Guest Host Biographies

OVC Web Forum Guest Host sessions offer an impressive roster of experts discussing best practices for a wide variety of victim issues. You can read about the guest hosts here. For more information, questions, or comments about the sessions, send an e-mail to OVCproviderforum@ncjrs.gov.

To view a biography, click on the guest host's name below. To learn more about previous years’ guest hosts, visit the Guest Host Biographies Archive.

Current Guest Hosts

Scott Newgass
09/15/10 online discussion cohost
Topic: Assisting Communities After Incidents of School Violence

Scott Newgass, L.C.S.W., is a licensed clinical social worker with more than 25 years of experience in the field of school consultation and clinical practice, as well as in clinical, hospital, community, and disaster relief settings. Mr. Newgass is an Education Consultant for the Connecticut State Department of Education’s School Mental Health Services, School Social Work programs, and is the State Coordinator for the Safe and Drug-Free Schools program. He has presented on multiple topics relating to the social developmental needs of children and youth, as well as school-based support services. Mr. Newgass was previously a member of the faculty of Yale University School of Medicine, where he served as coordinator of the Regional School Crisis Prevention Initiative and as a clinician with the Child Development Community Policing Program.

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Past Guest Hosts

Diane Alexander
08/18/10 online discussion cohost
Topic: Serving Survivors of Homicide Victims During Cold Case Investigations

Diane Alexander has more than 29 years of experience in the criminal justice and crime victim assistance fields. As a Senior Advisor of Justice Solutions, Ms. Alexander has collaborated on several projects, including the Oral History of the Victims Movement, the National Crime Victim and Public Awareness Strategy Development Conference, and the National Public Awareness and Education Campaign. She also played a key role in the production of past National Crime Victims’ Rights Week (NCVRW) Resource Guides.

Ms. Alexander began her career as a corrections and probation officer and later joined the staff of the National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA), where she assisted crime victims and coordinated technical assistance requests and regional and national conferences. From 1991 to 2002, Ms. Alexander was on staff at the National Center for Victims of Crime, where she organized and conducted numerous training events; collaborated on the development of public awareness materials for NCVRW; and managed requests from the media. She also directed the OVC-sponsored HIV/AIDS and Victim Services project, which resulted in a training program for educating victim service professionals on HIV/AIDS and its impact on crime victims.

Ms. Alexander is a founding member and past Governing Board Treasurer and President of the Capital Area Crisis Response Team (CACRT), where she coordinated the team’s local response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, helped manage NOVA’s response to Hurricane Katrina, and served on NOVA’s War Trauma Team to Tuzla, Bosnia. During her career, Ms. Alexander also has collaborated on national events for the National Crime Prevention Council, National Alliance to End Homelessness, National Institute for Citizen Education in the Law, and the National AIDS Network.

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Jeffrey Bergman
11/18/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Working with Victims of Gang Violence

Jeffrey Bergman is a Detective with the Gang Unit of the Youth Services Division of the Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) specializing in Asian gangs and Asian-related street crimes, and a Co-regional Director for the Virginia Gang Investigators Association. Detective Bergman joined the FCPD as a Police Officer in 1991, and in 2002, after serving as the gang coordinator for the Fair Oaks District of Fairfax County, he became a Detective with the Gang Unit. Detective Bergman is certified as a general instructor, as well as a firearms instructor, by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justices Services. In addition to investigating ongoing gang cases, he takes time to regularly teach new recruits and present to in-service classes at the Fairfax County Criminal Justice Academy. He has also taught at the Virginia State Police Academy’s Gang School in Richmond, and the Northern Virginia Police Academy. Detective Bergman has presented to a wide range of audiences, including school children, citizen groups, medical examiners from throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, and attendees of the INOVA Nurses Critical Care Conference. He also teaches participants in the Trauma Nurse Fellowship Program at Fairfax Hospital.

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Miriam Berkman
10/26/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Helping Children Exposed to Domestic Violence

Miriam Berkman, J.D., M.S.W., is an Assistant Clinical Professor in Social Work at the Yale University Child Study Center and is coordinator of the Child Development-Community Policing (CD-CP) Program’s Domestic Violence Intervention Project. The CD-CP Program is a model collaborative effort by the Child Study Center, the New Haven Department of Police Service, and other community partners to intervene on behalf of children and families exposed to violence and trauma. Through the CD-CP Program, Ms. Berkman is involved in providing consultation and training to New Haven police officers and others regarding children’s experience with violence and effective collaborative approaches to intervention, with a particular focus on domestic violence. She is also involved in providing direct clinical services to children and families in the New Haven community who have been affected by traumatic violence. As a member of the faculty of the National Center for Children Exposed to Violence at the Yale Child Study Center, Ms. Berkman provides consultation and training to professional groups and community collaborations across the country regarding the impact of domestic violence on children and interventions to reduce the potential consequences of these experiences. Ms. Berkman received her law degree from Yale University Law School and her degree in social work from the Smith College School for Social Work. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Duane T. Bowers
05/19/2010 online discussion host
Topic: Assisting Families of Missing or Unidentified Persons

Duane T. Bowers, LPC, is a therapist, educator, and author of Guiding Your Family Through Loss and Grief and A Child Is Missing: Providing Support for Families of Missing Children. He is a training consultant for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, where he provides support to families of abducted, missing, exploited, and murdered children. The Center also deploys him as a member of Team Adam to provide crisis intervention at Amber Alert sites. Mr. Bowers also is a consultant and trainer for Team HOPE, a support network for parents of missing children.

As a therapist in private practice, Mr. Bowers specializes in working with survivors of traumatic death and suicide. As an educator, he teaches seminars on dying, death, and grief; posttraumatic stress disorder; and traumatic loss. He also provides clinical supervision and training to staff and volunteers of various organizations that deal with trauma and loss, and works with active duty military personnel and their families through Military OneSource. Most recently, Mr. Bowers served as the mental health team leader for the University of Miami field hospital for earthquake victims in Port au Prince, Haiti.

