| Conference on Crimes Against Women Staff Conference on Crimes Against Women | |
| Beau Abdulla Love People Not Pixels Beau Abdulla founded Love People Not Pixels in 2016 and currently serves as the director. Mr. Abdulla also teaches a course in strategic thinking and change management at Eastern University. | |
| David Adams Emerge David Adams is the co-founder and co-director of Emerge, the first counseling program in the nation for men who abuse women, established in 1977. Dr. Adams has led groups for men who batter and conducted outreach to victims of abuse for 40 years, as well as led parenting education classes for fathers for 20 years. He is one of the nation's leading experts on men who batter and has conducted trainings of social service and criminal justice professionals in 46 states and 21 nations. Dr. Adams is a Commissioner on the Massachusetts Governors Council on Sexual and Domestic Violence and Director of the National Domestic Violence Risk Assessment & Management Training Project. He is an experienced Expert Witness in family and criminal court cases. | |
| Karen Adams Appriss Safety Karen Adams serves as the training mananger for Appriss Safetys public safety training program. Karen provides training to victims, community service providers and advocates, law enforcement, and criminal justice personnel. Her vast experience as a trainer, facilitator, and mediator complement her passion for helping others and assisting victims regarding victim resources and services. In addition, Ms. Adams speaks regularly at national conferences. | |
| Afua Addo Center for Court Innovation Afua Addo is the coordinator for the Center for Court Innovations Project SAFE. Prior to coordinating Project SAFE, Ms. Addo oversaw the Centers Hidden Victims Project (HVP), which serves the Human Trafficking Intervention Court, Misdemeanor Treatment Court, and Queens Mental Health Recovery Court. She provides national technical assistance and training on the intersection of trauma, race, gender and sexuality, and trauma-informed service delivery to judges, stakeholders, law enforcement, and direct service personnel. | |
| Natalia Aguirre Alliance for HOPE International Natalia Aguirre is the National Director of the Family Justice Center Alliance. Ms. Aguirre provides training and support to developing and operating Family Justice Centers worldwide. She also develops and maintains new products and tools which are utilized by Family Justice Center staff and partner agencies. Additionally, Ms. Aguirre leads the Polyvictimization Initiative, which provides planning and support services to the six demonstration sites. | |
| Jeanne Allert The Samaritan Women Jeanne Allert founded The Samaritan Women (TSW) in 2007, and currently directs the faith-based organization that provides transitional, restorative, and graduate care for survivors of domestic sex trafficking. Ms. Allert is chief architect behind TSW's Continuum of Care model, which integrates survivor-input, evidenced-based practices, trauma-informed principles, and Christian values. | |
| Cynthia Amodeo Barrier Free Living Cynthia Amodeo is a licensed mental health counselor who specializes in the intersection of domestic violence and disabilities. As Barrier Free Livings Chief Program Officer, she oversees all programming within the agency. She began as a childrens counselor at Freedom House and has since held several leadership positions in the agency including Coordinator of Family Services, Director of Family Services, and Director of Social Services. Ms. Amodeo regularly presents nationally to spread awareness of how domestic violence affects people with disabilities. | |
| Jane Anderson AEquitas Jane Anderson is an attorney advisor with AEquitas. Previously, Ms. Anderson served as an asst. state attorney with Florida's 11th Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade Co., where she tried many of the state's first human trafficking cases. She also helped found the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Human Trafficking Unit and Task Force. 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. | |
| Karla Arenas-Itotia Univ. of Texas at Arlington Karla Arenas-Itotia is an Asst. Professor in Practice in the School of Social Work at The Univ. of Texas at Arlington. She previously oversaw the Relationship Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention (RVSP) Dept., as well as served on the Behavior Intervention Team (BIT) as Case Manager at The Univ. of Texas at Arlington. In her previous position, Ms. Arenas-Itotia connected many student survivors of IPV and sexual assault to community and Univ. resources, served as a contact for student survivors, provided supportive services, collaborated with other campus organizations and Dept.s, and developed educational and outreach programs for the community. | |
| Bethany Backes Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Bethany Backes is a research associate at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work and the director of research and evaluation at the Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (IDVSA). Dr. Backes spent a decade at the National Institute of Justice (NIJ)/U.S. Dept. of Justice directing research and evaluation on intimate partner violence, sexual violence, stalking, violent victimization, researcher-practitioner partnerships, and wrongful conviction. Prior to NIJ, Dr. Backes spent several years in the direct services, research, and health education fields primarily focused on victimization and injury. Her areas of scholarship broadly encompass research and evaluation on violence against women including formal and informal help-seeking trajectories, secondary and tertiary violence prevention strategies, and criminal justice and community-based interventions related to intimate partner, sexual, and stalking victimization. | |
| Brian Baker Brazos Co. District Attorney's Office Brian Baker has worked for the Brazos Co. District Attorney’s Office since 2003, and is currently the First Assistant. Mr. Baker has been an assistant district attorney for over 18 years, and has prosecuted hundreds of felony cases including intoxicated manslaughter, sexual assault, murder, and capital murder. He serves in several training roles through the Texas District and County Attorneys' Association, including as a faculty advisor for advanced trial skills and new prosecutor training. | |
| Sara Barnett Genesis Women's Shelter & Support Sara Barnett began her career in the District Attorney’s Office in Garfield Co., OK, where she prosecuted felony and misdemeanor domestic violence crimes. Ms. Barnett also headed the County’s coordinated community response team, working with advocates, shelter employees, and law enforcement to develop policies and practices to strengthen access to resources for victims, police response, and prosecution of domestic violence crimes. In 2016, Ms. Barnett was hired as the first in-house attorney at Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support to provide clients with trauma-informed, quality direct civil representation in family law matters. Since that time, Ms. Barnett has developed the entirety of the program’s policies and procedures and continues to expand the program with new staff attorneys. In addition, Ms. Barnett regularly presents on the intersection of family law and intimate partner violence in the community. | |
| Margaret Bassett Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Margaret Bassett is the Deputy Director and Director of Expert Witness Program at the Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault (IDVSA) at The Univ. of Texas at Austin. She 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. | |
| Jared Beek Appriss Safety Jared Beek is the VINE Marketing & Training Specialist at Appriss Safety. Mr. Beek assists in both online and in-person VINE training, delivery, and content development. He looks forward to working alongside law enforcement, advocates, service providers, and criminal justice professionals to connect victims to the services they need to provide peace of mind. | |
| Bill Bernstein Mosaic Family Services Bill Bernstein is deputy director of Mosaic Family Services, an agency serving those who have suffered human rights abuses such as human trafficking and domestic violence. Mr. Bernstein directs the program at Mosaic that has served survivors of human trafficking since 2001. Mosaic has worked with over 500 trafficked persons: male and female, labor and sex, adults and minors, foreign born and domestic. The agency provides case management, legal services, counseling and housing. Mr. Bernstein is also a founding member of the North Texas Anti-Trafficking Team, consisting of federal and local law enforcement, prosecutors and social service providers, and Chairs the North Texas Coalition Against Human Trafficking. | |
| Jennifer Bjorhus Minneapolis Star Tribune Jennifer Bjorhus is an investigative reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune in Minneapolis, where she has been for 10 years, covering business and criminal justice. Ms. Bjorhus' projects on police use of force and discipline by the state’s police licensing board won national awards including the Al Nakkula Award for Police Reporting and a National Headliner Award for investigative reporting. She was named Journalist of the Year in 2018 by the Minnesota chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. | |
| Bronwyn Blake 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 Americas Most Wanted and Court TV as an expert, and has previously clerked at the Family Justice Division of the Travis County DAs Office and at Break the Cycle. She is the former President of the Young Womens Alliance, and currently serves as an officer on the board of Girlstart, an organization that empowers girls in science, technology, engineering, and math, and as the President of the Balcones Hills Ladies Club. | |
| Justin Boardman Boardman Training & Consulting Justin Boardman is a retired detective who served 15 years with the West Valley City Police Department in Utah. Det. Boardman's first eight years were spent as a patrol officer in this active city, and was then assigned for seven years to the Special Victims Unit. Over his assignment, Det. Boardman conducted nearly 300 forensic child victim interviews, and 140 adult victim interviews. He co-authored a Trauma-Informed Victim Interview protocol for adult victims of trauma, which uses the Neurobiology of Trauma to gain additional information to be used in the investigation. Det. Boardman presents and consults nationally and internationally, strengthening investigations in a victim-centered and trauma-informed way. | |
| Chris Bray Fox Valley Technical College Chris Bray retired from the Phoenix Police Dept. in 2015 after 33 years of service. For the past 18 years, Sgt. Bray has worked as an investigative supervisor in the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Bureaus. He had been assigned to the Vice Enforcement Unit where he supervised investigations into human trafficking, child prostitution, illegal enterprises, and money laundering. Sgt. Bray is a subject matter expert on human trafficking for Arizona POST and California POST. He is also a contributing author on the topic of human trafficking, and has provided advanced investigative training to local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, as well as social service providers across the country. | |
| Jessica Brazeal New Friends New Life Jessica Brazeal is the Clinical Director at New Friends New Life, an agency that serves trafficked and sexually exploited women and children. Previously, Jessica has served as the Director of Clinical & Professional Services at Genesis Women's Shelter & Support and the Coordinator of Clinical Services of Restoration Ministries at Highland Park United Methodist Church. Jessica has provided therapeutic services to women and children victims of domestic violence for the last eight years in both residential and outpatient settings before entering the field of sex trafficking. Jessica has provided expert testimony in both criminal and civil courts in Texas as well as serving on the faculty of the Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assaults Expert Witness Training Program. | |
| Khara Breeden Harris Co. Forensic Nurse Examiners Khara Breeden is a registered nurse who serves as the Executive Director of the Harris County Forensic Nurse Examiners. She currently serves on the TAASA Board of Director’s and participated in TCFV’s Policy Committee during this legislative session. Dr. Breeden has also served as the International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN) Board Secretary, and the Board liaison of the Suspect Exam and Title IX task forces, and has previously been the liaison for the Strangulation Task Force until completion of the Task Force's publication of the IAFN Non-Fatal Strangulation Documentation Toolkit. | |
| Faith Brugner Genesis Women's Shelter & Support Faith Brugner is a therapist at Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support, where she provides individual and group services to women and children that have experienced domestic violence. Ms. Brugner is passionate about her therapeutic work with clients and seeks to educate the community about the work of Genesis and the issues surrounding of domestic violence. Her expertise includes aging and domestic violence, trauma, attachment with children and caregivers, and parenting. | |
| Bobbie Bruhn Randall Co. District Attorney's Office Bobbie Bruhn has served 23 years in law enforcement and 16 years with the Randall County Criminal District Attorney's Office. Ms. Bruhn is a court-certified fingerprint expert and holds a Master Peace Officer Certification. She has worked in every court in Randall County, as well as every division of the Randall County District Attorney's Office, including CPS and Juvenile. Ms. Bruhn is currently assigned to the Grand Jury, County Court at Law, and all Juvenile cases. | |
| Christie Brungardt Jana's Campaign, Inc. Christie Brungardt is an inspirational speaker with a powerful message. Dr. Brungardt and her husband, Dr. Curt Brungardt, share their message of hope over despair, courage over fear, love over hate, and peace over violence. Following the murder of their daughter in 2008, they have traveled the U.S. promoting gender and partner violence prevention and healthy relationship behaviors. Between them, they have over 49 years of experience in higher education, where they have been active in the fields of leadership development and civic engagement. | |
| Curt Brungardt Jana's Campaign, Inc. Curt Brungardt is a co-founder of Jana’s Campaign, the Omer G. Voss Distinguished Professor of Leadership Studies, and the Executive Director of the Center for Civic Leadership at Fort Hays State University. In his academic career, Dr. Brungardt specializes in political leadership, social justice, and community organizing. He has authored and co-authored several books and numerous articles in the field of civic leadership. His specific work with Jana’s Campaign has focused on engaging men and boys in reducing gender violence by examining modern masculinity. Dr.Brungardt speaks nationally on this topic and serves on the national advisory board of Coaching Boys into Men. He has presented to various audiences, including student athletes, prison inmates, and Indian tribes. | |
| Doug Burig Pennsylvania State Police Douglas Burig is a 22-year veteran of the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) where he currently serves as the Director of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Prior to his current position, Major Burig served in numerous disciplines within the PSP including Director of the Intelligence Division, patrol, criminal investigations, criminal investigation assessment, and analytical intelligence as the commander of the state's primary designated fusion center, the Pennsylvania Criminal Intelligence Center. In October 2006, Major Burig was one of the first responders to the West Nickel Mines Amish School Shooting and was the on-scene incident commander when 10 young girls were shot. | |
| Laurie Burks Rockwall Police Dept. Laurie Burks has been a peace officer for 15 years and has worked in the areas of patrol, crime scene, field training officer, cooper fitness instructor, defensive tactics instructor, and SWAT containment team member. Detective Burks has investigated all types of family violence offenses ranging from assault to capital murder and everything in-between. She has traveled across north Texas to conduct training on family violence at numerous agencies across the metroplex in order to help other agencies improve their response to domestic violence calls and better understand the role police officers play in responding to these calls. | |
| Roberto Cañas Lisa E. McKnight P.C. Roberto Cañas was the presiding judge of Co. Criminal Court #10 in Dallas Co., the first Latino to hold that position. His court handled only domestic violence cases. While on the bench, Judge Cañas worked to improve the legal system’s response to domestic violence, and received numerous awards for his service. In 2013, Judge Cañas’s court was named a Domestic Violence Mentor Court by the U.S. Dept. of Justice, one of only three in the nation to receive that designation. Judge Cañas was a faculty member of the National Judicial Institute on Domestic Violence and trained judges around the world on domestic violence issues. In 2014, Judge Cañas instituted Dallas Co.'s first-ever gun surrender program for domestic violence offenders to ensure that abusers are compliant with federal and state laws prohibiting gun possession. Currently, Judge Cañas serves on the Domestic Violence Executive Task Force created by Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings. Judge Cañas works in private practice at the firm of Lisa E. McKnight P.C., where he represents clients in complex family and criminal matters. | |
| Alexandra Cantrell Texas Council on Family Violence Alexandra Cantrell is a Policy Coordinator at the Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV). In her role, Ms. Cantrell provides technical assistance and training to family violence service providers across the state relating to policy issues, programmatic advocacy, and data management. Prior to joining TCFV, Ms. Cantrell worked at a domestic violence clinic during law school preparing protective order applications for survivors of family violence and elder abuse. She briefly practiced law in both California and New York prior to working as an advocate at the National Domestic Violence Hotline and at a domestic violence program in rural Texas. | |
| Melissa Carter Brazos Co. District Attorney's Office Melissa Carter has been the Brazos County Victim Assistance Coordinator for the District Attorney since March 2002. Over the past 16 years, she has worked with thousands of crime victims acting as a liaison between the assistant district attorney and the victim. Ms. Carter is currently assigned to the Crimes Against Women Unit in the office working directly with victims of family violence, sexual assault and stalking cases. In September of 2018, Ms. Carter created the Brazos County Domestic Violence High Risk Team and currently serves as the coordinator. She is also a founding member of the Every Victim, Every Time Crime Victim Conference of which she currently serves on the board of directors. She is also a member of the Brazos County Sexual Assault Resource Team. | |
| Ines Cenatiempo United States Attorney's Office Ines Cenatiempo began her Dept. of Justice career in 2009 at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Bridgeport, CT. During that time, she worked on a variety of cases including violent crime and international child exploitation. In 2010, she transferred to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C. where she was assigned to the Violent Crime & Narcotics Trafficking Unit. In 2012, Ms. Cenatiempo left the DOJ and worked at Joseph & Kirschenbaum where she helped victims of employment discrimination. She found her way back to the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Haven, CT eventually became the Victim Assistance Specialist. In her current role, Ms. Cenatiempo oversees the Victim-Witness Unit of the U.S. Attorney's Office and is the first point of contact for federal crime victims. She routinely trains federal prosecutors, support staff, and state and federal victim advocates on victim matters, including victim protection laws and Dept. of Justice policies. | |
| Elisa Chamberlain Texas A&M Univ. Elisa Chamberlain is a combat Army veteran who served for over 20 years. While on active duty, Ms. Chamberlain served as a 92G Food Service NCO and Master Resilience Trainer/Level 2 Facilitator through CSF. She is also a former Career Counselor for the Soldier For Life- Transition Assistance Program. | |
| Laurie Charles Texas A&M Univ. College of Nursing Laurie Charles is a Clinical Asst. Professor at Texas A&M Univ. in the Forensic Health Care Program. Previously, Ms. Charles was a SANE Trainer for the Texas Attorney General, providing education for registered nurses. She has extensive sexual assault patient care experience, but her primary expertise is in child physical abuse/neglect, child sexual abuse/assault, and human trafficking. Her current focus is on outreach, providing education and training for health care professionals. | |
| Nanette Chezum The Courage Corner Nanette Chezum is a survivor of a verbally and psychologically abusive relationship with a law enforcement officer, and is dedicated to educating the public about intimate partner abuse. Ms. Chezum is a writer, and focuses on verbal and psychological tactics utilized by abusive personalities, self-care tips, unhealthy behavior, speaking up about intimate partner abuse, and shaming and blaming tactics used by society and offenders. She is an active volunteer with the Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence and is a committee member with Stand Up Colorado. | |
| Carvana Cloud Harris Co. District Attorney's Office Carvana Cloud is an Asst. District Attorney and Division Chief of the Family Criminal Law Division of the Harris Co. District Attorney's Office. In her current capacity, Ms. Cloud manages a multi-disciplinary team of prosecutors, criminal investigators, and social workers committed to seeking justice for victims of domestic violence. In December 2017, Ms. Cloud established the Harris Co. Strangulation Taskforce to develop a Co.wide protocol for the investigation and prosecution of strangulation cases. | |
| Brian Clubb Battered Women's Justice Project Brian Clubb is the Military & Veterans Advocacy Program Coordinator for the Battered Women's Justice Project. Mr. Clubb was the first Veterans Treatment Court Project Director for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, practiced law as both a public defender and private criminal defense attorney, and served for over 20 years in the U.S. Marine Corps. | |
| Laura Cook The National Center for Victims of Crime Laura Cook is the Director of the Financial Crime Resource Center and Deputy Director of the National Crime Victim Bar Association, both of which are programs of the National Center for Victims of Crime. Ms. Cook has traveled throughout the country training advocates on financial fraud with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Investor Education Foundation. She has also coordinated multiple webinars on identity theft, mass marketing fraud, investment and securities fraud, mortgage and lending fraud, and elder financial exploitation. | |
| Michael Crumrine Austin Police Dept. MICHAEL CRUMRINE is a sergeant with the Austin Texas Police Dept., with over 31 years of law enforcement experience. Sgt. Crumrine began his investigative career in the adult Sex Crimes Unit, where he investigated felony and misdemeanor sexually related offenses against adult victims. His investigative career included being a detective in both the Homicide Unit and the Sex Offender Apprehension and Registration Unit, which took a proactive approach to monitoring and holding sex offenders accountable. Sgt. Crumrine is a founding member and current President of the Lesbian and Gay Peace Officers Association – Austin. He was instrumental in the Dept.’s adoption of a victim-neutral affidavit, ensuring all crime victims have their identities protected in public documents. Sgt. Crumrine continues to serve as an active duty officer and consults on a national level in the field of sexual and intimate partner violence. | |
| Heather Davies Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center, Inc. Heather Davies is the Project Specialist for National Training & Technical Assistance at the Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center (JGCC) 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 JGCC in 2015, she worked for five years at Casa Myrna in Boston 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. | |
| Mariama Diallo Sanctuary for Families Mariama Diallo is a Program Director at Sanctuary for Families, where she provides trauma-informed individual and group therapy to survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, civil wars/genocide, and other forms of gender-based violence. Ms. Diallo develops curriculum and other training materials, conducts community outreach/education on the issues of Female Genital Mutilation, forced marriage, and domestic violence through professional trainings to doctors, nurses, social workers, and school teachers. | |
| Sapana Donde Univ. of Texas at Austin Sapana Donde is a research associate in the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin and a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice at Just Mind in Austin, TX. Dr. Donde's research and clinical interests include the neurobiology of trauma, interpersonal violence, child welfare and adoption, trauma-informed mental health services, intervention research, and cultural psychology. | |
| Nancy Downing Texas A&M College of Nursing Forensic Health Care Program Nancy Downing is a professor at Texas A&M in the College of Nursing Forensic Health Care Program. Dr. Downing teaches and conducts research related to forensic health care and practices as a forensic nurse at Baylor Scott & White Medical Centers in College Station and Temple. She is a member of the Texas Forensic Science Commission and Director-At-Large on the Board of Directors for the International Association of Forensic Nursing. Dr. Downing practiced for 10 years as a nurse on an inpatient medical-psychiatry unit at the Univ. of Iowa. | |
| George Duarte Providence Police Dept. George Duarte is a detective with the Providence Police Dept. located in Rhode Island. Detective Duarte has been a police officer for the past 15 years and is presently assigned to the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force. | |
| Ann Duffy Dallas Co. District Attorney's Office Ann Duffy is currently assigned to the Felony Family Violence Division in the Dallas Co. District Attorney's Office, where she has prosecuted thousands of cases involving domestic violence, and has been responsible for convicting countless offenders at trial. Previously, Ms. Duffy did extensive paralegal work at the District Attorney’s Office in Queens, New York. Ms. Duffy started her legal career as an Assistant District Attorney at the Dallas Co. District Attorney’s Office. She has worked at the DA’s Office since 2013, and has almost exclusively handled cases involving intimate partner violence. | |
| Kelly Dunne Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center, Inc. Kelly Dunne, Chief of Operations and Director of National Training & Technical Assistance of the Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center in Massachusetts, has focused her work on analyzing the response systems created to protect victims and hold offenders accountable. In 2003, after a tragic domestic violence homicide/suicide of one of her clients, Ms. Dunne created the nationally acclaimed Domestic Violence High Risk Team Model. Her work has been featured in numerous publications including the New Yorker, Huffington Post, CNN, Slate Magazine, Cosmopolitan Magazine, and has published several articles for The Domestic Violence Report. | |
