Our Team

NCVLI’s staff has more than 100 years combined experience serving survivors of crime. Our staff of compassionate and knowledgeable lawyers, advocates, program managers, and operations experts are led by an equally amazing Board of Directors that hails from across the country and an Advisory Council of complementary experts. Get to know us.

Read NCVLI's Resume

Meet Our Board

Job Openings

Our Staff

Click on a staff member to learn more about them and their position with NCVLI.

Amy C. Liu, JD

Senior Appellate Attorney

Danielle Cormier, MLS

Communications Coordinator

Desiree Staeffler, JD

Senior Victim Law Fellow

Julie K. Hester, MBA

Director of Administration and Operations

Julieanna Elegant, JD, MA

Director of Strategic Outreach and Partnerships

Meg Garvin, MA, JD, Mst

Executive Director

Rebecca S.T. Khalil, JD

Director of Victim Assistance and Training

Sarah LeClair, JD

Legal Publications Director

Steven Baker

Legal Project Coordinator

Susanne Falenczykowski

Project Coordinator

Susie Cowen, JD

Legal Team

Terry L. Campos, JD

Legal Team

Bruce

Employee Relations Specialist

Hopper

Junior Employee Relations Specialist

Our Board of Directors

Laura Abbott

Member; Health Educator/Injury Prevention Trainer

Dr. David Black

Member; Governance Committee

Dr. Nicole Clavo

Member

Kathleen Cady

Member; Fundraising & Education Committee

Ryan Guilds

Member; Fundraising & Education Committee

Adrian Perry

Member

Sean J. Riddell

President of the Board; Executive Committee and Finance Committee

Lisa Zauner

Treasurer of the Board; Executive Committee, Governance Committee and Chair of Finance Committee

Our Advisory Council

In 2013 NCVLI’s Board of Directors formally created a Victims’ Rights Advisory Council. The function of the Council is to advise and make non-binding recommendations to NCVLI in order to strengthen the impact of NCVLI’s work to protect, advance, and enforce victims’ rights, to raise awareness about victims’ rights, and to call the larger community to action. The creation of the Advisory Council was inspired by invaluable contributions of long-time Advisory Board Member Diane Humetewa, who demonstrated by example how community members can make tremendous contributions to the work of NCVLI without being full Board members.

Valenda Applegarth, JD

Jennifer A. Brobst, JD, LL.M.

Shelbi Day, JD

Helene R. Davis

Anne P. DePrince, PhD

Andrea Doyle Hugmeyer, MA

Kimberly Griffith, JD

Gen. Richard Harding, JD

Claire Harwell, JD

Joan Meier, JD

Rachel Monaco-Wilcox, JD

Katrina Rodriguez

Cari Simon, JD

Cynthia Stinson

Randall Udelman, JD

Nicole Wilkes, M.P.H.

Job Openings

Administrative Assistant

NCVLI seeks a curious, compassionate, process-minded, and detail-oriented collaborator for the Administrative Assistant position. Under the direction of NCVLI’s Director of Administration & Operations, the Administrative Assistant will be primarily responsible for managing office processes that keep NCVLI running smoothly. This position will work closely with the Executive Director to support the Board of Directors and development efforts, and will assist all staff to ensure compliance with reporting requirements, timely and thorough implementation of project activities, and collection/maintenance of meaningful data. The position requires a passion for detail – detail in communication, data collection and data maintenance – and an appreciation for how accurate data is critical to community building, mission storytelling, and decision making. To be successful in this position, the ideal candidate will have a keen attention to detail, be stellar at keeping themselves and others organized, have responsive follow-through, communicate effectively and efficiently in writing and orally, value building relationships in order to work as a team to advance mission, and live with curiosity and a commitment to ongoing learning. This position includes internal and external functions and duties.

Apply Today!

Amy C. Liu, JD

Senior Appellate Attorney

Amy Liu is the Senior Appellate Attorney at NCVLI. In this capacity she works on NCVLI’s national litigation efforts to advance victims’ rights, crafting strategic litigation plans, writing amicus curiae briefs and counseling other attorneys on effective legal advocacy. In addition, as part of the NCVLI Legal team, Ms. Liu provides legal technical assistance to attorneys, victim advocates and allied professionals nationwide on crime victims’ rights-related topics. Ms. Liu also creates and presents online and in-person trainings on various victims’ rights law topics. Ms. Liu served as the NCVLI Liaison with the American Bar Association’s Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence from 2019-2020. Before joining NCVLI, Ms. Liu worked in student services at the University of Iowa College of Law and practiced law as a litigation associate in the Los Angeles offices of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. Ms. Liu clerked for the Honorable Audrey B. Collins and the Honorable Robert J. Kelleher of the United States District Court, Central District of California. She received her BA in Economics/Business and JD from the University of California, Los Angeles. Ms. Liu joined NCVLI in November 2010.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Dani Cormier, MLS

Communications Coordinator

Danielle (Dani) Cormier is the Communications Coordinator for NCVLI, managing the development of outreach and overseeing digital communication and marketing. In this role, Dani engages our constituents through social media, email marketing, and website design in an effort to spread the word about our organization, programs, and funders. Before this role, Dani worked for a state-wide non-profit focused on children's mental and behavioral health. Dani has earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Rhetoric and Writing from Oregon State University in 2020, her master's degree in legal studies from Pepperdine Caruso School of law in 2023 and is currently pursuing her second master’s degree in Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine Caruso School of Law.