Mr. Bowers previously served as the Director of Training and Education for the Wendt Center for Loss and Healing, Senior Director of Emergency and International Services for the National Capital Chapter of the American Red Cross, and as an adjunct professor of counseling at Trinity College in Washington, D.C. He has lectured to classes at the University of Maryland, Howard University, the University of the District of Columbia, Johns Hopkins University, George Washington University, and Gallaudet University. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Debra Culberson
05/19/2010 online discussion host
Topic: Assisting Families of Missing or Unidentified Persons

Debra Culberson is a tireless supporter of rights for victims of domestic violence and an advocate for victims and missing persons. She has presented nationally and received countless awards for her activism and victim advocacy. In 1996, Ms. Culberson’s daughter, Clarissa Ann (“Carrie”) Culberson, was kidnapped and murdered by her ex-boyfriend. Although Carrie’s remains were never found, the defendant was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole—one of the first murder trials in history to result in a conviction without the body of the victim. Following sentencing, the Culberson family filed and won a civil wrongful death lawsuit against the chief of police and the village of Blanchester, Ohio, for a series of mistakes that thwarted the search for Carrie. In response, the town pledged to establish a memorial to victims of domestic violence, to make policy changes and provide additional training to Blanchester police officers on domestic violence, and to establish a domestic violence task force.

Currently, no law mandates the testing of unidentified remains. Ms. Culberson continues to work with Congress to advocate for changes in legislation in the hope that someday she will be able to give her daughter a proper burial. She is a member of Parents of Murdered Children, Inc., Team Hope, the National Missing Persons Task Force, the Ohio Missing Persons Task Force, and the Surviving Parent Coalition. She also has worked as an advisor to NamUs, a free online directory of missing persons and unidentified decedent records. The Culbersons’ story has been featured on the truTV network (previously known as Court TV) and on numerous television shows, including Inside Edition, Oprah, Dateline, MSNBC Investigates, Final Justice with Erin Brockovich, American Justice, Missing Persons Unit, The Early Show, and others. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Howard Davidson
07/07/10 online discussion cohost
Topic: Addressing Child Identity Theft as Financial Exploitation

Howard Davidson has been involved with the legal aspects of child protection for 35 years. He has directed the American Bar Association (ABA) Center on Children and the Law since its establishment in 1978, and is a founding board member of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. He also is on the board of ECPAT-USA (End Child Prostitution and Trafficking-USA) and is a member of the Maryland Children's Justice Task Force. Previously, Mr. Davidson served as chair of the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect. Several years ago, he was appointed by the Mayor of Philadelphia to a Department of Human Services Community Oversight Board to help guide improvements in that city's child protection system.

Mr. Davidson has authored many articles on child maltreatment as well as commentaries to chapters of the American Psychiatric Association's Family Violence: A Clinical and Legal Guide. His most recent writings include "Racial Disparities in the Child Welfare System: Reversing Trends," published in ABA Child Law Practice, the journal of the ABA Center on Children and the Law; "A Common Bond: Maltreated Children and Animals in the Home—Guidelines for Practice and Policy," published by the American Humane Association; and "International Legal Principles for Judges and Child Welfare Agencies to Apply with Unaccompanied and Undocumented Immigrant Children," published in The Judges' Page newsletter. In 2009, the center published the book Children, Law, and Disasters: What We Have Learned from Katrina and the Hurricanes of 2005, for which Mr. Davidson was a co-editor. In 2008, Mr. Davidson's article "Federal Law and State Intervention When Parents Fail: Has National Guidance of Our Child Welfare System Been Successful?" was published in the 50th anniversary issue of the Family Law Quarterly. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Angela DeLeon
07/21/10 online discussion cohost
Topic: Serving Older Victims of Financial Abuse

Angela DeLeon is the coordinator of the People’s United Bank Masters Program, nationally recognized for its leadership in initiating crime prevention and awareness programs for senior citizens. Ms. DeLeon created the Masters Program in 1996 to bring together significant resources, including representatives from law enforcement, private and nonprofit businesses, the Office of the Attorney General, and senior advocacy agencies, in a collaborative commitment to help older individuals. Prior to joining People’s United Bank, Ms. DeLeon was employed by the Bridgeport Police Department in Connecticut, where she established the first formal crime prevention program tailored to the needs of senior citizens. This program has since become a model for other cities throughout the United States. Ms. DeLeon also initiated the nationally recognized File of Life Program and the Yellow Dot Program, both of which offer first responders a dossier of an older person’s medical condition should they be unable to speak for themselves in an emergency situation.

Ms. DeLeon is a member of the Advisory Board of the National Association of Triads, Inc., and director of the State of Connecticut Triad Association. She is the only person in Connecticut certified to teach senior sensitivity, senior crime prevention, and techniques for interviewing elderly persons to Connecticut law enforcement. In 2000, Ms. DeLeon was named the Crime Prevention Association of Connecticut’s Practitioner of the Year, and in 2003, she was named a Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of Housatonic Council. She also is a national trainer for the Office for Victims of Crime and an active member of the National Sheriffs Association. Ms. DeLeon is a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Civilian Academy and the University of Louisville Crime Prevention School. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Rebecca Dreke
01/19/2010 online discussion host
Topic: Stalking in the Workplace

Rebecca Dreke is a Senior Program Associate with the Stalking Resource Center at the National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC). Ms. Dreke is responsible for training law enforcement, prosecutors, victim service providers, and other professionals on all aspects of stalking, including the use of technology to stalk, campus stalking, and stalking and sexual assault. She has trained thousands of practitioners nationally on various topics, including stalking, sexual assault, domestic violence, and hate- and bias-motivated violence. Prior to joining NCVC, Ms. Dreke had worked as a social worker, victim advocate, and public school teacher. She received her master’s degree in social work from the University of Texas at Austin, and a bachelor’s degree in women’s studies from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

