International Bullying Prevention Conference
 
0Jill Balcom
Elementary Principal
Elkhart Community Schools
Jill Balcom, Masters of Elementary Education with an Administrative License, Principal of Bristol Elementary School Pre K-6, member of Elkhart Community Schools Bullying Investigation Task Force
 
0Milena Batanova, PhD
Curriculum and Resource Development Associate
Harvard Graduate School of Education Research
 
Sheri Bauman, PhD
Professor
University of Arizona
Dr. Sheri Bauman is a professor and director of the Counseling graduate degree program at the University of Arizona. Prior to earning her doctorate in 1999, Dr. Bauman worked in public schools for 30 years, 18 of those as a school counselor. She is also a licensed psychologist although she is not in practice at this time. Dr. Bauman conducts research on bullying, cyberbullying, and peer victimization. She also studies teacher responses to bullying. She is the recipient of two grants from the National Science Foundation. She has given presentations on topics related to bullying/cyberbullying at local, state, national, and international conferences. She has published two books: Special Topics for Helping Professionals (2007, Pearson), Cyberbullying: What Counselors Need to Know (2011, American Counseling Association), and is lead editor of Principles of Cyberbullying Research: Definition, Measures, and Methods (with Donna Cross & Jenny Walker, 2013, Routledge). Her vita includes over 50 publications in peer-reviewed journals, many book chapters, three training dvds for counselors, and numerous other publications. She is currently analyzing data from her National Science Foundation longitudinal study, and working on two co-authored books: Mental Health in the Digital Age (with Dr. Ian Rivers, Brunel University, London) and Group Counseling with Persons with Disabilities (with Linda Shaw and Paul Bourgeois, University of Arizona.
 
Erin Beacham
Education Director
Southeast Region of the Anti-Defamation League
Erin Beacham is the Education Director in the Southeast Region of the Anti-Defamation League. In this position Erin develops, manages and implements the ADL’s education programs. These education programs include: A World of Difference Institute® the premiere anti-bias trainings for students, counselors, teachers, law enforcement and the community, No Place for Hate® the year-long anti-bullying campaign, as well as Holocaust education. Erin has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and African American Studies from Guilford College and a Master of Arts in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
 
Amy Bellmore
Professor
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Dr. Amy Bellmore is a Professor of Human Development in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin - Madison.
 
Terese Blakeslee
PhD Student in Nursing
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Terese Blakeslee is a PhD student in nursing at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. Her research focuses on school nurses’ recognition of bullying behavior and their involvement in school-and-system level prevention and early intervention for the school-age population. She has been a nurse for 21 years, including 16 years in school nursing and five years in public health nursing. Currently, she is a nursing instructor at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. Her dissertation research will be conducted with guidance from an interdisciplinary committee of professors, chaired by her Major Professor, Dr. Aaron Buseh.
 
Marc Brackett, PhD
Director
Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence
Marc Brackett, Ph.D., is Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and Professor in the Yale Child Study Center. His research focuses on the role of emotional intelligence in learning, decision making, relationship quality, wellbeing, performance, and school climate. He is the lead developer of RULER, an evidence-based approach to social and emotional learning that has been adopted by over 1200 public, charter, and private schools across the world. For the last five years he has worked with Facebook to develop tools that help adults and children develop emotional intelligence and prevent bullying.
 
Tara Brown
President
Learner's Edge Consulting
Tara Brown is an award-winning educator, author and international speaker whose 30-year professional journey has taken her from rural Florida to gang territory in California and to one of the largest high schools in Tennessee with over 36 countries represented. Her international engagements have included Dubai and Beirut, training both educators and students. Known as ‘The Connection Coach’, Tara believes strongly that a major key to student and teacher success is the ability to connect and build positive relationships with students in the classroom and school. Whether here or abroad, Tara’s passion and humor continues to drive her work to better equip adults with the ability to connect with youth in order to unleash their true potential. She is committed to helping strengthen organizations ‘One connection at a time’.
 
James Brown, PhD
Assistant Professor
Indiana University
Dr. James Brown is an assistant professor at Indiana University School of Social Work. Before this, Dr. Brown spent 13 years as a school social worker in Michigan Public Schools. James has published journal articles on bullying and recently completed the evaluation of a large urban school system that no longer uses a whole bullying program but instead an a-la-carte approach in addressing school bullying.
 
Michael Buchanan
Author/Producer
The Fat Boy Chronicles
Michael Buchanan’s co-authored novel, The Fat Boy Chronicles, won the National Parenting Publication’s Gold Award, and Mom’s Choice Award of Excellence and was recently featured in Publishers Weekly. The novel is used by schools around the nation in their anti-bullying and childhood obesity efforts. Buchanan also wrote the screenplay for the feature film adapted from the book. The movie won multiple awards for its impacting, yet hopeful depiction of an obese and bullied 9th grader’s world. Since its release in 2012, millions around the world have seen the film. Doctors, teachers and parents in every state support both the book and movie. Buchanan and his co-author Diane Lang are guest speakers at schools nationwide as well as conferences where they discuss the issues of bullying, childhood obesity and these issues’ connections to academics. The authors won the 2014 NY Champions of Character Award for Literature. The pair also conducts writing/screenwriting workshops for middle and high school students. The sequel to The Fat Boy Chronicles is underway while their next book, Treasure of the Four Lions, is completed. Buchanan is lead writer for the documentaries Spiral Bound and Nature Matters, feature-length films about the importance of the arts and nature, respectively. Buchanan is a nationally recognized retired math and science teacher. His hobbies include diving in alligator-infested rivers searching for fossils and artifacts. His paintings are in galleries and homes throughout the South. Buchanan lives in Alpharetta.
 
0James Bush
Program Director
STARS
James Bush, LPC-MHSP-TEMP, is the Program Director of STARS YODA (Youth Overcoming Drug Abuse). Whether facilitating groups or training peers, he has and continues to serve the mental health community of the Middle Tennessee region. For multiple years, his efforts have been concentrated on the growing adolescent population within the Greater Nashville area and surrounding counties, which has led to service through community events, and partnerships with for-profit and nonprofit organizations, such as Counselors Helping the Community, Cumberland Heights, and The Scenario, a weekly radio show.
 
Nancy Buyle
School Safety/Student Assistance Consultant
Macomb Intermediate School District
Nancy has worked at the MISD for 17 years providing leadership, service and support to educators in Michigan. Areas of focus are: school safety, crisis response, suicide prevention, bullying prevention and mental health promotion. She also leads the county’s suicide prevention coalition and is an associate of Strategic Alternatives to Prevention Education (SAPE). SAPE has developed the comprehensive research-based Circle of Support for Learning: Bully-Free Schools. She has an MA in Counseling and Mental Health.
 
Lindsay Cambre
Profesional School Counselor, PLPC, NCC, NCSC
Ascension Parish School Board
Mrs. Lindsay Cambre is a Professional School Counselor who has worked with thousands of students and parents in the last 12 years. She earned her Master’s in School Counseling at LSU, is a National Certified Counselor, National Certified School Counselor, a Provisional Licensed Professional Counselor, and the 2008 Multi-Level School Counselor of the Year (LSCA). The past two years she has focused on the Social Emotional Learning of students by creating a kinder school culture.
 
Stephanie Carpenter
Student
MTSU
Stephanie Carpenter is an honor student at Middle Tennessee State University, completing her undergraduate degree in Psychology. She has research interests in the long-term effects of bullying and the establishment of a ProHelp Bullying plan of intervention. Stephanie’s passion to help victims and perpetrators of bullying derives from her personal experiences being bullied and has motivated her to launch a social movement, Through the Mind into the Heart.
 