Pronouns: She/her

Desiree Staeffler, JD

Senior Victim Law Fellow

Ms. Staeffler is part of the legal team at NCVLI dedicated to training nationwide on victims’ rights and providing legal technical assistance across jurisdictions on victim law, including for military-connected survivors in military and civilian criminal justice systems. Ms. Staeffler supports law students in the Crime Victim Litigation Clinic, assists with the development of the National Crime Victim Law Conference, and creates online learning spaces and eLearning Tools for criminal justice and allied professionals. Ms. Staeffler also served as the NCVLI Liaison with the American Bar Association’s Victims’ Committee in 2019. Before joining NCVLI, Ms. Staeffler served as an Assistant State Attorney in the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, where she litigated felony and misdemeanor offenses and defended convictions by arguing appeals before circuit court judges sitting in an appellate capacity. Prior to working in criminal law, Ms. Staeffler practiced dependency law as an Attorney for the Office of Children’s Legal Services, where she advocated for the best interests of children who had been or were at risk of abuse, abandonment, and/or neglect. In law school, Desiree completed a handful of public interest internships, including with the Permanent Mission of Honduras to the United Nations in New York and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida in the Economic and Environmental Crimes Section. Ms. Staeffler holds a BS in Legal Studies with a minor in World Comparative Studies from the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida; and earned a JD from St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami, Florida. Ms. Staeffler joined NCVLI in May of 2018.

Pronouns: she/her/hers.

Julie K. Hester, MBA

Director of Administration and Operations

Julie is responsible for the successful execution of key NCVLI’s projects, including select long-term grant-funded programs and strategic advancement projects. Prior to this position, she coordinated a variety of NCVLI’s projects including grant-funded projects; marketing, branding and communications; and development efforts, including fundraising, donor and volunteer cultivation, and board and organizational development. Julie joined NCVLI in 2010 as the Project Director for NCVLI’s Vision 21 grant. This project, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime, involved a nationwide strategic planning initiative looking at the future of the crime victims field. She took a hiatus in 2011 to complete an MBA program and returned to NCVLI in 2013. Julie joined NCVLI in November 2010.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Julieanna Elegant, JD, MA

Director of Strategic Outreach and Partnerships

Julieanna Elegant, JD, MA has managed programs in the United States, Latin America and Central Asia, building partnerships across language and cultural differences. Most recently, she was the Executive Director of the Small Business Legal Clinic at Lewis & Clark Law School. She attended law school at the University of Washington School of Law and is a member of the Oregon State Bar. Her MA is from Brandeis University in International Development, with a focus on project management. Prior to law school, she worked as a social worker supporting domestic violence victims and vulnerable youth. She is bilingual in English and Spanish.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Meg Garvin, MA, JD, Mst

Executive Director

Meg Garvin, MA, JD, MsT, is the Executive Director of the National Crime Victim Law Institute (NCVLI) and a Clinical Professor of Law at Lewis & Clark Law School. Professor Garvin is recognized as a leading expert on victims’ rights. She has testified before Congress, state legislatures and the Judicial Proceedings Panel on Sexual Assault in the Military. In her expert capacity she serves on the Defense Advisory Committee on Investigation, Prosecution and Defense of Sexual Assault in the Armed Forces, the Victims Advisory Group of the United States Sentencing Commission, and is a Member of the Council on Criminal Justice. She previously served on the Victim Services Subcommittee, of the Response Systems to Adult Sexual Assault Crime Panel of the United States Department of Defense, as co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section Victims Committee, co-chair of the Oregon Attorney General’s Crime Victims’ Rights Task Force and as a member of the Legislative & Public Policy Committee of the Oregon Attorney General’s Sexual Assault Task Force. She has received numerous awards in recognition of her work, including in 2012 Crime Victims First-Stewart Family Outstanding Community Service Award; in 2015 the John W. Gillis Leadership Award from National Parents of Murdered Children; in 2020, the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section’s Frank Carrington Crime Victim Attorney Award, and in 2021, the Hardy Myers Victim Advocacy Award from the Oregon Crime Victims Law Center. Prior to joining NCVLI, Professor Garvin practiced law in Minneapolis, Minnesota and clerked for the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Puget Sound, her Master of Arts degree in communication studies from the University of Iowa, her JD from the University of Minnesota, and her Masters in International Human Rights Law from Oxford University. Meg joined NCVLI in January 2003.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Rebecca S.T. Khalil, JD

Director of Victim Assistance and Training

Rebecca Khalil is NCVLI’s Director of Victim Assistance and Training. In this role, she directs NCVLI’s advocate academies and training opportunities. In addition, as part of the legal team, she researches victims’ rights laws and policies across the United States, drafts amicus briefs, provides technical legal assistance to attorneys and advocates nationwide, and creates and presents online and in-person trainings on a variety of victims’ rights topics. From 2010-2012 she directed NCVLI’s Safeguarding Child-Victims’ Rights Initiative. Before joining NCVLI, Rebecca was a litigation associate with Baker & Hostetler LLP in New York City, where she worked on a number of complex commercial and business litigations, including trade secret, securities, and contract cases, as well as white collar criminal defense, governmental and quasi-governmental matters, and corporate investigations. During law school, she was an extern with the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Jose, California. Rebecca holds a BA in History from Seattle University and earned her JD from Stanford Law School, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif. Rebecca joined NCVLI in December 2010.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Sarah LeClair, JD

