pilot program for the State of Iowa to introduce ODARA as a risk assessment model. Sgt. Stevens continues to provide training and education on topics of domestic abuse for community groups, advocates, and law enforcement ensuring the next generation of law enforcement works from a trauma-informed, victim-centered approach and furthering efforts to improve his department’s response to interpersonal crimes. | |
| Myra Strand Chief Servant Leader Strand Squared Solutions Myra Strand is the president of Strand Squared where she provides training and education, both in-person and online. Ms. Strand also provides consultation and agency support in the areas of trauma and response. Last year, Strand Squared provided educational services to over 30,000 professionals. Ms. Strand began working with people who live with trauma in 1995 and has experience working with youth who have complex trauma and/or serious mental illness, people with developmental disabilities, youth in competing war zones, offenders, with death notification and with victims of all crime types. She places a special emphasis on professional health as it relates to organizational trauma. Ms. Strand was faculty member at Northern Arizona University and Coconino Community College where she taught issues of violence, sexuality, and applied intersectionality for over a decade and has also taught social justice classes in the Detention Center working with men on issues of violence and healing. | |
| Donna Strittmatter Max Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Texas U.S. Attorney's Office Donna Strittmatter Max is an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Texas. In that role, she prosecutes criminal healthcare fraud and serves as her office’s Elder Justice Coordinator. Prior to her current position, Ms. Strittmatter Max spent over 15 years prosecuting white collar crime at the Dallas Co. District Attorney’s Office as the chief of the Specialized Crime Division. She oversaw the intake and prosecution of thousands of felony cases including environmental crimes, securities fraud, embezzlement, mortgage fraud, and computer crimes. She was one of Texas’ first dedicated elder abuse prosecutors and has conducted trainings and presentations across the nation on fraud topics. Ms. Strittmatter Max has also been involved in authoring state legislation to expand criminal prosecution for elderly victims. | |
| Kevin Strom SAKI TTA Project Director RTI International Kevin Strom is the director of RTI’s Center for Policing Research and Investigative Science. Dr. Strom has led numerous projects in forensic- and policing-related research, including foundational work for the U.S. Department of Justice that helped to define and quantify the problems associated with unsubmitted evidence in law enforcement agencies. He serves as one of two project directors for the SAKI TTA Team and directs research on sexual assault kit efficiency and best practice. Dr. Strom works regularly with law enforcement agencies at local and national levels. He is a member of the research advisory boards for both the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Police Executive Research Forum. Before joining RTI, he worked for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics. | |
| Gail Swafford Executive Director Child Advocacy Center of Cullman Gail Swafford is the executive director of the Child Advocacy Center of Cullman. Ms. Swafford worked as Children's Program director at Cullman Area Mental Health before joining the Child Advocacy Center of Cullman in 2004 as a child therapist. She has served as a field instructor for the University of Alabama, University of North Alabama, Samford University, University of Southern California, and Wallace State Community College. Prior to her work in social work and mental health, Ms. Swafford worked 19 years as assistant vice president with AmSouth Bank. | |
| Julianna Sweeney Domestic Violence High-Risk Team Coordinator Travis County Attorney's Office Julie Sweeney is the coordinator of the Travis County Domestic Violence High Risk Team (DVHRT). She began working at the Travis County Attorney's Office as an intern in the Protective Order Division in 2013, and has continued to be involved with the county in various capacities. Ms. Sweeney has been the coordinator of Travis County's DVHRT since April of 2017. | |
| Wyanet Tasker Housing and Homeless Services Tribal Technical Assistance Coordinator Red Wind Consulting, Inc. Wyanet Tasker has worked with survivors of trauma since 2005 in a variety of settings and has direct service experience in a residential treatment facility, a school setting, disabilities case management, shelter services, and a housing program. Ms. Tasker has been providing culturally-specific training and technical assistance since 2015, with a focus on special survivor populations, such as children/youth, male, Two Spirit/LGBT, and survivors with disabilities. She authored Creating a Safe Space to Grow: A Guide for Tribal Child and Youth Advocacy, and serves as a co-trainer for Red Wind’s Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Tribal Advocate Trainings. In her free time, Ms. Tasker contributes as a guest writer/blogger for Wings Foundation, Inc. on childhood sexual abuse healing topics, and volunteers for Inside Out Youth Services, which empowers, educates, and advocates for LGBTQ+ youth. | |
