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2024 SVN Annual Conference Speakers and WorkshopsPlenary SpeakersLillian Grant-Baptiste: SVN's Featured Master Storyteller and Celebrant
Lillian Grant-Baptiste is an informed cultural artist, motivational speaker, and uplifting storyteller. She has more than 30 years of experience as a motivational speaker and professional storyteller. Ms. Grant-Baptiste has presented and performed at several venues throughout the United States. She skillfully gathers and retells stories from diverse cultures, but has a particular fondness and love for folktales from the Gullah/Geechee traditions. Lillian believes that storytelling is a powerful tool that can be utilized to uplift, empower, and ultimately transform individuals, families, and communities. Her signature story is “The People Could Fly”. The story is a moving and beautifully retold folktale that captures how the faith of a people gave them the strength to unify and magically fly above the tribulation and trepidation of slavery. Throughout her performances, she continually promotes a deep and abiding appreciation for and preservation of the stories and folktales from traditions around the world.
Dr. Bertice Berry
Sociologist, Bertice Berry, PhD. is, a best-selling author and award-winning lecturer who has been named Comedian of The Year, Lecturer of the Year, and Entertainer of the Year. She has published 11 best-selling books in both fiction and non-fiction and has won numerous awards and accolades for both her writing and presentations. Berry has had her own nationally syndicated television show and has hosted, interviewed, and made numerous television, documentary, and radio appearances on a variety of diverse venues including The Tonight Show, Oprah Winfrey, Between The Lions, Crossfire, 20-20, NPR, PBS and Comedy Central and CNN.
Berry has used her unique gifts and talents as a writer and ghostwriter for others on a wide range of topics including race and gender issues, sociological studies, stratification, healthcare reform, humor, spirituality, sexuality, slavery, and the abolitionist movement, weight loss and wellness, relationships, servant leadership, transformational leadership, diversity, and love. Berry has led parades, had classrooms named after her, and has been awarded over 10 honorary doctorates. She earned her doctoral degree from Kent State University at the age of 26 and still sees her most fulfilling achievement and role in life as that of mother to her 5 adopted children.
“If you ain’t dead, you ain’t done,” a character in one of Berry’s novels says. Berry believes that every one of us has been given a unique purpose and we must find it and use it to improve first our self and then those we live and work with.
Learn more about Dr. Bertice Berry HERE Vira Salzburg
Vira Salzburg is a Ukrainian-American living in Savannah, Georgia. She is a Program Director for Safety and Resilience programs at Chatham County Safety Net Planning Council. She earned a Master of Science degree in Management, Organizational Behavior & Leadership from Troy University, and a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree in Humanities from Auburn University at Montgomery. Vira is currently studying human behavior at Harvard University. Vira is the developer of the community-based upstream suicide prevention approach that uses evidence-based Mindful-Self Compassion programming. She is a community educator and public speaker on suicide prevention, trauma-informed practices, self-compassion, and resilience and is the 2022 TEDx Savannah presenter. Vira is driven by her passion for creating compassionate, resilient, and sustainable communities by empowering individuals and organizations with the knowledge and skills essential for reaching their full potential. The Honorable John T. Broderick
A former Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court, John Broderick has been on a journey to end the stigma surrounding mental health following his son’s long struggle with mental illness that went undiagnosed and unrecognized for years. As shared in his recent book, Backroads, and Highways: My Journey to Discovery on Mental Health (Dartmouth Health, 2022), Broderick’s mistakes in failing to identify and treat his son’s challenges have inspired him to embark on a campaign to change the culture, stigma, and shame around mental illness that keeps too many people feeling alone and afraid to step out of the shadows. Broderick is currently the Senior Director of External Affairs at Dartmouth Health. Learn more about Judge Broderick's Campaign to Stop the Stigma HERE James Worthy
Eugene Schneeberg
Learn more about the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse HERE WorkshopsInvisible Injuries: Traumatic Brain Injuries, Strangulation, and Domestic Violence Most people associate concussions with football, other sports, and military services. But how could our services transform if we were to consider the brain injury from violence that is impacting a person's ability to successfully participate in our services every day? Come to start the conversation about the impact of brain injury on survivors of violence, and how increasing awareness on brain injury can help you provide more empowering and trauma-informed services. We will discuss a framework developed in Ohio and share free, easy to use tools to help you better serve people impacted by violence and brain injury.