0Katherine Chambers
Director
Warren County Youth Court
Katherine Chambers has been the Director of Warren County Youth Court for the last 12 years.and currently operates a model program for New York State. Chambers is currently a member of both the Regional Youth Justice Restorative Practices team for the capital district and local strategic team. She also serves as the VP for the ANYSYC and is a certified Olweus trainer. She has been the data coordinator for her agency for 6 years.
 
Kendra Cheek
Student
MTSU
Kendra Cheek is a social work senior at MTSU with a passion for research and serving youth in marginalized communities. She’s an emerging leader, currently serving as the secretary for Phi Alpha and Vice President of National Association of Black Social Workers. Kendra is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She recently completed her research project on the School-to-Prison Pipeline and is excited for future research endeavors.
 
Katie Collett
Senior Anti-Bullying Project Manager
The Diana Award
Katie Collett is Senior Anti-Bullying Project Manager at The Diana Award, a London-based charity whose aim is to continue Princess Diana's belief in the power of young people to shape attitudes and change behaviours. The Diana Award Anti-Bullying Ambassadors Programme has empowered over 23,000 young people across the UK and internationally with the confidence, skills and knowledge they need to tackle bullying in their schools and communities. Katie also manages corporate partnerships with companies such as Vodafone and ASOS to expand The Diana Award’s anti-bullying work to include a focus on digital resilience, online safety, self-esteem and body confidence. She has previously worked at research company Populus and the Department for Education in Westminster.
 
Anne Collier
Founder
The Net Safety Collaborative
Anne Collier is founder of iCanHelpline.org and executive director of its parent, California-based nonprofit The Net Safety Collaborative. She founded its predecessor, NetFamilyNews.org, in 1999. For nearly 10 years, she was co-director of ConnectSafely.org, which she co-founded with tech journalist Larry Magid in 2005. Anne serves on the Trust & Safety advisory boards of Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and ASKfm and has served on three national task forces on youth and Internet safety, including as co-chair of the Obama administration’s Online Safety & Technology Working Group, which delivered its report to Congress in June 2010; the Aspen Institute Task Force for Learning & the Internet of 2013-’14; and the Harvard Berkman Center’s Internet Safety Technical Task Force of 2008.
 
Jeff Collins
Vice President
After School
I am a Triple-Strength Leader who can engage and collaborate across the public, private, and social sectors. During my career, I have advised the President of the United States on foreign policy; built a renowned Corporate Responsibility legal practice at a global energy company; supported human rights defenders facing persecution; and co-founded a civic-tech organization that tackles global policy challenges. My experience adapting and delivering across industries, sectors, and subjects has made me one of the last remaining generalists in an age of ultra-specialization. Today, as a Vice President at After School, America’s largest social network for teens, I work with a team to reinvent the teenage experience in the digital era. In my spare time, I co-founded and help lead Forum280, a non-profit that is applying the tech industry’s fresh thinking to difficult policy challenges; and serve on the Board of Directors of the green energy technology company Hittite Green Solutions. I continually strive to make the world a better place, and am always up for a new adventure.
 
Laura Crawshaw, Ph.D., BCC
Founder & President
The Boss Whispering Institute
Laura Crawshaw, Ph.D., BCC specializes in researching and coaching abrasive leaders, serving an international clientele of organizations over the past forty years, including over 40 Fortune 500 companies and the United Nations. She founded the Executive Insight Development Group, Inc. in 1994, the Boss Whispering Institute (dedicated to research and training in the specialty practice of coaching abrasive leaders) in 2009, and co-founded the Consortium on Abrasive Conduct in Higher Education (CACHE) in 2013. Dr. Crawshaw’s book, Taming the Abrasive Manager: How to End Unnecessary Roughness in the Workplace (Jossey-Bass Management Series), was released in 2007. She has published in the Consulting Psychology Journal on workplace bullying, and her article entitled Coaching Abrasive Leaders: Using Action Research To Reduce Suffering And Increase Productivity In Organizations appeared in the International Journal of Coaching in Organizations. Dr . Crawshaw speaks internationally, holding degrees in clinical social work and organizational behavior. She is a member of the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations, the American Psychological Association, the British Psychological Society, the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council, the International Association on Bullying and Harassment at Work, and the International Coach Federation. She is also a Founding Fellow of Harvard’s Institute of Coaching.
 
Kim DeMoss
Health and Fitness Professional, Certified Yoga Instructor
K i m m i Y o g i n i
Kim DeMoss began her journey with yoga in 2008, while living overseas. She fell in love with how yoga can bring peace and balance to the mind. Kim has both a 200 hour RYT certification and a 100 hour Yoga Fit for Warriors Trauma Yoga certification. She has published several articles about yoga and teaches children’s yoga classes. Kim loves watching young yogis grow their practice and explore the world of yoga.
 
Carly Desormeaux Cobb
Professional School Counselor Intern
Southeastern Louisiana University
Ms. Carly DesOrmeaux is attaining her Masters of Science in Counseling from Southeastern Louisiana University. She will complete her Masters in December of 2017. Within her practicum and internship experience thus far, she has worked with many students regarding the importance of empathy and kindness. She believes that empathy and kindness are qualities that cannot be overlooked when working with any student and are crucial to a student’s positive social emotional growth and development.
 
0Lauren Dickson
Clinical Supervisor
STARS Nashville
Lauren Dickson, LCSW, has over 15 years of experience serving youth and families involved in the foster care, juvenile justice, and mental health systems. Her work has spanned a wide range of direct service, supervisory, administrative, and program development roles in residential and community-based settings. She currently is the Clinical Supervisor at STARS Nashville.
 
Sierra Dimberg
M.A., Doctoral Student
Arizona State University
Sierra is a third-year doctorate student in Counseling Psychology at Arizona State University. She was a 2015 recipient of the IBPA Scholarship and her research efforts have focused on bullying, with her thesis focusing on college organization level bullying and hazing. She has created a small-scale bullying prevention program built on empathy and worked on ASU’s Dion Initiative to combat bullying. She is also a commissioned officer in the United States Navy, having received the HPSP award, and will serve as a Naval Psychologist upon degree completion.
 
Ingrid Donato
Chief
SAMHSA
Ingrid Donato is Chief, Mental Health Promotion Branch, Center for Mental Health Services/SAMHSA. She has over twenty years experience in the mental health field in inpatient, outpatient, community, and research settings. She oversees administration of mental health promotion/illness prevention grant programs, initiatives, technical assistance centers, and national evaluation efforts that promote behavioral health of children/families. She’s SAMHSA’s Bullying Prevention lead, a member of Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention, and on the Editorial Board for http://www.stopbullying.gov.
 
Elizabeth Englander, Ph.D.
Professor and Founder
Director of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center
Elizabeth Englander is a professor of Psychology and the founder and Director of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center at Bridgewater State University, a Center that delivers anti-violence programs, resources, and research. She is a nationally recognized researcher and expert in the area of bullying and cyberbullying, childhood causes of violence, aggression and abuse, and child development. She has a particular expertise in technological aggression and how it interacts with aggression in general.
 
Dorothy Espelage, PhD
Professor
University of Florida
Dorothy L. Espelage, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology at the University of Florida. She is the recipient of the APA Lifetime Achievement Award in Prevention Science and the 2016 APA Award for Distinguished Contributions to Research in Public Policy, and is a Fellow of APS, APA, and AERA. She earned her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Indiana University in 1997. Over the last 20 years, she has authored over 140 peer reviewed articles, five edited books, and 30 chapters on bullying, homophobic teasing, sexual harassment, dating violence, and gang violence. Her research focuses on translating empirical findings into prevention and intervention programming and she has secured six and half million dollars of external funding. She advises members of Congress and Senate on bully prevention legislation.
 
