Family Court of the District of Columbia Superior Court | Welcome to the 2011 Family Court Interdisciplinary Conference

Biographies of Interdisciplinary Conference Participants

Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Friday October 12, 2018

Faculty Bios

Jeannie M. Adams, M.A, is the Director of the Multi-Door Dispute Resolution Division for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Ms. Adams is an accomplished conflict resolution practitioner with over 25 years experience working in the public sector with state and federal agencies and municipalities. She has provided administrative oversight to state courts, state agencies, and municipal alternative dispute resolution programs, including the Massachusetts Superior Courts, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Environmental Affairs. Ms. Adams was formerly the Director of Public Sector ADR Programs for the Massachusetts Office of Dispute Resolution, where she crafted alternative dispute resolution qualifications for mediators, facilitators, trainers and ADR consultants. Ms. Adams was a member of the Supreme Judicial Court Uniform Rules on Dispute Resolution Education Sub-Committee. Ms. Adams served as a mediator in the Massachusetts Small Claims Court, the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission in the New England Region, and the Massachusetts United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural and Rural Development Mediation Programs. She has also co-instructed a course on ethics in dispute resolution in the Graduate Program of Dispute Resolution at the University of Massachusetts.

Ms. Adams received her M.A. in Dispute Resolution from the University of Massachusetts’ McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies and her B.A. in Legal Studies and Paralegal Certification from the College of Public and Community Service at the University of Massachusetts.

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Gale Aycox, M.S.W is an alumna of Howard University’s School of Social Work, where she obtained her M.S.W. with a concentration in Macro Studies. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Clinically Certified Domestic Violence Counselor recognized in Washington, D.C. She is recognized by the American Counseling Association.

Previously, Ms. Aycox served as a probation officer for twenty-one years in the District of Columbia Superior Court Social Services Division. In 1996, she transferred to Courts Services and Offenders Supervision (CSOSA) and served as a Community Service Officer for five years. She has managed caseloads in the juvenile, adult, child abuse, domestic violence treatment and intake units for both organizations.

Soon after she retired from CSOSA, she became the first Program Manager for the Supervised Visitation Center (SVC). After working in this capacity for five years, she relocated but then returned to this jurisdiction in 2009. Ms. Aycox became a contracted social work aid at the SVC while maintaining a wellness treatment practice for victims of domestic violence. In 2014, Ms. Aycox was asked to reassume the position as Program Manager for the Supervised Visitation Center.

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Robert "Bobby" Bangert, L.C.S.W, is the Manager of Youth and Family Care Navigation at Whitman-Walker Health. Here, he shares in the dedication of providing compassionate and affirming care to everyone, particularly the LGBTQ community and people living with HIV. His work at Whitman-Walker combines his professional commitment to advancing social justice and his passion for working with the community. He joined Whitman-Walker in June 2015, where he provides therapeutic and case management support to youth and families affected by HIV. In addition, he sees clients for individual and group psychotherapy through Whitman-Walker’s Youth Mental Health program. He received his bachelor’s degree from Washington College and his M.S.W. from The Catholic University of America, concentrating in both clinical social work and social change.

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Janese Bechtol, J.D., has practiced in the Domestic Violence Division of D.C. Superior Court since 1998 when she joined the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia as a trial attorney in the Domestic Violence Section. For the next five years, she represented over 450 domestic violence survivors in obtaining and enforcing civil protection orders against their abusers. She became the Chief of the section in October 2003 and since then has supervised attorneys representing domestic violence survivors, attorneys representing Adult Protective Services in guardianship proceedings, and various administrative staff members who support the attorneys and the city’s Domestic Violence Intake Centers. Ms. Bechtol has served in leadership roles on a variety of committees over the years, including the D.C. Superior Court Domestic Violence Rules Committee, the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board, and the Domestic Violence Intake Centers’ Supervisors Committee. Ms. Bechtol’s efforts also led to an overhaul of the Intrafamily Offenses Act in 2009. Ms. Bechtol has overseen the transformation of civil protection order contempt practices since 2010 and continues to maintain a small caseload.