Bio to be provided.
Coming and Goings Exercise: Understanding Domestic Violence Dynamics This exercise will focus on barriers to safety for victims and will enhance participants’ understanding of the multi-faceted considerations that accompany a victim’s decision to remain in an abusive relationship. We develop many judgments about people's decision-making that are filtered through our mindset and experiences. Being less judgmental of people's decisions may enable us to offer resources and provide better services if we understand the whys of decisions and not the decisions themselves 
Judge Reyes served as a District Judge from 1999-2014 in the 10th Judicial District located in Pueblo, Colo. He has presided over criminal, civil, county court appeals, probate, domestic, protection order, and juvenile, along with dependency, and neglect matters. Before becoming a judge, he served as a deputy state public defender for the State of Colorado. Judge Reyes also served as the judicial representative on the Colorado Domestic Violence Offender Management Board. Before becoming a judge, he served as a Deputy State Public Defender for the State of Colorado for 15 years where he also provided training. From October 2021 through January 2023, Judge Reyes served as the Judge in Residence for the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ). At NCJFCJ, he was involved with the Judicial Wellness Initiative, specifically hosting the Monday Morning Moments Wellness webinars along with leading wellness sessions at conferences. Judge Reyes also participated in nationwide training, developing curriculum, and writing on all aspects of the law that impact children, their families, and victims of domestic violence. He has written presentations on Compassionate Leadership, Engaged Justice, and Implied Bias. Since 2002, Judge Reyes has facilitated international and nationwide training to a variety of groups and organizations on issues related to mindfulness, every aspect related to domestic violence, the effects of vicarious trauma on judicial officers, judicial leadership, and federal firearms legislation. He provided training on domestic violence for Colorado Judges and has testified before both houses of the Colorado Legislature on DV-related legislation.
What’s Engagement got to do with it? Given that most parents do not willingly place their children into out-of-home care, they are typically mandated or ordered to participate in services. Additionally, having a child removed by child protective services can cause parents to be viewed as perpetrators, despite their histories of victimization. This makes them "involuntary" participants or clients, which can cause them to merely comply with services versus truly engage with them. As a family time supervisor, supporting parents to engage in family time can help to improve the quality of the experience for the parents, their children, and you. In this workshop you will learn about the concept of an engagement or “the positive involvement in a helping process”, why engagement matters with parents, as well as some strategies to support parental engagement in the context of family time.
Stalking and Supervised Visitation: How to Recognize and Respond to Promote Safety Supervised visitation centers promote safety and security for those engaging in services, but what happens if a participant is using this setting to perpetuate a cycle of abuse and control through stalking behaviors? Stalking is an underrecognized victimization, particularly in intimate partner relationships that have ended, and visitation centers must be prepared to recognize and respond to this potentially lethal behavior. Join the experts with the Stalking, Prevention, and Resource Center to learn how to equip your visitation center with the information and resources to promote safety and security for all.
Before joining SPARC, Jennifer was the Director of Social Change at the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual & Domestic Violence. In this capacity, she managed a variety of projects — including the Idaho Coordinated Response to Sexual & Domestic Violence and the Idaho Victims Assistance Academy – and designed and facilitated state and national training to build the capacity of criminal justice systems. Earlier in her career, Jennifer spent 11 years as an advocate and educator for local domestic violence/sexual assault community-based crisis centers. Her direct service experience includes providing crisis intervention and 24-hour enhanced on-scene advocacy for hospitals and law enforcement agencies. Jennifer graduated from Midland University with a Bachelor of Arts in Youth and Family Ministry and from the University of Cincinnati with a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice. She is an adjunct professor at Boise State University.
