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

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.

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.

Past Guest Hosts

Patricia Agatston
03/18/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Providing Services to Victims of Bullying

Patricia Agatston, Ph.D., is a Licensed Professional Counselor with the Cobb County School District’s Prevention/Intervention Center, and a founding board member of SafePath Children’s Advocacy Center, both located in Marietta, Georgia. As a counselor and prevention specialist with more than 20 years of experience, Dr. Agatston provides training and technical assistance to schools to help them prevent bullying, drug use, and suicide, and teaches Internet safety. She is a nationally certified trainer and technical assistance consultant for the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, designed to reduce and prevent bullying problems and improve peer relations among children, and was a participant in the Center for Disease Control’s Expert Panel on Electronic Media and Youth Violence.

Dr. Agatston is the coauthor of Cyber Bullying: Bullying in the Digital Age and Cyber Bullying Curriculum for Middle and High School Students. She has been quoted in articles on cyber bullying in Time Magazine and Good Housekeeping, and has appeared on local and national radio and television to discuss cyber bullying. A two-time recipient of the Coalition for Child Abuse Prevention’s VIP award, she has presented on cyber bullying at both the National and International Bullying Prevention Conferences. Dr. Agatston received her bachelor's degree from Florida State University, her master's from the University of North Texas, and her doctorate from The Union Institute and University in Cincinnati, Ohio. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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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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Roe Bubar
11/19/2008 online discussion host
Topic: Serving Sexual Violence Victims in Native American Communities

Roe Bubar, J.D., is an associate professor in the Ethnic Studies Department and School of Social Work at Colorado State University. She is a past president of the Executive Board of the National Children’s Alliance and one of the founders of the Native American Children’s Alliance. Ms. Bubar has extensive experience working with child sexual abuse cases in Indian County and Alaska Native communities, with more than 18 years’ experience developing and implementing multidisciplinary approaches in child sexual abuse cases in tribal, state, and federal jurisdictions. Ms. Bubar’s current research projects include sexual violence in tribal communities, health disparities in Indigenous populations and multidisciplinary efforts in child maltreatment. She specializes in providing forensic and case consultation and training and technical assistance for developing children’s advocacy centers, multidisciplinary teams, community readiness assessments, and cultural competence.

Ms. Bubar is a trained mediator and recognized expert in interviewing Native children in child sexual abuse cases. She teaches courses in federal Indian law and policy; social welfare policy; and Indigenous women, children, and tribal communities. Ms. Bubar built a Children’s Advocacy Center from the ground up, has conducted forensic interviews of children and continues to provide forensic supervision in Larimer County, Colorado. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Florrie Burke
01/28/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Assisting Victims of Labor Trafficking

3/16/05 online discussion host
Topic: Human Trafficking

Florrie Burke, M.Ed., M.A., L.M.F.T., is a cochair of the Freedom Network (USA), a national network of service providers, attorneys, and other advocates who work with trafficked and enslaved persons and provide regional trainings throughout the country. In addition, Ms. Burke is a founding member and the coordinator of the Freedom Network Training Institute. She is a consultant on modern day slavery—providing training, consultation, and presentation services to individuals and organizations in the United States and abroad. Ms. Burke recently served as the Senior Director of International Programs at Safe Horizon in New York, where she oversaw the antitrafficking program and the Solace Program for Survivors of Torture and Refugee Trauma. She is part of three working groups that develop materials for first responders and others who may encounter incidents of human trafficking, and she has served as an expert witness on several human trafficking cases.

Ms. Burke has been working with trafficked persons since 1997 when she created specialized social services for 60 Mexicans who were deaf, and who were slaves in a peddling ring in New York. She also designed and implemented a model for community trauma response following the attacks on September 11, 2001. In 2007, Ms. Burke received the National Crime Victim Service Award from the Office for Victims of Crime, and was honored by the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and by the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor. She has also received the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Award from the Freedom Network (USA). View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Mitru Ciarlante
02/18/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Safety Planning for Teen Victims of Dating Violence

02/27/2008 online discussion host
Topic: Responding to Teen Victims of Dating Violence

Mitru Ciarlante is Director of the National Center for Victims of Crime's Teen Victim Initiative. She works to advance rights and services for young victims and survivors of crime, promotes youth inclusion in social change and advocacy efforts, and supports professionals who work with youth victims. As a victim counselor and advocate, she started a comprehensive children's advocacy program; founded the Children's Advocates' Task Force of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence (PCADV); and created the Students Together for Outreach and Prevention of Abuse peer education program.