Ms. Bechtol graduated with distinction from Cornell University in 1991 and Stanford Law School in 1994. Following law school, she fulfilled a four-year military commitment at the Pentagon as an Assistant General Counsel for the Department of the Army and as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Army and later the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

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Nicole Beck, J.D, is a Staff Attorney at Break the Cycle. She represents clients ages 12 to 24 in Civil Protection Order hearings and trials, seeking protective orders against abusers. Ms. Beck’s clients are victims of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and sexual assault. Ms. Beck also represents students in Title IX proceedings at local universities and secondary schools. Ms. Beck assists National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) with their technical assistance and training of judges on teen dating violence. Ms. Beck also conducts outreach and education events with Break the Cycle to educate youth about dating violence, healthy relationships, and their legal rights. Ms. Beck spent two years clerking for the Honorable Laura A. Cordero, an Associate Judge with the District of Columbia Superior Court. While clerking, Ms. Beck assisted the Judge with management of a domestic violence calendar and a civil calendar. Ms. Beck received her law degree from the George Washington University Law School and was awarded the National Association of Women Lawyer’s Outstanding Law Student award in 2015.

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Lorraine A. Chase, Ph.D., has been responsible for the supervision of the Victim Witness Specialists in the domestic violence, child abuse, and sex offense sections of the United States Attorney’s Office since 2000. In this role, she provides oversight of the domestic violence, sex offense/child interviewer, and superior court units; represents the United States Attorney’s Office at community meetings and hearings; and performs community outreach and education. Immediately prior to this position, she worked for 13 years for the YWCA in Maryland as the Director of the Domestic Violence Program and as the Clinical Director of Woman’s Center where she was responsible for the fiscal viability of all of the initiatives of the Domestic Violence Program, including the 24-hour hotline, the shelter for battered women and their children, legal services, counseling, education and outreach, and information and referral services. Dr. Chase also provided clinical supervision at Arden House, the shelter for battered women and their children; individual, group, couples, and family therapy; community education and professional training; and expert witness testimony on domestic violence in court and to legislative committees. Starting in 1981, she served as a counselor and crisis specialist for victims of domestic violence.

Dr. Chase has served in numerous leadership positions in the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence, the Anne Arundel County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, and Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence and is a member of the National Association of Social Workers and Zonta International.

Dr. Chase obtained a Doctor of Social Work from the Catholic University of America, a M.S.W. from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a B.S. from the School of Social Welfare at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

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June Crenshaw is a fierce advocate and ambassador for the safety and empowerment of the most vulnerable members of the LGBTQ community. Ms. Crenshaw is also the Chair of the Board of Rainbow Response Coalition (RRC), which was organized in 2007 by a group of activists, organizations, and agencies who were concerned about the lack of resources, education, and outreach to victims and survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the LGBTQ communities. She was one of the original organizers and continues to lead this all volunteer coalition. Ms. Crenshaw, along with other members of the coalition and partner agencies, has helped to develop cultural competency training specifically for D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and other first responders. She has provided outreach and education to universities in the D.C. Metro area and has facilitated town hall meetings to raise consciousness and improve awareness around IPV. Under her guidance, RRC was awarded a grant from the Office of Victim Services to expand education and outreach to the LGBTQ communities. Ms. Crenshaw has provided testimony to D.C. City Council on critical funding and support for the Office of Victim Services. She is also a member of the Violence Prevention and Response Team (VPART), which tracks, monitors and responds to hate crimes and IPV cases reported to MPD.

Ms. Crenshaw is the Executive Director of the Wanda Alston Foundation, which provides 18 months of shelter, case management, connection to medical and mental health care, development of life skills, and support with employment and school for LGBTQ youth who have been experiencing homelessness. Since joining the Wanda Alston Foundation, Ms. Crenshaw has worked to increase awareness around the prevalence of homelessness among LGBTQ youth and the trauma that they experience. She fights for resources to be allocated to programs that create a safe and welcoming environment for LGBTQ youth.

Ms. Crenshaw is also a Board member and Chair-Emeritus of Whitman-Walker Health (WWH). She is passionate about ensuring that members of the LGBTQ communities receive quality health care. During her time on the Board, she has seen and actively participates in the expansion of services that includes all components of primary medical care. She is particularly proud of the improved services offered to women such as gynecologic services and prenatal care, and the merger with Mautner Project, which provides support and services to lesbians with cancer and other chronic illnesses. Ms. Crenshaw is also focused on honoring WWH’s historical mission and obligation to be a health center for the LGBTQ communities.

Ms. Crenshaw is a member of the Board of Directors of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and a co-chair of the national Diversity and Inclusion sub-committee. She also co-chaired the 2013 and 2014 HRC National Dinner, the largest LGBT fundraiser in the nation, and has helped to raise millions of dollars to fight for full LGBT equality. She was also a member of the Advisory Board of the Mayor’s Office of LGBT Affairs. Ms. Crenshaw is a graduate of the University of Tulsa and is PMP certified.