| Amanda Tenorio Domestic Violence Intervention Specialist University of Maryland Medical Center Shock Trauma Amanda Tenorio is a survivor of domestic violence whose story includes physical abuse against herself and her son; long periods of separation from her daughter; multiple arrests of her abuser and her own arrest and conviction for recanting in court; and more than three years of legal battles with her abuser that ultimately led to what she defines as justice. Ms. Tenorio works at the University of Maryland Medical Center Shock Trauma as a Domestic Violence Intervention Specialist, where she sees victims of intimate partner violence and human trafficking. She has worked as a Victim Advocate for the Military, a Resident Advocate in a domestic violence shelter, a Case Manager for Fairfax County's Domestic Violence Supportive Housing Program, a Domestic Violence Victim Advocate with The Women’s Center and the Program Coordinator for Break the Cycle, a program that Amanda assisted in developing and building from the ground up. | |
| Patricia Thackston Policy Advisor U.S. Department of Justice M. Patricia Thackston is a Policy Advisor with the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, US Department of Justice. Ms. Thackston manages a broad portfolio of tribal justice related grant programs and cooperative agreements including the Tribal Justice Systems Program, the Tribal Justice Systems Strategic Planning Program, tribal violent crime initiatives, and a wide range of tribal training and technical assistance projects. She is currently the DOJ Tribal 477 coordinator and serves as a co-chair for the DOJ-wide Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS) which brings together all of the DOJ’s tribal-government specific grant funding under a single coordinate solicitation. Prior to her work at BJA, Ms. Thackston worked with abused and neglected children for 13 years in a number of residential treatment settings and served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate volunteer for children in the child protective system in Alexandria, VA. | |
| Dawn Theiss United States Attorneys Office- Northern District of Texas Assistant U.S. Attorney Dawn Theiss is an Assistant U.S. Attorney with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, Civil Division. Prior to joining the office in November 2015, Ms. Theiss worked at a large regional law firm for 8 years, where her practice focused on federal and state court litigation in the principal areas of financial services, real estate, and business. Ms. Theiss currently handles a wide variety of civil litigation matters for the district, including affirmative False Claims Act investigations and has handled defensive matters and bankruptcy. | |
| Dave Thomas Program Manager II International Association of Chiefs of Police Dave Thomas is the program manager for the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and is retired from the Montgomery County Police Department. As an officer, Mr. Thomas taught at the Police Training Academy, served on the S.W.A.T. team, was a hostage negotiator, and a member of the Domestic Violence Unit. In addition to helping create the Domestic Violence Unit, he developed curriculum in domestic violence training, as well as the policy development on domestic violence-related issues. In 2002, Mr. Thomas signed on with the Johns Hopkins University Division of Public Safety Leadership as program administrator for Domestic Violence Education, as well as teaching courses related to violence against women crimes in the Division’s Police Executive Leadership Program. Mr. Thomas has worked with community stakeholders regarding coordinated community response to deliver training and technical assistance on issues pertaining to violence against women. | |
| Rachel Thomas Human Trafficking Educator Ending the Game Rachel Thomas is a personal survivor of human trafficking and human trafficking educator for Ending the Game. Ms. Thomas has extensive experience teaching, training, curriculum writing, public speaking and mentoring. As the founder of Sowers Education Group and the lead author of Ending the Game and The Cool Aunt, Ms. Thomas has educated and inspired a wide range of audiences including teens, social service providers, churches, teachers, college students, and law enforcement. Sowers’ intervention curriculum, Ending the Game is being used by over 1,000 facilitators in 36 states and helps survivors break the bonds of attachment to traffickers and the lifestyle of commercial sexual exploitation. | |
| 0 | Paul Thorns Executive Director Marquis Lifestyle Center Paul Thorns is a 20-year Army veteran with a background in military intelligence who has been actively engaged in the BDSM/Fetish Community since first getting involved in 1998. Mr. Thorns has served on the board of directors for Celebration of Power, was a Charter Member and educational/programming Chairperson for the National Leather Association- Colorado and a Charter Mentor for The Colorado Mentors Program. Mr. Thorns is also the Founder and Executive Director of the Marquis Lifestyle Center, an educational non-profit organization dedicated to developing communities, law enforcement teams, healthcare professionals, first responders and victims’ advocates through educational relationship building. Mr. Thorns has presented a variety of classes to the kink/BDSM community for over 13 years that vary from skills development, core philosophies, relationship dynamics, communication and one-on-one mentorship, including a kink presentation to mental health providers as well as classes for victims’ advocates. |
| Tom Tremblay Owner/Consultant Thomas Tremblay Consulting & Training Tom Tremblay is a retired police chief and the owner of Thomas Tremblay Consulting and Training. Throughout his distinguished 30-year policing career as an officer, detective, supervisor, police chief, and state public safety commissioner, Mr. Tremblay has been a passionate leader for the prevention of domestic and sexual violence. Mr. Tremblay is now a national and international advisor and trainer for police, prosecutors, advocates, higher education, the military, and the private sector. He is a contracted subject matter expert on domestic violence and sexual assault for numerous organizations including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, National Center for Campus Public Safety, Police Executive Research Forum, Rape Abuse Incest National Network, Research Triangle Institute, Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, Battered Women's Justice Project, U.S. Dept. of Justice Civil Rights Division, and the U.S. Dept. of Justice Office on Violence Against Women. | |
| John Trenary High-Tech Crime Training Instructor SEARCH John Trenary is a high-tech crime training instructor for SEARCH and a Cybercrimes detective/Digital Forensic examiner in the Linn County, O.R. Sheriff’s Office where he manages the office's Digital Forensics Laboratory. Det. Trenary also coordinates and provides training on high-tech crime investigations to local, state, and federal justice and public safety agencies. | |
| Kristen Troken Executive Assistant RESPOND Against Violence Kristen Troken is a survivor of domestic violence and sexual assault and has become a proactive proponent, working on behalf of women who have had similar experiences. As a named plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against the city and county that failed to protect women survivors of sexual assault, she hopes to make a difference in the lives of survivors and the institutions that have habitually failed them. It is through good-faith efforts and steadfast advocacy that she continues to create and demonstrate substantial change. | |
| Kaeli Vandertulip Clinical Practice Manager American College of Emergency Physicians Kaeli Vandertulip is Clinical Practice Manager for the American College of Emergency Physicians. Ms. Vandertulip's work collaborating with the Injury Prevention Coordinator for Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas has allowed her to teach various groups about recognition of personal biases, improving compassionate care, and consent in intimate relationships. | |
| Karla Vierthaler Advocacy & Resources Director National Sexual Violence Resource Center Karla Vierthaler is Advocacy and Resources Director for National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC). She supports the provision of technical assistance to the nation on a wide range of sexual violence prevention and intervention topics. Ms. Vierthaler has been an advocate in the in the movement to end sexual violence for over twenty years. She previously worked for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, where she developed resources and provided training on the impact of sexual violence in various communities, including adults in later life, people with disabilities, and others. When the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) standards were released in 2012, Ms. Vierthaler worked extensively with the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and local rape crisis programs on implementation efforts. | |
| Lauren Wagner High-Tech Crime Training Specialist High-Tech Crime Training Services at SEARCH Lauren Wagner is a high-tech crime training specialist in the High-Tech Crime Training Services department of SEARCH, where she performs tasks related to training local, state, and federal agencies on computer technology issues with criminal justice applications. Ms. Wagner is a recognized national expert on the role that social networking websites can play in law enforcement investigations, and routinely provides technical assistance to law enforcement agencies in active cases. | |
| Jennifer Waindle Investigator DeKalb Co. District Attorney's Office Jennifer Waindle is an investigator for the Dekalb County District Attorney's Office and was previously a supervisor for DeKalb County State Court Probation, where she designed policies and procedures regarding the monitoring of domestic violence. In 2014, Inv. Waindle implemented Georgia's first statewide, formal firearms protocol on a misdemeanor level, aimed at retrieving firearms from probationers and enforcing the federal firearms ban for persons convicted of family violence offenses. | |
| Ayana Wallace Training Specialist UJIMA, Inc. Ayana Wallace is the Training Specialist of Ujima, Inc.: The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community, a project of the DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Ms. Wallace’s career began as a client case coordinator providing direct services and support to victim-survivors who sought emergency shelter. Ms. Wallace has been instrumental in the national implementation of the Lethality Assessment Program—Maryland Model (LAP) and has served as the lead trainer for the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence, the state coalition. Ms. Wallace has worked for over a decade in the domestic violence field providing both direct service to survivors and technical assistance to advocates, law enforcement, community-based partners, and faith communities. Ms. Wallace has extensively studied the theory and implications of privilege, oppression, and intersectionality and strives to highlight the experiences the marginalized and/or underrepresented. | |
| Deanna "Dede" Wallace Victim Assistant Specialist Homeland Security Investigations Deanna Wallace serves as a Victim Assistance specialist for Homeland Security Investigations, Washington D.C., which oversees offices across Virginia, West Virginia, and the District. In this role, Ms. Wallace bridges the gap between law enforcement needs and victim services. She works with federal agents, local and state law enforcement officers, and nonprofit organizations on cases involving human trafficking, child exploitation, and financial crimes. Ms. Wallace has more than 15 years experience in the field. She is often consulted as a subject matter expert on victim issues, and uses her vast knowledge to train colleagues in the industry both domestically and abroad on victim issues and trauma-informed interviewing practices. | |
| Amber Warman Program Coordinator Red Wind Consulting, Inc. Amber Warman is a Program Coordinator for Red Wind Consulting and an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe. Ms. Warman has spent many years in direct care as an advocate for abused families, victims of sexual assault and human trafficking. In recent years she worked on rebuilding the Campus Community Response Team at United Tribes Technical College while also advocating for victims/survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault on campus. In this role she helped develop policies and procedures while working with a network of partners and serving on the Community Response team on the Standing Rock reservation. | |
| Cheryl Wattley Professor of Law & Director of Experiential Education UNT Dallas College of Law Cheryl Wattley is a professor at the UNT Dallas College of Law teaching criminal law in the first-year curriculum. Dr. Wattley is also the director of Experiential Education and teaches courses in professional skills, criminal law, and professionalism. She joined the inaugural faculty of the UNT Dallas College of Law from the University of Oklahoma College of Law, where she was a professor of Law and director of Clinical Education from 2006 through 2013. | |
| Neil Websdale Director of Family Violence Center & NDVFRI Arizona State University Neil Websdale is director of the Family Violence Center at Arizona State University and director of the National Domestic Violence Fatality Review Initiative (NDVFRI). Dr. Websdale has published work on domestic violence, the history of crime, policing, social change, and public policy. His social policy work involves helping establish networks of domestic violence fatality review teams across the United States and elsewhere. He also directs various community-informed intimate partner violence risk assessment initiatives, the fatality review and safety assessment projects, and a number of other multiagency and interdisciplinary initiatives. Dr. Websdale has written five books: Rural Woman Battering and the Justice System: An Ethnography Understanding Domestic Homicide; Making Trouble: Cultural Constructions of Crime, Deviance, and Control; Policing the Poor: From Slave Plantation to Public Housing; Familicidal Hearts: The Emotional Styles of 211 Killers. | |
| Angela Weekes Corporal (ret.) Angela Weekes Consulting Angela Weekes retired in 2020 after serving 26 years with the Nampa Police Department to begin serving in a larger capacity with the Nampa Family Justice Center. Cpl. Weekes served the City of Nampa in several different capacities including: patrol, school resource officer, DARE officer, and child abuse investigator. Her last assignment was as a corporal in the Crimes Against Person’s Unit in the investigation’s division. Cpl. Weekes is a certified Federal Law Enforcement Training Center instructor in domestic violence. She is certified by Idaho Peace Officer’s Standards and Training Academy in domestic violence and sexual assault, as well as for the Idaho Coalition on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. Cpl. Weekes also has instructed at the International Family Justice Center Conference. She serves as faculty with the International Association for Chiefs of Police. | |
| Beth Weekley-FItzgerald Forensic Nurse Examiner Professional Forensic Services, LLC Beth Weekley-Fitzgerald is an independent consultant, providing expert testimony and training on the mechanism of injury related to non-fatal strangulation along with other injuries related to violent crime. In 2020, Ms. Weekley-Fitzgerald assisted with the development of the “Petechial Hemorrhage Challenge” found in the Domestic Violence and Nonfatal Strangulation Assessment, for HealthCare Providers and First Responders, Forensic Learning Series. In 2010, she became director of the Wasatch Forensic Nurses and managed a team of nurses who provided 24/7 response to over 20 emergency departments throughout Salt Lake and Utah Counties and was responsible for the creation and implementation of policies and protocols within the nursing scope of practice such as sexual assault forensic examination, non-fatal strangulation, domestic violence and the suspect exam. Ms. Weekley-Fitzgerald also facilitated case review and nursing testimony preparation. She also is on the State of Utah Office on Domestic and Sexual Violence Council. | |
| Hope Wenke Urban Responses Technical Assistance Coordinator Red Wind Consulting, Inc. Hope Wenke is an enrolled member of the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska, and is the Urban Native Training and Technical Assistance coordinator for Red Wing Consulting, Inc. Ms. Wenke works with urban Native programs to build and enhance their responses to indigenous victims of domestic violence and sexual violence. Ms. Wenke previously served as program director of the Haseya Advocate Program, a local urban Native program of Red Wind Consulting, working to address violence against Native survivors of domestic and sexual violence through direct services in Colorado Springs, C.O. Previously, Ms. Wenke worked as a confidential advocate providing culturally-sensitive and appropriate advocacy for Urban Native Victims. | |
| Carolyn West Professor of Psychology University of Washington Carolyn West is professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Washington where she teaches courses on the Psychology of Black Women and Sex Crimes and Sexual Violence. Dr. West has authored more than 70 publications and is editor/contributor of the award-winning book Violence in the Lives of Black Women: Battered, Black, and Blue. She also has written extensively on racism in sexualized media and in 2018 she produced the documentary “Let Me Tell Ya’ll ‘Bout Black Chicks: Images of Black Women in Pornography.” Dr. West trains, consults, and speaks to national and international audiences. Dr. West has worked as an expert witness in domestic violence/sexual assault cases, delivered keynote addresses, conducted workshops, and created innovative training materials to educate and equip professionals with the skills to provide culturally-sensitive services to survivors of color. | |
| Elissa Wev Assistant District Attorney Dallas County District Attorney's Office Elissa Wev is an assistant district attorney in the Family Violence Division of the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office. Ms. Wev began her career as a public defender in Dallas County in 2013, where she advocated for indigent clients charged with misdemeanor offenses. Ms. Wev now works prosecuting strangulation cases, aggravated assaults, and murders. She also serves on the LGBTQ+ Task Force of her office and is on the board of the Mexican American Bar Association of Dallas. | |
| Dawn Wilcox Founder & Director Women Count U.S.A. Dawn Wilcox is a domestic violence survivor and educator. Ms. Wilcox founded Women Count USA: United States Femicide Database in 2017, and is creating the first comprehensive database of all women and girls murdered by men in the U.S. from 1950 to present. She also works to challenge victim-blaming media narratives. | |
| John Wilkinson Attorney Advisor AEquitas John Wilkinson is as an Attorney Advisor with AEquitas presenting on trial strategy, legal analysis and policy, and ethical issues related to violence against women. Mr. Wilkinson conducts research; develops training materials, resources, and publications; and provides case consultation and technical assistance for prosecutors and allied professionals. Mr. Wilkinson has presented on the investigation and prosecution of domestic violence, sexual violence, stalking and human trafficking. Prior to AEquitas, Mr. Wilkinson was the Program Manager for the Gun Violence Prosecution Program, Homeland Security Program and Southwest Border Crime Program of the National District Attorneys Association presenting on gun, gang violence, and homeland security issues. Mr. Wilkinson collaborated with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Department of Homeland Security and International Association of Chiefs of Police to bring data-driven best practices to criminal justice professionals. From 1998 through 2005, John served as Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney in Fredericksburg, VA prosecuting cases. | |
| Marc Wirtz Director of Emergency Services Dignity Health, California Hospital Medical Center Marc Wirtz is the Director of a Level II Trauma Emergency Department in Downtown Los Angeles. Mr. Wirtz has nearly 10 years of nursing experience in Emergency Care. He is the program leader for the Survivor Advocate Program, placing a survivor of Human Trafficking within the Emergency Department to help staff and physicians identify victims and potential victims of Human Trafficking. Prior to his nursing career, Mr. Wirtz worked in Washington DC on Healthcare Policy and Reform. | |
| Lecia Wright Asst. United States Attorney U.S. Attorney's Office - District of Nebraska Lecia Wright is currently an assistant U.S. attorney in the District of Nebraska in the General Crimes Unit. Since July 2014, Ms. Wright has represented the U.S. in violent crimes to include, felony assaults, sexual assault, domestic abuse, child sexual abuse, child abuse, and homicide cases. She also prosecutes child pornography offenses, white collar fraud, and computer crimes. Ms. Wright serves as the Tribal liaison for Nebraska, serving as the primary point of contact for Native American tribes and Reservations in Nebraska. She coordinates with and trains federal and tribal law enforcement officers investigating violent crime and felony offenses occurring in Indian Country. Ms. Wright also serves in the U.S. Air Force as a reservist in the JAG Corps. | |
| Katherine Wurmfeld Director of Family Court Programs Center for Court Innovation Katherine Wurmfeld is the director of Family Court Programs at the Center for Court Innovation (CCI). In this role, Ms. Wurmfeld provides oversight for CCI’s family court operating projects, as well as training, technical assistance, and strategic planning advice to courts around the country wishing to enhance their response to domestic violence and child related relief. In addition to providing direct legal services, she provided supervision to staff attorneys, law students, and volunteers, taught clinical seminars, and provided training for outside organizations, community groups, and law firms. Ms. Wurmfeld has also served as co-chair for the Lawyers Committee Against Domestic Violence, where she was active in planning the annual Fordham Forum on Domestic Violence, as well as other professional trainings, and promoting legislative and policy initiatives impacting survivors of domestic violence. | |
| Mark Wynn Consultant Wynn Consulting Mark Wynn has been a national trainer to police executives, patrol officers, training officers, prosecutors, judges, legislators, social service providers, healthcare professionals, and victim advocates in all 50 states for over 30 years. An international lecturer at police academies all over the world, Mr. Wynn is also a Fulbright specialist for the Department of State and is a domestic violence survivor, enabling him to teach both effectively and passionately. Mr. Wynn is devoted to ending domestic/sexual, elder, and child abuse as a police officer, detective, educator, program supervisor, and now consultant and advisor. | |
| Hsin-Yen Yang Associate Professor Fort Hays State University Hsin-Yen Yang is an associate professor in the Dept. of Communication Studies at Fort Hays State University in Hays, K.S. Early in her career, Dr. Yang worked as a political campaigner, a social activist, a radio host, and a researcher in various organizations during Taiwan’s democratization in the 1990s. Dr. Yang was selected as an Entrepreneurship Faculty fellow in 2018, and is currently the faculty adviser of the FHSU Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America. | |
| Victoria Ybanez Executive Director Red Wind Consulting, Inc. Victoria Ybanez is Navajo and Apache, and serves as the executive director of Red Wind Consulting, Inc. Ms. Ybanez has been working to end violence against American Indian/Alaskan Native women for 35 years, and has a depth of experience working closely with tribes in developing and implementing a range of responses to violence against indigenous women, conducted numerous on-site visits, facilitated sessions and training for tribes over the past 20 years. At Red Wind, Ms. Ybanez coordinates and provides Tribal Technical Assistance for recipients of the Tribal Governments Program for the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women. | |
| Katherine Yoder Executive Director Adult Advocacy Centers Katherine Yoder is the Executive Director of the Adult Advocacy Centers, which she founded in March 2019. Ms. Yoder is also a forensic interviewer and has been an advocate for people with disabilities for twenty years. | |
| Andrea Zaferes Investigator TeamLGS Andrea Zaferes is a medicolegal death investigator who specializes in the handling of aquatic cases from the scene to the courtroom. Ms. Zaferes trains law enforcement, medical examiners, coroners, domestic violence workers, medical personnel, and jurisprudence members to recognize, document, and investigate aquatic homicide, death, assault, and abuse cases. She assists in analyzing and building such cases in the U.S. and abroad, and has developed standards for their investigation and is recognized in multiple jurisdictions and by the U.S. Army as an expert witness in bodies-found-in-water and aquatic death investigation. For more than 30 years, Ms. Zaferes has been teaching dive and surface teams around the world to perform water rescue and to find and recover submerged evidence and bodies. She is an author and frequent public speaker on the topics of aquatic death and aquatic abuse. | |