Stephanie Fredrick, PhD
Asst. Professor
Central Michigan University
Dr. Stephanie Fredrick is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Central Michigan University and is a nationally certified school psychologist. Her research is grounded in a social-ecological framework and revolves around bullying behavior (including cyberbullying and bystander behavior) and social emotional well-being. She is especially interested in school-based preventative and protective factors for victims, bullies, and bystanders, including school climate, social support, and social emotional learning.
 
Lauren Galley
President
Girls Above Society
Lauren Marie Galley is a 22-year-old award winning teen mentor, TEDx Speaker, Amazon Best Selling Author, a recognized 2016 Changemaker by The White House for the State of Women Summit, 2017 UN Youth Delegate and President of Girls Above Society, a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization dedicated to empowering tween and teen girls to be confident while maintaining positive morals and values as they navigate the tough pressures of today’s media driven society.
 
Jodi Green
Principal
Sumner Schools
Dr. Green is a middle school principal in Sumner County, TN. She has been in administration for 10 years after teaching for 10 years. She has a passion for creating positive cultures in the school through relationships, behavior, and bullying prevention programs.
 
Kami Guarino
Assistant Principal
Cherry Creek School District
My name is Kami Guarino. I am an assistant principal at Ponderosa Elementary school in the Cherry Creek School District. I have been leading in Ponderosa Elementary school for the past ten years. Ponderosa is a Title I school with over 60 languages spoken and 72% free and reduced lunch. I began my work in 2007 and have been spearheading the cultural shift at our school. We took a school with over 800+ students that was performing extremely low academically with high teacher turnover and soaring discipline referral rates...and within 5+ years was recognized as a national blue ribbon school in 2013. I am passionate with what I do every day and embrace the challenge of shifting a culture. I have created a School Excellence Team which has been the driving force to our positive school climate and culture. By filtering our work through an equity lens, the team ensures inclusive excellence and equity by empowering teachers and other staff members to reflect on instructional practices, their own culture and biases, relationships, data and social emotional skills needed for students and staff to succeed. SEL Goal: Social Emotional Learning: At Ponderosa we will guide our students in an approach to learning in which students develop the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to manage their emotions, demonstrate caring and concern for others, establish positive relationships, make responsible decisions, and handle challenging situations constructively. In order for students to develop these life skills, our staff teach Mindful Life, Second Step, Morning Meetings and Restorative Practice Connection Circles during our school-wide Connect to Kids time from 9:00-9:30.
 
0Ankit Gupta
Crisis Text Line
Ankit oversees machine learning endeavors at Crisis Text Line. In his other life, he is a speaker at Toastmasters, a coffee-holic, and quite recently became the master of one-hit wonders in cooking.
 
Natalie Hampton
Founder
Sit With Us, Inc.
Sixteen year old Natalie Hampton is a Los Angeles high school junior, anti-bullying activist, app developer, and the founder of Sit With Us, Inc. Natalie was severely bullied in middle school, and was forced to eat lunch alone nearly every day. After she switched schools, and quickly fell in with a great friend group, she would invite anyone who was eating alone to join her lunch table. Those people became not only her friends, but friends with everyone in the group, and were invited to social gatherings. She saw that one simple act of kindness made a big difference in their lives. This inspired her to create the Sit With Us mobile app, which serves as a free lunch planning tool for middle and high school kids so that no one has to eat lunch alone. Kids can use the app’s features to coordinate lunches with their friends. They can also volunteer to be Sit With Us Ambassadors for their schools and post open lunch events on campus so that anyone looking for a table to join can find one. The app has been featured by Apple under “New Apps We Love” in the App Store, has been downloaded by 85,000+ people in seven countries worldwide, and has garnered the attention and acclaim of international media and press. Natalie has spoken at conferences such as “Girls Can Do” (Washington D.C.) and Renaissance Weekend (Charleston), and also spreads her message to schools by visiting in person, or connecting via Skype. In 2017, she will be an invited speaker at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Just Peace Summit, Say No to Bullying’s annual conference, and a TEDx event. Natalie is also proud to be partnering with six prominent anti-bullying organizations, including Born This Way Foundation, PACER, and Champions Against Bullying. In addition to creating the Sit With Us app, Natalie volunteers extensively for her community. She is a counselor for United in Harmony, a non-profit organization that runs a sleep away camp for underprivileged and homeless kids, and she also tutors underprivileged kids at the Otis Booth campus of Children’s Institute International. Natalie is a member of several prestigious programs including Davidson Young Scholars, Profoundly Gifted Retreat, Johns Hopkins University’s Center For Talented Youth, as well as Mensa. Natalie has been actively involved in theater productions at her schools since 7th grade, and has studied acting and improv both in and outside of school. She loves photography, has taught herself how to play the piano and guitar, likes creative writing and has a passion for filmmaking. “I believe that real change starts with us - the students. I also believe that every school has upstanders like me who want to invite others to join the lunch table. Something as seemingly small as lunch can make huge strides in making a school more inclusive, and the kids much happier. Having been on both sides - the person who was excluded and the person who invites anyone sitting alone to join the lunch table - I know that my app can make a difference.”
 
Natashia Harris
Author
Future Career Achievers
Natashia Cunningham-Harris is a native of South-Suburban Chicago. She is a graduate of Chicago State University where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, a Master of Arts in social work, a Master of Arts in educational leadership, and a Doctor of Education in educational leadership. The scope of her career includes special education administrator (Chicago public school), operations manager (Jr. Achievement), youth consultant (Ida B. Wells Housing Projects), and author. Natashia founded Future Career Achievers, a career development program for youth, Natashia’s Youth Enforcement Enterprise (NYEE), an organization dedicated to abused and neglected children, and Just for the Young People. She also is radio host and evangelist. In addition to her accomplishments and achievements, her love for writing dominates her spare time. Her currently published works include Wake up Generation X, a prophetic book of poems and sonnets, It Worked Together for My Good, an autobiography, What Do You Do When You Get Hurt in the Church, promoting healing and restoration to the wounded and brokenhearted, How to Avoid a Player in the Church, for single ladies, Receiving God’s Financial Favor, helping others on the path to financial blessings, and her latest book How to Deal with School Girl Drama, which focuses on bullying, boy drama, gossip, fighting, and conflict. Natashia dedicates all her gifts and talents to God: always serving with a willing heart and a tenacious spirit. Whether it is authoring a book to teach others His ways, assisting parents and children with special needs, aiding abused and neglected children, strengthening the hearts of juvenile mothers and young adults, or working to reduce cycles of abuse, she strives in all things to put Him first.
 
Laurie-ann M. Hellsten
Professor
University of Saskatchewan
Laurie-ann Hellsten is a Professor in Educational Psychology and Special Education in the College of Education at the University of Saskatchewan (Ph: 306-966-7723; email: laurie.hellsten@usask.ca). She is the team leader of a number of Canadian funded cyberbullying research studies including a recent grant entitled ‘Why Do Youth Cyberbully? Exploring Instigating Triggers, Impelling Factors, and Inhibitors in Cyberbullying’ funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
 
Vikki Hennard
Behavior Consultant
Charlevoix-Emmet Intermediate School District
Vikki E. Hennard, PhD (Eastern Michigan University 2015), has over 25 years’ experience working with children and youth with behavioral challenges and is currently a behavior consultant at Charlevoix-Emmet Intermediate School District. She has a doctorate in educational leadership with an emphasis on social-emotional learning and bullying, as well as extensive experience and training working with the behavioral and academic needs of students with disabilities. She can be reached at hennardv@charemisd.org.
 
0Sameer Hinduja, PhD
Co-Director, Professor
Cyberbullying Research Center, Florida Atlantic University
 
Lee Hirsch
Film Director
The Bully Project
Lee Hirsch is a film director, producer and social entrepreneur. His acclaimed documentary BULLY was released in 2012. Hirsch subsequently launched THE BULLY PROJECT: a social action campaign to leverage the power of the film to inspire parents, educators and students around the globe. In partnership with numerous organizations, foundations and educators, The Bully Project highlights solutions that both address immediate needs and lead to systemic change that can improve school climate and promote SEL.
 
Jessica Hoffman
Clinical Psychologist
High School Initiatives at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence
Jessica Hoffmann is a clinical psychologist and the director of High School Initiatives at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence.
 
0Jerome Holzbauer, PhD
Doctor
N/A
Jerome Holzbauer, PhD has worked professionally as a rehabilitation counselor and educator in Milwaukee Public Schools. He earned his doctorate in rehabilitation psychology from UW-Madison in 2001 after he successfully had come to terms with experiences of workplace harassment due to his disability of cerebral palsy. He (co)authored seven peer-reviewed articles and presented across the country on disability harassment issues. He currently advocates for the rights of people with disabilities. Reach him at eureka1744@sbcglobal.net.
 
Matthew Hudson-Flege
Doctoral Student and Research Assistant
Clemson University
Matthew Hudson-Flege is a doctoral student and research assistant in Clemson University’s International Family and Community Studies Program, where he works on the evaluation team of an integrated Olweus Bullying Prevention and Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports pilot project Matt received his Master of Nonprofit Management from Regis University, and his BA in Global Development Studies from Eckerd College. His primary research interests include bullying prevention, help-seeking behavior, the long-term effects of national service programs, and empathy in emerging adulthood. Matt served as an AmeriCorps member and Peace Corps volunteer, and co-founded Vincentian Volunteers of Cincinnati, a faith-based year of service program in Cincinnati, OH.
 
Dawn Jaeger
School Social Worker
AEA 267
Dawn Jaeger is a school social worker with AEA 267 in Iowa. Recognized as the 2012 Iowa School Social Worker of the Year, Jaeger has 20 years of experience in the field of bullying prevention and provides training in Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, Check and Connect, School Wide Information Systems and other culture and climate issues.
 
Alex Kajitani
Creating a Culture of Compassion
Chicken Soup for the Soul
Alex Kajitani is the 2009 California Teacher of the Year, and Top-4 Finalist for National Teacher of the Year. A highly sought-after keynote speaker, he has authored several books, including Chicken Soup for the Soul’s Inspiration for Teachers. Known worldwide as “The Rappin’ Mathematician,” he created MultiplicationNation.com, has a popular TED Talk, was honored at The White House, and featured on The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. For more inspiration, check out www.AlexKajitani.com.
 
Isaac Karikari, PhD
Visiting Lecturer/Research Specialist
Indiana University School of Social Work/Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, Division
Dr.Isaac Karikari holds a PhD from Indiana Univ., MSW from Univ. of Utah, and B.A. from KNUST, Ghana. Dr. Karikari is a visiting lecturer and research specialist affiliated with the Indiana University Sch. of Social Work, and the Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Indiana Family and Social Services Administration. Dr. Karikari was introduced to bullying research in 2014 and since then continues to explore value-added ways to contribute to the field.
 
Dr. Juanita Kirton
Special Education Advisor
Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Special Education
Lead Presenter: Juanita Kirton, PhD. Special Education Advisor: Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Special Education Dr. Kirton works for Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Special Education. She is currently the Special Education Advisor for the northeastern area of PA covering over twenty-five school districts and charter schools. She is responsible for compliance monitoring of State and Federal regulations that govern students with disabilities ages 5-18 years. Juanita represents the State of PA on Cultural Linguistic Competence Committee (Core Leadership Team), Social Educational Learning Committee, and Bullying Prevention Initiative and represents the Bureau of Special Education at Annual Diversity Summit. Dr. Kirton has over forty- five years in education and has earned degrees in Psychology, Special Education, Education Administration and Creative Writing. Co-leader: James Palmiero, Ed.D. Director - Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) JPalmiero@pattanpgh.net Dr. Palmiero is a director of the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network, which is an initiative of the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Special Education. In this capacity, he oversees state-wide training and technical assistance specific to the following initiatives: Behavior, Secondary Transition, Inclusive Practices and Family Engagement. He also convenes Pennsylvania's Community of Practice (CoP) on School Based Behavioral Health (SBBH), which is a cross-systems network of representatives from child and youth serving departments and agencies within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Dr. Palmiero is the co-director of the PA Positive Behavior Support Network, which provides oversight for Pennsylvania's scale-up of program and school wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports.
 
Leigh Anne Kraemer-Naser
Director
Curriculum Solution Center
Leigh Anne has experience as an Early Childhood, Elementary, and Middle School educator. She obtained a BA in Elementary Education from Mercyhurst University and an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction from Gannon University. Leigh Anne served as the Director of Curriculum and Programming for The Ophelia Project from 2009 - 2013. Currently, she is the owner and director of Curriculum Solution Center which provides quality professional development, peer coaching, and curriculum consultation. Leigh Anne is also a webinar leader for Simple K12 Teacher Learning Community, a Professional Development Specialist for the Council for Professional Recognition, a contributor for Education-Articles.com, and a Microsoft Innovative Educator Trainer.
 
Jillian Lao
Counselor
Highline Public Schools
Jillian is working on her 9th year as a school counselor at Hilltop Elementary School, located in Burien, Washington. Prior to her work as a school counselor, she worked for two years as a behavior interventionist for the Kent School District. She earned her Master of Education in School Counseling in 2007 from Western Washington University.
 
Susan Limber, PhD., MLS
Dan Olweus Professor
Clemson University
Susan Limber, PhD., MLS, is a professor in the Department of Youth, Family and Community Studies at Clemson University. She is a developmental psychologist whose research and writing have focused on legal and psychological issues related to bullying among children. Dr. Limber has published numerous articles and chapters on the topic of bullying and co-authored the book, Cyberbullying: Bullying in the Digital Age. She is past chair of APA’s Committee on Children, Youth, and Families.
 
Kathleen Lockard
Olweus technical assistant consultant
Private Practice
Kathleen Lockard, Olweus technical assistant consultant, is from Afton, Iowa and offers a wealth of knowledge and experience with implementing bullying prevention programs.
 
Jamie Lockwood
Head
Social and Emotional Learning for the Facebook K-12 Education Modernization Team
Jamie Lockwood, leads inspirED and is the Head of Social and Emotional Learning for the Facebook K-12 Education Modernization Team.
 
Trudy Ludwig
Children's Advocate & Bestselling Author
Ludwig Creative, Inc.
Trudy Ludwig is an internationally acclaimed speaker and an award-winning author of 9 children’s books that help kids cope with and thrive in their social world. She has received rave reviews from educators, experts, organizations, and parents at schools and conferences around the country for her passion and compassion in addressing friendship, bullying, and cyberbullying issues. An active member of the International Bullying Prevention Association, Trudy collaborates with leading US experts and organizations including Sesame Street Workshop, Committee for Children, and Passport to Peace Foundation. Trudy has been featured in numerous national and regional media outlets. She has also served as a content advisor for Sesame Street Workshop’s “Good Birds Club” TV episode and as an expert panel member on Sesame Street’s video series on bullying. Trudy’s books have received numerous awards and citations including the Victoria Soto Legacy Award, IBPA Gold Benjamin Franklin Award, Gelett Burgess Children's Book Award, NAPPA Gold Medal Award, Mom’s Choice Gold Awards, Moonbeam Children’s Books Gold Award, Comstock Read Aloud Honors and are included in the Cooperative Children’s Book Center’s Best of the Year Selection, NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Books for Young People Selection, ADL's "Read4Respect" Book Selection, National Crime Prevention Council’s Circle of Respect Book Club Selection, Junior Library Guild Selection, School Library Journal’s Best Picture Books Selection, and Scholastic Instructor Recommended Back-to-School Picks. Her next book, Quiet Please, Owen McPhee!, will be released by Knopf/Penguin Random House in 2018. For more information about Trudy, visit www.trudyludwig.com.
 
Helga Luest
Senior Manager of Communication
Abt and Associates
Helga is a senior manager of communications with Abt Associates where she is managing editor of SAMHSA News for SAMHSA/HHS and project director providing communications management services to support HRSA’s National Bullying Prevention Initiative. She has worked with many federal agencies and national nonprofit organizations providing strategic counsel and communications support. Helga was appointed to the Maryland Governor’s Family Violence Council and serves on the U.S. Congressional Victims’ Rights Caucus Advisory Group.
 
Mara Madrigal-Weiss, MA, M.Ed.
Student Support Services
San Diego County Office of Education
Mara Madrigal-Weiss currently serves as the Coordinator of Student Mental Health and Well-being for the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE). Prior to entering into educational administration, her experience included working with school communities as a Family Case Manager, Protective Services Worker and Family Resource Center Director. Her area of expertise include implementation of comprehensive positive school climate programming including but not limited to restorative practices, trauma informed practices, positive behavior and intervention supports, bullying prevention and intervention and mental health awareness. At present Ms. Weiss is leading the Student Mental Health Initiative for the SDCOE and Project Cal-Well a SAMSHA funded federal grant to increase student access to mental health and build positive school climates (Now Is The Time NITT AWARE). Her other area of expertise is in cross system collaboration and information sharing practices among youth serving partners including but not limited to law enforcement, protective services, probation, mental and behavioral health providers resulting in trauma informed enhanced service delivery for students and their families. Ms. Mara Madrigal- Weiss has earned her B.A. in Sociology an M.A. in Human Behavior, an M.Ed with an emphasis in counseling and an M.Ed in Educational Leadership.
 
Larry Magid
CEO
ConnectSafely.org
Larry Magid is president and CEO of ConnectSafely.org and founder of SafeKids.com. He also serves as on-air technology analyst for CBS News and writes for the San Jose Mercury News, Forbes, Huffington Post and other publications. In addition to being CEO of ConnectSafely.org, Magid founded and operates two popular Internet safety sites: SafeKids.com and SafeTeens.com. He has written several Internet safety guides including Child Safety on the Information Highway and Teen Safety on the Information Highway for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and has co-authored numerous Parents’ guides for ConnectSafely. He served on the Obama administration’s Online Safety & Technology Working Group where he chaired the education sub-committee and wrote the education section of the report to Congress. He was also on the Internet Safety Technical Task Force, formed by 49 state attorneys general and based at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society. He is on the advisory boards of the Internet Education Foundation, Family Online Safety Institute, PBS Kids and the Markulla Center for Applied Ethics Digital Ethics as well as safety advisory boards for Facebook, Comcast, Google and Snapchat.
 
0Vinay Mahadik
CEO
Securly
 
Meghan McCoy
Program Coordinator
Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center
Meghan K. McCoy, Ed.D. is the Program Coordinator at MARC, the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center, at Bridgewater State University and is a Part time Instructor of Psychology. She received her BA from Long Island University, her M.Ed. from BSU, and her Ed.D. from Northeastern University. In her work at MARC, she trains students, faculty, administration, and parents about issues related to bullying and cyberbullying prevention, recognition, and intervention.
 
Julie McDaniel-Muldoon
Consultant, Student Safety and Well-Being
Julie McDaniel-Muldoon is a Student Safety and Well-Being Consultant at Oakland Schools in Michigan. She is a certified trainer for Bully-Free Schools and an Advanced Certified Trauma Practitioner and Trainer for the National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children. Julie is a former ELA high school teacher. In addition to two MAs and an EdSpec degree in education, she holds a PhD in Education from the University of Michigan.
 
Kathleen McFadden
Associate Director
Atlantic Prevention Resources
Kathleen graduated with a BA in Health Education and completed graduate work to obtain her Student Assistance Counselor (SAC) in the state of New Jersey. She has worked in the field of Prevention, creating and delivering programs and presentations for community groups, school staff, professional groups and students from primary grades to college. She designed a variety of programs through the years to address the most frequent request from School Counselors-something to address bullying and teasing. Kathleen's graduate work in Student Assistance Counseling was utilized by school districts in Atlantic County where she facilitated groups and did individual counseling with high risk students. In 2006, she was trained and certified in the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program and since then, facilitated the training of over 25 school committees throughout Atlantic County and the state of New Jersey and provides on-going consultant work to many of these schools. Recently, she completed a 6 week training "Enhancing Trauma Awareness" regarding the effects of trauma, and is pursuing research to better understand and develop best practices that will create sanctuary for those injured and damaged by childhood and/or adult trauma.
 
0Julie McGarry
Project Manager
inspirED at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence
Julie McGarry is a former teacher and a project manager for inspirED at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence.
 
Meaghan McHugh
Student
University of Maryland
Educated in Economics and Public Health, began career in economic development managing a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) cooperative agreement designed to create sustainable partnerships between U.S. organizations and entities in Asia, Africa and South America. Personal experiences while overseas led to an interest in supporting public health efforts and the decision to pursue a master’s degree in public health at Johns Hopkins University. From the start, passion has always been for improving adolescent health through addressing health disparities and the promotion of healthy choices and behaviors. Public health work included adolescent tobacco control and work with youth with special health care needs, including serving as Senior Manager for Special Olympics International and the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD), both positions were designed to promote health and wellness through culturally and linguistically appropriate health education while raising awareness of critical health disparities. In 2014, enrolled in University of Maryland doctoral program and am currently a PhD candidate working on research that affects adolescents with and without disabilities, prevention of cyberbullying.
 
Pam McNall
Founder & CEO
Respectful Ways social-emotional learning curriculum
Respectful Ways character education Founder and CEO Pam McNall is an award-winning Journalist with 19 years as a veteran producer for CNN Special Projects and CNN Documentaries. Looking for the next adventure in her life, she turned her journalistic ear to her sister's experience in schools as an award-winning educator. Hearing the struggles that teachers face with behavioral issues and the obvious gap in life skills that students have - it all clicked. She started her entrepreneurial journey with RespectfulSignage.com, a way for schools and businesses to communicate respectful policies and respectful behaviors. But it wasn't enough. Teachers and Principals wanted more materials, more curriculum and so the Respectful Ways character education program was born! Pam decided to use her two+ decades of experience as a journalist, public speaker, nonprofit community advocate and entrepreneur to help the next generation build strong character and personal inner-strength. Pulling from her countless encounters with dignitaries, executives, government officials (and everything in-between), she crafted Respectful Ways ~ knowing that story-telling is a helpful tool to get kids to understand life skills. Respectful Ways helps them find their own successes and professional interests by opening their minds to more than just core curriculum. The key that's missing in our school system is social-emotional learning. Respectful Ways helps children find their own personal commitment to DO their best and BE their best. We help them find their confidence. Our curriculum is utterly unique. We provide children with effective tools to help make them better citizens and future leaders of our society. We look to help you transform their minds to handle any situation - in or out of the classroom - and learn to handle it with respect for themselves and others. We also built this program with teachers in mind, as we know schedules are tough and educator jobs are sometimes thankless. Because of this, we created a comprehensive and flexible online support tool so that Respectful Ways can be your wingman in the classroom as you mold the minds of tomorrow.
 
Casey McQuillen
Singer/Songwriter
The You Matter Tour
Singer-songwriter Casey McQuillen isn’t your typical teen pop star telling a sweet story about her love songs. Casey is a young woman with a message: you are not alone. She speaks about her experience with bullying. She speaks about her struggles with anxiety. She speaks about her desire to fit in. She’s sincere, and each time she completes a performance, she’s changed lives. As a way to fulfill a 7th-grade school assignment, Casey’s musical journey began by teaching herself to play guitar and writing her first song. This initial achievement sparked what would become a wildfire growth of her music career, where she composed songs almost daily and posted live performance videos of herself, amassing over 1 million YouTube views, all while in high school. She also self-produced, arranged, wrote and performed her first two albums before going on to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston. McQuillen then jumped into the national spotlight when she competed and earned a spot on American Idol’s Season 13. During her time at Berklee, she created an anti-bullying concert series called The “You Matter” Tour and has performed the show in over 100 middle and high schools throughout NewEngland. During the concerts, using her original songs and life stories, McQuillen teaches young students about bullying, building self-confidence, and the benefit of taking risks and pursuing your dreams. Today, Casey McQuillen emerges as a stronger young woman with a decade of music industry cred behind her. Most recently, Casey was recognized by the UNFoundation for her accomplishments. Her new EP, Beautiful, is set to release in early 2017. Acknowledgments: 1st Place, Mid-Atlantic Song Contest 2016, Pop Category for song “Beautiful”; Season 13 American Idol; Berklee College of Music ‘16 Suma Cum Laude; Phillips Academy Andover ‘11; Improper Bostonian’s “25x25”; UN Foundation’s “Girl UP – Fab Female Friday”. For more information visit: http://www.caseymcquillen.com/
 
Miriam Miller
Research and Educational Consultant; Doctoral Student
University of British Columbia
Miriam Miller is an educational consultant committed to bringing social and emotional learning (SEL) to the forefront of the education community. Miriam works with educational institutions and organizations to support on-going professional learning in the areas of emotional literacy, school safety, and intervention/prevention initiatives. Miriam is also a researcher with the Social, Emotional and Educational Development lab at the University of British Columbia and assists with studies related to the prevention of bullying.
 
Jenny Mischel
PhD student
George Mason University
Jenny Mischel is a PhD student at George Mason University in the College of Education and Human Development. Jenny's areas of interest are perceptions of bullying/cyberbullying behavior and how students define the phenomenon as well as coping strategies to help overcome the detrimental outcomes from the behavior.
 
Jayla Moody
Student
Mercer University
Jayla Moody is currently studying journalism, global development studies and French on the Honors International Track at Mercer University in Macon, Ga. Jayla pursues her interest in social justice and international development through her work with The Anti-Defamation League and her role as a No Place For Hate delegate at her university. She publishes a bi-weekly column, Moody Musings, in The Mercer Cluster. This past year, she won Best Column in The Georgia Press Association's Better College Newspapers Awards. It is something that she is extremely passionate about because it gives her the opportunity to help others through her craft. In the column, she offers advice, encouragement, inspiration and tips on issues that directly affect college students. She is also a Peer Educator for Mercer AWARE, an organization that educates students on mental health, relationships, bullying and stress.
 
Christian Moore
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
WhyTry
Christian is a renowned author, speaker, and licensed clinical social worker who consults with thousands of school districts on lowering dropout rates, improving school climate, preventing bullying, and closing the achievement gap by teaching social and emotional education. He grew up on the streets near Washington D.C. and struggled with learning disabilities. Despite being told college was not an option, Christian obtained a masters degree and became a social worker in education, youth corrections, and a homeless program, and created the WhyTry organization to address the need for a new approach.
 
Karuna Nain
Global Safety Manager
Facebook
Karuna Nain, Global Safety Policy Programs Manager, Facebook Nain is the global safety programs manager at Facebook. She oversees the development and implementation of Facebook’s safety policy programs throughout the world. Prior to this role she managed safety policy programs for teens and women in India.
 
Maury Nation
Professor
Vanderbilt University
The central theme of my scholarship has been to develop ways to promote positive development for children and adolescents. This has included research focused on examining risk factors, developing approaches to intervention that address the social and psychological needs of children and adolescents AND the social and organizational environments that critical to youth development. Most recently my work has focused on the relations between school climate, student behaviors, and student achievement, with a specific emphasis on racial disparities in the incidence of exclusionary discipline.
 
Michelle Nutter
Safe and Supportive Schools Manager
PA Center for Safe Schools
Michelle Gwinn Nutter, a Pennsylvania-certified teacher, is the Safe and Supportive Schools Manager for the Center for Safe Schools. Prior to joining the Safe Schools Team in 2005, she was a Civil Rights Investigator with the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. During her 10 years with that office, she worked extensively with schools, communities and law enforcement departments to raise awareness and provide effective interventions related to organized hate groups and hate crimes, school-based harassment, bullying prevention, racial tension, prejudice reduction, diversity, gangs, terrorism awareness, and First Amendment issues. As the Center’s Safe and Supportive Schools Manager, Ms. Nutter is responsible for the design and delivery of multiple statewide initiatives aimed at improving school safety and reducing youth violence. She continues to provide training and technical assistance to rural, suburban and urban schools and communities throughout the state on a wide array of issues that disrupt the educational process. Ms. Nutter is a nationally recognized speaker and frequently serves as a facilitator for the Student Problem Identification and Resolution of Issues Together (SPIRIT) Program which is coordinated by the Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service, in collaboration with multiple federal, state and local agencies and community partners. In addition to her other duties with the Center for Safe Schools, Ms. Nutter is the Pennsylvania and West Virginia Coordinator for the Region I Equity Center, one of four regional equity assistance center funded by the United States Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights. Ms. Nutter is a certified Olweus Bullying Prevention Program trainer and provides bullying prevention training and consultation services to Pennsylvania schools and communities. Ms. Nutter is also a certified Partners Against Hate trainer and assists schools in the prevention of and effective response to bias-related tension incidents. Ms. Nutter is a certified Non-violent Crisis Intervention trainer, certified to train others in de-escalation techniques and the use of non-violent physical restraints. Ms. Nutter is a certified Lifelines Prevention, Intervention and Postvention trainer, providing training and technical assistance to help school develop effective suicide prevention policies. Additionally, Ms. Nutter is a certified Terrorism Awareness and Prevention trainer. Ms. Nutter received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in English Education from Messiah College and a Master of Science in Education Law from Nova Southeastern University. She holds over fifty FEMA certificates relative to emergency preparedness and disaster response. She also holds a Psychological First Aid certificate from the American Red Cross. She is a graduate of the National Institute Against Hate Crimes and Terrorism, a collaborative training effort between the US Department of Justice and the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance. She also graduated from the Anti-Defamation League's Advanced Training School course on Extremist and Terrorist Threats. Ms. Nutter is a 2010 graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Citizen’s Academy. Ms. Nutter participated in the 2016 White House Bullying Prevention Summit and the 2016 Federal Bullying Prevention Summit.
 
Chelsea Olson
Graduate Student
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Chelsea Olson is a PhD student in Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She received her B.A. in psychology from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Chelsea’s research interests include peer relationships, peer victimization, and peer aggression in adolescence. She is advised by Dr. Amy Bellmore.
 
0James Palmiero, Ed.D.
Director
PaTTAN
James Palmiero, Ed.D. Director - Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN)
 
Stacy Pendarvis
Program Director
Monique Burr Foundation for Children, Inc.
Stacy Pendarvis is the Program Director for the Monique Burr Foundation for Children, Inc. She has two Masters degrees from East Carolina University, and twenty years’ experience developing and presenting child safety curricula and resources, leading community and agency projects, and educating adults and children with child safety programs. Stacy has held Social Work and Psychology adjunct faculty positions at Universities in North Carolina and Florida. Her role at the Foundation is to oversee all program and prevention related activities, including research, curriculum and resource development, and community and professional trainings.
 
Kristen Pennycuff Trent, Ph.D
Associate Professor
Tennessee Tech University
Kristen Pennycuff Trent, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Literacy Education at Tennessee Technological University. With over six years of experience in public schools, Dr. Trent has spent the last eleven years working with undergraduate and graduate programs both on the main campus and in the 2+2 program, a unique collaboration with area community colleges. As a grant writer, she has been awarded over 1.3 million dollars for her work with struggling readers in grades K-8. She specializes in creating literacy programs for school systems to reach the needs of emerging and struggling readers and writers. Dr. Trent’s work with the Tennessee Reading Association earned her the Distinguished Professor Award in 2005 and she served as the state President in 2008. She remains active in both the Tennessee Reading Association and the International Reading Association doing committee and advisory work in addition to frequent presentations and publications.
 
Jessica Penwell Barnett, PhD
Assistant Professor
Wright State University
Dr. Jessica Penwell Barnett is an Assistant Professor at Wright State University, where she works at the intersections of sexuality, gender, and disability. Dr. Barnett's work explains the social processes through which characteristics, such as disability, are devalued and the mechanisms through which persons marked with such characteristics are marginalized and oppressed. Her most recent work, "Intersectional Harassment and Deviant Embodiment among Autistic Adults," is forthcoming in Culture, Health, & Sexuality. Reach her at jessica.p.barnett@wright.edu.
 
0Maureen Perkins
Public Health Analyst
HRSA/MCHB
Maureen Perkins is a Project Officer and a Public Health Analyst in the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau. She is a member of the Injury and Violence Prevention Team and works on HRSA's Bullying Prevention Initiative and StopBullying.gov. Earlier, she served as a Program Analyst with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. She received her Master's in Public Health from St. Louis University.
 
Felice Resnik
Graduate Student
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Felice Resnik is a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Felice’s research interests include peer relationships, peer victimization, bullying, and digital media use during adolescence.
 
Stephanie Richards
Assistant Professor
Tennessee Tech University
Dr. Stephanie Richards studied student perceptions of violence at school as a Ph.D. student before becoming a jr/sr high school principal in Colorado and a superintendent in Alaska. Later, she went on to teach methods courses and supervise upperclassmen in the field at Tennessee Tech University, where she also began to study and present on the topic of using Readers' Theatre to develop empathy as related to bullying.
 
Lee Rush, M.Ed.
Executive Director
justCommunity
Lee Rush, M.Ed., is the executive director of justCommunity, Inc., a non-profit organization based in Quakertown, PA. that provides training and consultation services to communities, schools and organizations in the area of youth development, community mobilization strategies, student assistance programs and restorative practices. Rush is also an instructor and consultant with the International Institute for Restorative Practices, the world’s first graduate school dedicated solely to Restorative Practices.
 
Marlene Seltzer
Director, NoBLE
Beaumont Children's
Marlene Seltzer, MD is the founder and director of Beaumont Children’s anti-bullying initiative -- No Bullying Live Empowered (NoBLE). She practiced for 16 years in private practice as an obstetrician gynecologist, with a specific interest in the psychosocial issues of medicine. Dr. Seltzer is an assistant professor at the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine. She is the OUWB M1 course director for PRISM, and was a mentor for the class of 2016.
 
Greg Shamie
Director of Staff Development
The Leadership Program
Greg Shamie is the Director of Staff Development at The Leadership Program, having been with the company for over 14 years. An internationally recognized facilitator and speaker, Greg has worked with the YMCA, Job Corps, National Association of Black School Educators, National AfterSchool Association, BOOST, MOSAC2, STRIVE, the 2017 SSAC's National Conference on Bullying as a lead and keynote presenter. Greg enjoys working with both students and professionals, empowering them to develop positive pro-social skills that enable them to advance in all aspects of their work and life. Greg received his Masters in Educational Theater from NYU.
 
Lizzie Sider
Founder
Nobody Has The Power To Ruin Your Day, Inc.
Lizzie Sider, 19, Top 40 Nashville recording artist, bullied as a child, has visited over 400 schools nationwide, engaging students about bullying, cyber bullying and how to deal with it. Sider was featured on Fox News National TV. Her bully prevention video is in over 4,300 schools, representing over 3,000,000 children. She has presented for NC School Counselors, for AFSA and NCEA, and published articles for AFSA, NASSP and National PTA.
 
Sharon Simpson-Joseph, Esq
Collaborative Consultant
The Bully Project
Sharon Simpson-Joseph, Esq. is the Collaborative Consultant of the social action campaign The Bully Project. She has served vulnerable populations for twenty years as an advocate, executive director, author and speaker. A graduate of Stanford Law School and member of the California Bar, she has applied the principles of transformative justice and radical compassion throughout her social change journey. Her work includes a decade of service in the war against the human trafficking of children.
 
Brian Smith
Senior Research Scientist
Committee for Children
After a decade as a school counselor and social worker, Dr. Smith got his PhD at the University of Washington focused on school-based interventions. For the last decade he was been a Research Scientist at Committee for Children in Seattle, where his primary role is synthesizing and translating education and psychology research to inform the development of effective bullying prevention and Social Emotional Learning programs for schools.
 
Peter Smith, PhD 79197898
Emeritus Professor
Goldsmiths, University of London
Peter Smith is Emeritus Professor at the Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, U.K. He is author of Understanding School Bullying: Its Nature and Prevention Strategies (Sage, 2014), and co-editor of School Bullying in Different Cultures: Eastern and Western Perspectives (with Keumjoo Kwak and Yuichi Toda) (Cambridge University Press, 2016). In 2015 he was awarded the William Thierry Preyer award for Excellence in Research on Human Development, by the European Society for Developmental Psychology. He is currently part of a project Comparative study of cyberbullying in Qatar and the UK: risk factors, impact on health and solutions, financed by the Qatar National Research Fund (2013-2016).
 
Matt Soeth
Co-Founder
#iCANHELP
An educator for 15 years, Matt Soeth is co-founder of #iCANHELP, a national nonprofit organization that teaches students, educators and parents about responsible online behavior and how to delete online negativity. He speaks widely on digital leadership and conducts training for both students and educators. Before taking up his role as co-creator and manager of iCanHelpline’s 2015-’16 pilot, Matt was a high school tech coordinator and student leadership teacher in northern California and served as the Technology Coordinator for the California Association of Directors of Activities (CADA), developing technology curriculum for activity directors in California and across the United States. For his #iCANHELP public service work, Matt has been recognized by the Washington, D.C.-based Family Online Safety Institute for creating a safer internet for high school and middle school students. He has also been recognized with the Western Region Earl Reum Award for outstanding professional development for leadership teachers as well as Teacher of the Year in central California for Phi Delta Kappa (PDK) a professional educators association. Matt holds B.A. and M.A. degrees and lives with his family in Lodi, California.
 
Jeff Sprague, PhD
Professor and Director
University of Oregon Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior
Dr. Sprague is a Professor of Special Education and Director of the University of Oregon Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior. He directs research and demonstration projects related to positive behavior interventions and supports, multi-tiered support systems, school safety, alternative education, juvenile delinquency, and bullying prevention. His research activities encompass applied behavior analysis, positive behavior supports, functional behavioral assessment, school safety, youth violence prevention, and juvenile delinquency prevention.
 
Laura St. John
Project Director, SAFE-TI (School & Family Engagement- Trauma Informed)
Bozeman School District #7
Laura St. John (M Ed, Counseling) began her career in domestic violence and crisis counseling. For 15 years she has been the Student Assistance Coordinator in the Bozeman Schools creating socio-emotional supports for students and promoting Safe and Welcoming School Communities. She is Project Director for SAFE-TI (School and Family Engagement-Trauma Informed), a National Institute of Justice $3.3 million grant to research “What Keeps Schools Safe”. She is a certified Olweus Bullying Prevention Program trainer.
 
Nicole Staubli
Project Manager, Safety Operations
Facebook
Nikki Staubli is a program manager at Facebook for their initiative, inspirED, and has been with the company for over 10 years. She began her career on the Community Ops team as a founding member of Facebook's Child Safety vertical, initially focused on the tools that help keep people safe. Later at Facebook Nikki was able to launch the Bullying Prevention Hub in 52 countries, and has been a long time supporter of the work IBPA is doing. This past year, Nikki led all of InspirED's Youth Engagement Leadership Lab (YELL) events where students go back to their schools ready to create positive change. InspirED has hosted 5 events to date with an additional 5 more scheduled through the end of the academic year!
 
Robin Stone
Student
Middle Tennessee State University
Robin Stone is an honor student at Middle Tennessee State University completing her undergraduate degree in social work. Robin’s research interests include LGBT populations, Gay-Straight Alliances and modes of promoting tolerance and acceptance between all adolescents, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.
 
Catherine Teitelbaum
Kik
Catherine Teitelbaum is a recognized pioneer and expert in online safety, product policy, and the business of developing trustworthy community and social digital products. From the start of her career as an elementary and middle school teacher, Catherine has followed her belief in the value of digital technologies to provide students with open and free access to people and ideas. For more than 10 years, Catherine held senior positions within Yahoo, leading the Yahooligans and Yahoo Education products as well as global policy initiatives and served as the the Chief Trust & Safety Officer at ASKfm, leading the Safety turnaround of the popular Q&A teen app.
 
Alex Trahnstrom
Graduate Assistant
Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center
Ms. Alex Trahnstrom is a Graduate Assistant at the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center. She received her BS in Psychology from Bridgewater State University and is currently pursuing her MSW at Bridgewater. In her work at MARC, Ms. Trahnstrom trains Kindergarten through twelfth grade students on bullying and cyberbullying prevention and intervention and leadership development. Ms. Trahnstrom creates significant and sustainable change in the lives of thousands of students and their broader communities each year.
 
Jan Urbanski, Ed.D.
Director
Safe and Humane Schools at Clemson University
Jan Urbanski, Ed.D. is Director of Safe and Humane Schools at Clemson University where she oversees the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program and related initiatives focused on building positive connections and reducing bullying and violence. Dr. Urbanski has 24 years of school district experience as a prevention specialist, elementary teacher, and professional school counselor. She has also authored several publications and curriculum related to bullying prevention.
 
Karen Vadino
Karen Vadino is a Motivational Speaker, Humorist, Trainer and Consultant. In her years of work as a human service professional, Karen’s experience has often been rooted in the field of chemical dependency, both as a licensed clinician and as a certified prevention specialist. She has extensive experience working with children and families, as she previously worked as a clinician and supervisor in Children’s’ Services group homes and a Children’s Psychiatric Hospital. Karen has also been a part-time instructor in Social Work, Sociology, Juvenile Justice and Human Development at Youngstown State University, Penn State University and Westminster College. She has been recognized nationally, speaking and sharing her insights with thousands of people every year. Karen has been described as “one of those rare people who can make you laugh and cry in the same moment." She is well known for her “Vadinoan Theories”, such as her idea that we shouldn’t wait until we are completely happy before laughing. Karen is completing a few book projects, including a compilation of her original workshop materials and activities.
 
Judi Vanderhaar
Consultant
KY Department of Education
Dr. Judi Vanderhaar is a consultant for the Kentucky Department of Education. Judi worked for 10 years in Jefferson County Public Schools – the 13th largest urban district in the US- conducting research, professional development, and policy analysis in the areas of discipline, culture & climate, bullying and equity. She led the development of the districts first discipline data dashboard and Equity Score Card to raise awareness and a sense of urgency about the intersection of growing poverty and race gaps, and illustrate how they manifest in the wider community.
 
Lisa Weinreb Delgadillo
Deputy District Attorney, Chief Juvenile Branch of San Diego District Attorneys Office
San Diego District Attorneys Office
Lisa Weinreb Delgadillo is a Deputy District Attorney in San Diego County and is currently the Chief of the Juvenile Branch of the District Attorney’s Office. She has been a prosecutor for 23 years and has worked in the area of child abuse, domestic violence, gang prosecution, insurance fraud and juvenile law. Ms. Weinreb is an adjunct Professor at California Western School of Law where she teaches Trial Practice, Advanced Criminal Prosecution, White Collar Crime, Forensic Evidence and Culture & the Criminal Justice System. Ms. Weinreb has instructed for the California District Attorneys Association, the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and the National District Attorneys Association. Ms. Weinreb received her Bachelors degree from the University of Texas at Austin and her Juris Doctor from California Western School of Law and is a co-founder and board member of the International Bipolar Foundation and a board member of Mental Health America.
 
0Amanda West
Assistant Director
Council for Prevention
Amanda West is the Assistant Director of the Council for Prevention and has been there for over 10 years. West is a certified Olweus trainer as well as a Bridges out of Poverty trainer. She chairs her Hometown vs Heroin and Addiction Coalition.
 
Mary Wisniewski
Assistant Principal
Elkhart Community School Corporation
Mary Wisniewski, B.S., Exercise Science, Masters of Secondary Education with an Administrative License, Assistant Principal at Elkhart Northside Middle School, member of Elkhart Community Schools Bullying Investigation Task Force, member of Elkhart Community Schools School Safety Task Force, was chosen to attend the Sprigeo Westlake premiere professional development symposium for school administrators. I was one of twelve administrators across the United States chosen to attend this symposium.
 
Małgorzata Wójcik
Assistant Professor
University of Social Sciences and Humanities SWPS
Malgorzata Wójcik is an assistant professor at SWPS University in Poland. Before entering the field of research she had been working as a middle school teacher and educator. Her research interests are connected with peer group dynamics. Wójcik has been especially interested in bullying, victimization and prevention programs. She has implemented research based anti-bullying program for students during transition to middle schools which has proven to be successful in reducing five types of bullying behavior.
 
Mary Yoder Holsopple
Bullying Prevention Coordinator
Elkhart Community Schools
Mary Yoder Holsopple, M.S., is the Bullying Prevention Coordinator for Elkhart Community Schools in Elkhart, IN. As a certified Olweus Bullying Prevention Program trainer, Mary consults regularly with organizations and schools about bullying prevention and safe climate issues in student services. She has extensive experience in school social work and international development, having lived in Africa for 10 years. She is the lead author of the book Building Peace: Overcoming Violence in Local Communities. She also co-authored More Class Meetings that Matter: Respecting Others with Disabilities for Grades K-5, 6-8, and 9-12. Mary earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Family Studies and Masters in Family Life Education from Purdue University.