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Kimberley Cruz, J.D., is a Family Court Supervisory Attorney in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Ms. Cruz graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in 2002, and received her J.D. from Case Western Reserve University in 2006. Following law school, Ms. Cruz spent two years as an Assistant Public Defender in Fort Myers, Florida defending criminal clients in misdemeanor and felony cases. In 2008, Ms. Cruz joined the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) as a prosecuting attorney for child abuse and neglect cases. Ms. Cruz became a Supervising Attorney with DCF in 2010, where she remained until 2014. In 2014, Ms. Cruz joined the Superior Court of the District of Columba as an Attorney Advisor, specializing in abuse and neglect cases. In 2016, she assumed the role of Branch Chief of the Child Abuse and Neglect (CCAN) office, overseeing the Family Court Panel attorneys and managing attorney appointments in neglect matters. Ms. Cruz became the Family Court Supervisory Attorney in 2017, where she now continues to oversee CCAN, as well as the Self-Help Center, the Attorney Advisor’s Office, and the Attorney Negotiators.

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Michelle Dodge, J.D., L.I.C.S.W., L.C.S.W.-C., is a licensed clinical social worker specializing in the use of play to treat children and families affected by trauma and intrafamily conflict and violence. Prior to entering private practice, Ms. Dodge was employed as a Senior Program Specialist with the Office on Violence Against Women at the United States Department of Justice. She developed and implemented the first grant program dedicated to the issues of supervised visitation and safe exchange and managed federal demonstration projects and technical assistance focusing on child custody, domestic violence, and sexual assault. Ms. Dodge has worked for the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the District of Columbia Department of Health and Human Services, and as an adjunct professor and guest lecturer with the National Catholic School of Social Service at the Catholic University of America. She received her B.A. from Wellesley College, dual degrees in law and social work from The Catholic University of America, and completed a two year post-graduate Child and Adolescent training program at the Washington School of Psychiatry. Ms. Dodge is the owner of JMD Counseling and Therapeutic Services, LLC and maintains offices in Takoma Park, Maryland and McLean, Virginia.

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Aisha Braithwaite Flucker, J.D., is a Section Chief for the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia (OAG), Family Services Division, Child Protection Section (CPS). As a section chief, Ms. Flucker manages a team of CPS trial attorneys who represent the Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) in neglect, guardianship, adoption, and termination of parental rights cases. Ms. Flucker is also a member of the Mayor’s Advisory Committee for Child Abuse and Neglect. She attends Infant Mortality Review and CFSA’s Child Fatality Review meetings. Prior to becoming the section chief, Ms. Flucker was a trial attorney with CPS from 2006 to 2016. During that time, Ms. Flucker was selected to represent CPS at Safe Shores-The D.C. Child Advocacy Center, where she was a member of the multidisciplinary team that conducted forensic interviews of child victims of sexual and physical abuse. In 2010 and 2012, OAG acknowledged Ms. Flucker’s dedicated service and awarded her with the Exemplary Service Award. Prior to joining the Office of the Attorney General, Ms. Flucker worked in Prince George’s County, Office of Law, as an assistant county attorney in Child In Need of Assistance cases. In 1997, Ms. Flucker received a Bachelors of Arts, magna cum laude, from Howard University. From 1997 to 1999, Ms. Flucker worked for Maximus, Inc., a human services consulting firm, where she assisted underserved mothers with finding employment. In 2002, Ms. Flucker received a J.D. from American University Washington College of Law, where she was a Marshall-Brennan Fellow and a line editor for the Gender, Social Policy and the Law Journal. As a Marshall-Brennan Fellow, Ms. Flucker taught constitutional law to high school students in the District of Columbia Public Schools. While in law school, Ms. Flucker interned for the Department of Justice, United States Attorney’s Office, Appellate Division and was a summer associate at the Venable Law Firm.

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Michelle M. Garcia, M.P.P., was appointed as the Director of the District of Columbia Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants (OVSJG) in December 2015. As the Director, Ms. Garcia provides leadership and coordination of District funded programs that serve crime victims, prevent crime, and improve the administration of justice for victims and offenders. OVSJG also provides policy making expertise, advice, and counsel to the Executive on evidence-based practices that respond to, intervene in, and prevent violence.