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Katya Fels Smyth
08/26/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Responding to Homeless Victims of Sexual Assault

Katya Fels Smyth is founder and principal of the Full Frame Initiative, a campaign to ensure that the most marginalized individuals, families, and communities throughout the country receive the tools, support, resources, and services they need to thrive. She has two decades of experience in program development and services, community networking, and creating social will to address seemingly intractable social problems; and is a research fellow at the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Prior to launching the initiative in 2007, Ms. Smyth founded On The Rise, Inc., in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as a fellow of the Echoing Green Foundation. On The Rise, Inc. provides innovative and effective support and community to the area’s most disenfranchised women. During her 11 years as its director, the organization helped more than 1,000 women to achieve new levels of safety and personal agency, and changed the community’s dialogue about who can be helped.

Ms. Smyth speaks and consults nationally on the design and implementation of programs that work with highly marginalized women, and has participated in training efforts for domestic violence advocates in Japan and the Czech Republic. She is a Social Entrepreneur in Residence at Clark University's Graduate School of Management, where she is helping to develop its new Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program, and a member of the Massachusetts Governor's Council to Address Sexual and Domestic Violence, where she co-chairs the System Change and Integration Committee. She also is a fellow with the Eos Foundation, where she advises on their urban anti-poverty effort, Boston Rising.

Ms. Smyth and the organizations she has founded have been profiled in numerous local and national publications. She was named 1 of 5 "Moms Who Change the World" by Working Mother magazine in 2006; recognized as an "Agent of Change" in the 22d edition of Government by the People; profiled in the Boston Business Journal's “40 Under 40” in 2002; and named 1 of 125 women leaders in Massachusetts by the Women's Educational and Industrial Union.

Ms. Smyth holds an artium baccalaureate in organismic and evolutionary biology from Harvard University and an honorary doctorate of divinity from the Episcopal Divinity School. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Linda Foley
07/08/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Providing Services for Child Identity Theft Victims

2/23/05 online discussion co-host
Topic: Identity Theft

Linda Foley cofounded the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nationally recognized victim assistance and public education organization, with Jay Foley in 1999 in response to an epidemic rise in identity theft crimes. She is a recognized expert on identity theft issues with a focus on family, child, and domestic victimization. A former victim herself, Ms. Foley serves as a victim advocate and works to increase public and corporate awareness of the crime. She has testified at state and federal legislative hearings, the Federal Trade Commission, Social Security Administration, California Department of Consumer Affairs, California Attorney General ID Theft Task Force, and the Department of Motor Vehicles.

In addition to speaking before general audiences and businesses, Ms. Foley frequently addresses college students, parents, and seniors. She has more than 250 publishing credits, including feature columns in monthly newspapers and a book published by Children's Press. She has been featured on The Montel Williams Show and San Diego People as well as in Biography, Reader’s Digest, and Time magazines. Ms. Foley is a recipient of the Attorney General’s National Crime Victim Service Award and the Foundation for Improvement of Justice Award, and in 2005 was named the Victim Service Provider of the Year by the Victim Coordination Council of San Diego. She received her bachelor’s degree in English from California State University, Northridge and has two life-time teaching credentials.

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Sherry Hamby
10/26/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Helping Children Exposed to Domestic Violence

Sherry L. Hamby, Ph.D., is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Sewanee, the University of the South, studying the methodological and measurement challenges of violence research and cross-cultural issues in measuring and intervening for violence. She also holds appointments at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Université de Lausanne in Switzerland. Dr. Hamby is a co-author of the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire—the core of the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence, which is the largest survey conducted on youth victimization and the source of the most up-to-date and comprehensive statistics on exposure to family violence. She is also author or co-author of more than 50 other publications on family violence and youth victimization, including The Conflict Tactics Scales Handbook and Sortir Ensemble et Se Respecter, the first dating violence prevention program to be published in Switzerland. Dr. Hamby has also been appointed as the Incoming Editor (effective Jan 2010) to a new American Psychological Association journal, Psychology of Violence. A licensed clinical psychologist, Dr. Hamby has received awards from the National Register for Health Service Providers in Psychology and the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children. She also has been principal investigator on grants from the National Center for Health Statistics, the Indian Health Service, and other agencies. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Jessy Haywood
08/26/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Responding to Homeless Victims of Sexual Assault

Jessy Haywood is a community educator and trainer with The Center for Women and Families, a private nonprofit organization with facilities in Kentucky and Indiana that works to end domestic violence, sexual violence, and economic hardship. Ms. Haywood provides education on domestic violence and sexual assault throughout Kentuckiana that raises awareness, helps victim services and allied professionals develop and enhance their skills, and works to prevent these crimes.

Prior to her work at the center, Ms. Haywood advocated for child victims of abuse, neglect, and sexual assault with Maryhurst, Inc., the oldest operating child welfare agency in Kentucky, which has provided high-quality therapeutic services to children for more than 160 years. She is a recipient of the Richard Campbell Smith Memorial Award for Excellence in Philosophy, and her written work has been featured in the Steven Humphrey Philosophy Colloquium. Ms. Haywood graduated magna cum laude from the University of Louisville with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a concentration in the social sciences. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Heather Kamper
07/22/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Addressing Sexual Violence Against Individuals with Disabilities

Heather Anne Kamper, LMSW, is the Training Specialist for Disability Services ASAP (A Safety Awareness Program) of SafePlace in Austin, Texas, where she conducts presentations and workshops for victim advocates and disability service professionals on topics such as identifying and responding to violence and abuse, increasing accessible services for survivors with disabilities, and understanding the unique dynamics and impact of violence against people with disabilities. She also conducts educational workshops through the Texas Protective Services Training Institute, a statewide collaboration that provides training for protective services workers. Ms. Kamper has a wide range of experience providing professional services to people with disabilities, including individual and group counseling, abuse prevention education, and mentorship of children with disabilities.