Ms. Ciarlante is the National Chair of the Research and Best Practice Committee of the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) and the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR) Vision of Hope campaign to end sexual violence against children. She also founded Advocacy, Consultation, and Training for Change, a consultation firm through which she has supported the development of multiple programs, including Rallying Youth Organizers Together Against Rape, a PCAR statewide youth activist network. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Sarah Deer
11/19/2008 online discussion host
Topic: Serving Sexual Violence Victims in Native American Communities

Sarah Deer, J.D., a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is a visiting professor at William Mitchell College of Law, online instructor of Tribal Legal Studies at UCLA Extension, and former lecturer in law at UCLA Law School. She was recently employed as a Victim Advocacy Legal Specialist for the Tribal Law & Policy Institute in St. Paul, Minnesota, and previously served as a Grant Program Specialist for the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice, in Washington, D.C. Ms. Deer serves on numerous advisory boards for antiviolence organizations and projects, including the American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence and the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence. She is the coauthor of Introduction to Tribal Legal Studies, Tribal Criminal Law and Procedure, and co-editor of Sharing Our Stories of Survival: Native Women Surviving Violence.

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Melissa Deinlein
10/22/2008 online discussion host
Topic: Implementing and Operating Address Confidentiality Programs

Melissa Deinlein is program manager of Washington State’s Office of the Secretary of State Address Confidentiality Program (ACP), where she has worked for more than 7 years. The APC was created in 1991 to assist crime victims (specifically victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking, and stalking) who have relocated to avoid further abuse. It allows participants to register to vote and to apply for a marriage license without creating a public record, and provides participants with alternate mailing addresses they can use to maintain the confidentiality of their whereabouts. Ms. Deinlein earned a bachelor of arts degree from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Carol Dorris
05/13/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Responding to People Victimized by Individuals with Mental Illnesses

12/10/2008 online discussion host
Topic: Enforcing Victims’ Rights in Court

Carol F. Dorris, J.D., is the public policy senior staff attorney for the National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC), a nonprofit organization located in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1985, NCVC is dedicated to helping victims, families, and communities affected by crime rebuild their lives. Ms. Dorris has more than 17 years of experience analyzing victims’ rights laws, providing legislative technical assistance to state and federal lawmakers, and conducting comprehensive research on pertinent victim-related legal issues. Her areas of expertise include victims of offenders with mental illness, stalking victims, and victim-counselor privilege. She recently served as an advisor on the Council of State Governments Justice Center’s publication, Responding to People Who Have Been Victimized by Individuals With Mental Illnesses. Ms. Dorris is also the project director of the VictimLaw project, an online database of federal, state, and tribal victims’ rights laws. She is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University and the University of Georgia School of Law. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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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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Michelle Garcia
01/21/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Addressing Technology and Stalking

01/09/2008 online discussion host
Topic: Assisting Victims of Intimate Partner Stalking

01/24/07 online discussion host
Topic: Serving Victims of Stalking

Michelle Garcia is Director of the Stalking Resource Center at the National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC). Prior to joining NCVC, Ms. Garcia was a program specialist at the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. She has more than 15 years of experience working with victims of sexual assault and domestic violence and advocating for victims' rights on the local, state, and national levels.

Formerly, Ms. Garcia was President of the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault and President of the National Coalition Against Sexual Assault. She has trained others in the field nationally on various specialized victim issues, including stalking, sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and dismantling oppression. Ms. Garcia received her master's degree in public policy from the University of Chicago. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Meg Garvin
12/10/2008 online discussion host
Topic: Enforcing Victims’ Rights in Court

Meg Garvin, M.A., J.D., is executive director of the National Crime Victim Law Institute (NCVLI), where she leads NCVLI’s national impact litigation program and legal technical assistance programs. Ms. Garvin has presented on victims’ rights at more than 60 conferences; regularly participates in national forums to develop policy on victims’ rights; and has testified before Congress and the Oregon Legislature on the current state of victim law. She currently serves as cochair of the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section Victims Committee and has been appointed by the Oregon Attorney General to Oregon’s Sexual Assault Task Force.