Legal Publications Director

Sarah LeClair serves as NCVLI’s Legal Publications Director and is a member of NCVLI’s legal team. In her role as Legal Publications Director, Sarah manages the content, look and distribution of NCVLI’s legal publications covering a wide array of victim law topics. As a member of the legal team, she participates in the continued development and implementation of NCVLI’s national litigation and education strategies, including providing legal technical support to attorneys and advocates through legal research, writing and strategic consultation, and planning and facilitating in-person and online trainings. Before joining NCVLI, Sarah served as judicial clerk for the Honorable Rick Haselton of the Court of Appeals of the State of Oregon, after which she practiced law as a litigation associate at Miller Nash LLP in Portland, Oregon. During law school Sarah interned with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia and with the United States Department of Justice, Criminal Appellate Section. She has a BA in History from the University of Oregon and a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. Sarah joined NCVLI in January 2009.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Steven Baker

Legal Project Coordinator

Steven Baker is the Legal Project Coordinator at NCVLI. He is responsible for coordinating all aspects of projects related to legal efforts, assists with contract management, and works closely with all staff to advance NCVLI's mission. Prior to joining NCVLI, Steven held various business development roles within the automotive retail sector. He earned his Bachelor's degree from Portland State University and is currently in his first year of the J.D. program at Lewis and Clark Law School.

Pronouns: he/him/his

Susanne Falenczykowski

Project Coordinator

Susanne is a member of NCVLI’s Project Coordination team, responsible for the coordination of training registration, evaluation, facilitation and reporting across NCVLI projects. Specific projects and trainings she coordinates include national projects to enhance victims’ rights enforcement and provide crime victims with access to legal representation to assert and seek enforcement of their rights throughout criminal justice processes; NCVLI’s advocate training academies; and NCVLI’s membership alliance, the National Alliance of Victims’ Rights Attorneys & Advocates Project. Before joining NCVLI, Susanne worked as an AmeriCorps VISTA and Language Access Coordinator with the Alaska Institute for Justice. Susanne joined NCVLI in February 2018.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Susie Cowen, JD

Legal Team

Susie Cowen is a member of NCVLI’s legal team. In this role, she provides legal technical assistance to attorneys, advocates, and other allied professionals on topics related to victims’ rights. Susie also drafts amicus curiae briefs and creates training materials and other educational resources about victim law. Susie worked as a staff attorney at NCVLI from 2008 to 2010 and as a research and litigation consultant from 2010 to 2012 and, more recently, from 2018 to 2023. Prior to joining NCVLI, Susie was a litigation associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, where she practiced general commercial litigation and represented pro bono clients in matters involving employment discrimination, housing, voting rights, and medical privacy. Susie has also worked on civil matters in other positions, including as a volunteer attorney focused on poverty law issues at the Shriver Center on Poverty Law in Chicago. Susie received her BA in English Literature from Columbia University and her JD from the University of Chicago. Susie rejoined NCVLI as a staff member in June 2023.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Terry L. Campos, JD

Ms. Campos is a member of NCVLI’s legal team. In this role, she researches victims’ rights laws and policies across the United States, provides technical legal assistance to attorneys and advocates nationwide, drafts amicus curiae briefs, and presents online and in-person trainings and webinars on a variety of victims’ rights topics. Prior to joining NCVLI, Ms. Campos was an appellate attorney with the Office of the State Appellate Defender in Chicago, Illinois representing indigent persons on appeal in criminal cases. During law school, where she earned a certificate in criminal law, she interned for the Metropolitan Public Defender in Portland, Oregon. Ms. Campos has a BS in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Florida and a JD from the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College. Ms. Campos joined NCVLI in May 2008.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Bruce

Employee Relations Specialist

Bruce is a half-Labrador, half-Golden Retriever who was once in training as a future guide dog for Guide Dogs of America. Bruce decided that guide work wasn’t really the right fit for him, and he is now the happy office-dog and personal pet of Ms. Khalil. Bruce - when not chewing happily on toys, dashing from person-to-person to say hi, or snoozing in a sunbeam in the office - is responsible for distributing wags, sweetness, and happiness throughout NCVLI with his upbeat personality and sociable disposition.

Hopper

Junior Employee Relations Specialist

Hopper is a yellow Labrador Retriever who was adopted by Ms. Hester as a 20-month old after growing up at a breeder’s kennel. Although Hopper had never been indoors before his adoption, he adjusted quickly. After receiving intensive training in employee relations from Bruce, Hopper now very happily works full-time at NCVLI, providing staff with emotional support, endless entertainment, daily physical activity, and lots of hugs and kisses.