Case Study: The Impact of Observations Notes Providers of supervised visitation are typically tasked with objectively reporting their observations of what happens during visits between non-custodial parents and their children. Using a case example when flawed documentation was also misused, this workshop explores the implications of the who, what, where, when, and why of what we capture in the reports we write.
Community Reflections: Building Partnerships for Success Spend this workshop learning how to create meaningful partnerships within the community to create a successful supervised parenting/Access Centre. Learn from seasoned professionals with over 50 years of experience. The research provided will prove that building partnerships is a very necessary step for maintaining a safe service. Learn how to create community protocols for partnerships with DV providers, police, and others. Learn how to connect with different cultural groups and the importance of having a staff team that reflects your community. Learn how to promote your agency, develop press releases, and other promotional ideas. You will leave this workshop with all the tools to build successful partnerships in your community.
A dynamic and creative Senior Manager with a 30-year proven track record of success in the Non-Profit Community Service Sector. Past Chair for the Research Ethics Board Mohawk College. Past President of the Supervised Visitation Network, current Chair of the Ontario Supervised Visitation Network. Current Executive Director of a Social Services agency. Former Professor of Human Services at Mohawk College. Provided consultation and expertise to several organizations including; the Ministry of the Attorney General; the U.S. Justice Department (VAWO); Safe Havens National Review Committee. Completed program reviews, grant reviews, and training in both Canada and the United States including First Nations/Aboriginal groups.
The Power of Showing Up There is such power in being present. Learn how to be present in your community as a sustainable way of building awareness and support for your services. Walk in the steps of Parenting With Grace (PWG) while Chrystal Fischer, Founder, and Executive Director, explains how she conceptualized, located, and remodeled a supervised visitation center in their community.
Not Just for Snowstorms: Exploring the Use of Supervised Virtual Visitation Post-Pandemic Join us for an insightful workshop that delves into the untapped benefits of providing virtual supervised parenting services. As the world adapted during the pandemic, many service providers embraced virtual supervision as part of their modified approach. However, as restrictions lifted, a return to traditional models became commonplace, with virtual services reserved primarily for emergencies like snowstorms.
Michael is a Board Member of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), Access for Parents and Children of Ontario (APCO), Family Mediation Canada (FMC), and the Canadian Coalition of the Rights of the Child (CCRC). He is an Associate Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers, a Lifetime Member of Family Mediation Canada, an Associate Member of the Ontario Association of Family Mediation, and an Editorial Board Member for the Family Court Review and the Journal of Divorce and Remarriage and serves as a reviewer for both national grant competitions (SSHRC, CHIR, IODE) and for peer-reviewed journals. Michael has over 200 publications, including books, book chapters, government reports, systematic reviews, and peer-reviewed journal articles. In 2019, Michael was awarded the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts’ Stanley Cohen Distinguished Research Award, sponsored by the Oregon Family Institute.
A graduate of Brock University, Daniella earned an Honors Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, with a concentration in Criminology. She also possesses a Certificate in Mediation from Herzing College. Previously, she was a Board Member of the Supervised Visitation Network International Board of Directors and served as Co-Chair of the Supervised Visitation Network Ontario Chapter. Beyond her primary role, Daniella is a proficient facilitator. She is a certified Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training Instructor (ASIST) and an Anti-Racism/Anti-Oppression Facilitator. Daniella has a passion for advocacy and positive social change.
Loving and Learning with Parenting Education A growing trend in supervised visitation services is centered around establishing a program that offers parent education in addition to visitation services. The biggest challenge is implementation. Education opportunities can improve outcomes for the family once they transition out of services. Join Emilyn Haugen and Lori Wymore-Kirkland, for a presentation that will identify how service providers can successfully implement educational coaching. We will review simple strategies that allowed our programs in Minnesota and Virginia to incorporate educational support into services while creating sustainability. We will discuss learning hooks and adult learning styles. We will review a few curriculums available and look at tools available that enhance any curriculum.