Ms. Kamper has contributed to numerous Disability Services publications, including Stop the Violence, Break the Silence: A Training Guide and Resource Kit; Balancing the Power: Creating a Crisis Center Accessible to People with Disabilities; and Beyond Labels: Working with Abuse Survivors with Mental Illness Symptoms or Substance Abuse Issues. Previously, Ms. Kamper gained considerable experience working as a psycho-education and training specialist at a rape crisis center that was expanding its services to better meet the needs of survivors with disabilities in western Pennsylvania. Ms. Kamper earned her masters degree in social work from the University of Pittsburgh. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Pamela Kelly
11/18/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Working with Victims of Gang Violence

Pamela Kelly, M.Ed., serves victims and witnesses in four police jurisdictions as a Victim Advocate for the Fairfax County Police Department’s Victim Service Section. As the “in-house” victim advocate assigned to a police district station, Ms. Kelly dispenses comprehensive services to crime victims and conducts community outreach programs. She is knowledgeable about the critical issues associated with gang violence and has extensive experience working directly with police officers responding to victims of gang-related crimes. She also has experience in working with victims of domestic violence, as both a system-based and community-based advocate; and in training volunteers and student interns on issues related to victimization.

Ms. Kelly’s proficiency in Spanish has enhanced her ability to deal effectively with Spanish-speaking crime victims in need of specialized support. She is a member of a number of professional organizations and has been recognized for her outstanding work. She also has developed counseling programs and therapeutic groups to support the needs of children who witness domestic violence. Ms. Kelly received her bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Radford University and her master's degree in education from George Mason University.

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Suzanne Koepplinger
01/27/2010 online discussion host
Topic: Serving American Indian Victims of Sex Trafficking

Suzanne Koepplinger, M.A., is the Executive Director of the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center, which provides social services and education to American Indian women and their families. She is of Canadian Mohawk and European ancestry, and has a background in international project development, communications, domestic violence advocacy, and fundraising. Ms. Koepplinger serves on the American Indian Community Development Corporation Board, the MACC Alliance of Connected Communities Board of Directors, and the Greater Twin Cities United Way Council of Agency Executives, Executive Committee. She also serves on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Civil Rights Advisory Group, the Steering Committee of the Sheila Wellstone Institute, and as an international team leader for Global Citizens Network, which brings volunteers into indigenous communities around the globe. Ms. Koepplinger is a recipient of the Minneapolis FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award and the 2008 Sheila Wellstone Gold Watch Award from WATCH. She received her master’s degree in the Art of Leadership from Augsburg College.

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Alison Kiss
09/09/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Providing Campus Crime Awareness

Alison Kiss, M.S., is the Director of Programs at Security On Campus, Inc. (SOC), in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she provides support to victims of college campus crime and oversees all SOC programs, including National Campus Safety Awareness Month and the Safe On Campus Peer Education Program. Ms. Kiss is a faculty member with the Jeanne Clery Act Compliance Training Program, where she teaches the Victim Support Services Module. She also serves as an adjunct lecturer at surrounding colleges and universities. She is a member of the Rapid Response Project, a collaborative effort by the Office on Violence Against Women and the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse to create a national network of experts who can respond to current violence-related issues and has presented internationally on trauma, crisis response, and issues specific to sexual assault on college campuses.

Prior to joining SOC in 2005, Ms. Kiss was a crisis counselor and manager of education at a community domestic violence shelter. She has served as an expert witness for court proceedings on sexual assault on college campuses, and presented to the National Attorneys General Task Force following the 2006 shooting at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State College. Ms. Kiss has contributed to articles in CosmoGirl, Reader’s Digest, and SEEN magazines, and has appeared on NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, Anderson Cooper 360, CBS The Early Show, and other networks to discuss sexual assault and stalking in college. Ms. Kiss earned bachelor’s degrees in psychology and Spanish from The Catholic University of America and a master of sciences degree in criminal justice from Saint Joseph University in Philadelphia. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Dan Levey
08/18/10 online discussion cohost
Topic: Serving Survivors of Homicide Victims During Cold Case Investigations

11/05/2008 online discussion host
Topic: Empowering Victims to Triumph Over Tragedy

Dan Levey is Director of the Office of Victim Services at the Office of Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, and the President of the National Organization of Parents Of Murdered Children, Inc. He has been an advocate for victims’ rights since 1996, when his brother Howard was murdered in Phoenix by assailants as he was waiting for his friends to show up for their weekly basketball game. Mr. Levey also is the Arizona Chair of the Mothers Against Drunk Driving Operations Council. Previously, Mr. Levey served as the Advisor for Victims to Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano from 2003 to 2009, as a Special Assistant on Victims’ Issues to the Arizona Attorney General, and as a board member of the National Organization of Victim Assistance.

As an advocate for victims, Mr. Levey works to change public policy concerning the treatment of crime victims and their families. He has drafted a law that protects domestic violence and stalking victims from having their identities displayed on public Web sites, a law that requires law enforcement agencies to provide a free copy of the police report to victims of violent crime, and a law that allows victims to take time off from work to attend court proceedings without losing their jobs. He led the effort that expanded Arizona’s definition of crime victims to include siblings and grandparents, and was the impetus behind a bill that requires all criminal trial judges in Arizona to read the Arizona Crime Victims’ Bill of Rights at the beginning of each day’s court proceedings.