Laura Abbott

Member; Health Educator / Injury Prevention Trainer

Laura Abbott is a Health Educator / Injury Prevention Trainer from Arkansas. She graduated from Central Arkansas University with honors while attaining a BSE and MSE. During Laura’s career in Health Education she has created a data driven injury prevention program which includes partnerships with non -profits and government stakeholders on the topics of child abuse/ maltreatment, teen dating violence, healthy relationships, human trafficking, consent, sexual assault, bystander/ upstander education , adverse childhood experiences, substance abuse, mental health, trauma, bullying, and cybersafety. Ms. Abbott has served on the state wide Arkansas Commission on Child Abuse/ Rape/Domestic Violence and Arkansas Suicide Prevention Council while also serving on various local boards and committees serving victims of domestic violence , child abuse, and education injury prevention planning. Laura collaborated with legislators to help craft numerous pieces of legislation regarding victims’ rights and injury prevention, highlighted by the passage of “Laura’s Card'' to provide victims’ rights and resource information to victims of domestic violence. In 2014 Ms. Abbott was selected Arkansas Health Teacher of the Year.

In 2012, Laura survived a near fatal domestic violence assault. During Laura’s journey through the judicial system she became aware of NCVLI. Ms. Abbott volunteers outreach efforts on victims’ rights, the impact of trauma, and injury prevention. In 2019, Laura was awarded the DOJ OVC Volunteer for Victims Award. Ms. Abbott enjoys walking, traveling, meeting people, and enjoying a good comedy movie.

Dr. David Black

Member; Governance Committee

I became involved with NCVLI as a presenter at an Annual Conference around 2010, sharing information on children’s cognitive development and their understanding of and ability to respond to legal proceedings.

I have been a Pediatrician since 1986 having graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1982 and the University of Connecticut’s School of Medicine in 1986. My interests in this field are general pediatric and adolescent primary care and child development. As a member of the UConn faculty from 1989 until 1998, I taught medical students and residents in an inner city clinic in Hartford, CT, where we provided primary care to the wonderful families of the Northend. In my time in the clinic I helped developed several innovative teaching programs giving the students an opportunity to provide long term primary care to a group of children during the full period of their training.

In 1998 I relocated to the Pacific Northwest to join Kaiser Permanente Northwest and developed my practice in Vancouver, WA. I continued to teach PA and medical students during their Pediatric Primary Care rotations allowing my patients and their families to do most of the teaching. In 2021 I retired from my practice.

I joined the NCVLI Board as a way to help child victims of crime and their families. I hope to contribute to a fuller understanding of the effect of legal proceedings on children and also to better understand how children understand the things that occur in their world.

Nicole Clavo, Psy.D

Member

Dr. Nicole Clavo is a Navy Veteran and the Director of Violence Prevention in Sacramento, California. She earned her master's degree in Human Services and her Doctorate in Psychology. After her family faced the tragedy of her son's death from gun violence, Nicole and her daughter, Japhera Clave, B.S., founded the Healing5 Foundation for those who are in need of grief assistance after sudden and unexpected loss. Nicole finds motivation in knowing she is doing work that will help someone who has traveled her path or may travel her path in the future. When she can find time, Nicole enjoys traveling and spending time with family.

Kathleen Cady

Member; Fundraising & Education Committee

Kathy has been a prosecutor since 1989. She has specialized in family violence, child abuse, and sexual assault cases and tried over 100 jury trials. She currently supervises deputy district attorneys who vertically prosecuted cases involving sexual assault of adults, physical and sexual assaults of children, elder abuse, family violence, stalking cases and hate crimes in the Pasadena Branch Office. She was previously the Special Assistant to the Director for the Bureau of Victim Services (BVS) which is part of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. BVS offers services to victims of violent crime, such as outreach, emergency assistance, court accompaniment, and assistance filling out Victim Compensation applications for reimbursement for crime related losses. Ms. Cady has given training seminars to law enforcement, deputy district attorneys and victim advocates on Victims’ Rights. She currently also serves on the Board of Directors of the Children’s Advocacy Center for Child Abuse Assessment and Treatment, a nationally accredited Children’s Advocacy Center that services child victims in the east end of Los Angeles County, the Advisory Board for the Children’s Advocacy Centers of California, the state accredited chapter of National Children’s Alliance, Picture Alternatives, a nonprofit venture that uses creative media to promote the social value and effectiveness of alternatives to violence, and is an honorary advisory board member of Justice for Homicide Victims. She is also on the California Children’s Justice Act Task Force. She previously served on the board of Project Sister Family Services, a rape crisis center. Ms. Cady has been instrumental in policy changes in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office as well as drafted legislation and testified in Sacramento regarding bills relating to victims’ rights and services. She is married and has three children and one grandchild. Ms. Cady joined the Board in 2017.

Ryan Guilds

Member; Fundraising & Education Committee

Ryan Guilds is Counsel at international law firm Arnold and Porter, LLP, where his practice focuses on intellectual property brand protection, complex products liability litigation, white collar defense, internal company compliance and criminal law. Mr. Guilds’ pro bono practice focuses on supporting survivors of intimate partner violence and sexual assault, with an emphasis on survivors of sexual assault in the military. In 2012, Mr. Guilds spearheaded the development of Arnold and Porter’s representation of crime victims in criminal proceedings, a program that has since trained hundreds of crime victim rights lawyers and represented dozens of crime victims. Mr. Guilds is the former board chair of Network for Victim Recovery of DC, a nonprofit organization offering holistic services including legal counsel to the victims of crime. In 2014, Mr. Guilds was a recipient of NVRDC’s inaugural Firm Voice Award, in recognition of his commitment to offering pro bono support and advocacy for survivors of crime by ensuring they have a voice throughout the recovery process. In 2017, Mr. Guilds was honored with the Protect Our Defenders Justice Award for outstanding contributions to the representation of military sexual assault survivors. Mr. Guilds graduated in 1997 from the University of North Carolina School Of Law, High Honors and clerked for the Hon. J. Dickson Phillips, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Sean J. Riddell

President of the Board; Executive Committee and Finance Committee

Sean Riddell is a native of Long Valley, New Jersey. After high school Sean attended a small Liberal Arts Jesuit college called LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York. He graduated in May of 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy. Considering the need for full-time philosophers, Sean entered Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia in June of 1994 and graduated a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps twelve weeks later. After completing his initial training at The Basic School, Sean attended the Infantry Officer’s Course and reported to his first assignment as an Infantry Platoon Commander with 2nd Battalion 8th Marine Regiment in Camp Lejeune, North Caroline. Sean left active duty Marine Corps in June of 1998, backpacked across Ireland and, then drove cross county to a city he never visited before, where he knew no one, to attend a law school he just learned about six months before. When asked why, Sean replies, “Because it is the only law school that accepted my application.” Sean graduated Lewis & Clark Law School in May of 2001 and passed the bar in September of 2001.

Sean started work as a Deputy District Attorney with the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office in June of 2002. While at the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office Sean prosecuted misdemeanor offenses, felony property crimes, domestic violence crimes, sexual assault crimes, homicides, aggravated murders, gun related crimes, financial fraud crimes and gang related crimes. Sean left the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office in June of 2009 to serve as a prosecutor with the Oregon Department of Justice. Sean worked in the Criminal Justice Division for two years and the Civil Litigation Division of the Oregon Department of Justice for one year, before starting his own practice in June of 2012. Between 2002 and 2012, Sean was recalled twice to active duty by the Marine Corps to serve in Iraq as a Combat Engineer Officer in support of Operation Iraq Freedom.

Sean focuses his practice on representing victims of crimes, law enforcement officers and veterans. Sean’s practice touches several areas of the law including, but not limited to: plaintiff personal injury; labor disputes; internal affairs investigations; veteran’s preference in public employment; whistleblower protections; and civil rights litigation. Sean was elected to the board in May of 2019.

Sean remained active in the Marine Corps Reserves after his deployments. He served in various billets over the years including: Battalion Commander; Engineer Officer for Marine Forces Pacific; and Deputy Regimental Commander. He has served in several countries including: South Korea, Latvia; Lithuania; Tunisia; Israel; Iraq; Kuwait; Albania; and France. Sean also completed his Masters in Strategic Studies from the US Army War College in June of 2014. He currently holds the rank of Colonel and is scheduled to retire in January of 2020.

Sean lives in Portland, Oregon and Waldport, Oregon with his wife Erin Greenawald and daughters Sophia and Georgia. When not working or completing homework together, they enjoy hiking, gardening, board games, skiing and caring for their 17 year old wiener dog named Baxter.

Lisa Zauner

Treasurer of the Board; Executive Committee, Governance Committee and Chair of Finance Committee

Lisa heard about NCVLI through a colleague at Perkins & Co, where she has worked in the audit department since 2008. The victim’s right movement holds particular appeal for Lisa, and she was honored by the chance to join the board in 2012. Lisa has worked in public accounting since 2002. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Washington with a degree in accounting and is affiliated with the American Institute of CPAs and the Oregon Society of CPAs. She enjoys spending her free time running the trails near her home in Portland, Oregon, and taking camping trips with her husband, Joe, and their young daughter, April.

Doug Beloof

Ex Officio

Mr. Beloof is a Law Professor Emeritus at Lewis & Clark Law School and is the founder and former Executive Director of NCVLI. Professor Beloof has written the only casebook on the subject of crime victim law, Victims in Criminal Procedure, and has been cited by the United States Senate Judiciary Committee as an expert on crime victim law. He is a leader in legal education in crime victim law and writes amicus briefs to appellate courts nationwide. Doug joined the Board in 2008.

Andrew Lauersdorf

Member; Fundraising & Education Committee

Andy is a shareholder with Maloney Lauersdorf Reiner PC, a Pacific Northwest law firm specializing in insurance coverage disputes. In addition to his insurance coverage practice, Andy represents human trafficking survivors in actions against traffickers and trafficking infrastructure, and victims of internet harassment, bullying, and abuse. Andy and his team also provide pro bono representation for crime victims in criminal proceedings and persons involved in civil restraining order and stalking protective order proceedings. Andy is a long-time supporter of NCVLI and excited to be working closely with NCVLI and its partners to promote crime-victim-centered legal advocacy in our nation’s courtrooms.

Helene R. Davis

Secretary of the Board; Executive Committee, Finance Committee and Chair of Governance Committee

Helene Davis grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, receiving her AA in Business Administration and worked as a mental health professional. In 1980, she and her family moved to Oakland, California, where she continued to work in children’s mental health services. In 1989, Ms. Davis’ son was murdered and she began her work on behalf of homicide victims and other victims of violent crime. From 1991 - 2013, she was co leader of the first support group specifically for families of homicide victims in the Oakland Metropolitan area. Ms. Davis served as a State Commissioner of Juvenile Justice, Crime, and Delinquency Prevention from 1994 through 2002. In 1996, she became a founding member of a local group, Mother’s Against Murder and Assault (MAMA). MAMA provided rehabilitative services to youth in the custody of the Alameda County Probation Department, aiding in their successful reentry to the community and reduction in recidivism. In 2003, she received the California Senior Leaders Award from the University of California, Berkeley. Ms. Davis continued with that group until 2013 when she moved from the Bay Area. Currently she consults with crime victims’ families with emphasis on preparing victim impact statements. Ms. Davis joined the Board of Directors of NCVLI in 2002.

What would you most like to see NCVLI or the victims’ rights movement accomplish over the next five years? Twenty years?
Over the next five years I would like to see the passing of a national Victims’ Rights Amendment. This would require a collaborative effort between the legal and victim services communities. Work done by NCVLI is increasingly bringing these groups together and I believe continued education and collaborative work will make the need for victims’ rights an undeniable fact. Within the next 20 years I would like to see the rights of victims become an integral part of the judicial system in this country.

Why should someone get involved with NCVLI and victims’ rights?
I believe every citizen in this country should have a vested interest in increasing victims’ rights. Victims left unsupported often live with a sense of desperation and abandonment from those factors in our society that they have spent years investing and believing in. NCVLI is the only organization I know of whose focus is “victim-centered” and who is willing to bring all the players to the table to learn why victims’ rights are so important.

To read more of Helene’s thoughts on the future of victims’ rights and why it is so important to continue the work NCVLI does for victims, click here.

Douglas G. Houser

Ex Officio

Douglas G. Houser is a Senior Partner at Bullivant Houser Bailey PC. Mr. Houser graduated from Willamette University (BA, 1957) and Stanford University College of Law (JD, 1960). He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, a former member of the Rand Institute Board, and also serves on the Board of Directors at Nike, Inc. Doug joined the Board in 2008.

Why did you first get interested in working with NCVLI and victims’ rights?
When my brother and sister in law were murdered in 1987 I became very frustrated as a member of a victim’s family and became a great admirer of Prof. Doug Beloof and the work of the NCVLI.

As an organization what is NCVLI’s greatest strength?
Dedicated, intelligent staff that are committed to helping victims.

What are your hobbies?
Reading, golfing, fishing, travel.

What has been the most rewarding thing you have done in your professional life?
Helping others.

Who or what inspires you?
People who help others.

Ashley Vaughn

Member; Chair of Fundraising & Education Committee

Ashley is a partner at Dumas & Vaughn, Attorneys at Law, in Portland, Oregon, where she represents survivors in child and adult sexual assault civil cases across the country. She graduated cum laude from Lewis & Clark Law School in 2011. During law school, she was a Lead Article Editor for the Lewis & Clark Law Review, worked as a certified law clerk as a prosecutor’s office, and participated in the CLVC Clinic. After law school, she worked as an associate attorney at O’Donnell Clark & Crew LLP and Dumas Law Group, LLC, doing the same type of work she does now. She is an active member of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association and volunteers for the “We the People” constitutional law program.

Describe your current profession / most rewarding thing you have done in your professional life.

I represent survivors of child sexual assault and adult sexual assault in civil lawsuits against the perpetrators and institutions responsible for the assaults. Most of my cases involve adults who were sexually abused as children. I often represent survivors in cases against large institutions of trust, such as youth-serving organizations (e.g. the Boy Scouts), religious organizations, and schools. The most rewarding part of my job is helping my clients process their trauma and transform their lives. Sometimes that process is due to their civil case and finally having the opportunity to seek justice; sometimes it is due to reuniting with their families; sometimes it is due to finally seeing a good therapist. Most often, it is a combination of these and many other factors. Not all cases are successes, but when I am able to help clients live better lives, instead of suffering in silence, that is the best part of my job.

Valenda Applegarth, JD

Valenda Applegarth is a Senior Staff Attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services in Boston, Massachusetts and founder of the nation’s first Relocation Counseling Project. This model project, created in 1999, transformed victim services surrounding victim relocation and was a 2006 recipient of The Mary Byron Foundation “Celebrating Solutions Award” for innovative programming. In 2008, the original project was expanded to the current Relocation Counseling and Identity Protection Initiative, an OVW funded national technical assistance project in partnership with the NNEDV Fund. Ms. Applegarth has represented victims of sexual and domestic violence and stalking for more than 20 years. She has trained extensively on victim relocation, privacy, child custody jurisdiction and other related legal issues throughout the U.S. for the past 14 years. She is a graduate of Thomas M. Cooley School of Law and the University of Michigan.

Jennifer A. Brobst, JD, LL.M.

Jennifer A. Brobst, JD, LL.M. is an Assistant Professor at University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, and formerly an Associate Professor at Southern Illinois University School of Law, cross-appointed in the SIU School of Medicine. Since the 1990s, she has served in varied roles related to fairness in the criminal justice system, in grass roots advocacy and as an attorney in government.

Shelbi Day, JD

Shelbi Day has devoted her career to civil rights work, and has had the privilege of working on several precedent setting cases on a diverse range of issues. In 2014 she joined Bouneff & Chally, a boutique law firm in Portland, Oregon that provides legal care for families of all kinds and at all stages. Over the years Shelbi has focused her work exclusively on LGBT- and HIV- related issues. Prior to Bouneff & Chally she was a Staff Attorney in the Western Regional Office of Lambda Legal, the oldest and largest national legal organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people, and people with HIV. Prior to Lambda Legal, Shelbi worked as a Staff Attorney at the ACLU of Florida, Southern Regional Office of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Southern Legal Counsel. In 2011, she taught “Sexual Orientation and the Law,” as an adjunct professor at University of Florida Levin College of Law, and in 2013, she was a guest lecturer in Lewis & Clark Law School’s Crime Victim Litigation Clinic on the unique hurdles LGBT people face in accessing criminal and civil justice. From 2002-2003, Shelbi was a law clerk for Hon. Charles R. Wilson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. She is a member of the California, Florida, and Oregon Bars.

Anne P. DePrince, PhD

Anne P. DePrince, PhD, is Distinguished University Professor in Psychology and Director of the Center for Community Engagement to advance Scholarship and Learning (CCESL) at the University of Denver. She is a nationally-recognized expert in trauma whose program of community-engaged research addresses pressing policy and practice questions about interpersonal violence.

Andrea Doyle Hugmeyer, MA

Andrea currently serves as the Director of the Gender Resource & Advocacy Center at Willamette University. In this role, she serves as the certified confidential campus advocate, violence prevention coordinator for university-wide comprehensive programming, and oversees other initiatives related to gender justice and equity. At Willamette, Andrea serves on the Title IX Response Team, university Title IX Advisory Committee, and oversees the Transgender Advocacy Committee and the Student Affairs Bias Education Committee. She also supervises students who volunteer for Willamette’s confidential peer advocate program. Andrea is a member of the Campus Advocate Cohort coordinated by the Oregon Attorney General’s Sexual Assault Task Force, and was a member of their Campus Subcommittee from 2015-2016. Over the last 12 years, she has participated in numerous training programs related to Title IX policy, campus advocacy, and violence prevention. Andrea received an Honors Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology and a Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies: Women’s Studies and Sociology from Oregon State University. She has previously worked as an instructor of Women’s Studies at OSU and as the Assistant Director of Abby’s House Center for Equity and Gender Justice at Western Oregon University.

Kimberly Griffith, JD

Kimberly Griffith was a student of the inaugural class of NCVLI’s Crime Victim Litigation Clinic, graduating from Lewis & Clark Law School in 2004. She is a former federal judicial law clerk and has extensive experience with prisoner litigation. Kimberly worked in private practice for many years, focusing on complex tort litigation, before returning to the federal judiciary where she currently serves as a staff attorney.

Gen. Richard Harding, JD

Richard Harding graduated from the University of Arkansas with a BS in political science (1975) and a Juris Doctor (1979). He was awarded a Direct Commission in the United States Air Force and became a Judge Advocate in 1979. He then served for more than 34 years as a military attorney. He was initially assigned as a prosecuting attorney and as a defense counsel where he became acquainted with victims of crime. Subsequently he was assigned as a staff judge advocate (legal office director) at two Air Force bases (Dyess AFB, TX and Elmendorf AFB, AK), Eighth Air Force (Barksdale AFB, LA), Air Force Space Command (Peterson AFB, CO), and United States Strategic Command (Offutt AFB, NE). Upon his promotion to brigadier general, he served as the staff judge advocate for Air Combat Command (Langley AFB, VA) and then the Commander for the Air Force Legal Operations Agency, where he led the prosecuting attorneys, defense attorneys, civil litigation attorneys, contract attorneys, environmental law attorneys, labor law attorneys, Air Force law school faculty, and information legal services technicians for the Air Force. In 2010, he was promoted the Lieutenant General (3-star general) and appointed by President Obama as the Air Force’s 16th Judge Advocate General (TJAG). As TJAG, he supervised 4400 Air Force attorneys, paralegals and support staff and served as the legal advisor to the Secretary of the Air Force and the Air Force Chief of Staff. As TJAG, he advocated for and created the Department of Defense’s first “Special Victims Counsel” program, providing attorneys free of cost to victims of sexual assault. To date, Air Force SVCs have represented over 1200 clients. Lt Gen Harding also started an appellate litigation shop to represent SVC’s claims at appellate level. As a result, in 2013 the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces in LRM v. Kastenburg held that, to the extent that a victim has a right to be heard at trial, the victim has a right to be heard through counsel. Gen Harding’s advocacy for victims’ rights resulted in Chuck Hagel, the Secretary of Defense, directing other military services to start up their own SVC programs and resulted in Congress directing in the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act that military services provide victims of military sexual assault with Special Victims Counsel. Currently, Lt General Harding has tirelessly advocated that the universities and the Veterans Administration adopt their own SVC programs to represent student and veteran victims of sexual assault.