Turning Hearts: Fostering Authentic Father Engagement and Transformative Provider Relationships In an era of ever-changing family dynamics, how can we actively turn the hearts of fathers back to their children, and reorient service providers' focus to genuinely meet families' needs? Join us for an electrifying session that promises more than just theory—it's about initiating change on a monumental scale. Led by the renowned author and Executive Director of InvolvedDad and Family Matters, this workshop integrates groundbreaking insights from the book "Broken Boys Become Broken Men" into actionable strategies for transformative impact. Attendees will walk away with a revolutionary "Turning Hearts" framework guide, tangible tools to re-engage fathers, and a roadmap for scaling change in supervised visitation and beyond. Don't miss this game-changing approach to modern fatherhood and service provision. Unlock the potential to turn hearts and transform lives.
A graduate and former football player at Michigan State University, Shon learned how to compete and excel at a very high level. He has a keen way of turning what he touches into gold. His straight-from-the-heart passion and high motivate audiences to step beyond their limitations and step into their greatness and dominate their lanes. Shon is the author of "From Average 2 Elite," “Man 2 Man,” and "Dreaming With A Purpose." He uses these materials to inspire and empower individuals at universities, high schools, businesses, and various treatment and holistic facilities. Shon focuses his attention on empowering and motivating men to maximize their manhood by self-actualization and re-discovering their true identity. Shon serves as a presenter, trainer, and consultant on issues related to responsible fatherhood. In 2015 Shon created InvolvedDad (ID), a non-profit (501c3) organization that focuses its efforts on building stronger families and communities through the promotion of responsible fatherhood.
Facing Client Death: Emotions & Ethics For many helping professionals, considering the death of a client brings with it a myriad of reactions. In this interactive session, participants will have the opportunity to engage with what is likely an experience many will have in their careers. Taking the time to explore our own emotions and fears, identify the parameters of our roles, and learn about grieving ethically can help us to better navigate this area of client and staff care. We will explore concepts of loss, grief, and bereavement, as well as how vicarious trauma can impact how we care for clients and each other in the wake of a client's death.
Drawing upon her experience as a non-profit founder and leader, Monica also consults with and guides organizations on creating a shared vision, preventing and healing from organizational trauma, building cultures of care for clients and staff, and implementing trauma-informed care policies and practices. Monica is a community advocate and activist for the rights of sexual assault survivors. She has held several leadership positions including an officer for the Dallas County Sexual Assault Coalition, a founding board member of the Dallas Area Rape Crisis Center, and a former President of the Board of the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault. In 2014, Monica was awarded The Profiles in Leadership Award at the Southern Methodist University Women’s Symposium for her significant impact on the city of Dallas and the quality of life for women overall. In 2018, Monica was awarded the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault Vivian Miles Lifetime Achievement Award for her lifetime commitment to ending sexual violence and providing support to survivors. In 2019, Monica was a recipient of the National Sexual Assault Resource Center Visionary Voice Award recognizing the creativity and hard work of individuals around the country who have demonstrated outstanding work to end sexual violence. Monica holds a Master of Science Degree from New Mexico State University and is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Board Approved Supervisor.
The Executive Director & Board Chair Partnership Leading an organization is a challenging undertaking. The Executive Director and Board Chair are partners in guiding an agency forward. In this session, participants will discuss: strategies to nurture a positive relationship between these co-leaders; identifying distinct roles for each; and what to focus their attention on to move the organization toward its mission and vision.