Prior to joining NCVLI, Ms. Garvin practiced law in a private firm, focusing on appellate litigation, complex business litigation, and employment law. She received her bachelor of arts degree from the University of Puget Sound, her master of arts degree in communication studies with an emphasis in rhetorical theory from the University of Iowa, and her juris doctorate from the University of Minnesota. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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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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Candice Hopkins
02/18/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Safety Planning for Teen Victims of Dating Violence

Candice Hopkins is Director of loveisrespect, National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline, where she oversees the implementation and training of phone- and internet-accessible advocacy services for teens and young adults. Prior to the launch of loveisrespect in February 2006, Ms. Hopkins served as an advocate and hotline coordinator for the National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH), where she developed and conducted training seminars for NDVH staff, volunteers, and the general public. She has conducted training on teen dating abuse, and is frequently sought after to speak about technology safety training at national and international conferences. In addition to her extensive knowledge of domestic violence and sexual assault prevention issues, Ms. Hopkins has experience working with teens and young adults in group home facilities and boot camps, and with individuals in the mental health field.

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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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Katherine Kaufka
01/28/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Assisting Victims of Labor Trafficking

Katherine Kaufka, J.D., is the executive director of the International Organization for Adolescents, and previously managed the counter-trafficking project at the National Immigrant Justice Center. Ms. Kaufka provides training and technical assistance, both nationally and internationally, on human trafficking and establishing collaborations between nongovernmental organizations and law enforcement. A recognized expert on child trafficking issues, she has worked with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to provide emergency and case management services to victims of human trafficking, and specializes in cases involving victims who are children or adolescents.

Ms. Kaufka is the author of The Commodification of Domestic Care: Illegitimacy of Care Work and the Exploitation of Migrant Workers, published in the Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, and T Nonimmigrant Visas, Protection and Relief for Victims of Human Trafficking, A Practitioners Guide. In 2007, she testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights on ways to improve national legislation affecting trafficking victims, particularly children. Ms. Kaufka earned a juris doctorate from the University of Wisconsin, and a bachelor of arts degree and a bachelor of science degree from the University of Michigan. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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

Dan Levey is the Advisor for Victims to Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano 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 by gang members. As the Governor’s Advisor for Victims, and in his previous role as Special Assistant on Victims' Issues to the Arizona Attorney General, Mr. Levey works to change public policy concerning the treatment of crime victims and their families. He has drafted laws that protect domestic violence and stalking victims from having their identities displayed on public Web sites; that require law enforcement agencies to provide a free copy of the police report to victims of violent crime; and that allow 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.

Mr. Levey 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, through the Office for Victims of Crime, 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 at both the Arizona State Legislature and in the United States Congress on behalf of crime victim legislation. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Susan Limber
03/18/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Providing Services to Victims of Bullying

Susan Limber, Ph.D., is a faculty member within the Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life and a professor of psychology, both at Clemson University. She is a developmental psychologist who specializes in legal and psychological issues related to youth violence (particularly bullying among children), youth participation, and children's rights. Dr. Limber directed the first wide-scale implementation and evaluation of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, designed to reduce and prevent bullying problems and improve peer relations among children, and coordinates training for the program in North and South America.

Dr. Limber has authored many publications on the topic of bullying, including the Teacher Guide and Schoolwide Guide for the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, Cyber Bullying: A Prevention Curriculum for Grades 3–5 and 6–12,and Cyber Bullying: Bullying in the Digital Age. She has provided consultation to the National Bullying Prevention Campaign since 2001 and received a number of awards, including the Saleem Shah Award for early career excellence in psychology-law policy, awarded by the American Psychology-Law Society of the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Forensic Psychiatry. Dr. Limber received her master’s degrees in psychology and legal studies and her doctorate in psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  View this Guest Host's photograph.