Prior to her appointment, Ms. Garcia worked with the Stalking Resource Center of the National Center for Victims of Crime for nearly a decade serving as its Director for over nine years. She previously served as a Program Specialist with the U.S. Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) and has over twenty years of experience working on the local, state, and national levels in the movement to end stalking, sexual assault, and domestic and dating violence. Ms. Garcia has trained internationally on these issues and has published numerous articles on stalking. She serves on the Editorial Board of the Sexual Assault Report and the American Bar Association Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence. Ms. Garcia received her M.P.P. degree from the University of Chicago.

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Gretta Gardner, J.D., is the Deputy Director of the D.C. Coalition Against Domestic Violence and co-founder of Ujima, Inc.: The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community, a project of the Coalition. Ms. Gardner’s career as a legal advisor for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault was inspired by her early work in the Domestic Violence Unit of the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office. She has worked for two decades to help shape guidelines, policies, and procedures that communities can use to end violence against women. She received her B.A. in Psychology from Vassar College and J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Texas, and the Supreme Court of the United States. She is also certified in family law mediation. Ms. Gardner is Core Faculty for Establishing Expertise as an Expert Witness with the Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. She also sits on the Board of Trustees for Garrison Forest School and belongs to a multitude of local, state, and national committees that address violence against women and their children. Ms. Gardner is the proud mom of two amazing boys who play basketball and make a lot of noise.

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Andrea Gleaves is the Strategic Partnerships Manager with the D.C. Coalition Against Domestic Violence. She spearheads new initiatives by cultivating relationships with traditional and non-traditional partners to strengthen alliances and garner resources for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and trafficking. Ms. Gleaves leads the strategic development of public awareness campaigns and policy actions, provides training and technical assistance to national and local service providers and government agencies, and monitors local policy and legislation. She began her career answering calls at a domestic violence hotline and is now a seasoned coalition builder and organizer in the field. In her spare time, she enjoys perfecting her brownie recipe, volunteering with the D.C. Abortion Fund, and watching The Great British Bake Off.

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Peg Hacskaylo, M.S.W., is the Founder and CEO of District Alliance for Safe Housing, Inc. (DASH), where she has overseen multiple innovative programs providing safe housing options for survivors and their families, including the recent launch of the National Alliance for Safe Housing (NASH) to provide training and technical assistance at the intersection of domestic violence and homelessness for communities across the United States. She holds a M.S.W. from the University of Pennsylvania, and completed a certificate in Organizational Development, and advanced studies in Business Administration from Georgetown University.

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Cynthia Henning, J.D., has worked for Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) since 2015, representing Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) in immigration removal proceedings and before the D.C. Superior Court in custody proceedings. She specializes in Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and UAC Asylum Claims. Before working with KIND, Ms. Henning was law clerk to the Honorable Hiram Puig-Lugo from 2013 to 2014 when he was the Deputy Presiding and the Presiding Judge of the D.C. Superior Family Court. Ms. Henning graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 2013 with a certificate in Refugee and Humanitarian Emergencies from the Institute for the Study of International Migration, School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

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Victoria Hernandez, J.D., currently works as a Staff Attorney with the Domestic Violence/Family Law Unit at Ayuda, a local non-profit organization dedicated to providing both legal and social services to immigrants in the tri-state area. Ms. Hernandez provides legal representation to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking, who seek civil protection orders and resolution in family law matters (e.g. divorce, legal separation, custody, and child support) at D.C. Superior Court. Additionally, she works with the D.C. and U.S. governments to ensure her clients’ interests are conveyed and honored in criminal cases. Prior to working at Ayuda, Ms. Hernandez was a law fellow at the D.C. Volunteer Lawyers Project and a law clerk at the Law Offices of Cohen & Hertz, P.C. Ms. Hernandez received her J.D. from the Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law in 2015 and her B.S. in Public Management and Policy from The University of Arizona in 2012.

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Vivian Huelgo, J.D., joined the American Bar Association Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence as Chief Counsel in 2010. Under her leadership, the Commission has expanded its reach and solidified its mission to increase access to justice for victims of domestic and sexual violence by mobilizing the legal profession. Over the last five years, Ms. Huelgo has established a broad, inclusive vision for the Commission’s work, sponsoring critical policy, increasing its online presence, doubling funding for training and technical assistance to lawyers nationally, and establishing the Task Force on Human Trafficking, while also celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Commission.

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Allison McCarley Jackson, M.D., M.P.H., is a board certified Child Abuse Pediatrician serving as the Division Chief of the Child and Adolescent Protection Center of Children’s National Medical Center, and as an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at George Washington University. As a pediatrician on her team for over 18 years, she evaluates and treats children victimized by all forms of child maltreatment. As an extension of her clinical work, she has testified as a medical expert throughout the region. Her additional responsibilities include providing physician leadership to the District of Columbia’s Multidisciplinary Team on Child Abuse.

Dr. Jackson holds a Graduate Certificate in Leadership Development from George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development as well as a Master Teacher Program in Medical Education Certificate from Children’s National Medical Center and George Washington University School of Education and Human Development. She is a member of the Children’s Academy of Pediatric Educators through which she is working to improve early identification of abuse and neglect by physicians by enhancing the education of pediatricians on the recognition and response to child physical abuse. Dr. Jackson also provides clinical and didactic instruction to medical students, residents, fellows, and to child-serving professionals in the region on the topic of childhood victimization and its impact across the lifespan.

Dr. Jackson is a 2014 recipient of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families Commissioner’s Award, and in 2017 was installed as the Washington Children’s Foundation Professor of Child and Adolescent Protection. Her advocacy on behalf of victims of child abuse and neglect is reflected in her service on the D.C. Children’s Justice Act Task Force, the D.C. Victim Assistance Network, and as the Ray Helfer Society’s representative to the National Coalition of Child Abuse. She has been a primary and co-investigator in a number of research protocols and has several publications.

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Emma Kupferman, M.S.W., L.I.C.S.W., L.C.S.W., started her career in social work after earning a M.S.W. at Howard University in 2004. Her work has focused on trauma recovery for survivors of domestic violence and sexual trauma as well as housing and support services for homeless adults, families, and children. This work included serving as the Early Head Start Social Worker and Disabilities Coordinator at Bright Beginnings, Inc., a child development program for homeless infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, and creating a children’s program at District Alliance for Safe Housing, the largest provider of housing for survivors in the District.

Ms. Kupferman’s further training includes the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disorders (LEND) at Children’s National Medical Center and certification in Child and Adolescent Trauma Treatment at the University of Maryland School of Social Work Continuing Education Program. She has presented and trained locally, nationally and internationally including twice yearly for the D.C. Coalition Against Domestic Violence on the Impact of Domestic Violence on Child Development, at the 3rd World Conference of Women’s Shelters at The Hague, Netherlands and at the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists 49th Annual Conference. Ms. Kupferman currently operates a private sex therapy practice while also teaching as Adjunct Faculty at the University of Maryland School of Social Work.

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Sarah Lawson, L.G.S.W., is a compassionate clinician focused on providing a brave space for individuals to connect their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors through therapy and case management, with a specialized focus on working with the LGBTQ community. Ms. Lawson currently serves as the Staff Social Worker/ Therapist at the D.C. Center for the LGBT Community, where she is able to provide individual and group therapy to those impacted by trauma and violence. As part of this role, Ms. Lawson also oversees the D.C. Anti-Violence Project, a program of the D.C. Center, which is a group dedicated to eradicating violence against and within the LGBTQ+ community by engaging creatively with solutions through advocacy, community organizing, and survivor support. Ms. Lawson was formerly a behavioral health intern at Whitman-Walker Health, a staff member at Safe Shores-The D.C. Children’s Advocacy Center, and a board member of Collective Action for Safe Spaces. Ms. Lawson is particularly interested in the intersection of survivor support, advocacy, and the expressive arts.

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Cecelia Friedman Levin, J.D., serves as Senior Policy Counsel at ASISTA Immigration Assistance, where she focuses on policy, technical assistance, and trainings related to immigration remedies for survivors of crime. Before joining ASISTA in 2012, Ms. Levin worked as a supervising attorney at Women Empowered Against Violence in Washington, D.C.; representing survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in civil and immigration cases. She acted as the domestic violence staff attorney at the National Law Center for Homelessness and Poverty, where she worked on federal and local housing protections for survivors of domestic violence. Ms. Levin has also provided legal representation in a variety of defensive and affirmative immigration applications as a staff attorney at Ayuda in Washington, D.C.

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Edward McCurty, L.I.C.S.W., has worked as a human services professional in Washington, D.C. for the past 18 years. He earned a B.A. in History from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1998 and his M.S.W. degree from Howard University in 2012. From June 2012 to January 2018, Mr. McCurty was employed as a Forensic Social Worker in the Office of Rehabilitation and Development at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. He’s been licensed at the L.I.C.S.W. level since July 2014. Currently, Mr. McCurty works as a Psychotherapist at The Wendt Center for Loss & Healing where he treats children, adolescents and adults who have experienced trauma, grief and loss. He specializes in the treatment of male survivors of life threatening violence (e.g. gunshot wounds, stabbings and physical assaults) and in the treatment of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression.

Since September 2016, Mr. McCurty has co-facilitated a six-month batterer intervention program aimed at treating male batterers by educating them about the causes of intimate partner violence and by providing them the psychoeducation and tools they need to reduce rates of violent and abusive behaviors. Mr. McCurty partners with Ms. KaShawna Watson, L.I.C.S.W., in his work with male batterers, and they have been contracted by My Sister’s Place to co-facilitate these groups. Mr. McCurty and Ms. Watson are co-owners of Metropolitan Counseling & Consulting, L.L.C. to provide therapeutic and consulting services.

Mr. McCurty has successfully facilitated trainings on the diagnosis and treatment of complex trauma for the D.C. School Health Nursing Program and at the National Association of Sentencing and Mitigation Specialists annual conference. He has facilitated trainings on self-care and vicarious trauma for the D.C. Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, the Metropolitan Police Department, Victim Services Branch, and the Free Minds Book Club. Mr. McCurty’s expertise lies in providing trauma informed, client centered, and culturally competent mental health services to persons recovering from childhood trauma, chronic psychiatric disorders, substance abuse disorders, grief, and loss.

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Princess McDuffie, M.A., is a Supervisory Community Supervision Officer (SCSO) at Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA), a federal government agency in Washington, D.C. which provides close supervision of offenders. She manages a team of treatment specialists who oversee therapeutic domestic violence groups of probationers and parolees convicted of domestic violence, and/or family violence offenses. Mrs. McDuffie is a Commissioner with the District of Columbia’s Commission for Women through the Mayor’s Office on Women’s Policy and Initiatives (MOWPI), which fosters economic and social equity for women through partnerships and serves as the community’s liaison to the government of the District of Columbia.

Mrs. McDuffie is a board member at Imagination Stage D.C. which produces children’s theatre and arts education for young people of all abilities. In addition, she is a board member at D.C. Volunteer Lawyers Project (DCVLP), which provides pro bono services for victims of domestic violence. In her spare time, Mrs. McDuffie volunteers at Kids and Culture Camp, which is a high quality, affordable, and fun culture camp in D.C. where she assists summer campers with cultural arts and crafts.

Mrs. McDuffie received her B.S. in Criminal Justice from South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, South Carolina. She received her M.A. in Criminology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Indiana, Pennsylvania.

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Trisha Monroe, J.D., is a Supervising Attorney in the Family Law/Domestic Violence Unit and Director of Legal Aid’s Domestic Violence Intake Center Southeast Project. Ms. Monroe represents domestic violence survivors in civil protection order cases and clients in other family law matters such as custody, divorce, and child support. Ms. Monroe is currently a member of the D.C. Bar’s Family Law Steering Committee. In 2012, Ms. Monroe was recognized as a distinguished attorney in the non-profit sector by the Greater Washington Area Chapter, Women’s Lawyer Division. She also serves as a faculty member of the American Bar Association (ABA) Commission on Domestic Violence and has trained participants at several national institutes in recent years on issues such as custody law, domestic violence, and assisting pro se clients in protection order cases.

Prior to joining Legal Aid in June 2006, Ms. Monroe worked for the Women’s Law Center of Maryland (WLC) in the Protection Order Advocacy and Representation Project. At the WLC, she worked directly with domestic violence survivors providing advice and court representation in protection order proceedings.

Ms. Monroe graduated with a B.A., summa cum laude, from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She received her J.D. from The William and Mary School of Law in Williamsburg, Virginia where she served on the Bill of Rights Journal. Upon graduating from law school, Ms. Monroe completed a judicial clerkship in the district court of Baltimore City, Maryland.

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Leslye Orloff, J.D., is an Adjunct Professor and the Director of the National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project (NIWAP) at American University Washington College of Law. Ms. Orloff’s 37-year career includes working collaboratively with experts across the country to develop and implement immigration relief, public benefits access, and family law protections for immigrant women, children, and survivors. She was involved in drafting the immigration protections in the Violence Against Women Acts (VAWA) 1994, 2000, 2005, and 2013 and the Trafficking Victims Protection Acts of 2000 and 2008. Ms. Orloff is a family law expert with years of litigation experience representing immigrant victims in custody, protection order, and divorce actions. She was recently appointed to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Advisory Committee on Family Residential Centers where she chairs the subcommittee on Health, Mental Health, and Trauma.

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Ana Natalia Otero has over 16 years of experience in domestic violence services. After spending the early part of her career working directly with survivors as an advocate, Ms. Otero co-founded D.C. Survivors and Advocates for Empowerment (SAFE) in 2006 in direct response to the critical need she was seeing for crisis intervention services. D.C. SAFE’s 24/7 bilingual crisis response programs have since become a vital component of the District of Columbia’s coordinated community response to domestic violence. In just under ten years, Ms. Otero has robustly increased D.C. SAFE’s capacity to meet the growing need, now serving over 9,000 survivors annually. Additionally, she has expanded its programs to include an innovative crisis shelter, which is the District’s only housing program that can place survivors and their families within an hour of an incident, as well as a specific access point for Latinx survivors through the ACCION Line, the only hotline dedicated for Spanish-speaking survivors in the area.

In addition to Ms. Otero’s work developing D.C. SAFE’s programs, she has served in various capacities on numerous community-wide initiatives. In 2013, Ms. Otero served on a D.C. Council special task force for the Domestic Violence Hotline Establishment Act (D.C. Code § 4-552), which established a universal victim hotline for the District of Columbia. She later served on a community task force for the Metropolitan Police Department, providing her expert perspective on the police department’s treatment of domestic violence survivors and other special populations. Moreover, from 2013-2015, Ms. Otero served on D.C.’s Fatality Review Board, and she was recently appointed to the Advisory Committee for D.C.’s Crime Victims Compensation Program, as well as the Comprehensive Homicide Prevention Task Force.

Under Ms. Otero’s leadership, D.C. SAFE was awarded the 2014 National Crime Victim Service Award from the United States Department of Justice as well as an Award for Merit from the Department of the Navy. Ms. Otero was recently recognized by the Center for Nonprofit Advancement as a 2017 EXCEL Award winner for her excellent skills as a nonprofit leader in the D.C. community.

Ms. Otero holds a B.A. in Business Economics from Agnes Scott College.

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Emily Petrino, J.D., is an Assistant Attorney General in the Child Protection Section of the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) of the District of Columbia. She is the Chair of the D.C. Bar Family Law Community Steering Committee.

Prior to joining OAG, Ms. Petrino was a Senior Staff Attorney at Bread for the City where she represented clients in custody, divorce, child support, and domestic violence cases at D.C. Superior Court. Ms. Petrino was a Supervising Attorney at the D.C. Volunteer Lawyers Project and a law clerk for Magistrate Judges Mary Grace Rook and Janet Albert on the Abuse and Neglect Branch and Mental Health Commission of D.C. Superior Court.

Ms. Petrino graduated with a B.S. from Tulane University and received her J.D., cum laude, from American University Washington College of Law.

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Avrom “Avi” Sickel, J.D., is the Director of the Family Court Operations Division in the D.C. Superior Court, a position he’s held since 2012. As the director, he is responsible for the successful operation of the largest division of the D.C. Superior Court, with over 160 full-time employees. The Family Court handles a wide variety of cases, from divorce and custody to juvenile delinquency, from child abuse and neglect to paternity and support. There were over 10,000 new cases filed in 2017. Before joining the director’s office, Mr. Sickel was the branch chief of the Family Court Self Help Center, a free walk-in clinic which provides information and assistance to self-represented parties in family law matters. In 2008, the Self Help Center received the Court’s Public Service Award and in 2009, Mr. Sickel received the Community Outreach Award from the D.C. Courts Hispanic Heritage Month Committee. He is a former co-chair of the Family Law Section of the D.C. Bar and has trained on D.C. family law and procedure on numerous occasions. He attended George Mason University and the University of Baltimore School of Law.

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Raquel Trabal, J.D., has worked as a Bilingual Attorney Negotiator for the Domestic Violence Division of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for the past six years. As the Bilingual Attorney Negotiator, she negotiates all relief available in Civil Protection Order cases in English and Spanish. She communicates with both parties to provide information and get input to generate an agreement that best suits their needs. Although the primary purpose of the Civil Protection Order is the Petitioner’s safety, the orders include provisions for temporary custody, visitation, financial reimbursements, and property division. This innovative approach to civil protection orders allows litigants to create an arrangement that works for both parties while protecting the safety of the Petitioners. This is particularly useful when parties have children in common.

Before joining the Domestic Violence Division, Ms. Trabal was a Staff Attorney for Legal Aid of Western Michigan. She represented clients primarily through the Reentry Law Project which assisted individuals who had a civil consequence arise out of a criminal conviction. Her representation included but was not limited to child support, social security benefits, identification card issues, and sex offender registry matters. In addition, she represented Spanish speaking domestic violence victims in divorce, custody, and visitation matters.

Ms. Trabal graduated from Oberlin College and Thomas Cooley Law School.

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KaShawna Watson, L.I.C.S.W.,is a psychotherapist and social service consultant based in Washington, D.C. She holds a B.A. in Sociology from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro and a Masters of Social Work from Howard University. Ms. Watson is a native of Washington, D.C. and has worked for more than 13 years to improve the lives of this city’s most vulnerable residents.

Ms. Watson has served in many roles throughout her distinguished social work career. However, it is her work with families impacted by domestic violence and trauma that has been the source of her passion and her drive. In her quest to reduce the incidence of violence in families, she accepted a position with My Sister’s Place where she served as Program Manager from 2014 to 2017. It was in this role that she was given the opportunity to develop a batterer’s intervention program utilizing a community model approach developed by Men Stopping Violence in Atlanta, GA. In her current role at Family Matters of Greater Washington, she continues her work with families impacted by trauma and domestic violence by offering intensive intervention services and groups surrounding healthy relationships and parenting.

In 2015, Ms. Watson and Mr. Edward McCurty, L.I.C.S.W., founded Metropolitan Counseling and Consulting (MCC) where she provides individual counseling, virtually and in-person, and offers other services including Batterer Intervention, Psychosocial Assessments, Social Service Consultation, Child Care Provider Training, Safety Planning for Domestic Violence Survivors, Anger Management, and Couples Counseling. It is through MCC that she continues her work with men in the community as a co-facilitator of a batterer intervention group, sponsored by My Sister’s Place and Child and Family Services. The group has found great success, has been featured in articles with BET, and is currently being expanded.

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Kisha Wilkinson-Allure is the former vice president and now the Manager of Crime Victims Services and Resilience Development at Casa Ruby Community Center.

With over 20 years of experience —mostly in the industry of arts and entertainment and image consultant wellness —Ms. Wilkinson-Allure engages in victim advocacy and creating safe spaces for restorative healing. Ms. Wilkinson- Allure’s grassroots approach to building the Resilience Project curriculum is an essential guide for life skills and gives tangible resources for survivors to raise awareness and promote healing. Ms. Wilkinson-Allure has earned certificates in trauma-informed care and wellness 101.

When Ms. Wilkinson-Allure is not working, she likes to travel, experience different cultures and foods, attend live concerts, and spend time with family.

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Dorinda Williams, Ph.D., L.C.S.W.-C., L.I.C.S.W., is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a comprehensive background in infant and early childhood mental health, parent-child attachment, reflective practice, home visitation, family stress and trauma, and military social work. Dr. Williams is passionate about promoting secure parent-child attachments, building on family strengths, and fostering resilience in the context of trauma and loss. In her current role as Assistant Professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Child and Human Development (GUCCHD), Dr. Williams serves as the Faculty FAN Lead for the integration of reflective practice into District of Columbia Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (DC-MIECHV) home visitation.

Prior to her work at GUCCHD, Dr. Williams served as the Director of Military Family Projects at ZERO TO THREE (ZTT). During her tenure at ZTT, Dr. Williams developed print materials, produced audioconferences, authored children’s books on sensitive topics, co-developed a parent app, contributed to curricula, provided trauma-informed training and consultation, and spearheaded new initiatives. Through her earlier work as a Family Advocacy Counselor, as well as a home visitor through the New Parent Support Program, Dr. Williams supported families experiencing or at risk for domestic violence and other traumatic circumstances.

Dr. Williams is trained as a Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) therapist and currently provides pro bono CPP services to families and their young children residing in a transitional/supportive housing program.

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Jessica Kurtz Zagoren, J.D., is a Training Supervisor Attorney in the Guardian ad Litem (GAL) Program at Children’s Law Center (CLC), which provides comprehensive representation for foster youth to achieve safe, loving, and permanent homes. She supervises staff attorneys and carries a limited caseload of neglect, adoption, guardianship, and custody matters. Ms. Kurtz Zagoren joined Children’s Law Center in 2011, working as a senior staff attorney. She currently coordinates CLC’s summer law clerk program. As a law student, Ms. Kurtz Zagoren worked in the Disability Rights Law Clinic as a Guardian ad Litem representing adults with disabilities and children with special education needs and received the Clinical Legal Education Association Outstanding Student Award. She also participated as a fellow in the Marshall Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project, teaching constitutional law to D.C. public high school students. Ms. Kurtz Zagoren received her J.D. from American University Washington College of Law and her B.A. in Early Childhood Education from Clemson University.

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