What comes next? Supporting Families Making the Transition out of Supervised Contacts Howard Yaffe and Lori Wymore-Kirkland, experienced Parenting Time Professionals, will examine and discuss the increased need to support parents as they follow court orders for supervised exchanges, either as a starting point for parent/child contacts or as a transition from fully supervised visits. Recent tragedies will be reviewed that highlight the need for these exchanges to be done by professionals. Additional “Transitional Services” will be presented that parenting time professions can provide families as they make the move towards unsupervised parent/child contacts. Well-established policies and procedures will be presented to enhance each participant’s ability to implement and enhance their services to provide the safest, smoothest, and most supportive, supervised exchanges for each child and each parent we work with. Case scenarios will be examined to problem-solve issues such as how to support a reluctant child, what belongings can travel with the children back and forth, how to handle emergencies during visits, and what will be communicated between parents before, during, and after visits. The support of parenting professionals can be quite powerful for parents as they work towards building a healthier co-parenting process and can often help families stay out of court. Participants will have the opportunity to share their views, suggestions, and dilemmas as well.
Tough Conversations with Staff Have you ever had an employee that just borders on the edge of a write-up, but never really crosses over? Or the employee that does a great job and then suddenly loses all motivation? How about the employee who thinks they are “excellent” at everything when really they are just doing the basics of the job? This session will cover how to have those tough conversations with staff and what you as a Supervisor should be documenting. We will cover developing and implementing improvement plans and when to take someone off one. We will discuss the importance of an annual review. We will round out this session with a case review that provides the participants with the opportunity to practice what we have discussed.
Jen is also a consultant on strategic planning, fundraising, and marketing. Important Links:Conference Rates (Virtual, In person, Member or Non Member) |
Mr. Eugene Schneeberg oversees ICF’s outreach and engagement efforts as part of the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse. He also provides subject matter expertise to ICF’s Healthy Marriage & Responsible Fatherhood portfolio. He has more than 20 years of experience working in the criminal and juvenile justice arena. Prior to joining ICF, Mr. Schneeberg served as a Presidential Appointee as the Director of the Center for Faith-Based & Neighborhood Partnerships for the U.S. Department of Justice. In this capacity, Eugene coordinated between the White House and the Department of Justice's efforts to outreach and partner with faith-based and other non-profits organizations around the country. During his time at the Justice Department, he was responsible for launching over $20 Million in new OJJDP programs to support Prisoner Reentry, Children of Incarcerated Parents, Youth Opportunity AmeriCorps, and Strengthening Relationships between Young Fathers and their Children. Prior to serving at the Justice Department, he worked as the Director of Operations for Straight Ahead Ministries, a national faith-based juvenile justice non-profit in Greater Boston. He received his undergraduate degree in Urban Affairs from Boston University. Eugene was raised in Roxbury, Massachusetts and is married to his wife Deitra. They have three sons Eugene Jr., Elijah, Franklin and one daughter, Genesis.
Laura works with the Children's Administration and others to bring innovative workforce practice improvements to support family reunification. As part of this work, she assists the Children's Administration in helping to measure the effectiveness of these interventions. Her previous evaluation experience includes work with the Sound Families Initiative at the Northwest Institute for Children and Families, an Initiative to help end homelessness among families with children. Early in her career, Laura worked for several Head Start Programs, providing family support and parenting services to low-income families with young children. Laura has a bachelor's degree in psychology from Loyola University Chicago and a master's in social work from the University of Washington.
Jennifer Landhuis (M.S.) brings over 25 years of experience as an educator and advocate on the issues of stalking, domestic violence, and sexual assault to her current position as the Director of the Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center (SPARC). As Director, she oversees the development and implementation of multi-faceted resources, programs, and publications on stalking, collaborates with national partners, and provides robust training to criminal justice and victim service professionals. Jennifer has led the SPARC initiative since its founding at AEquitas in 2017.
Hera McLeod is a Washington, DC-based writer, speaker, tech leader, and civil rights activist. She is known for speaking out against the silence, particularly on topics of civil rights for women and children, domestic violence, and Family Court reform. After the tragic murder of her son Prince, she became a proud Single Mother by Choice to two little girls - Estela and Isabel. She was a 2017 Jack Straw Writing Fellow and has published OpEd pieces in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Seattle Times, and The Huffington Post. Hera has also made several television appearances, advocating about social issues, including The Today Show, Crime Watch Daily, Citizen PI (Discovery +), and several local news affiliates for ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox. She has testified before the United States Congress and Maryland State Legislation which has led to reformative legislation in the areas of Family Court and Child Protection. She is a co-founder of Mocha SMC, an online community for Black Single Mothers by Choice, and co-hosts the podcast "Seeking Different" with her precocious nine-year-old daughter Estela.
Executive Director Joe Nullet, a graduate of Harvard University, has led the Supervised Visitation Network since December 2007. Before that, he was the Executive Director of the Family Nurturing Center of Florida, a Supervised Visitation and Parent Education program in Jacksonville, Florida. During his tenure at FNC, he led the organization through an exciting growth period, helped reshape the organizational culture and design to better serve the needs of clients, and has served locally and nationally on numerous task forces, advisory boards, and collaborative partnerships as an expert in the field of supervised visitation and has trained providers in Great Britain, Japan, and Singapore. Joe also served on the statewide Committee that developed an innovative Supervised Visitation database and as a member of the State of Florida Standards Committee which was formed as a result of legislation to establish statewide standards. Joe has completed Graduate Coursework at the Kennedy School of Government, a Nonprofit Executive Program at the Harvard Business School, as well as completing the Jessie Ball duPont Fund's Community Coaches Program.
Beth Pearson is the Program Manager for Dalhousie Place Supervised Access Centre funded by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. Beth has worked at Dalhousie Place for the past 15 years in a variety of roles, including Family Supervisor as well as Volunteer Coordinator. Previously, she worked for Good Shepherd Centre, supporting and advocating for at-risk youth. She is the current Past President of BRAVA (Brant Regional Association of Volunteer Administrators) and has spent over a decade promoting and supporting volunteerism in Brant and Brant County. Beth is a graduate of Mohawk College (Social Service Worker) and the University of Waterloo (Social Development Studies, Bachelor of Social Work, and Master of Social Work). 
Chrystal has an extensive background in business management, human resources, and team leadership. Since 2022 she has participated in numerous trainings in the field of Supervised Visitation Services Management. A dynamic leader and advocate for families going through tough times. She has found her true calling as the Executive Director of Parenting with Grace. She is passionate about providing safety for all children - physically and emotionally - while nurturing their bond with parents and guardians. She believes that access to relationship-based parenting education will help families build their skills and abilities to strengthen healthy familial relationships. 
Michael A. Saini joined the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work in 2008 as an Assistant Professor. He is now a Professor and holds the endowed Factor-Inwentash Chair in Law and Social Work, and is the Co-Director of the Combined J.D. and M.S.W. program with the Law Faculty. Michael’s scholarship addresses the intersections of law and social work and the advancement of children's and families’ well-being in systems governed by law. Michael has generated new knowledge regarding the assessment of coparenting; the complexity of strained parent-child relationships; the impact of interparental conflict; the use of technology to support parent-child relationships; the crossover cases of child protection and child custody disputes; and social-work perspectives on law as socially embedded phenomena. For 19 years, Michael conducted parenting plan evaluations and assisted children’s counsel for the Office of the Children’s Lawyer, Ministry of the Attorney General in Ontario. He is currently the co-PI on four external grants 1. Co-parenting across Family Structures, Phase 2; 2. Enhancing the Interdisciplinary Study of Law by Future Social Workers at Hong Kong University (HKU) through Pedagogical Innovations and Experiential Learning; 3. L’expérience de la séparation parentale et de la recomposition familiale dans la société québécoise: acteurs, enjeux et parcours Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada. Subventions de partenariat; and 4. Access to effective family justice: Improving outcomes for children and parents.
Daniella Bozur serves as the Manager of Supervised Parenting Services at YWCA Hamilton located in Ontario, Canada. With over 16 years of expertise in supervised parenting, she oversees the provincially funded program for the City of Hamilton, administered by the Ministry of Children, Community, and Social Services. Additionally, she helms a fee-for-service initiative, Access Alternatives, which she pioneered.
Emilyn
Lori Wymore- Kirkland is a certified family mediator who hold a master’s in public administration from George Mason University. Over more than 30 years she has had the experience of working with families and children in education and social service positions. She has witnessed first-hand the importance of supporting healthy parent-child relationships through adopting a trauma-informed approach to human services. Throughout her career, Lori has worked in Texas, New Mexico, Maryland, and Virginia as a social worker, parent educator, and human services mental health worker and was the director of an early education program for over ten years. Since 2007, Lori has been the program developer and manager of the Stronger Together Supervised Visitation and Exchange Center for the Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. This program was developed at the request of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Lori took the Stronger Together from concept to implementation through collaboration with Juvenile Court Judges and countywide stakeholders. She is an active member of the Fairfax County Domestic Violence Network and collaborates with multiple Fairfax County teams. Lori is strongly supported through the local Fairfax Interagency and Community Advisory Board developed to support responsive community services for supervised visitation. The advisory board is made up of 25 members from across Fairfax County agencies, JDRDC Judges, local law enforcement, and private community partners. Lori provides training and mentorship to local community partners, volunteers, interns, and supervised visitation providers in the DC metro area.
Shon Hart is a premier keynote speaker, trainer, and leading authority on fatherhood and personal improvement. He energizes, motivates, and empowers diverse audiences to take action and take control. When he's done with his audiences, they are ready to meet the challenges of the world around them and unearth the treasures that lay beneath them. Shon is a dynamic personality and a highly sought-after inspirational resource for schools, businesses, non-profit organizations, and professional circles. 
Monica L. Urbaniak is a therapist, trainer, and consultant specializing in sexual assault and trauma. For over eighteen years, Monica has worked with survivors of trauma, helping them heal through therapy and support. Additionally, she dedicates time to training clinicians, advocates, and community members on issues related to sexual violence, including effective treatment practices, principles of trauma-informed survivor-centered care, the impact of trauma on survivors and systems, and social/cultural issues in sexual assault treatment and advocacy.
Aileen has led organizations for over 25 years including serving as Executive Director of The Maryland SPCA and Susan G. Komen Coastal Georgia. Under her leadership in Baltimore, the SPCA became no-kill, conducted a capital campaign to build a new center, and opened businesses for pet wellness, spay/neuter, and adoption. Aileen also formed and chaired an alliance of fellow organizations and served on other local Boards in Maryland before moving to Savannah. In the South, Aileen served as Executive Director of Susan G. Komen for seven years and led the expansion of its programs and services. Aileen has led teams through transitions including improving complex operations, developing agency partnerships, evolving philosophies, communications challenges, crisis management, building new businesses, conducting major campaigns, expanding programs, and developing team cultures. She volunteers at SCORE and the United Way of the Coastal Empire. She and her husband, a teacher and writer, live in Ardsley Park with their adopted street cat Gus.
Howard Yaffe is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker with more than 30 years of experience in various settings. Most of his clinical work has focused on supporting children and families and has been the director of Meeting Place, one of the first supervised visitation programs in Massachusetts, for approximately 20 years. He is currently the program director of Domestic Violence Services for Riverside Community Care, a large social service agency in the Boston area. This position includes full oversight of Meeting Place as well as two other domestic violence-related programs. In his private practice, he focuses on supporting children and families through the divorce process and has recently taught a High-Conflict Co-parenting class through William James College of Psychology. He is returning to the SVN Board of Directors after, a one-year hiatus and has presented and/or facilitated several webinars, workshops and trainings over his years with SVN and has had a role in writing and editing modules of the SVN Training Manual. He is happy to lend his support to SVN during this challenging time.
As the Executive Director of Safe Avenues, Jen is responsible for providing leadership and oversight of all organizational programming and internal operating functions as well as fulfilling the mission and vision of the agency. Johnson is also proactive in expanding and strengthening the relationships the agency has within the communities it serves and is responsible for mobilizing the community to take action on projects and initiatives identified by the Board of Directors.