In April 2009, Mr. Levey was awarded the Arizona Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award for Public Policy in Victims Rights. He is the 2008 recipient of the Peyton Tuthill Award, which honors individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and service to the Interstate Compact, and the 2007 recipient of the U.S. Attorney General’s Ronald W. Reagan Public Policy Award, which honors individuals whose leadership, vision, and innovation have led to significant changes in public policy and practice that benefit crime victims. He has appeared on both local and national media, has authored several articles on victims’ rights, and has testified on crime victim legislation at the Arizona State Legislature and in the United States Congress. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Betty Malks
07/21/10 online discussion cohost
Topic: Serving Older Victims of Financial Abuse

Betty Malks has served as Director of the Santa Clara County Social Services Agency’s Department of Aging and Adult Services (DAAS) in California since 1997 and has more than 30 years of experience in the field of aging. She spearheaded the creation of DAAS to bring together all adult programs under one umbrella, including adult protective, public administrator/guardian/conservator and in-home supportive services, and senior nutrition. Ms. Malks also created the Santa Clara County Financial Abuse Specialist Team (FAST), which has recovered or prevented the loss of more than $200 million in client assets, for which she has received numerous local, national, and international awards and commendations. In addition, she is the project director of the Enhancing the Capacity of a Diverse Faith Community to Address Elder Abuse program funded by the Archstone Foundation.

Ms. Malks is a board member of the National Adult Protective Services Association and was recently appointed as the North American Regional Representative for the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse. She is a member of the National Advisory Panel of the Hartford Partnership Program for Aging Education of the New York Academy of Medicine’s Social Work Leadership Institute; the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day Steering Committee; and the Education Committee of the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse.

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Jenifer Markowitz
09/30/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Sustainability of Victim Assistance Programs

Jenifer Markowitz, ND, RN, WHNP-BC, is the Medical Advisor for AEquitas: The Prosecutor’s Resource on Violence Against Women. As such, she presents on a variety of forensic-related topics, including medical-forensic examinations, strangulation, drug- and alcohol-facilitated sexual assault, and expert witness testimony. She also conducts research; provides expert testimony, case consultation, and technical assistance; and develops training materials, resources, and publications. In addition, Dr. Markowitz manages a project for the National Sexual Violence Resource Center regarding the sustainability of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner programs, which is funded by the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). She also maintains a clinical practice with the DOVE Program in Akron, Ohio, where she sees sexual assault, domestic violence, and elder abuse/neglect patients.

A forensic nurse examiner since 1995, Dr. Markowitz has presented as an expert and a facilitator for organizations such as the National District Attorneys Association, several state prosecuting attorneys associations, and the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps. She has worked with OVW to develop a national protocol and training standards for sexual assault forensic examinations, with the U.S. Department of Defense to revise the military’s Sexual Assault Evidence Collection kit and corresponding documentation forms, and as an Advisory Board member for the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. Dr. Markowitz is the author of multiple publications, including The Color Atlas of Domestic Violence. She is also the editor of Forensic Health Online, an independent Web site dedicated to increasing online access to clinical forensic education.

Dr. Markowitz received a bachelor’s degree from Case Western Reserve University; completed her clinical doctorate in nursing at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center; and is board certified as a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner and as a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (Adult/Adolescent). View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Joanne McNabb
07/07/10 online discussion cohost
Topic: Addressing Child Identity Theft as Financial Exploitation

Joanne McNabb is Chief of the California Office of Privacy Protection. The first of its kind in the Nation, the office provides information and education on privacy issues for consumers and publishes recommendations for privacy practices for businesses and other organizations. Ms. McNabb is also a Certified Information Privacy Professional with specializations in government and information technology. She is co-chair of the International Association of Privacy Professionals' Government Working Group and serves on the Privacy Advisory Committee to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. She also is a Fellow of the Ponemon Institute, a research center that studies privacy, data protection, and information security policy.

Prior to opening the Office of Privacy Protection in 2001, Ms. McNabb had more than 20 years' experience in public affairs and marketing in both the public and private sectors. She holds a master's degree in medieval literature from the University of California, Davis. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Leslie Myers
03/11/2010 online discussion host
Topic: Ensuring Rights for Crime Victims with Disabilities

Leslie Myers, M.S., C.R.C., C.D.V.C., is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor and Certified Domestic Violence Counselor at IndependenceFirst, a nonprofit agency directed by, and for the benefit of, persons with disabilities. Ms. Myers provides counseling and advocacy to crime victims with disabilities, and technical support and case management assistance to agencies that work with or on behalf of victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Ms. Myers chairs IndependenceFirst’s Disability Abuse Committee, which developed the DART (Disability Abuse Response Team) Protocol, a community collaborative approach to addressing violence and abuse against people with disabilities that has been duplicated throughout the country. As DART Program Manager, Ms. Myers oversees three programs—the DART Transitional Housing Program for women with disabilities who are homeless as a result of domestic violence; the DARTeens Program, which provides education and outreach on dating and sexual violence to teens with disabilities; and MMDI:ACCESS (the Metro-Milwaukee DART Initiative: A Community Collaborative Effort Serving Survivors From Crisis to Healing).

Ms. Myers is a member of the Governor’s Council on Domestic Violence, Commissioner for the Milwaukee Commission on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, and co-chair of the National Council on Independent Living’s Task Force on Violence and Abuse of People with Disabilities. She is the recipient of a 2009 Champion in Women’s Health Award for Excellence in the Area of Domestic Abuse, the 2006 Justice Award from the Governor’s Council on Domestic Abuse, and the 2007 IL Advocate Award from the Wisconsin Coalition of Independent Living Centers. Ms. Myers holds a master of science in educational rehabilitation counseling and a Trauma Counseling Certificate from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Laurie Nathan
06/16/2010 online discussion host
Topic: Preventing Child Victimization Associated with Technology

Laurie Nathan manages national outreach and partnerships for the NetSmartz Workshop, an educational program of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). She is currently working to raise awareness of the importance of Internet safety education and to engage and educate communities on ways to better protect children on- and offline. Ms. Nathan has presented on this issue at many educator and law enforcement conferences, including the National Sheriffs’ Association Conference; the T + L Conference, sponsored by the National School Boards Association; and the Internet Crimes Against Children National Conference.

Ms. Nathan brings a background in preventing child abuse and exploitation to the fight against child endangerment on the Internet. A former staff analyst in NCMEC’s Exploited Child Division, Ms. Nathan analyzed Internet-related child exploitation cases and worked closely with law enforcement to resolve them. She also served as the Director of Programs at Prevent Child Abuse of Metropolitan Washington, where she managed child abuse prevention outreach campaigns for the Washington, D.C., metro area and trained hundreds of volunteers on best practices for handling calls at a support hotline for abused and exploited children. Ms. Nathan is an alumna of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Suzanne Neuhaus
05/26/2010 online discussion host
Topic: Coordinating and Conducting Victim Impact Panels

Suzanne Neuhaus, M.A., is a parole agent and Victim Services Specialist with the Office of Victim and Survivor Rights and Services within the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. She has more than 20 years of experience in juvenile corrections, violence prevention, and victim assistance. In her present assignment, Ms. Neuhaus is responsible for providing direct services to crime victims and survivors of offenders supervised under the jurisdiction of California state corrections. She assists crime victims and their families by notifying them of offender status, providing accompaniment to parole board hearings, reconciling restitution orders, developing resources for referrals, and facilitating victim-offender mediated dialogue, when appropriate. In addition, Ms. Neuhaus develops and facilitates victim-centered programming for offenders. She provides training and technical assistance locally and nationally on restorative justice; death notification; grief and loss; forgiveness; the relationship between early childhood trauma and later violence and delinquency; victim advocacy; crime prevention; the impact of crime on victims; and victim-centered offender programming, including mediation and dialogue.

Formerly, Ms. Neuhaus served at the Department of the Youth Authority as a youth correctional counselor, a delinquency prevention specialist, and a field parole agent. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Loyola Marymount University, and a Master of Arts degree in counseling psychology from the College of Notre Dame. Ms. Neuhaus is a graduate of both the National Victim Assistance Academy and the Delinquency Control Institute, and she is trained in Mediating Dialogue in Crimes of Severe Political and Criminal Violence. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Dan Petersen
03/11/2010 online discussion host
Topic: Ensuring Rights for Crime Victims with Disabilities

Dan Petersen, Ph.D., is an Associate Dean and Professor at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, where he teaches professional ethics and victim services. As a psychologist and an advocate for crime victims and victims’ rights, Dr. Petersen has spent 30 years working with families and children in crisis, with a focus on trauma resulting from crime victimization. He has conducted numerous workshops and presented both nationally and internationally on the victimization of persons with disabilities. Dr. Petersen also has authored publications on the psychological and physiological effects of crime victimization.

Dr. Petersen is a member of the executive committee for the Joint Center on Violence and Victim Studies, and works with the center on grants, research, and national training programs. He has served as the clinical director of the Kansas Neurological Institute and as secretary of the American Society of Victimology. He also served on the national consortium that developed the National Standards for Victim Assistance Providers. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Alexandra (Sandi) Pierce
01/27/2010 online discussion host
Topic: Serving American Indian Victims of Sex Trafficking

Alexandra (Sandi) Pierce, Ph.D., is an adjunct faculty member of the Sociology Department and the Master’s Program in Community Psychology at Metropolitan State University in Minnesota. Dr. Pierce is of Seneca and European descent and is the principal investigator and author of "Shattered Hearts: The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of American Indian Women and Girls in Minnesota”. She is the senior consultant for Othayonih Research and Evaluation Services LLC, with more than 15 years of experience in community-based participatory research and program evaluation with American Indian, African-American, Southeast Asian, and African-born refugee and immigrant communities and nonprofit organizations. Dr. Pierce’s primary areas of study and practice are health disparities, substance abuse, domestic and sexual violence, racial inequality, and identity formation. She has worked as a research scientist at Wilder Research and at the Minnesota Department of Health. Dr. Pierce earned her master’s degree and her doctorate in sociology from the University of Minnesota. She also holds basic and advanced certificates in substance abuse counseling from the University of California Santa Cruz.

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Paula Pierce
07/08/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Providing Services for Child Identity Theft Victims

Paula Pierce, J.D., is the Managing Attorney for the Victims Initiative for Counseling, Advocacy, and Restoration of the Southwest (VICARS), a program of the Texas Legal Services Center, where she serves victims of identity theft and financial fraud. Prior to joining VICARS in 2007, Ms. Pierce served on the Legal Services to the Poor in Civil Matters Committee of the State Bar of Texas, and as an attorney for the Texas Legal Services Center, where she provided legal assistance to elder, disabled, and economically disadvantaged individuals and handled crime victim compensation claims. She has extensive experience in public interest law and has authored numerous publications for victims and attorneys. A frequent speaker on identity theft, Ms. Pierce has presented at the Texas Poverty Law Conference, testified before the Texas House Committee on Business and Industry, and spoken to numerous community groups. She received her bachelor’s degree from Trinity University, and her law degree from South Texas College of Law, where she served as brief writer to the school's moot court teams and technical editor of the South Texas Law Journal.

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Michael Proctor
01/19/2010 online discussion host
Topic: Stalking in the Workplace

Michael Proctor is a nationally recognized expert in the field of stalking and stalking investigation. He currently consults throughout the United States and abroad on the topics of stalking, stalking investigation, and the development of anti-stalking legislation and programs. As a 32-year veteran of law enforcement and a former detective with the Westminster (California) Police Department’s Family Protection Unit, Mr. Proctor has investigated and consulted on more than 200 stalking cases. He developed a stalking protocol that is in use by many police departments; and has authored several publications, including How to Stop a Stalker, a guide to better understanding the stalking phenomenon. Mr. Proctor has appeared on numerous national radio and television programs—including America's Most Wanted, CNN, FOX, 20/20, Nancy Grace, and American Justice Files—in an effort to assist those who have been victimized by stalking.

In 2003, Mr. Proctor received the Defender of Justice Award from the California State Assembly for his work in the field of stalking. He is currently a member of the Stalking Advisory Committee for the University of Southern California, and the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals. Mr. Proctor received his bachelor’s degree from California State University Long Beach. He also holds a Lifetime Standard Secondary Teaching Credential and a Community College Credential.

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Anne Ream
04/07/2010 online discussion host
Topic: Raising Awareness for Survivors of Child Abuse and Neglect

Anne K. Ream is the founder of The Voices and Faces Project, a national documentary initiative to bring the testimony of sexual violence survivors to the attention of the public; and executive producer of The Voices and Faces Project, Volume One, a benefit CD featuring many of today’s most popular independent rock artists. A longstanding advocate for women’s issues, and a former senior vice president and group creative director at Leo Burnett USA (one of the country’s largest communications agencies), Ms. Ream believes that creative and media-driven ideas can play an important role in social movements. Ms. Ream is the co-founder and Chief Creative Officer for Girl360.net, an empowerment project for tween girls; and a founding co-chair of "CounterQuo," a national initiative to change legal and media responses to violence against women.

Ms. Ream serves on the advisory board of the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, the country’s largest anti-sexual assault organization. She is a former co-chair of the Leadership Committee for Chicago’s Rape Victim Advocates and has consulted for the Congressional Commission investigating sexual violence at the United States Air Force Academy. A Chicago-based writer and past finalist for the Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor Documentary Prize, Ms. Ream’s essays and opinion pieces have appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, Washingtonpost.com, and other publications.

In July 2008, Soroptimist International, a nongovernmental organization at the United Nations, presented Ms. Ream with its "2008 Making a Difference for Women Award." In so doing, the international selection committee lauded her "innovative efforts to improve the lives of women and girls" and her "passion for changing the status quo" through a series of creative, media-driven initiatives. Ms. Ream is a recipient of the Susan Estrich Courage Award and the End Violence Against Women International Visionary Award, and was named one of People magazine’s "Heroes Among Us" in 2006. She also was recognized as one of "Chicago’s Top 40" by the Chicago Tribune in an article that highlighted the leaders, opinion-shapers, and trendsetters who "make the city great" while doing work that makes a difference on a national level. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Melissa Riley
11/04/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Serving Elder Abuse Victims in Indian Country

Melissa Riley manages the Counseling and Faith-Based Services for Crime Victims in Indian Country Training and Technical Assistance Project for Unified Solutions, where she conducts research, develops culturally appropriate training materials for American Indian and Alaska Native communities, and provides training and technical assistance to faith-based grantees. Ms. Riley has several years of experience working with tribal communities on elder abuse investigation, elder program development, and modifications to community elder protection codes. She has incorporated her knowledge and background as a medical assistant into her efforts to address elder abuse, which have elicited a successful response from the community and increased collaboration between tribal service providers. As the supervisor and coordinator for a local senior companion program, Ms. Riley trained local elders to communicate with and care for fellow elders in the community.

As a member of the Mescalero Apache Tribe of New Mexico, Ms. Riley has been able to use her own culture, tradition, work experience, and education to help American Indian and Alaska Native communities enhance and sustain community programs that work toward social justice and health promotion. She is the co-author of a 10-module training curriculum; and co-producer of Healing Journey, a video that highlights the successes of the Faith-Based Project in Indian Country. She has successfully developed human service programs that target services for victims of crime and offenders by utilizing whole-health concepts from a traditional perspective. Ms. Riley also serves as an adjunct professor at a New Mexico State University branch community college where she provides instruction on curriculum development and implementation for undergraduate students majoring in education, early childhood development, and criminal justice. She received her bachelor’s degree in human and community services and her master’s degree in education from New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, where she is currently a doctoral candidate pursuing a degree in curriculum and instruction. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Anne Seymour
02/24/2010 online discussion host
Topic: Strategic Planning for Victim Service Leaders

Anne Seymour is Cofounder and Senior Advisor of Justice Solutions, a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., that specializes in criminal and juvenile justice, crime victims’ rights and services, and community safety. She has nearly 25 years of experience as a national and international advocate for crime victims’ rights and has helped more than 30 local, state, and national entities to develop strategic plans. Ms. Seymour has authored or contributed to more than 30 OVC manuals and texts, including OVC’s Strategic Planning Toolkit, 20 National Crime Victims’ Rights Week Resource Guides, and the National Victim Assistance Academy training video The News Media's Coverage of Crime and Victimization; and has written several publications for nonprofit victim service organizations.

Ms. Seymour served as project manager for OVC’s Oral History Project and National Public Awareness Campaign Project. She is a founding member of the National Victim Assistance Academy, senior consultant to the National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center, and principal consultant to the Center for Sex Offender Management. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Victims’ Constitutional Amendment Network and the Board of Directors of the American Probation and Parole Association Victim Issues Committee, as well as secretary/treasurer of the International Association of Reentry. She also is on the faculty of the National Judicial College and the National College of District Attorneys.

Ms. Seymour has received numerous honors for her work, including the 2007 Ed Stout Memorial Award for Outstanding Victim Advocacy from the U.S. Congressional Victims’ Rights Caucus, and the 1992 Outstanding Service to Crime Victims Award from President Bush. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Viki Sharp
02/24/2010 online discussion host
Topic: Strategic Planning for Victim Service Leaders

Viki Sharp spent 30 years as a crime victim advocate and is now retired and pursuing her passion for educating and training. She was appointed program director of the Pima County Attorney’s Victim Witness Program in 1985 and led the program to international acclaim during her tenure. As the employee assistance program administrator for the Arizona Department of Corrections, Ms. Sharp was responsible for creating and overseeing prevention and crisis response programs for more than 10,000 employees. As a consultant for the National District Attorney’s Association and the Office for Victims of Crime, Ms. Sharp helped establish and expand victim services throughout the country and provided extensive training in crisis intervention, communication, vicarious trauma, team building, and victimology to law enforcement and victim service providers. She also served several terms on the executive boards of the Arizona Coalition for Victim Services and the National Organization for Victim Assistance.

Ms. Sharp’s numerous accolades include a Presidential Award for victim advocacy, 1997 University of Arizona Alumni of the Year, the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award, the Rudolph Dreikurs Community Service Award, the FBI Community Service Award, and the Optimist Club Respect for Law Award. Ms. Sharp received her bachelor of science degree in education and master's degree of education in counseling and guidance from the University of Arizona. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Steven D. Walker
12/08/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Examining Correlations Between Substance Abuse and Victimization

Steven Walker, Ph.D., is Associate Dean of the College of Social Sciences at California State University (CSU), Fresno, where he previously served as chair of the Criminology Department. As a licensed clinical psychologist and an educator, he has 25 years of experience developing victim service education programs, and has conducted numerous workshops on alcohol and drug treatment, victim services, and victim service education standards. Dr. Walker coauthored the original proposal for the establishment of the National Victim Assistance Academy, and has been a consultant to numerous states on the development of State Victim Assistance Academies and standards in victim services. He has directed several drug treatment programs, including the Comprehensive Alcohol Program of Fresno, CA, and the Kings View/Kingsburg Hospital Alcohol & Drug Program; and was a consultant for the Substance Abuse Rehabilitation Program at Lemoore Naval Air Station, among other organizations. He currently serves on the California Victim Assistance Academy Project Team, as well as the Executive Board of the Joint Center on Violence and Victim Studies.

Dr. Walker expanded the Victim Services Certificate program and created the first Victim Services Summer Institute in 1989. He designed and implemented the first victimology major in the United States at CSU, Fresno, in 1992; and subsequently created the victim services major at Kansas City Kansas Community College and assisted in developing the victim/survivor services major at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. These programs represent three of the five complete victim service education programs in the United States. Dr. Walker was the founding Vice President of the American Society for Victimology from 2003 to 2006, and for a number of years, he facilitated the development of the first doctorate in victimology.

In 2000, Dr. Walker was 1 of 15 professionals in the United States to be part of the National Victim Assistance Standards Consortium and to help develop its Standards for Victim Assistance Programs and Providers. In 2006, the U.S. Navy honored Dr. Walker as Preceptor of the Year for his clinical supervision of the Substance Abuse Rehabilitation Program at Lemoore Naval Air Station. In 2008, he received the Allied Professional Award from the Office for Victims of Crime during National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Jill Weston
05/26/2010 online discussion host
Topic: Coordinating and Conducting Victim Impact Panels

Jill Weston is a Victim Services Specialist with the Office of Victim and Survivor Rights and Services within the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. She provides services to crime victims and works closely with victim advocates, judges, and prosecutors. Ms. Weston specializes in victim services in juvenile and adult correctional systems. She uses her diverse correctional and professional experiences to integrate victims’ issues with offender accountability and has assisted many agencies in developing an appropriate balance of victim-centered offender programs. Ms. Weston is well known for her expertise in victim impact and victim awareness programming. She has trained county, state, and federal correctional staff to deliver programming to juvenile and adult offenders to address the harm they have caused their victims. Ms. Weston also trains staff, offenders, and judicial officials in victim restitution.

Ms. Weston currently serves on the Joint Center on Violence and Victim Studies advisory council, and as a faculty member for the National Victim Assistance Academy and State Victim Assistance Academies. Formerly, she was on the national team of the "Victims and Corrections Project," which trained agencies and followed up with them regarding victim services in corrections through OVC and the National Center for Victims of Crime. She was also a team member for the OVC-sponsored "Standardized Victim Impact Curriculum for Corrections" project. In 2001, Ms. Weston was awarded the California Youth Authority Medal of Valor–Distinguished Service for her work in the victim services field. Ms. Weston earned her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from California State University, Sacramento. She is a graduate of the National Victim Assistance Academy, as well as the Advanced Institute on Victim Studies through Washburn University and California State University, Fresno. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Timothy Woods
08/18/10 online discussion cohost
Topic: Serving Survivors of Homicide Victims During Cold Case Investigations

05/14/2008 online discussion host
Topic: Responding to Victims of Crime

Tim Woods is Director of the Research, Development, and Grants Division at the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) in Alexandria, Virginia. He also is Project Director for all the association’s grants from the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), including the Serving Survivors of Homicide Victims During Cold Case Investigations project, in partnership with Justice Solutions, Inc., and the National Organization of Parents Of Murdered Children, Inc. NSA, which has provided law enforcement training since 1940 and currently has more than 19,000 members, represents the 3,085 sheriffs’ offices and departments in the United States and other public safety professionals. Mr. Woods is the author of First Response to Victims of Crime 2001, an NSA handbook for frontline law enforcement officers that was cited as one of the agency’s most requested publications. Mr. Woods also wrote the OVC-funded First Response to Victims of Crime Who Have a Disability handbook (2002) and the revised/expanded First Response to Victims of Crime guidebook (2008), for which a companion rollcall video was produced.

Mr. Woods earned bachelor’s degrees in sociology, political science, history, and Germanic languages and literature from Washington University, and a master’s degree in sociology from the University of Virginia. He earned his juris doctorate from the St. Louis University School of Law, and has a master of laws degree in international law from the Georgetown University Law Center. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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