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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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Jessica Mindlin
04/15/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Strengthening Sexual Assault Victims' Right to Privacy

Jessica Mindlin, Esq., is the National Director of Training and Technical Assistance for the Victim Rights Law Center (VRLC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to changing the nation’s legal response to rape and sexual assault. VRLC provides free legal representation to sexual assault survivors in Massachusetts, and legal technical assistance on sexual assault issues nationally. Before joining VRLC, Ms. Mindlin was the senior staff attorney for the National Crime Victim Law Institute and the Center for Law and Public Policy on Sexual Violence, as well as a clinic instructor at Lewis and Clark Law School. She has also served as the statewide support unit attorney for the Oregon Law Center and Legal Aid Services of Oregon, coordinator of the Oregon Supreme Court-Oregon State Bar Task Force on Gender Fairness, and legal access project director for the Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.

Prior to attending law school, Ms. Mindlin worked as a rape victim advocate and a counselor and legal advocate for battered women. She is the coeditor in chief of VRLC’s national practice manual, Beyond the Justice System: Using the Law to Help Restore the Lives of Sexual Assault Victims—A Practical Guide for Attorneys and Advocates, coauthor and editor of Rights and Remedies: Meeting the Civil Legal Needs of Sexual Violence Survivors, and author of Child Sexual Abuse and Criminal Statutes of Limitation: A Model For Reform, 65 Wash. L.Rev. (1990), among other publications. She is on the Advisory Council of the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, the Advisory Board of NEW Leadership Oregon, and the Editorial Board of the Sexual Assault Report. Ms. Mindlin is also a founding member of CounterQuo, a national campaign to change the status quo on sexual assault. She graduated with honors from the University of Washington School of Law, where she was an associate editor of the Washington Law Review.

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

Debra Puglisi Sharp, R.N., is an inspirational speaker and the author of Shattered: Reclaiming A Life Torn Apart By Violence. In 1998, Ms. Puglisi Sharp was abducted and held captive for 101 hours, during which she was repeatedly raped, by an intruder who fatally shot her husband in their home. She now serves on the Board of Directors of the National Coalition of Victims in Action and is a member of the National Organization for Victim Assistance. She is a Rape Crisis Volunteer for Contact Lifeline and raises public awareness of sexual assault through the Sexual Assault Network of Delaware.

Ms. Puglisi Sharp previously served as the public representative for the 911 Enhancement Board in Delaware. She has appeared on regional and national talk shows including Oprah, 20/20, Montel, The John Walsh Show, and A&E Biography to speak about surviving a traumatic event. In 2007, Ms. Puglisi Sharp was presented with the U.S. Attorney General’s Special Courage Award through the Office for Victims of Crime. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Dr. James Reinhard
05/13/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Responding to People Victimized by Individuals with Mental Illnesses

James Reinhard, M.D., is a board certified psychiatrist and Commissioner of the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services (DMHMRSAS). He is a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, Vice President of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, and a board member for the Council of State Government’s Justice Center. Dr. Reinhard has completed a fellowship at Harvard Medical School’s Program in Psychiatry and the Law, is board certified in Forensic Psychiatry, and is presently on the clinical faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Medical College of Virginia. He also volunteers as a clinical psychiatrist at Richmond’s Fan Free Clinic, an urban clinic serving uninsured Virginians.

Prior to his appointment as Commissioner in 2002, Dr. Reinhard served as the facility director and CEO of Catawba Hospital in Virginia and later as the DMHMRSAS assistant commissioner for facility management. His clinical and administrative career has been in public sector psychiatry, academic medicine, correctional settings, and the Veterans Administration system, and he has led transformation efforts in the mental health and intellectual disability system in Virginia. Dr. Reinhard received his medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine and completed his psychiatry residency training at Dartmouth Medical School, where he later joined the faculty and received an Attending of the Year Award from the psychiatry residents. 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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Avy Skolnik
06/24/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Working with LGBTIQ Survivors of Violence

Avy Skolnik is the Coordinator for Statewide and National Programs at the New York City Anti-Violence Project, which serves New York’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersexed, and queer (LGBTIQ) communities. He also facilitates the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, a network of grassroots organizations dedicated to ending violence against LGBTIQ people; and serves as the coordinator for the New York State LGBT Domestic Violence Network. In addition, Mr. Skolnik provides training and technical assistance to community groups, schools, hospitals, clinics, and law enforcement on LGBTIQ violence-related issues, including intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and bias-motivated violence. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Victoria Sostack
10/22/2008 online discussion host
Topic: Implementing and Operating Address Confidentiality Programs

Victoria Sostack is a licensed social worker and the director of victim services at the Pennsylvania Office of the Victim Advocate, where she oversees crisis intervention, support, post-sentencing parole notification, and input services for more than 30,000 registered crime victims. For the past 4 years, she has led the development of Pennsylvania’s Address Confidentiality Program for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Ms. Sostack has received advanced community crisis responder training and is a mediator in crimes of severe violence. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Keystone Crisis Intervention Team and is on the board of directors of the Coalition of Pennsylvania Crime Victim Organizations.

Ms. Sostack has participated in several statewide projects, including the Advisory Task Force on Geriatric and Seriously Ill Inmates, the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency Victim Rights Subcommittee, and the Sex Offenders Assessment Board’s Sex Offender Management Team. She previously served as a counselor/advocate at the Domestic Violence Service Center in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. She earned a master’s degree in social work from Temple University. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Cindy Southworth
01/21/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Addressing Technology and Stalking

Cindy Southworth is the Founder and Director of Safety Net: The National Safe & Strategic Technology Project, where she works with private industry, state and federal agencies, and international groups to improve safety and privacy for victims in this digital age. Over the years, her work has included testifying before a U.S. Senate subcommittee and serving on many task forces and committees that address issues of justice, privacy, technology, and safety in the justice, elections, defense, and human services arenas. She has presented more than 330 trainings to over 19,000 people from international, national, state, and local audiences. Ms. Southworth’s efforts to end violence against women have spanned 18 years, with the past 10 focusing on how technology can be used to increase victim safety and how to hold stalkers accountable for their misuse of technology. She is the chair of the Technology Committee of the National Taskforce To End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women and is a member of both the Anti-Spyware Coalition and the Privacy and Information Quality Working Group, part of the Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative at the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Ms. Southworth is recognized as an international expert on helping victims use technology safely, at addressing technology stalking, and at how best to maintain the privacy of victims’ data. Cindy has a master’s degree in social work. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Hollie Strand
04/29/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Forensic Interviewing in Tribal Communities

Hollie Strand, MFS, is a forensic interviewer for the Child Advocacy Center of the Black Hills in Rapid City, South Dakota, where she serves local, state, federal, and tribal jurisdictions. A licensed professional counselor, she owns a private counseling agency that, through a contract with the state, provides individual and group cognitive-behavioral therapy for individuals on probation. Ms. Strand previously worked as a certified law enforcement officer for the Martin Police Department on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where she continues to serve as a contract consultant. She has held several counseling positions in South Dakota, Nevada, and Nebraska, and has worked in outpatient programs as well as correctional institutions, including the Inpatient Sex Offender Treatment Program at Lincoln Correctional Center’s maximum security prison.

Ms. Strand was a member of the Sex Offender Management Team of Nevada and continues to sit on committees and multidisciplinary teams committed to protecting children, families, and communities. She received her bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies in psychology from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, her master’s degree in agency counseling from South Dakota State University, and her master’s in forensic science from Nebraska Wesleyan University. View this Guest Host's photograph.

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Joanne Zannoni
04/15/2009 online discussion host
Topic: Strengthening Sexual Assault Victims' Right to Privacy

Joanne Zannoni, MSW, LICSW, is Associate Director of Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services (CONNSACS), the Connecticut state sexual assault coalition, where she has worked since 2000. She oversees the agency’s fiscal operations, program evaluation, and grant development activities as well as projects involving victim privacy and primary prevention of sexual violence. Her professional experience in the field of violence against women began in 1992 and has included various positions in sexual assault and domestic violence prevention and intervention, from direct services to administration. Ms. Zannoni has developed materials and trained others in the field nationally on protecting sexual assault victims’ privacy and implementing primary prevention strategies regarding sexual violence. She is a graduate of Saint Joseph College and Boston College.

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