Claire Harwell, JD

Claire Harwell has worked in prevention and response to sexual assault for over three decades, serving as a victim advocate, trainer, police officer, prosecutor, and currently as a civil attorney. She has been a victim advocate and prevention expert with rape crisis centers in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New Mexico. She is a former prosecutor in both a district attorney’s office and the New Mexico Attorney General’s office, prosecuting a variety of high profile cases featured on true crime shows, a documentary film, and in news media. As consultant, she advises universities, the U.S. military, prosecutor’s offices, and the U.S. Dept. of Justice on matters relating to effective response to crimes of sexual violence. She frequently serves as a local and national trainer on these topics. She is the manager of the New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs’ Community Justice Project, a specialized nonprofit legal practice at eight sites, exclusively serving sexual assault survivors and rape crisis centers. Through the project, Claire represents sexual assault survivors statewide. Ms. Harwell received her BA from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and her JD from the University of New Mexico School of Law. She was a state-certified law enforcement officer attaining the rank of Corporal (a training officer) in the state of North Carolina.

Joan Meier, JD

Joan Meier is a Professor of Law and Director of the National Family Violence Law Center at George Washington University Law School. Joan has been a law professor for 29 years at the George Washington University Law School, where she founded three pioneering and nationally recognized interdisciplinary domestic violence clinical programs. Between 2003 and 2019 Joan founded and helped direct the Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment and Appeals Project (DV LEAP). While there, Joan filed fourteen briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court and represented friends of the court and survivors of family violence in state court appeals all over the country. Joan regularly trains judges, evaluators, lawyers, domestic violence advocates and others on best practices in adjudication of family violence and family court litigation. She has received numerous awards including the American Bar Association’s Commission on Sexual/Domestic Violence Inaugural Sharon Corbett Award in 2009, and the Battered Mothers’ Custody Conference’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.

Rachel Monaco-Wilcox, JD

As an artist, lawyer, teacher and consultant, Rachel Monaco-Wilcox, JD is a creative and strategic change agent. Her work has served marginalized and exploited people (elders, those with special needs, and victims of labor trafficking, sexual exploitation or assault). Merging the power of the humanities with legal and social justice has been her unique professional niche. Rachel is the founder of LOTUS Legal Clinic, teaches Art Therapy doctoral students and has a private practice in Trusts and Estates. She is also an accomplished ultramarathoner. She divides her time between Herbster and Richfield, Wisconsin.

Katrina Rodriguez

Katrina Rodriguez is the Victim Services Coordinator and a system-based advocate at the Beaverton Police Department in Beaverton, OR. She offers emotional support, criminal justice system information, and connections to resources for victims of all types of crimes. She works closely with officers/detectives, the District Attorney’s Office and community partners.

Cari Simon, JD

Cari Simon is one of the Nation’s Top Title IX Attorneys representing survivors of sexual assault, stalking, dating violence, and sexual harassment in University and K–12 settings nationwide. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Cari represents survivors in school disciplinary proceedings and federal litigation. Cari has been credited with the inclusion of stalking and dating violence in the definition of sexual harassment under Title IX, and her impact litigation ensured universities are responsible under Title IX for sexual violence at fraternity houses.

Cynthia Stinson

Cynthia worked as a victim advocate for 26 years. She served as manager of the Crime Services Division at the Oregon Department of Justice for 16 years, then served as the interim Executive Director at the Oregon Sexual Assault Task Force in 2013. She is the former Director of Educational Equity Assurance and Deputy Title IX Coordinator at Willamette University. Ms. Stinson holds a BS in Psychology from Willamette and a certificate of Public Management & Public Administration from the Atkinson Graduate School of Management at Willamette University.

Randall Udelman, JD

Randall Udelman, a practicing attorney for almost 30 years, has been a past recipient of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office Distinguished Service Award and is currently a member of the Arizona Supreme Court Commission on Victims in the Courts. Randall’s private practice consists of insurance and commercial disputes and with AZCVRLG, he helps victims assert their rights throughout the criminal justice system from indictment through post-conviction efforts to collect restitution. Randall is the Co-Founder of Arizona Crime Victim Rights Law Group.

Nicole Wilkes, M.P.H.

Nicole Wilkes is a doctoral student in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. Formerly, she worked at the Crime Victims’ Institute at Sam Houston State University conducting research on victimization issues. Nicole also worked as an advocate for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse in Minnesota.

Adrian Perry

Member

Adrian Perry is an educator, mother, and spouse of a retired United States Marine. After completing her Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from Radford University, she married her husband Breck Perry and moved to Quantico, Virginia in 2002.

In 2003, the Perry’s received orders to Oahu, Hawaii. While in Hawaii, Adrian served as the Director of a Preschool in Honolulu. In 2005, their first child was born and Adrian became a dedicated mother of three girls over the last thirteen years and eight duty-stations across the United States and Japan. Throughout that time, Adrian has served as a substitute teacher, volunteer reading instructor, and volunteer children’s ministry teacher.

She is the co-founder of Survivors United, