Patti identifies as a Latina with Mexican roots and has been in executive leadership at Esperanza United, formerly Casa de Esperanza, since 2002, where she oversees all organizational programming, administrative and financial operations, and key collaborations and partnerships. She is passionate about developing the strengths of Latin@s and is recognized as a national expert on leadership development.

Haley Wightman joined Esperanza United as the Director of Operations in July 2023. With over 10 years of experience spanning the breadth of the nonprofit sector, a Master of Public Administration, and a passion for systems thinking, they provide operational leadership to support Esperanza United’s staff in working more effectively and efficiently.

Rosario de la Torre came to the United States from Mexico in 1988 and is a highly experienced and respected advocate in the fields of domestic violence and sexual assault. She was a primary contributor to the development of the Latina Advocacy Framework and provides training to other advocates and organizations across the country.

Annika Gifford has worked to end gender-based violence internationally and in the US for over twenty years. She’s a strategic thinker, solutions-finder, and community and bridge-builder who is passionate about social and systems transformation.

Director of Human Resources

Dani Garcia has over thirteen years of Human Resources experience, directing the full employee life cycle, from talent acquisition and benefits to exit interviews and employee retention, from training and development to performance management with a specialization in employee relations. She has worked in several industries, which has given her extensive inclusive experience, knowledge, and insight to draw from regarding organizational culture, processes, policies, change management, and best of all working with a wide array of fantastic people and backgrounds!

She has location and cultural ties to Esperanza United – she was born and raised on the East Side of St. Paul, attended Johnson High School, and enjoyed living and growing up in a vibrant, diverse community. As a Latina, she has personally experienced and seen the need for Esperanza United’s important offering of services, work, and mission.

Olivia Garcia, Ph.D. is the Director of Public Policy at Esperanza United. Prior to her current position, she served as an American Political Science Association (APSA) 2021-2022 Congressional Fellow and received the honor of a William A. Steiger Fund for Legislative Studies. Dr. Garcia completed her doctorate in Political Science from UCLA with an emphasis on Race and Ethnicity Politics, Gender Studies and Political Theory. Her research focuses on the Violence Against Women Act and the ways in which the theory of intersectionality is absent from policy, although it is a necessary consideration when on-the-ground advocates are helping survivors of intimate partner violence. Dr. Garcia is an affiliate lecturer for the University of Colorado Denver Graduate School of Public Affairs and University of Texas at El Paso’s Criminal Justice and Chicano Studies Departments.

Cristina Escobar is a third-generation Chicana and has helped lead feminist causes for over a dozen years. A writer and activist, she specializes in gender-based violence prevention, media representation, and women and politics.

Paula Gomez-Stordy has 30 years of experience working in the field of gender-based violence, of which 20 were in nonprofit management. She oversees Esperanza United’s Training and Technical Assistance Department to enhance culturally responsive approaches and capacity for both mainstream and culturally specific organizations across the country. Before her current position, she served as a consultant supporting the organizational development of nonprofit organizations through executive coaching and training. She taught “Social Justice: Theory and Practice” at Merrimack College, where she researched the leadership of women of color. In 2010, she co-founded the Massachusetts Women of Color Network. Her expertise derives from decades of working in courts, hospitals, shelters, and community-based programs to enhance the safety, health, and inclusion of individuals and families.

Lillie Macias is the granddaughter of Mexican American farmworkers and directs Esperanza United’s research and evaluation center through a partnership with the Department of Psychology at The University of New Haven, Connecticut. She graduated with a Ph.D. in Clinical-Community Psychology from Georgia State University and completed pre-doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships at Yale University. She specializes in trauma-informed and culturally relevant research and evaluation.

Carmen Alvarez is an Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and a family nursing practitioner with Chase Brexton Health Care. She is a fellow with the American Academy of Nursing, as well as a SOURCE Service-Learning Faculty Fellow, and New Nurse Faculty Fellow from the Maryland Higher Education Commission. She completed her Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan School of Nursing and her post-doctoral fellowship at George Washington University School of Public Health. Her research focuses on interventions that promote good health and reduce the risk of victimization for Latina and other ethnic minority women who are survivors of trauma, particularly IPV and ACEs. Her other areas of expertise and interest include women’s health, trauma, and health promotion.

Walter DeKeseredy is the Anne Dean Carlson Endowed Chair of Social Sciences, the Director of the Research Center on Violence, and a Sociology Professor at West Virginia University. He has received many awards over the course of his decades-long career, including the Victimology Impact Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences’ Victimology section and the Robert Jerrin Book Award by the American Society of Criminology’s Division on Victimology, both in 2017. In 2015, he was awarded the Career Achievement Award from the American Society of Criminology’s Division on Victimology, and the year prior he was awarded the Critical Criminal Justice Scholar Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences’ Critical Criminal Justice Section. His research focuses on violence against women, the relationship between poverty and crime, and violent crime in rural areas. His teaching takes a broader approach with a focus on criminology and the criminal justice system, social justice and control, and deviance among other topics. His leisure interests include working out at the gym, golfing, and walking.

Rosa Gonzalez-Guarda is an associate professor and Dorothy L. Powell Term Chair of Nursing at Duke University School of Nursing and the Co-Director of the Community Engagement Core for Duke’s Clinical Translational Science Institute. Prior, she worked as an associate professor at the University of Miami School of Nursing & Health Studies where she helped lead research training and community engagement addressing health disparities. She has provided expertise and leadership in national efforts addressing nursing, health disparities, violence, and population. For example, she served on the Institute of Medicine Committee on the Future of Nursing (2010), the National Advisory Council on Nursing Education and Practice (NACNEP, 2012-2016), and Chaired the Violence Expert Panel for the American Academy of Nursing. She has received numerous awards including being inducted as fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (2014), the Excellence in Research Awards by the Nursing Network on Violence Against women (2020), and the Midcareer Scientist Award by DUSON (2021). Her research focuses on the health disparities experienced by racial and ethnic minorities, with a particular focus on addressing the substance abuse, intimate partner violence, HIV, and mental health syndemic among Latin@ immigrants.

Xavier L. Guadalupe-Diaz, Ph.D. is Associate Professor and the Criminology Program Coordinator at Framingham State University. Dr. Guadalupe-Diaz’s research focuses on various aspects of intimate partner and sexual violence within lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities including help-seeking, police disclosure, transgender victimization, risk factors, emotional abuse, and identity. He’s published numerous scholarly articles and chapters in journals such as the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Violence Against Women, Deviant Behavior, and the Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma. He’s the author of the first scholarly book on transgender intimate partner violence entitled: Transgressed: Intimate Partner Violence in Transgender Lives by New York University Press (NYU Press) and is co-editor of Transgender Intimate Partner Violence: A Comprehensive Introduction also by NYU Press. Dr. Guadalupe-Diaz was recognized with his university’s Distinguished Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activity. His ongoing research includes theoretical work on queer(ing) #MeToo, abolition and queer(ing) victimology, and examinations of polyvictimization and IPV help-seeking among transgender survivors of IPV in the US transgender survey. Dr. Guadalupe-Diaz serves on the Editorial Board of the SAGE journal Violence Against Women and is a Crime and Research Justice Alliance expert on violence in intimate relationships.

Dr. Gabriel Kuperminc is a professor of psychology and public health at Georgia State University. He also chairs the Community Psychology doctoral program as well as the university’s interdisciplinary initiative on resilient youth and is a faculty member for the Developmental Psychology program. Dr. Kuperminc is a member of the American Public Health Association and American Psychological Association, specifically the Society for Community Research and Action, Division 27 of the American Psychological Association. He is also a fellow for the American Psychological Association (2007), the Society for Applied Anthropology (2007), and the Society for Community Research and Action (2006). His research focuses on resilience and community interventions for positive adolescent development, particularly in immigrant and Latin@ families. Dr. Kuperminc’ s research interests include youth mentoring, youth development, community health interventions, and immigration. He has served as an expert panelist on the promotion of adolescent sexual health for the Center of Disease Control and Prevention. Outside of his work, Dr. Kuperminc enjoys photography, hiking, travelling, and spending time with his family.

Susana Mariscal, Ph.D., MSW is an associate professor of social work at Indiana University. She has studied Latinx teen dating violence; health and service access disparities among Latinx children and families; and resilience among youth exposed to domestic violence, identifying racial/ethnic differences in protective factors. Her research has been funded by the U.S. Children’s Bureau, U.S. Administration for Children & Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; the Office for Victims of Crime, U.S. Department of Justice; SAMHSA; UNICEF; Fulbright-LASPAU; and Fulbright-Alumni Engagement in Bolivia, among others. As a leader in the areas of resilience and strengths-based maltreatment prevention, Dr. Mariscal was invited to serve as an affiliated research scientist with the Life Paths Research Center in Tennessee. Her current project “Strengthening Indiana Families” (SIF) focuses on the implementation and evaluation of a continuum of community-based services and supports designed to promote healthy family environments and bolster the safety and well-being of families in central Indiana. With a particular focus on promoting racial equity, SIF is implementing four family resource centers to enhance family support, positive childhood experiences, and protective factors against maltreatment. This project is funded by a five-year, $2.85 million grant from the U.S. Children’s Bureau in the Administration for Children and Families.

Dr. Chiara Sabina is an associate professor in the Department of Women and Gender Studies at Delaware University. She previously worked as an associate professor of Community Psychology at Pennsylvania State University School of Behavioral Sciences and Education, as well as at the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire. She is a Member at Large for Society for Community Research and Action, Division 27 of the American Psychological Association, and is Senior Consulting Editor for Psychology of Violence. Dr. Sabina received her PhD in Applied Social Psychology from Loyola University of Chicago. She has been awarded grants by the Fulbright Scholar Program, National Institute of Justice, Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, Vision of Hope, and National Sexual Violence Resource Center. Her research focuses on the victimization of Latin@ adolescents, including gender-based violence and teen dating violence, as well as culturally sensitive and informed interventions.

Michelle Alejandra Silva is a licensed clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine. She is also Director of the Connecticut Latino Behavioral Health System, an academic-community partnership designed to expand access to behavioral health services for the monolingual Spanish-speaking community of greater New Haven. Dr. Silva’s work bridges practice, education, and clinical research, and she engages in multidisciplinary collaborations designed to promote health equity among vulnerable and underserved communities. She provides outpatient clinical services to children, adolescents, and adults; conducts psychological evaluations for asylum seekers; and supervises health professional students, providing psychoeducational interventions through the Behavioral Health Department at the Yale HAVEN Free Clinic. Her areas of professional interest include immigration and trauma, community-based mental health promotion for immigrant and refugee populations, and the role of social justice and advocacy in professional training and practice.

Kevin Swartout is a professor of psychology and public health, co-director of graduate studies at Georgia State University, and director of the Violence Against Women Prevention Lab. He also currently serves on the University Student Sexual Misconduct Board, as an executive member at the GSU Center for Interpersonal Violence, and chair of the Administrator-Researcher Campus Climate Collaborative. Kevin has received early career awards from Georgia State University and the Southeastern Psychological Association, and he was named Consulting Editor of the Year for Psychology of Violence in 2017. He graduated with a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2011.Kevin’s research interests and specializations include the social correlates of violence, with an emphasis on sexual violence, how alcohol and substance use relate to violent behaviors, and longitudinal data analysis using latent variable and multilevel regression techniques.  In his time away from research, teaching, and service roles related to violence prevention, Kevin enjoys hiking and biking with family and friends.

Born in El Paso, Texas, Margarita Guzman is a queer Chicana and survivor of intimate partner violence. She received her bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and her law degree from George Washington University School of Law. Upon graduating from law school, Margarita established a legal clinic for indigent Spanish-speaking mental health consumers in New York City. Her legal practice later focused on representing primarily Latin@ immigrant survivors of domestic violence in housing, family and immigration legal matters, as well as teen and young adult survivors. In 2013, she entered civil service at the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence, where she ran the Bronx Family Justice Center until joining the Violence Intervention Program (VIP) in 2017. She currently serves as Executive Director at VIP, working with largely immigrant and low-income Latin@ survivors of domestic and sexual violence. As a survivor and a lawyer, Margarita has lived the limits of criminal and civil legal responses to violence and seeks to increase restorative and transformative justice practices to support survivors and change abusive behaviors.

Sandra Henriquez is the Chief Executive Officer of ValorUS (formerly the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault or CALCASA) and has more than two decades of experience working in social services, of which 16 years were in nonprofit management. She had demonstrated profound leadership as the former Associate Director for Intervention Programs at the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women (now Peace Over Violence). She also served on ValorUS’s board of directors for more than a decade. Her participation on the board was essential to the Coalition’s reorganization, hiring of staff, and the development in policies and procedures.

Amy Hinojosa is President and CEO of MANA, A National Latina Organization, the oldest and largest Latina membership organization in the United States, and its sister organization, the MANA Action Fund. Since 1974, MANA has been a leading voice for Latinas in the areas of health, financial well-being, education and technology access, environmental concerns, civil rights and diversity and inclusion. Amy currently serves on the Boards of Directors for the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR), the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA), and is Vice Chair of the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP).Amy Hinojosa

Sonia Parras Konrad is an activist, attorney, and educator on legal remedies for immigrant survivors of gender violence and labor trafficking. Through her work Sonia strives to promote the organization and leadership of immigrant survivors. She is a writer and a national and international speaker on women’s rights. Sonia has founded and co-founded numerous nonprofit organizations including The Legal Clinic of ICADV, LUNA, LLI of Greater Des Moines and ASISTA, a nationwide organization that provides immigration technical assistance to front line advocates and attorneys. Among other awards, Sonia is the recipient of the 2009 Michael Maggio Memorial Pro Bono Award for her work in Postville and is involved in rapid-response teams through her work as pro bono coordinator in the Iowa-Nebraska AILA chapter. She is now coordinating an innovative pilot project-free legal clinic “ Almas Valientes” (Advocates and Lawyers Movement for the Advancement of Survivors Valientes!”).

Mónica Ramírez is an attorney, author, and activist. She is the founder of Justice for Migrant Women and co-founder of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, The Latinx House, and Poderistas. Mónica has received numerous awards, including Harvard Kennedy School’s first Gender Equity Changemaker Award, Feminist Majority’s Global Women’s Rights Award, and the Smithsonian’s 2018 Ingenuity Award. She was named to Forbes Mexico’s 100 Most Powerful Women’s 2018 list and TIME Magazine included her in its 2021 TIME100 Next list. Mónica is also an inaugural member of the Ford Global Fellowship. She lives in Ohio with her husband and son.

Carmen Williams was appointed to the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice appointed by Governor Glen Youngkin on March 30, 2022.  Carmen is responsible for assisting the state’s Policy Division in promoting victims’ rights to the Department and ensuring the Department is complying with the rights of victims and developing programs consistent with these goals, including providing resources to victims, helping to facilitate victim notification process, and updating website and associated materials. Carmen represents the view of victims during the resident review process. Also, she assists the Policy Division in ensuring the Department is mindful of language access in its communications, including legal forms, the website, and other required documentation. Carmen acts as a representative of the Department on various intergovernmental workgroups and committees, including the Board of Juvenile Justice, DJJ’s Judicial Liaison group, and the Commonwealth’s Attorney Liaison group. Carmen was appointed to the Virginia Parole Board by Governor Youngkin on January 15, 2022.

Director of State Program Technical Assistance and Training for IOWA CASA (Coalition Against Sexual Assault) (she/her/hers)

Since April 2008, Elizabeth Balcarcel has worked for the Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault (IowaCASA). During this time, she has held different roles, such as helping undocumented victims safety plan and apply for U Visas and providing training and technical assistance (TTA) in Latino services to state sexual violence centers and other community-based organizations. At IowaCASA national project’s Rural Technical Assistance, she provided TTA to improve access and service to Latino survivors. As director of the State TTA Program, she oversees coordinating the TTA team for the state’s sexual violence centers. Prior to IowaCASA, she worked as a domestic violence counselor and prevention program coordinator at one of the local culturally relevant crisis centers. She has aided survivors of sexual assault with one-on-one counseling, support groups, and safety plans for undocumented survivors. She also provides sexual abuse trainings in Spanish for community leaders and has presented workshops and keynote plenaries at state and national conferences. In September 2019, she received the Passport of Prosperity Award and in October 2020 received the Iowa Latino Hall of Fame recognition.

Senior Technical Assistance and Resource Specialist at the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV) (she/her/hers).

Patricia Branco has been a social justice advocate for over 20 years. Drawing upon her lived experiences as an Afro-Latina immigrant, her work is informed by an anti-oppression and intersectional lens. With the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV) since 2003, she responds to requests from a broad-based constituency for information, technical assistance, and training on a full range of topics related to gender-based violence. She engages in the identification and development of resources to support NRCDV’s capacity-building efforts and has been the lead staff in the development of several NRCDV publications. Her background includes anti-violence work in Brazil at the intersections of anti-Blackness, poverty, and police brutality. She has a Master’s in Community Psychology and Social Change from Pennsylvania State University.

Meetings with Feelings, PLLC (they/elle, she/ella)

Shakira Cruz Román is a queer puertorriqueña politicized healer, mental health therapist, clinical supervisor, and facilitator currently living on the traditional lands of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People past and present. They work from a liberation, health, trauma-informed, and transformative perspective that seeks to integrate the impacts of systems of oppression, cultural influences, and personal experiences into the liberatory and healing journeys of her clients. She has nearly two decades of experience working with survivors of trauma, people of color, and the LGBTQA+ communities through advocacy, clinical supervision, individual and group therapy, mentorship, and organizational planning. When not facilitating feelings, they can be found at brunch, riding their bike, hanging out with their cat, or laughing with chosen friends and family.

CEO and Co-Founder of Colectiva Wellness & Healing (she/they)

Elizabeth Delgado is an international public speaker, employee well-being strategist, appreciative inquiry and workshop facilitator, healer, resilience coach, community organizer, and activist. She has 20 year experience in earth-based and healing practices, having worked with many community members on their path towards healing and liberation.

Combined with 20+ years of human resources, employee wellness management, community theater, community organizing, and intersectional activism, they specifically focus on gender-based violence advocacy, prevention, and artivism as the co-founder of V-Day Lawrence since 2008. She currently served on the National Council for Technical & Training Assistance for Esperanza United. They are also the co-founder of Rainbow Alianza in Lawrence, creating safe and inclusive spaces and events for LGBTQ+ people. She also recently joined the National Care-Team and Facilitators Group for Creating Freedom Movements.

They bring an authentic, personable, and intersectional approach to her work. Working with C-Level executives in various fields such as healthcare, government, education, and nonprofits. She has a vast knowledge of these workforce cultures and their employee wellness needs. Blending her unique knowledge and skills in HR management, activism, and the healing arts, she birthed Colectiva Wellness & Healing.

They identify as a Taino-Borikua, queer, disabled, survivor of gender-based violence, and a sole parent raising her teen daughter – they love to cook and travel together. She is committed to sharing her knowledge, resources, and gifts with the world through the lens of decolonization, social, disability, and healing justice.

Men’s Engagement Specialist at Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (TAASA) (he/him/his)

Emiliano Diaz de Leon has been providing training and technical assistance on sexual violence primary prevention to rape crisis centers across Texas. Hiswork as a men’s engagement specialist, along with his past experiences, have led to invitations to speak and provide training to universities, conferences, and community events throughout the country.

Chief of Programs at Tahirih, (she/her/hers)

Maricarmen Garza joined Tahirih in 2021 as the chief of programs. She previously held a 21-year tenure with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA). As a TRLA attorney, she focused her legal practice on assisting survivors of gender-based violence with complex family law and victim privacy matters. She initiated and managed one of TRLA’s most successful, and longstanding projects of the organization: the Legal Alliance for Survivors of Abuse (LASA). LASA is a unique collaboration between TRLA and domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers in the 68 Texas counties served by TRLA. She currently chairs the American Bar Association’s Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence and serves on the Board of the Texas Council on Family Violence, Texas’ statewide domestic violence coalition.

Joy Cultivator, Trainer, & Consultant at Collective Capacity LLC (she/her/hers)

Jessica Moreno grew up in the field as a youth activist with a local domestic violence program in Texas. Over the past 20 years, she’s worked for local, state, and national organizations uniting her experience in facilitation, adolescent counseling, program management, evaluation, and radical play. She is the managing partner at Collective Capacity Consulting, LLC., where she supports multiple state and federal technical assistance projects with programs serving children and youth. She also chairs the Board of Directors for Jane’s Due Process, a reproductive justice organization serving Texas minors.

Director of Training and Technical Assistance NRCDV (she/her/hers)

Ivonne Ortiz has been with NRCDV since 2013. She provides a wide range of technical assistance and training services to many domestic violence programs throughout the US, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Her primary areas of expertise are the provision of training, crisis intervention, building culturally and linguistically appropriate services, community organizing, and facilitating culturally relevant support group sessions for women of color. At NRCDV, she is responsible for providing bold and expert leadership to NRCDV’s Training Institute and technical assistance efforts. She is responsible for developing training activities and educational resources that are based in innovative theories and practices, and that are guided by the experiences and realities of survivors of domestic violence, with particular emphasis on marginalized communities. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of Puerto Rico.

Independent Contractor (she/her/hers)

Elsabel Rincon has over 18 years of experience in the nonprofit sector working with social justice nonprofit organizations and community groups on issues including anti-violence initiatives, racial justice, immigrant rights, poverty relief, LGBTQ equity, and community organizing.  In 2013, she received the Kipp Tiernan Social Justice Fellowship through which she founded The Welcome Immigrant Network to support the integration of newcomers to the North Shore of MA. She also works as a business development officer supporting minority owned businesses. Ms. Rincon is a board member of Voices Against Injustice, Project Out, the Latino Leadership Coalition of Salem, and ECCF Racial Equity Task Force.

She is currently a PhD student in Global Studies: Migration at UMass Lowell University and holds a Master of Education, a BS in Human Services, and a Master Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership and Management.

CA CSSJ Statewide Manager at Californians for Safety and Justice (she/her/hers)

Tina Rodriguez is an accomplished grant writer and business consultant for organizations that serve crime victims and those impacted by incarceration. She currently serves as the CA CSSJ statewide manager, traveling throughout California expanding programs and developing new businesses. As an expert in best practices for crisis intervention and racial justice, her work has been published in the California Health Report, the HuffPost, and various other outlets. As the CSSJ statewide manager, she organizes diverse survivors of crime across California to weigh in on criminal justice and public safety policy to expand protections and support for all victims of crime. She graduated from California State University Fresno, in 2014, with Master of Science degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. Her passion is rooted in prevention through cultural accountability.

Associate Director for National Center for Domestic Violence, Trauma, and Mental Health  (they/them/elle)

Gabriela Zapata-Alma, LCSW, CADC, is a liberation-centered bilingual and multicultural leader, clinician, educator, and national subject matter expert whose driving force is social justice. They currently serve as the associate director of the National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma, and Mental Health, as well as the director of the University of Chicago’s Advanced Alcohol and Other Drugs Counselor Training Program. They bring over 15 years of experience supporting people impacted by structural and interpersonal violence and their traumatic effects through innovative and evidence-based clinical, housing, resource advocacy, peer-led, harm reduction, and HIV-integrated care programs. In addition, they author best practices, lead national capacity-building efforts, and provide trauma-informed policy consultation, all to advance health equity and social justice.