| Amanda Elkanick Oder Texas Advocacy Project Amanda Elkanick Oder is currently the Survivor Services and Training Director with Texas Advocacy Project. Ms. Oder has been working with survivors for the past 10 years in varying roles, including a shelter advocate, program director, and policy analyst. She has served on statewide and national task forces, community planning groups, and committees that are centered on ending intimate partner violence and sexual assault. | |
| Jessica Escue Brazos Co. District Attorney's Office Jessica Escue has been an Assistant District Attorney with the Brazos County District Attorney's Office since 2007 and currently serves as the Chief of the Family Violence Unit. Ms. Escue has taught courses throughout the State on methods and strategies to better investigate and prosecute domestic violence and sexual assault cases. She is also the project coordinator for the Lethality Assessment Program and the project lead in Brazos County's "Cut It Out" campaign, which educates salon employees and stylists on the dynamics of family violence. | |
| Colin Fagan Fox Valley Technical College Colin Fagan is a Digital Evidence Forensic Examiner for the Medford Police Dept., where he is assigned to the Southern Oregon High-Tech / FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force. In 2016, Mr. Fagan retired after more than 30 years of law enforcement service, where he most recently served as the Detective Sergeant supervising a Special Victim’s Unit. Mr. Fagan has more than a decade of experience supervising a Criminal Investigation Division that included an Investigative Support Unit (Crime Analysis), a Major Crimes Unit, a Property & Evidence Unit, and the Medical Examiner Investigations Unit. He has also been an Associate Faculty Instructor for the National Criminal Justice Training Center - AMBER Alert training program since 2009. | |
| Kim Farbo Texas Association Against Sexual Assault Kim Farbo is a law enforcement training specialist at the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault in Austin, Texas. Previously, Ms. Farbo served in the Sex Crimes Unit with the Austin Police Dept. investigating stranger/non stranger, serial rapists, and drug and alcohol facilitated sexual assaults. | |
| Erin Faseler Special Prosecution Unit Erin Faseler is the Civil Commitment Division Chief of the Special Prosecution Unit, the state agency that assists Texas District Attorney's offices with the civil commitment of sexually violent predators. During her decade with the agency, Ms. Faseler has reviewed thousands of sex offenders for sexually violent predator status and consulted on hundreds of cases referred for consideration from the Texas prison system. She has successfully committed approximately 80 sexually violent predators by jury trial. | |
| Neva Fernandez Texas Legal Services Corp. Neva Fernandez is the Advocacy Manager at Texas Legal Services Center, where she works with victims of crime all over the state of Texas interviewing them to obtain detailed stories from their history of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and other crimes. Ms. Fernandez has also worked in the Travis Co. Attorney's Office protective order division as a victim counselor. She trains in trauma-informed interviewing and is currently co-chair of the Travis Co. Sexual Assault Response Team. | |
| Rachel Fischer Rescue Houston Rachel Fischer is a survivor of sexual exploitation, who specializes in adult and pediatric forensic nursing and has worked as an ER registered nurse for the past six years. Ms. Fischer has spent time in multiple countries conducting research and participating in undercover mission work to collect intelligence from pimps and trafficked victims. She has undertaken several rescue operations to retrieve human trafficking victims, and collaborates with many anti-trafficking agencies, both statewide and internationally. | |
| Justin Fitzsimmons SEARCH Justin Fitzsimmons is a Program Manager in the High-Tech Crime Training Services Dept. of SEARCH. Mr. Fitzsimmons is a national expert in the areas of technology-facilitated exploitation of children and domestic minor sex trafficking. He frequently teaches training courses on digital evidence collection, computer forensics, crimes against children, cybercrime, and human trafficking. | |
| Fred Fletcher Rockport Police Dept. Fred Fletcher works as a Public Safety Consultant and as the Interim Chief of Police in Rockport, TX. Previously, Mr. Fletcher served as Chief of Police for Chattanooga, TN and in various command positions at the Austin Police Dept. in TX. He has implemented community outreach and victim support programs to improve relationships between police officers and citizens using his own personal philosophies on effective policing. In Chattanooga, Mr. Fletcher built the city’s first-ever Victim Services Unit, while also dramatically reducing overall crime city-wide. | |
| Jason Forgash La Habra Police Dept. Jason Forgash investigates crimes of violence for the La Habra Police Dept. in Orange Co., CA. Detective Forgash's caseload primarily consists of homicides, cold case homicides, and physical abuse of children and the elderly. He presents nationally and internationally on the subjects of law enforcement interrogation, investigations involving children, and the psychological entanglements that form between professionals and those they serve in a forensic environment. | |
| Bryan Franke 2C Solutions, LLC Bryan Franke is the founder of 2C Solutions, LLC and a 31-year veteran police officer. Mr. Franke is a certified computer forensic examiner and has extensive experience in examining computers, cell phones, portable devices/storage media, and GPS devices. He has served as an expert witness in multiple cases involving technology abuse. | |
| Bob Frechette Rochester Police Dept. Robert Frechette is a Domestic Violence Detective with the Rochester, NH Police Dept., who also co-founded the Strafford Co. Family Justice Center and chairs its governing body. Det. Frechette was instrumental in legislation that made strangulation a felony in NH, and works with the Attorney General’s Office on various victim-centered initiatives. | |
| Patricia Freshwater Lopez & Freshwater PLLC Patricia Freshwater has been an attorney and partner with Lopez & Freshwater PLLC since 2011. Ms. Freshwater's practice areas include: family-based visa petitions, naturalization and citizenship, deportation and removal defense, appeals to the Board of Immigration Appeals, asylum, special immigrant juvenile status, waivers, Violence Against Women Act and U visa cases for victims of crimes, and deferred action cases. Ms. Freshwater has been selected as a "Rising Star" Super Lawyer by Texas Monthly magazine each year since 2014, and was selected for D Magazine's Best Lawyers in Dallas list in 2018. | |
| Krista Fultz 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 outreach advocacy and the front office. Additionally, she oversees all community education efforts and court accompaniment programs. 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. | |
| Kelly Gaines-Stoner Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, Tribal Law & Policy Institute Kelly Gaines-Stoner was appointed as a Judge for the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and for the past five years, has been a Victim Advocacy Legal Specialist for the Tribal Law and Policy Institute, a national tribal technical assistance provider, located in West Hollywood, CA. Hon. Gaines-Stoner has over 20 years of experience teaching and directing domestic violence-related clinics in various law schools, with an emphasis on providing services to Indian country. She has testified before the U. S. Indian Affairs Committee regarding domestic violence issues affecting Native American women in Indian Country and was invited to the White House to witness the signing of the Tribal Law and Order Act. Hon. Gaines-Stoner is a frequent lecturer for the American Bar Association’s Commission on Domestic Violence and lectures for the Office on Violence Against Women and Department of Justice. | |
| Catherine Garcia San Diego Co. District Attorney's Office Catherine Garcia began her law enforcement career in 1987 with the San Diego Police Dept.. Inv. Garcia has investigated over 1,000 sexual assault cases and continues to collaborate in these areas. She recently retired as the supervisor of the Sex Crimes and Human Trafficking Unit and Child Abduction Unit at the District Attorney's Office. She was awarded Peace Officer of the Year in 2009. | |
| Evonne Garcia Texas A&M College of Nursing Evonne Garcia is the Program Manager with Texas A&M University's Forensic Health Care Program. Ms. Garcia began her nursing career as an emergency room nurse and moved on to become a forensic nurse. She has initiated and overseen two forensic nursing programs in the Rio Grande Valley since 2009 and has seen over 3,000 forensic patients to date. Ms. Garcia also serves as an expert witness. She is the 2016 recipient of the Edith Rust Medical Excellence award and 2017 runner up for Citizen of the Year in the RGV. | |
| Gretta Gardner Ujima, Inc. Gretta Gardner is the Deputy Director for the DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Ujima: The National Resource Center on Domestic Violence in the Black Community. Ms. Gardner's career was inspired by her work as a prosecutor in Baltimore, and she has worked for two decades to help shape guidelines, policies, and procedures to end violence against women. | |
| Audace Garnett NNEDV Audace Garnett is a Technology Safety Specialist with Safety Net at the National Network to End Domestic Violence, where she focuses on the intersection between domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and technology. Ms. Garnett has over a decade of experience working in New York City with victims of domestic violence. She has also worked at the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, where she served as the Teen Services Coordinator in the Victim Services Unit. After six years at the District Attorney’s Office, Ms. Garnett went on to prevention and intervention work at Day One, a Teen Dating Violence prevention and intervention program, where she trained adult professionals on the intersection of teen dating violence and domestic sex trafficking. | |
| Meg Garvin Lewis & Clark Law School Meg Garvin is the Executive Director of the National Crime Victim Law Institute and a Clinical Professor of Law at Lewis & Clark Law School. Ms. Garvin is a leading expert on victims’ rights, and has testified before Congress, state legislatures, and the Judicial Proceedings Panel on Sexual Assault in the Military. She serves on the Defense Advisory Committee on Investigation, Prosecution, and Defense of Sexual Assault in the Armed Forces, and on the Victims Advisory Group of the United States Sentencing Commission. Previously, Ms. Garvin served as co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section Victims Committee, and co-chair of the Oregon Attorney General’s Crime Victims’ Rights Task Force. | |
| Genesis Women's Shelter & Support | |
| Julie Germann Finding the Right, LLC Julie Germann is the founder and consultant at Finding the Right, LLC. At Finding the Right, she provides training and technical assistance to advocates, police officers, prosecutors, sexual assault nurse examiners, and others on improving system response to domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse. Previously, Ms. Germann worked for over a decade as a prosecutor in Minnesota where she focused on crimes of violence against women and children. She was instrumental in opening the Mayo Clinic Child Advocacy Center in Rochester, developing protocol for the multidisciplinary investigation of child physical and sexual abuse. Ms. Germann is a trained forensic interviewer and has taught child advocacy studies at Winona State Univ.. She has served on sexual assault and child abuse multidisciplinary teams. | |
| Kristen Gibbons Feden Montgomery Co. District Attorney's Office Kristen M. Gibbons Feden, Esq. served as Special Prosecutor in Commonwealth v. Cosby in 2017 and again in his 2018 retrial, securing a conviction of three counts of sexual assault against the comedian formerly known as "America's Dad". At her current firm, Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, Mrs. Feden's practice concentrates on education law, employment & labor, complex commercial litigation, and securities litigation & enforcement. Previously, Mrs. Feden was Assistant District Attorney in the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office. Leading the Domestic Violence Unit and Elder Abuse Unit as Captain, as well as an assigned prosecutor within the Sex Crimes Unit, Mrs. Feden investigated and prosecuted cases of child and elder abuse and neglect, rape, sexual violence, internet crimes against children, financial exploitation against elders, and homicides. Mrs. Feden was named the American Lawyer's Litigator of the Week in 2018 and one of the 2018 Lawyers on the Fast Track. She received a Commendation from the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office and a Unit Commendation from the Montgomery Township Police Department in 2017 and was named one of the Top 40 individuals under the age of 40 by the Philadelphia Business Journal in 2016, the same year she was recognized by Victims Services Center of Norristown for her commitment to victims. Mrs. Feden also received the Victim Law Right's Center Leadership Award in September 2018. | |
| Rachel Gibson NNEDV Rachel Gibson is a Senior Technology Safety Specialist on the Safety Net Team at NNEDV. Ms. Gibson works to increase the safety and privacy of survivors and victims of crime. She provides trainings, resources, and technical assistance to build the capacity of victim service providers, private industries and communities at large to provide advocacy to survivors in this digital society. | |
| Ray Goins Norman Police Dept. Raymond Goins has be an officer of the Norman, Oklahoma Police Dept. since March 1997. Sergeant Goins coordinates the Domestic Violence Academy and in-service training for Norman Police Dept. and has been certified by the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center as a domestic violence instructor. He is also a member of the Cleveland Co. Domestic Violence Task Force, Cleveland Co. Domestic Violence Coordinated Community Response Team, Sexual Assault Response Team, and Board of Directors for the Cleveland Co. Women's Resource Center. | |
| Brooke Grona-Robb Dallas Co. District Attorney's Office Brooke Grona-Robb is the Deputy Chief of the Crimes Against Children Division for Dallas Co.. Ms. Grona-Robb has served in a variety of prosecution positions, but has been involved with Human Trafficking and Internet Crimes Against Children for over 13 years. She presents at numerous national conferences. | |
| John Guard Pitt Co. Sheriff's Office John Guard is a sergeant for the Pitt County Sheriff's Office in Greenville, NC, and has over 26 years of experience, which includes line level response, investigative response, and agency management. Sgt. Guard has been instrumental in developing policies and procedures related to domestic violence response in Pitt County, as well as for North Carolina. He has experience in facilitating legislative and judicial change regarding responses to victims of domestic violence. Sgt. Guard serves as chair of the Pitt Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team and is a past member of the North Carolina Domestic Violence Commission, where he served as Chair of the Law Enforcement Policy Committee. He provides training to officers and allied professionals on issues pertaining to domestic violence and offender accountability on the local, state, and national level. | |
| Ruth Guerreiro Genesis Women's Shelter & Support Ruth Guerreiro is the Director of Clinical and Professional Services at Genesis Women's Shelter and Support. Ms. Guerreiro has been a practicing, licensed clinical social worker since 2004. Her expertise includes trauma, attachment, domestic violence, and parenting. | |
| Jacinda Gunter Houston Police Dept. Jacinda Gunter joined the Houston Police Department (HPD) in 1994 and has worked in various divisions of the department including patrol, Inspections, Internal Affairs, and ultimately joined the Special Victims Division in 2011. Lieutenant Gunter is in charge of the Adult Sex Crimes Unit, and participated in a multidisciplinary task force that received funding from the National Institute of Justice to investigate why a massive backlog of rape kits had developed in Houston. This task force recommended best practices to prevent such problems going forward and eliminated the backlog of 6,600 Sexual Assault Kits in the HPD property room. Additionally, Lieutenant Gunter teaches courses on Sex Crimes investigations and Neurobiology of Trauma to cadets and police officers at the Houston Police Academy. | |
| Matt Hagan Marion Co. Sheriff's Office Matt Hagan is a 20-year veteran of law enforcement and works for the Marion Co., Oregon Sheriff's Office. Detective Hagan is currently assigned to the Criminal Investigations Unit as a persons crimes detective, investigating child abuse, sex crimes, and homicides. He is also the Terrorism Liaison Officer for Marion Co.. Detective Hagan is a member of the MCSO Peer Support Team, and is a Stress First Aid Train-The-Trainer Instructor. He an adjunct instructor at Chemeketa Community College in the Law Enforcement program, as well as the Co-founder/Instructor of 1932 Training Concepts LLC. | |
| Leslie A. Hagen United States Dept. of Justice Leslie Hagen serves as the U.S. Dept. of Justice National Indian Country Training Coordinator. Ms. Hagen is responsible for planning, developing, and coordinating training in a broad range of matters relating to the administration of justice in Indian country. Previously, she was a federal and state prosecutor, and has worked on issues related to abuse and exploitation for over 25 years. | |
| Steven Halley Halley Counseling Services Steven Halley is the clinical director of Halley Counseling Services, P.A. and the Director of the Family Peace Initiative. For the past 25 years, Mr. Halley has worked as a wilderness counselor, probation officer, therapist, and batterer intervention provider. In 2017, he served on the panel “Innovative Practices: Balancing Accountability and Support for Healing” for the Office of Violence Against Women. Mr. Halley serves on the Kansas Governor's Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board. Along with his wife, Dorthy, he authored Halley’s Alley: Commentaries on marriage, family, healthy relationships, parenting, loss, grief, trauma, and domestic violence. | |
| Melissa Hamilton Univ. of Surrey School of Law Melissa Hamilton is a Senior Lecturer of Law & Criminal Justice at the Univ. of Surrey School of Law. She is a member of the American Psychological Association and an affiliate of the Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault. Dr. Hamilton is a former judicial clerk on the United States Court of Appeal for the Fifth Circuit and a former editor of the Texas Law Review. She has published dozens of articles in law reviews and scientific journals on a variety of topics. Dr. Hamilton is a former police officer and corrections officer. | |
| Jennifer Hanley Jennifer Hanley is a Safety Policy manager at Facebook where she handles safety policy for the U.S. and Canada. Prior to joining Facebook, Ms. Hanley served as Vice President for Legal and Policy at the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI), where she directed FOSI's government outreach and policy strategy. During her time at FOSI, Ms. Hanley built relationships with government officials and external partners, led research projects, and advised leading technology companies on best practices, policy developments, and emerging issues around online safety. | |
| Hayley Hanson Husch Blackwell Hayley Hanson is a partner with Husch Blackwell. With a dedicated educational practice and a focus on representing institutions of higher education, Ms. Hanson advises institutions on the compliance, governance, and operational issues they face in these times of rapidly changing expectations and regulations. She proactively partners with institutions to prevent and address challenges through compliance programming and in-depth legal litigation. When disputes arise, Ms. Hanson counsels leadership and manages legal concerns. | |
| Kiva Harper Univ. of Texas at Arlington Kiva Harper is a licensed clinical social worker and an Asst. Professor in Practice in the School of Social Work at the Univ. of Texas at Arlington. Ms. Harper also serves as a faculty affiliate for the Center for African American Studies. Her areas of specialty include trauma, military social work, mental health, domestic violence, substance abuse, and grief. Ms. Harper's professional experience includes working with domestic violence crisis centers, law enforcement, active duty military, persons affected/infected with HIV/AIDS, those with severe and persistent mental illness, and the homeless population. | |
| Frederick Harris Killeen Police Dept. Frederick Harris is currently assigned as a Homicide Detective at the Killeen Police Dept.. Detective Harris is responsible for investigating homicides related to children and adults. He is a certified forensic hypnotist in the State of Texas and has assisted witnesses and victims recall vital information resulting in arrests of suspects. Detective Harris is a former Adjunct Professor at American Military Univ.. He continues to teach a number of law enforcement classes to police personnel and civilians, and has lectured at various seminars throughout the country. | |
| Michelle Heater Waymakers Michelle Heater is a Program Director with Waymakers Victim Assistance Programs in Orange County, CA. Ms. Heater oversees some of the specialized 24-hour victim services response units, including Gang Victim Services, Human Trafficking, and Crisis Response. Previously, she worked in social services as a foster family agency social worker and provided direct services to child victims of abuse and neglect who had been removed from their families of origin. In her current role, Ms. Heater provides trainings throughout California in the areas of victim services, advocacy, and human trafficking. | |
| Ric Hertel Ripley Co. Ric Hertel has been the elected Prosecuting Attorney in Ripley Co., Indiana, since January, 1999. Prior to becoming Prosecutor, Mr. Hertel did criminal defense work. He has presented regularly for the Indiana Prosecuting Attorney’s Council, and is currently the Immediate Past President. He has acted as faculty for the National District Attorney’s Association throughout the U.S. on various topics, including trial advocacy, sexual assault, domestic violence, ethics, community prosecution, Crawford, prosecuting public figures, and civil liability. In 2012, Mr. Hertel taught for the National Children’s Advocacy Center at the 28th Annual National Symposium on Child Abuse in Huntsville, AL. He also presented in 2013 in Dallas at the 25th Annual Crimes Against Children Conference. Additionally, he has taught for the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Rape Task Force of Fort Wayne, Marion Co. Prosecutor’s Office, and the Dekalb Co. Domestic Violence Task Force. | |
| Melissa Holbrook Houston Police Dept. Melissa Holbrook is a 28-year veteran with the Houston Police Dept., assigned to the Family Violence Unit as a detective sergeant and serves as a liaison to the Houston Area Women’s Center. Det. Sgt. Holbrook has over 20 years of investigative experience and has worked in Homicide, Major Assaults, Burglary and Theft, and Crime Scene Unit. In addition to conducting follow-up investigations of domestic violence and stalking, she continues to train multi-disciplinary audiences on family violence, lethality, strangulation, stalking, neurobiology of trauma, and sexual assault. She has also taught child death investigations for law enforcement. Det. Sgt. Holbrook has conducted trainings for the Stalking Resource Center, Texas Council on Family Violence, and the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and is a SAFVIC instructor. She is a member of the Harris County Domestic Violence Task Force, and is proud to be part of EVAWI’s Cadre of Experts project. | |
| Mellisa Holtzman Ball State Univ. Mellisa Holtzman is a Professor of Sociology at Ball State University. Her research interests are centered on sex, gender, and sexual assault prevention. Her published work includes articles in Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Perspectives on Sexual & Reproductive Health, Journal of American College Health, Journal of Applied Social Sciences, and Teaching Sociology. Ms. Holtzman is the co-creator and current director of Elemental, a sexual assault protection program that utilizes both primary prevention and risk reduction training for students. | |
| Jabari Howard Dallas Police Dept. Jabari Howard has been with the Dallas Police Dept. for 16 years and a detective with the Dept.’s Gang Unit for 10 years. Det. Howard is currently assigned to the Texoma HIDTA/Texas Anti-Gang Center as a task force officer with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives-Violent Crimes Group, where he conducts state and federal investigations on criminal organizations and criminal street, prison, and motorcycle gang members who use firearms to engage in narcotics trafficking and violent criminal activity. Det. Howard is a North Regional director for the Texas Gang Investigators Association. In 2014, he was appointed by Governor Rick Perry to the board of the Texas Violent Gang Task Force. Det. Howard conducts gang-specific trainings both locally and abroad to sworn and non-sworn law enforcement personnel, as well as community-based businesses and organization. | |
| Caroline Huffaker Chattanooga Police Dept. Caroline Huffaker currently serves as the Victim Services & Chaplains Coordinator for the Chattanooga Police Dept. (CPD). Ms. Huffaker also supports victims through Dept.al policy development to ensure best practices are being utilized. Prior to her work at CPD, she worked for the Partnerships Rape Crisis Center as their program supervisor and started the Sexual Assault Response Team of Hamilton Co., which is still active today. Ms. Huffaker also serves as an advisory board member for the International Association of Chiefs of Police on their national demonstration project for Eliminating Gender Bias in Law Enforcement. Ms. Huffaker has more than 10 years of experience in the field of victim advocacy. | |
| Brenda Hull Thompson Dallas Co. Probate Courts Brenda Hull Thompson is the Presiding Judge of The Probate Court of Dallas Co., Texas. Judge Hull Thompson was elected in 2010 after more than 20 years of service in Texas to the community in civil practice and in mediation. Judge Hull Thompson has also been an adjunct professor at Texas Wesleyan School of Law, teaching mediation and arbitration. Previously, she was a senior Staff attorney in the Office of the General Counsel for the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D. C. Judge Hull Thompson has made numerous presentations to local bar association sections and community groups. | |
| Bushra Husain Sanctuary for Families Bushra Husain is the Director of Non-Residential Services at Sanctuary for Families. Ms. Husain was a founding member of the South Asian Taskforce Against Domestic Violence and the Taskforce on Forced and Child Marriage at Sanctuary for Families. | |
| Jennifer Janetsky Genesee Co. Prosecutor's Office Jennifer Janetsky began her career as a Victim Advocate and Peer Counselor for the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center in Ann Arbor, MI. Later, Ms. Janetsky began to focus her efforts on creating a victim-centered approach toward the prosecution of sex crimes and is currently the Chief Prosecutor of the SAKI/Cold Case CSC Unit of the Genesee Co. Prosecutor's Office in Flint, MI. In the last five years, Ms. Janetsky has tried 34 capital criminal sexual conduct cases, winning 94% of her cases tried, and 100% of her cases with child victims. | |
| Jacklyn Janis Special Prosecution Unit Jacklyn Janis, Senior Attorney with the Special Prosecution Unit, Civil Division, has been prosecuting sexually violent predators for the past seven years. Ms. Janis has successfully tried over 65 jury trials throughout the State of Texas. During her trial preparations, she has actively worked with forensic psychologists and psychiatrists to help develop the theories of her cases, understand the offenders she is trying, and properly convey to the jury the offenders risk of sexual recidivism. Because of her dedication and work on these cases, she recently received the 2017 TDCAA Lone Star Prosecutor Award. | |
| Byron Johnson Baylor Univ. Byron Johnson is a Professor of the Social Sciences at Baylor Univ. and the founding director of the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion, as well as director of the Program on Prosocial Behavior. Before joining the faculty at Baylor Univ., Mr. Johnson directed research centers at Vanderbilt Univ. and the Univ. of Pennsylvania. He has directed grant projects from private foundations as well as the Dept. of Justice, Dept. of Labor, Dept. of Defense, National Institutes of Health, and the United States Institute for Peace. | |
| Ronnie Johnson Cleveland Co. Sheriff's Office Ronnie Johnson is a 17-year veteran with 11 years at the Cleveland Co. Sheriff's Office, where he investigated all reported intimate partner violence crimes. Detective Captain Johnson is also a member of the Cleveland Co. Domestic Violence Task Force, Cleveland Co. Domestic Violence Coordinated Community Response Team, Cleveland Co. Sexual Assault Response Team, and the Cleveland Co. High Risk Team. | |
| Cynthia Jones Univ. of Texas Rio Grande Valley Cynthia Jones is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, the Director of the Office for Victim Advocacy & Violence Prevention, and the founder and past director of the university's ethics center. Her research areas include applied and professional ethics, applied feminism, and the intersection of violence victimization and marginalization. | |
| Melanie Jones Houston Police Dept. Melanie Jones is a Master Police Officer with the Houston Police Dept.. In November 2012, Detective Jones was assigned to the Dept.'s Special Investigations Command-Vice Division, where she focused primarily on the demand side of human trafficking. She created and implemented a TCOLE-accredited class that used scenario-based training to set a precedent for reversals in the Houston area. Detective Jones is currently serving with the Vice Division's Human Trafficking Unit, which focuses on the distribution side of prostitution and aims to build cases against aggressive pimps. | |
| Rebekah Jones Office on Violence Against Women Rebekah Jones is the Grant Program specialist for the Office on Violence Against Women’s Tribal Affairs Division. Previously, Ms. Jones was the program manager for the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Tribal Victim Services Program near Mayetta, KS. She began her career with the Potawatomi Tribal Police Dept. in 1998, and in 2006 developed the newly-funded victim services program which she managed until coming to OVW. While with the Tribal Victim Services program, Ms. Jones and her team initiated and implemented a broad range of victim services for American Indians living on and near the reservation communities in northeast KS, including: General Victim Advocacy and Services, Community Outreach and Education, Criminal Justice System Based Victim Advocacy, Batterer’s Intervention Program, Safe Visit/Safe Exchange, SAFESTAR Sexual Assault Response, and Lay Legal Advocacy for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors in the Tribal Court. | |
| Wesley Jones Houston Police Dept. Wesley Jones has worked for the Houston Police Department for 11 years. Det. Jones has worked the last six years in the vice division, with the last three being specifically in Human Trafficking. He has honed his skills in both undercover and investigative work. Det. Jones has conducted and worked many investigations through entirety, utilizing undercover work, surveillance, victim and suspect interviews, writing and execution of search warrants, and utilization of social media. | |
| Renee Jones Schneider Minneapolis Star Tribune Renée Jones Schneider has been a photographer at the Star Tribune for 16 years, and was named the 2016 Journalist of the Year from the Minnesota chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Ms. Schneider was the photographer and videographer for the “Denied Justice” series, in which she shot and produced videos of 30 women telling their personal stories of rape and reporting to law enforcement. | |
| David Keck Battered Women's Justice Project David Keck is the Director of the National Center on Domestic Violence and Firearms, through the Battered Women's Justice Project. He was appointed as Court Commissioner for Winnebago Co. in 2006, a position he held until retirement in 2016. He was instrumental in forming firearm surrender protocols for the courts in Wisconsin. Mr. Keck has been Director of the National Center since its inception in late 2016. He provides training and technical assistance on various topics surrounding domestic violence and firearms. | |
| Mary Beth Kent-Duffy Cook Co. State's Attorney's Office Mary Beth Kent-Duffy is a Deputy Supervisor in the Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Division at the Cook County States Attorneys Office in Chicago, Illinois. Ms. Kent-Duffy supervises assistant state's attorneys who have dedicated their careers to serving domestic violence and sexual assault survivors. She has been a Cook County prosecutor for over 20 years, and has tried hundreds of cases, most involving intimate partner violence and domestic violence murders. Ms. Kent-Duffy also provides training on domestic violence issues to assistant state's attorneys, police departments and community organizations. She works in collaboration with the Chicago Police Department to review misdemeanor cases in a felony upgrade program to ensure repeat offenders and serious injury crimes are charged as felonies. Ms. Kent-Duffy has extensive experience working with survivors of domestic violence, and has dedicated the majority of her legal career to domestic violence prosecution. | |
| Rochelle Keyhan Collective Liberty Rochelle Keyhan is the chief executive officer 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. Ms. Keyhan was formerly the director of Disruption Strategies at Polaris, a department she designed to shift systems to disrupt trafficking in the U.S. Before joining Polaris, Ms. Keyhan spent six years as a prosecutor of gender-based violence crimes in Philadelphia. | |
| 0 | David Klimek Federal Bureau of Investigation |
| Mike Krapfl The CTK Group Mike Krapfl is an instructor with The CTK Group and a Special Agent in Charge in the Major Crimes Unit with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. Special Agent Krapfl served as an Agent in the Major Crimes Unit for 14 years and previously worked as a patrol officer and investigator for eight years with a municipal police Dept.. He is a member of the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association and presents at state and national law enforcement conferences. | |
| Julie Krawczyk Elder Financial Safety Center at The Senior Source Julie Krawczyk is the director of the Elder Financial Safety Center 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 the Center, which is a unique collaboration between The Senior Source, Dallas County Probate Courts, and Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, serving over 18,000 clients and victims with a financial impact of $78 million, 500 protected incapacitated adults 50+, and 1,300 indictments of elder abuse. | |
| Ann Laatsch National Clearinghouse on Abuse in Later Life Ann Laatsch is the Justice System Coordinator for the National Clearinghouse on Abuse in Later Life, a project of End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin. In this role, Ms. Laatsch provides training and technical assistance on justice system issues and creates training materials and curricula on justice system responses to abuse in later life. In her past work, she has provided legal representation to survivors of domestic and elder abuse, and people with disabilities. | |
| Theodore Lagerwall Cook Co. State's Attorney's Office Theodore Lagerwall has been a prosecutor with the Cook Co. State's Attorney's Office for the past 20 years. Mr. Cook is currently assigned as a deputy supervisor within the Felony Review Unit and is responsible for reviewing charges for homicide cases in Chicago. He was previously assigned to the Complex Homicide and Gang Unit for 13 years, which involved the investigation and prosecution of all types of homicide cases. Mr. Cook has been a featured speaker for various community groups and law enforcement agencies. He has also taught numerous college courses for the past 10 years. | |
| Jennifer Landhuis Stalking Prevention, Awareness, & Resource Center (SPARC) of AEquitas Jennifer Landhuis is the Director of the Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center (SPARC), an AEquitas initiative. Prior to joining AEquitas, Ms. Landhuis was the Director of Social Change at the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual & Domestic Violence. In this role, she managed a variety of projects, including the Idaho Coordinated Response to Sexual & Domestic Violence and the Idaho Victims Assistance Academy. Earlier in her career, Ms. Landhuis spent 11 years as an advocate and educator for local domestic violence/sexual assault community-based crisis centers. | |
| David Lane Royal Canadian Mounted Police David Lane is assigned as the human trafficking coordinator for the 'H' Division Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Nova Scotia. Corporal Lane currently works as the drug, organized crime, and human trafficking coordinator for the Province. He has been a member of the RCMP for 16 years and has over 10 years working in specialized sections such as street level drug units, organized crime and guns, and gang teams. | |
| Tiffany Larsen Harris Co. District Attorney's Office Tiffany Larsen has been working at the Harris County District Attorney's Office since 2010. As a prosecutor, Tiffany 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 Offices 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 is currently assigned to the Appellate Division, where she briefs legal issues and serves as appellate counsel for the trial prosecutors. | |
| Jordyn Lawson Genesis Women's Shelter & Support Jordyn Lawson is the Assistant Director of Clinical and Professional Services at Genesis Women's Shelter & Support. Ms. Lawson has worked in the field of domestic violence recovery for over 10 years. She currently provides individual and group counseling services to women and children victims of domestic violence and trains communities on the dynamics of abuse. | |
| Scott Lefko Cook Co. Sheriff's Police Dept. Scott Lefko is currently a Detective Sergeant in the Investigations section of the Cook Co. Sheriff's Police Department in Illinois. Det. Sgt. Lefko is the current Commander of the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force, which is a Homicide Task Force comprised of 52 Police Agencies, 32 for which he is responsible. Det. Sgt. Lefko oversees the entire investigation and supervises 100 Task Force investigators. He has spent 15 years on the SSMCTF and has worked in every major position in the task force. Det. Sgt. Lefko has been recognized by the Illinois Homicide Investigators Association and the Chicago Crime Commission. He has worked on and supervised over 200 homicides, and has conducted dozens of Overhear Homicide Investigations. | |
| Ethan Levine Services Empowering Rights of Victims Ethan Levine has been an antiviolence advocate for more than 10 years. His work has primarily focused on supporting sexual and domestic violence survivors in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sexual and gender minority (LGBTQ+) communities. Dr. Levine has developed professional and community trainings on supporting survivors; advocated for gender inclusive legislation and programming; and collaborated with various professionals to build inclusive and affirming antiviolence efforts. In 2018, he joined the team at Services Empowering Rights of Victims as an LGBTQ+ Outreach Advocate, where he provides direct services for LGBTQ+ survivors in Southern New Jersey and works with local agencies. | |
| Dennis Mark Redeemed Ministries Dennis Mark has been the Executive Director of Redeemed Ministries since 2006. Mr. Mark’s background includes brain-based, trauma-informed training, and he has provided training to law enforcement and other anti-trafficking agencies nationally and globally. | |
| Stephanie Martin Dallas Co. District Attorney's Office Stephanie Martin joined the Dallas Co. District Attorneys Office in 2001, but left for three years to practice civil law. Ms. Martin came back to the Dallas Co. District Attorneys Office in 2007 where she has been ever since. While at the DAs Office, she has been assigned to the Specialized Crime and Child Abuse Divisions and has supervised prosecutors in the Misdemeanor Division, the Criminal District Court #5 and the 195th Judicial District Court. Ms. Martin is currently a Deputy Chief of the Elder Abuse and Exploitation Unit of the Specialized Crime Division. | |
| Erin Martinson Texas Legal Services Center Erin Martinson serves as the Managing Attorney for the Crime Victims program at Texas Legal Services Center. Ms. Martinson participates on the steering committee of the Austin/Travis Co. Sexual Assault Resources & Response Team and the State Bar Best Practices in Protective Orders Committee. She also chairs the Supervisor's Committee of the Austin/Travis Co. Family Violence Task Force. Ms. Martinson serves as an adjunct professor at the Univ. of Texas, School of Law, and was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Battered Women's Justice Project. She previously served as Chief of the Travis Co. Attorney's Office protective order division and has worked with the Women's Advocacy Project. | |
| Patricia Marty College Station Police Dept. Patricia Marty is currently assigned as a police detective at the College Station Police Dept. Criminal Investigations Division (CID), where she investigates crimes against children and sexual assault. In addition to her current assignment in CID, Detective Marty is a member of the Crisis Intervention Team. She is also an active member of the CSPD Hostage Negotiation Team and the Brazos Co. Coalition Against Domestic Violence. | |
| Michelle McCormick YWCA Center for Safety & Empowerment Michelle McCormick is the Program Director at the YWCA Center for Safety & Empowerment, where victims of domestic violence, sexual violence, and human trafficking are served. She has been an advocate in this field for 20 years, first as a volunteer and then as professional staff. Previously, she worked for the State of Kansas Attorney General’s office to develop a certification program for Batterer Intervention Programs. In this role, Ms. McCormick assisted in drafting laws and regulations which strengthened the response to domestic violence offenders in Kansas. She has provided professional training to thousands of professionals and community members on the topics of domestic violence, batterer intervention, human trafficking, sexual harassment, the neurobiology of trauma, and trauma-informed services. In 2014, Ms. McCormick was recognized as one of Topeka’s top “20 Under 40” for her work and her community involvement in Topeka, Kansas. In 2016, Ms. McCormick presented at the TedX Topeka Women’s conference on the topic of healthy emotional development for boys and men. | |
| Maggy McGiffert Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assualt Maggy McGiffert is a Project Manager and Researcher at the Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault at The Univ. of Texas at Austin. Ms. McGiffert had over 20 years of experience serving survivors of family violence and sexual assault in both staff leadership roles in various nonprofits and as a consultant developing policy changes, training curricula, and advocacy tools. She has worked on criminal justice reform in the areas of housing, economic justice, parenting, and in the child support and child protective systems. Ms. McGiffert has also served as adjunct faculty at Austin Community College. | |
| Kelsey McKay 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. | |
| Kirsta Melton Office of the Attorney General of Texas Kirsta Melton is the Deputy Criminal Chief of the Human Trafficking and Transnational/Organized Crime Section of the Office of the Texas Attorney General. Ms. Melton helped establish and lead the Bexar Co. DA's Human Trafficking Unit and has also chaired the Alamo Area Coalition Against Trafficking. She has trained more than 15,000 people across the state on human trafficking and has testified on multiple occasions before the Texas legislature on trafficking-related issues. In addition to prosecuting, Ms. Melton is one of the founding members of Truckers against Trafficking, a nationwide campaign dedicated to educating, equipping, empowering, and mobilizing the trucking industry in the fight against human trafficking. | |
| Michael Milnor Justice3D Michael Milnor has been involved in law enforcement for over 36 years and recently retired as Chief of Police for Alta Vista, Virginia. In 2016, Chief Milnor co-founded Justice 3D, a company that offers training and consulting to allied professionals nationally on issues of child abuse, domestic violence, and sexual assault. | |
| Stacey Mitchell Texas A&M Univ. Stacey Mitchell is a Clinical Associate Professor and Program Coordinator of the Forensic Health Care Program at Texas A&M Univ. College of Nursing. Dr. Mitchell's nursing career spans over 28 years with experience in critical care, emergency nursing, forensic nursing, and risk management. From 2008 to 2017, she was the Administrative Director of Forensic Nursing Services and Risk Management and Patient Safety for the Harris Health System. Dr. Mitchell is a frequently-invited speaker at domestic and international nursing conferences and training seminars. She is regularly called upon to provide expert testimony regarding forensic nursing, sexual assault, child sexual abuse, and trauma. | |
| Anne Munch Anne Munch Consulting, Inc. Anne Munch is the president of Anne Munch Consulting, Inc., where she provides speaking, training, and consulting services to local, national, and military and educational organizations across the U.S., Asia, and Europe. Ms. Munch trains criminal justice professionals in the investigation, prosecution, and response to crimes of interpersonal violence. Previously, she spent 13 years as a prosecutor in Colorado specializing in crimes of interpersonal violence. Ms. Munch also worked in the advocacy field as the director of the San Miguel Resource Center in Telluride, CO and directed the state-wide Colorado Ending Violence Against Women Project. Ms. Munch co-developed the first Bystander Intervention program for the U.S. Air Force, as well as the Sexual Assault Special Victims Unit Investigations Course for the U.S. Army. | |
| Natalie Nanasi SMU Dedman School of Law Natalie Nanasi is an Asst. Professor of Law and the Director of the Judge Elmo B. Hunter Legal Center for Victims of Crimes Against Women at SMU Dedman School of Law. Professor Nanasi's work involves supervising students' representation of survivors of gender-based violence in a broad range of legal matters. Prior to arriving at SMU, Professor Nanasi was a Practitioner-in-Residence and the Director of the Domestic Violence Clinic at American Univ., Washington College of Law. Previously, she was the Senior Immigration Attorney and Pro Bono Coordinator at the Tahirih Justice Center. Prior to her legal career, Professor Nanasi was a rape crisis counselor and supported single teenage mothers at a transitional residence facility in Boston. | |
| Kim Nash International Association of Forensic Nurses Kim Nash is a Forensic Nursing Specialist for the International Association of Forensic Nurses and is part of a team of forensic nurses in Colorado Springs, Colorado who provide medical forensic care to more than 1800 patients per year who are victims of violence. She has been a registered nurse for 20 years and a forensic nurse examiner for the last 12 years. As the Colorado SANE/SAFE Trainer for three years, Ms. Nash has provided statewide education and technical assistance for healthcare professionals, law enforcement, attorneys, and advocates. Her experience providing training on a national level includes topics such as sexual violence, intimate partner violence, human trafficking, strangulation, and expert testimony. | |
| Kerri New Rockwall Co. District Attorney's Office Kerri New works for the Rockwall County District Attorney's Office and has developed a Family Violence Prosecution Unit, where she serves as Chief. Ms. New handles the prosecution of all felony family violence cases, supervising the misdemeanor family violence prosecutor, conducting family violence focused law enforcement training, and creating and implementing policies and practices designed to increase victim safety and offender accountability. Previously, Ms. New worked in private practice. | |
| Darla Nolan Office on Violence Against Women Darla Nolan is the Senior Grant Management Team lead for the Dept. of Justice Office on Violence Against Women in the Tribal Affairs Division. Ms. Nolan has been with OVW since 2005 and has worked on various grant programs for the Office. She also served on various departmental and federal committees, and has been involved with a variety of special projects and initiatives, including the President's Family Justice Center Initiative, the Blueprint for Safety Demonstration Project, New Orleans recovery efforts following hurricane Katrina, and U.S. Attorney General’s Defending Childhood Initiative. | |
| Nancy Oglesby Justice 3D Nancy Oglesby is Virginia's Domestic and Sexual Violence Resource Prosecutor and helped co-found Justice 3D in 2016. Ms. Oglesby also served a key role in the development of Virginia's model law enforcement policies related to domestic and sexual violence. She has handled thousands of domestic violence, child abuse, and sexual assault cases. Ms. Oglesby has provided training on these issues to prosecutors, law enforcement officers, advocates, medical professionals, and forensic interviewers. | |
| Janna Oswald Harris Co. District Attorney's Office Janna Oswald has been an Assistant District Attorney with the Harris County District Attorney's Office since 2009. Ms. Oswald is currently the Chief of the Public Corruption Division, where a majority of the cases and investigations that she handles are sexual assaults committed by county employees while in the course of their employment. Prior to her current position, Ms. Oswald was assigned to the Child Abuse Division, where she handled and tried numerous cases of child sexual assault. Throughout her time with the DA's Office, Ms. Oswald's primary focus has been in the prosecution of sexual assault cases of both adult and child complainants, but she has also handled a number of murders and intoxication manslaughters. | |
| Julia Palmer Genesis Women's Shelter & Support Julia Palmer is the Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations at Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support. Ms. Palmer came to Genesis from Southern Methodist University’s Department of Psychology where her research focused on violence against women, the effects of trauma on the brain and vicarious trauma on support systems, bystander intervention, and rape culture on college campuses. Previously serving as the Grant Writer for two years prior to assuming the Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations position in 2018, Ms. Palmer has written more than 300 grants to corporations, foundations, and service organizations and garnered over 3 million dollars in grants for Genesis. Ms. Palmer’s current efforts at Genesis are focused on encouraging corporate support in the fight to end domestic violence while creating a supportive environment for survivors in the corporate sector. | |
| Melissa Parker Royal Canadian Mounted Police Melissa Parker is a civilian criminal intelligence analyst for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, where she provides her expertise for domestic and international investigations involving organized crime, human smuggling, human trafficking, homicide, and drug trafficking. Ms. Parker began specializing in domestic human trafficking in 2016 as the lead analyst for a major human trafficking project that spanned multiple provinces within Canada and the U.S. She is currently collaborating with human trafficking investigators to develop a strategy to identify victims of trafficking in Nova Scotia, as well as a pro-active intervention strategy aimed at providing help and education to high-risk individuals. | |
| Caitlin Paver Dallas Co. District Attorney's Office Caitlin Paver has been an Assistant District Attorney with the Dallas County District Attorney's Office since 2013. Most of her time at the District Attorney's Office has been spent in the felony Family Violence Division, where she handled all cases involving intimate partner violence for two District Courts in Dallas County. Ms. Paver has prosecuted all types of family violence offenses, including a number of strangulations, aggravated assaults, and murders. She is currently assigned to the felony trial bureau. | |
| Mischa Peck Q Counseling Services Mischa Peck owns and operates Q Counseling and specializes in work with sexual and gender minority persons across the lifespan. As an EMDR therapist, Dr. Peck serves on the board of the EMDR International Association and has been a leader in the Arizona Trauma Recovery Network. She is a leader in trans* and gender expansive communities, a member of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, and served on the board of TransSpectrum of AZ. As summer faculty at Smith College, Dr. Peck teaches graduate courses about trans* and gender nonconforming mental health and public policy issues. | |
| Amy Pennington Arkansas Tech Univ. Amy Pennington is the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs/Dean of Students and Title IX Coordinator at Arkansas Tech University. Ms. Pennington has worked in student affairs in higher education for the past 21 years. Dedicated to supporting the mission of Arkansas Tech University, Ms. Pennington began her career in Enrollment Management as a Student Publicity & Recruitment Specialist. Since this time, she has advanced into positions with increasing responsibility serving as the Director of Housing Programs, the Director of International and Multicultural Student Services, Dean of Students, and currently serves as the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs/Dean of Students and Title IX Coordinator. In her current role, Ms. Pennington supervises the Departments of Student Conduct, Public Safety, and Student Wellness. She also serves as the campus Title IX Coordinator and chair of the campus behavioral intervention team. | |
| Thomas Pennington Arkansas Tech Univ. Thomas Pennington has been the general counsel for Arkansas Tech University since 1996. He also holds the academic rank of Professor of Legal Studies. Undergraduate courses that he has taught include Judicial Process, Introduction to Criminal Justice, Business Law, and Advanced Business Law. Graduate courses taught include Higher Education Law for Arkansas Tech University’s College Student Personnel program. In 2004, 2012, 2014, and 2016 he was selected as Professor of the Year by the Arkansas Tech University student body. He is a former member of the Clarksville City Council, Clarksville Light and Water Commission, and the Clarksville School Board. He currently serves on the Johnson County Library Board, the Johnson County Girls Club Board, and is president of the Pope County Bar Association. | |
| Jules Perkél Barrier Free Living Jules Perkél is the Program Director at Secret Garden, Barrier Free Living's community-based domestic violence program, and specializes in working with survivors who have disabilities in addition to complex and acute traumas. With the collaborative nature of social work roles in the program, Ms. Perkél previously worked in partnership with the Queens Family Justice Center as part of the New York City Family Justice Center Initiative. | |
| Kimberly Piechowiak Texas Office of Court Administration Kimberly Piechowiak is the Domestic Violence Training Attorney for the Texas Office of Court Administration. Ms. Piechowiak 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. | |
| Cara Pierce U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Texas Cara Pierce is an asst. U.S. attorney the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Dallas Division in the Northern District of Texas. In this role, Ms. Pierce has handled a variety of cases including: violent crimes, gang prosecutions, hate crimes, and human trafficking. Since 2012, she has served as the human trafficking coordinator for the Northern District of Texas, and is currently assigned to the Violent Crimes group. Throughout her six years working with human trafficking, she has prosecuted numerous child and adult sex trafficking cases, including trying and convicting a “john” for conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a 12 year-old girl. | |
| Melissa Pleasanton Wilmington Police Dept. Melissa Pleasanton is the Domestic Violence Coordinator for the Wilmington Police Dept.'s Victim Services Unit. Previously, Ms. Pleasanton has worked for the Wilmington Police Dept., Victims' Voices Heard, and Martha's Carriage House with Child, Inc. Her area of expertise focuses on victims living in the intersections of experiencing trauma and living with cognitive disabilities. | |
| Anne Potts Jackson Bell Co. District Attorney's Office Anne Potts Jackson is the Asst. District Attorney for Bell Co. Ms. Jackson has worked in four different prosecutors' offices in Texas, and has presented lectures about the intersection of military and civilian jurisdictions around the country, focusing on the topic of family violence in military families. | |
| Patricia Powers AEquitas Patricia Powers is an attorney advisor with AEquitas, where she presents on trial strategy, legal analysis and policy, and ethical issues related to the prosecution of intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and stalking. Previously, Ms. Powers served as a senior deputy prosecuting attorney and supervising attorney for the Sexual Assault-Domestic Violence Unit in Yakima Co., WA. She also served as a member of child fatality and domestic violence fatality review committees, and co-founded the Yakima Co. Sexual Assault Task Force. | |
| Randall Price Price, Proctor & Associates, LLP Randall Price is a Forensic Psychologist in Dallas. Dr. Price conducts forensic psychological evaluations in both criminal and civil matters that often involve sex offenders, some of whom are psychopathic. | |
| Sheilah Priori Army Sheilah Priori is the Sexual Assault Medical Management Program Manager at CRDAMC's Emergency Dept. in Fort Hood, TX. Ms. Priori has 15 years' experience as a Forensic Nurse, is an expert witness, and is an adjunct faculty preceptor for the Army Medical Dept.'s Center & School SAMFE training course. Ms. Priori has conducted over 1,400 examinations, reviewed hundred's of cases involving crimes against women and testified in court as a subject matter expert. | |
| Dalia Racine AEquitas Dalia Racine is an attorney advisor at AEquitas. Ms. Racine began her career at the Fulton Co. District Attorney’s office in Atlanta, GA. During her time in Fulton Co., she was assigned to the Crimes Against Women and Children Unit and the Major Case Unit, where she prosecuted sexual and physical assault of women and children, including homicides. Following her time in Fulton Co., Ms. Racine joined the Crimes Against Children Unit at the DeKalb Co. District Attorney’s Office in Decatur, GA, where she initiated the creation of a specialized human trafficking unit. | |
| Tracie Reilly Randall Co. District Attorney's Office Tracie Reilly is an Assistant District Attorney and serves as the Domestic Violence prosecutor for the Randall County District Attorney' Office. Previously, Ms. Reilly worked for 10 years with the New York City Law Department where she worked as a prosecutor focusing on Child Sexual Abuse, Major Crimes, and Domestic Violence. She currently serves on the Executive Board and was the first Chairperson of the Domestic Violence Coalition, where she helped create the structure and protocols of the Domestic Violence High Risk Team. | |
| Jeff Richards Providence Police Dept. Jeffrey Richards is a 15-year veteran of the Providence Police Dept. in Rhode Island, and serves as a Detective in the Youth Service Bureau. During his career, Det. Richards has been assigned as a School Resource Officer for five years. He spent over two and a half years assigned to the Special Victims Unit, where he investigated cases involving domestic abuse, sexual assaults, sex trafficking, and crimes against the elderly. Det. Richards is also a member of the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force. | |
| Terra Roberts JusticePoint Terra Roberts is the Program Director for JusticePoint, a non-profit agency that provides pretrial and other criminal justice services for the Racine County Alternatives Program and throughout the state of Wisconsin. Ms. Roberts has worked in many different areas of the criminal justice system, including post-conviction, early interventions, AODA, victim advocacy, and pretrial. | |
| Stewart Ryan Laffey, Bucci & Kent Stewart Ryan is a Trial Lawyer with Laffey, Bucci & Kent, where he represents survivors of sexual assault and other crimes in civil lawsuits. Mr. Ryan previously served as Asst. Chief of the Trials Division in the Montgomery Co. District Attorney’s Office, where he prosecuted a number of high-profile cases including Commonwealth v. William H. Cosby Jr. As a prosecutor, Mr. Ryan specialized in prosecuting and investigating crimes of sexual violence involving adults and children, physical child abuse, internet exploitation, and domestic violence. | |
| Molly Sapia Temple Univ. Molly Sapia is a PhD candidate in sociology at Temple University. She has been working against campus sexual violence for nearly a decade, including founding Villanova University’s first campus sexual assault awareness group while an undergraduate there and performing in date rape awareness presentations for large undergraduate audiences before beginning graduate school. Now, her dissertation focuses on the emergence of full-time Title IX Coordinators at universities over time, as well as investigating differences between campuses with full-time Coordinators and shared-role Coordinators. | |
| Joseph Scaramucci McLennan Co. Sheriff's Office Joseph Scaramucci works as a Detective for the McLennan Co. Sheriff's Office, investigating Crimes Against Persons. Since initiating investigations in human trafficking in 2014, Detective Scaramucci has participated in John Suppression events, arresting over 450 sex buyers with his partner in a period of eight months. In the last two years, he has conducted sting operations resulting in the arrest of approximately 80 individuals for human trafficking and related offenses, which led to the recovery of more than 115 trafficking victims. | |
| Richard Schaffer Cheltenham Twp. Police Dept. Richard Schaffer is a det. sgt. with the Cheltenham Twp. Police Dept. in PA. Currently, Det. Sgt. Schaffer is the supervisor of the detective division, but has been a police officer for 19 years and has worked in a number of capacities, including the patrol division, detective division, administrative services, and professional standards. Det. Sgt. Schaffer worked the Bill Cosby case as lead detective in 2005, and was later reassigned when the case was reopened, seeing it through to a successful prosecution. | |
| Carrie Schirato Reclaim611 Carrie Schirato currently works full-time as a Nurse Practitioner at Baylor University Medical Center, where she has served in the Emergency Department for the past 14 years. | |
| Andrea Schooler Bryan Police Dept. Andrea Schooler has been a Bryan Police Dept. officer since 2001, spending the past 10 years as a gang officer. Ms. Schooler works closely with the Narcotics Unit, School Resource Unit, and the Criminal Investigation Division to resolve gang-related issues. She is a senior member of the Bryan PD Crisis Negotiation Team and the Brazos Valley Critical Incident Stress Management Team, having served on each for over a decade. Ms. Schooler works directly with local prosecutors handling gang suspects and partners with other area law enforcement agencies to share information and address gang problems in the community. She has testified extensively as a gang expert in Brazos and surrounding counties. | |
| Tracy Schott Schott Productions Tracy Schott is the Producer/Director of Finding Jenns Voice, a documentary film about intimate partner homicide. Previously, Ms. Schott practiced for 15 years as a child and family therapist, was the administrator of a women's counseling center, and an adjunct faculty in Graduate Social Work. She is the founder of Schott Productions and has produced, written, and directed hundreds of projects including short films, TV commercials, and content. | |
| Elyssa Schroeder Texas Council on Family Violence Elyssa Schroeder works at Texas Council on Family Violence providing policy and programmatic advocacy to family violence providers throughout the state. In this capacity, Ms. Schroeder works to enhance survivor experiences through shelter rules reduction, researcher-provider collaborations and evaluation, and creating greater access for vulnerable populations. Her past professional experiences include creating safer spaces for victims of gender-based violence, direct client counseling and advocacy in South Texas, and helping create a Victim Services Dept. in rural Texas. | |
| Eric Shellhorn UT Southwestern Medical Center Eric Shellhorn is a psychiatric nurse practitioner at UT Southwestern Medical Center, treating patients with a variety of Axis 1 disorders including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and schizoaffective disorder. His services include medication management and psychotherapy. Mr. Shellhorn is also an adjunct faculty member at UT Arlington, whose students he precepts and is a guest lecturer. | |
| Lawrence Simon LJS Training & Consulting Group, LLC Lawrence Simon has completed research on hundreds of serial violent offenders. Dr. Simon's research included understanding the personality differences among the most cold-blooded killers and psychological motivations of serial sexual homicide. He currently works with law enforcement, social services, and legal staff on numerous cases involving crimes of a sexual and explicit nature. | |
| Kelly Slaven Dallas Children's Advocacy Center Kelly Slaven is the Chief Clinical Officer at Dallas Children's Advocacy Center, where she supervises over 30 clinicians and students who provide treatment for the worst child abuse cases in the Dallas area. Previously, Ms. Slaven worked at Genesis Women's Shelter & Support for 12 years as a therapist, Asst. Clinical Director, and Clinical Director. She has worked with adult and children victims of domestic violence and managed a staff of 20 clinicians and 2000 clients every year. Ms. Slaven also provides expert testimony in civil and criminal matters. | |
| Rebecca Sommers Racine Co. District Attorney's Office Rebecca Sommers has been a prosecutor in the Racine County District Attorney's Office since 2009, and joined the sensitive crimes unit in 2013. Ms. Sommers has tried over 50 cases to juries, including domestic abuse, stalking, cold cases, child abuse, sexual assault, child sexual assault, mayhem, and homicide. | |
| Jody Spiegelhoff City of Racine Police Dept. Jody Spiegelhoff is a 20-year veteran of the Racine Police Dept., serving 14 years in the Detective Bureau. Investigator Spiegelhoff has served her community as a Sensitive Crimes Investigator for over 11 years, conducting over 800 sensitive crimes cases involving sexual and physical abuse to children, drug endangered children, and adult victims of sexual assault. She has engaged in over 500 hours of specialized training in sensitive crimes, and has served on the 2017 SART, M-Team, and Child Death Review Board. | |
| Brandon Stahl The Star Tribune Brandon Stahl has been a journalist for more than a decade, including for the last five years at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, one of the largest newspapers in the midwest. Mr. Stahl's work has led to dozens of changes in state laws, including reforms to caring for vulnerable adults and abused children. He was one of the lead reporters for the Star Tribune's "Denied Justice" series, which exposed widespread failings of Minnesota's law enforcement when investigating sexual assault . | |
| Myra Strand Strand Squared, LLC Myra Strand is a managing partner of Strand² Squared LLC. Ms. Strand helps provide consultation, training and assistance to agencies, organizations, and individual victims in both the Criminal Justice and Medical communities. Previously, Ms. Strand was the CEO at Victim Witness Services for Coconino County. She has also been in leadership positions in the area of community outreach, sexual violence prevention and education, and providing direct services to victims with both mental and developmental disabilities in residential/shelter programs. Ms. Strand spent 10 years as an adjunct faculty member teaching issues of violence, ethnic and gender studies, sex and dating, and applied intersectionality at Northern Arizona University and Coconino Community College. | |
| Russell Strand Strand Squared, LLC Russell Strand is a managing partner and cofounder of Strand Squared, LLC and founding faculty of Certified Forensic Experiential Trauma Interview (FETI). Retired Senior Special Agent Strand provides consultation, systems auditing, training, and assistance to agencies and service providers. As a career law enforcement professional, trainer, educator, writer, and consultant, Agent Strand has distinguished himself as an integral member of the criminal justice community, holding 43 years of investigative and consultative experience. In 2009, he created the innovative and trauma informed interview technique, FETI. Agent Strand is internationally recognized for his contributions to the field. | |
| Donna Strittmatter Max Dallas Co. District Attorney's Office Donna Strittmatter Max served as the Assistant District Attorney for over 15 years with the Dallas Co. District Attorneys Office. Currently Ms. Strittmatter Max is the Chief of the Specialized Crime Division, a position she has held since 2009. She has handled the intake of thousands of state-level criminal prosecutions of fraud, often directing the investigation for law enforcement and victims. Ms. Strittmatter Max is involved in regional task forces relating to health care fraud, consumer fraud, banking, and economic computer crimes. She presents on fraud and prosecution to a wide variety of audiences. | |
| Dorthy Stucky Halley Family Peace Initiative Dorthy Stucky Halley has been Director of the Victim Services Division of the Office of Kansas Attorney General since this division’s inception in 2007. Halley’s development of a motivation typology for those who batter has opened the door to a new understanding for judges, prosecutors, law enforcement, advocates, and others in the domestic violence field. She led the state efforts to develop standards and certify batterer intervention programs throughout Kansas. Halley has served victims in various capacities since 1986. She was the Executive Director of Safehouse, Inc. for over a decade, and previously served as a Crime Victim Compensation Board member. Halley was the Practicum Director and Assistant Professor at Pittsburg State University in the Social Work Program from 1997 to 2007, before accepting her current position. She is the past president of the Kansas Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual & Domestic Violence, and the Kansas Organization for Victim Assistance. She has served as an expert witness in domestic violence cases for the past 28 years. She is an author and has provided more than 1,000 presentations on a national, state, and local level. | |
| Imam Omar Suleiman Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research Omar Suleiman is the Founder and President of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research and an Adjunct Professor of Islamic Studies in the Graduate Liberal Studies Program at SMU. Imam Suleiman is also the Resident Scholar at Valley Ranch Islamic Center and Co-Chair of Faith Forward Dallas at Thanks-Giving Square. | |
| Jim Tanner KBSolutions Jim Tanner has 48 years of experience working with sex offenders in almost every capacity within the Justice System. Dr. Tanner is a nationally recognized and court-qualified expert on sex offenders, grooming, digital sexual behavior, and computer forensics. In addition to his training activities, he is sworn staff in Colorado and serves as the forensic examiner for the Probation Dept. of the 20th Judicial District of Colorado. | |
| Carrie Taylor Reclaim611 Carrie Taylor is a Registered Nurse and has over 13 years of bedside nursing experience in critical care. Ms. Taylor is the Co-Founder of Reclaim611, whose mission is to train professionals using trauma-informed care and customized protocols to recognize, respond, and report victims of human trafficking. She has been an active member of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses since 2007 and has worked to create evidence-based, trauma-informed care training manuals and customized protocols at the local, state, and federal levels. | |
| Rebecca Vieh Texas Dept. of Public Safety Crime Laboratory Rebecca Vieh is the Sexual Assault Evidence Tracking Program Specialist for the Texas Dept. of Public Safety Crime Laboratory Service. Ms. Vieh is primarily responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Texas Sexual Assault Evidence tracking system, including training and the development of program policies and procedures. From 2009-2017, Ms. Vieh served as the CODIS Interagency Liaison, providing training to criminal justice agencies while promoting the Texas CODIS Program. | |
| Mallory Vincent Office of the Attorney General of Texas Mallory Vincent is an Asst. Attorney General in the Human Trafficking and Transnational/Organized Crime Section of the Office of the Attorney General of Texas. During her time at the Office of the Attorney General, Ms. Vincent has been involved in the prosecution of traffickers in multiple jurisdictions around the state and has trained more than 5,000 people on human trafficking. Previously, Ms. Vincent was a prosecutor with the Bexar Co. District Attorney's Office, where she worked in the Criminal Trial Division and the Human Trafficking Unit. | |
| Rachel Voth Schrag Univ. of Texas at Arlington Rachel Voth Schrag is an assistant professor of social work at the University of Texas at Arlington. Dr. Voth Schrag's research is focused on interrupting experiences of re-victimization for survivors of violence against women, with a focus on the intersections of poverty, education, trauma, and mental health. Previously, she was an economic advocate, mental health counselor, and program director at a community-based agency working with low-income survivors of intimate partner violence. | |
| Molly Voyles Texas Council on Family Violence Molly Voyles is a Public Policy Manager at the Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV) and has worked at the coalition for 11 years. In her position at TCFV, Ms. Voyles provides technical assistance and training across the state on a variety of issues with a focus on supporting survivor-centered services models. She also works on systemic efforts to examine the intersection of homelessness and domestic violence and currently serves on the Texas Interagency Council on Homelessness. | |
| Lauren Wagner SEARCH Lauren Wagner is a Training Specialist in the High-Tech Crime Training Services Dept. of SEARCH, where she trains 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. | |
| Jennifer Waindle DeKalb Co. District Attorney Jennifer Waindle 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. | |
| Carlotta Walcott Center for Court Innovation Carlotta Walcott works with female-identified defendants who have open cases in the misdemeanor drug court, mental health court, and human trafficking intervention court to address experiences of trauma. Ms. Walcott has created and facilitated several presentations addressing the intersection of faith and domestic violence, human trafficking, economic justice, and the use of expressive therapy to heal from sexual violence. She has used her new enterprise creation training to work with disadvantaged populations including women, youth, and indigenous people to provide them with skills to use entrepreneurship to achieve financial sustainability and independence. | |
| Jane Walsh Denver District Attorney's Office Jane Walsh is a Senior Deputy in the Denver District Attorney's Office, where she prosecutes exclusively elder and at-risk crime. Prior to working in Denver, Ms. Walsh established and managed a felony at-risk unit in the Boulder District Attorney Office for seven years. She has presented elder cases in front of Boulder Co. Grand Jury and the Statewide Grand Jury. Ms. Walsh has also prosecuted racketeering, financial exploitation, and physical abuse and neglect of older adults, taking many cases to trial. Previously, she taught for NDAA, Colorado District Attorney's Council, NAPSA, and the Dept. of Justice. | |
| Jim Walters Fox Valley Technical College Jim Walters is the Program Administrator for the AMBER Alert Training & Technical Assistance Program. Mr. Walters has over 35 years of diversified experience as a peace officer, Assistant Chief and Director of the SMU Public Safety Training Center, USAF Security Forces Supervisor, technical training instructor, program manager, investigator, special weapons and tactics team leader, and Regional SWAT Commander. | |
| MaryJo Webster Minneapolis Star Tribune MaryJo Webster is a journalist at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, where she specializes in analyzing data for stories. Ms. Webster's most recent project, "Denied Justice", involved building a database from thousands of police reports of sexual assault in order to track how cases were investigated and their outcomes. Prior to joining the Star Tribune in 2015, Ms. Webster worked at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, USA Today, the Center for Public Integrity, Investigative Reporters & Editors, and small daily papers in Minnesota and Wisconsin. She is also an adjunct instructor at the University of Minnesota journalism school and routinely teaches and speaks at journalism conferences. | |
| Angela Weekes Nampa Police Dept. Angela Weekes is a Corporal in the Crimes Against Person's Unit for the Nampa Police Dept. in Idaho. Cpl. Weekes has served Nampa in several difference capacities including: Patrol, School Resource Officer, DARE Officer, and Child Abuse investigator. She has instructed at the International Family Justice Center Conference, and also serves as faculty with the International Association of Chiefs of Police. | |
| John Wilkinson AEquitas John Wilkinson is an attorney advisor for AEquitas. Mr. Wilkinson presents on investigation and trial strategy related to violence against women at the local, state, national, and international levels. He conducts research; develops training materials, resources, and publications; and provides case consultation and technical assistance for prosecutors and allied professionals. He has presented extensively on the investigation and prosecution of domestic violence, sexual violence, stalking, and human trafficking. Prior to AEquitas, Mr. Wilkinson worked on issues related to gun violence, homeland security, and Southwest border crime at the National District Attorney's Association. He also served as an Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney in Fredericksburg, VA, assisted the local Fredericksburg Area Sexual Assault Response Team, and contributed to the development of the Mary Washington Hospital SANE Program. | |
| Leila Wood Univ. of Texas at Austin Leila Wood is a Research Asst. Professor at the Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault (IDVSA) at The Univ. of Texas at Austin School of Social Work. Over the last several years, Dr. Wood has conducted intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual assault (SA) service program evaluations in close collaboration with community agencies and conducted research on the extent and impact of sexual assault, dating violence, stalking, and sexual harassment on college campuses. Dr. Wood's research focuses on survivor-centered approaches and establishing evidence for community and campus-based practices in the IPV and SA field, including housing programs. She currently leads research projects at IDVSA, including evaluation of transitional housing. | |
| Mark Wynn Wynn Consulting Mark Wynn has been a national trainer for over 30 years. As a survivor, he teaches effectively and passionately. Det. Wynn is a police officer, detective, educator, program supervisor, and now consultant and advisor. He is a 21-year member of the Nashville Metropolitan PD, where he served as Lt. to the Domestic Violence Division and a member of the SWAT Team. | |
| Mark Yarbrough Burnout Expert Mark Yarbrough was elected to five terms as the Lamb County District Attorney, prosecuting everything from death penalty cases to DWIs. At the end of 2012, Mr. Yarbrough retired as District Attorney and now travels the country giving motivational speeches regarding Burnout. He has also written and been published on the subject of Burnout. | |
| Andrea Zaferes TeamLGS/DCME Andrea Zaferes co-founded the nonprofit RIPTIDE to assist with aquatic death and homicidal drowning investigations and has been teaching dive teams since 1987. Ms. Zaferes is a medicolegal death investigator with the Dutchess Co. Medical Examiner's Office, has numerous publications, is a noted presenter at forensic conferences nationwide, and is an expert witness for aquatic death cases. | |
| Katie Ziomek Battered Women's Justice Project Katie Ziomek is an Equal Justice Works Fellow who assists the Battered Women’s Justice Project (BWJP) to improve outcomes for battered women and their children by developing tools and trainings for Child Protection Services workers to better address cases involving domestic violence. Previously, Ms. Ziomek worked with BWJP on issues relating to domestic violence and firearms, creating content for the website on disarming domestic violence offenders, drafting policy and amicus briefs, and conducting research on everything from state body camera laws to address confidentiality programs. | |
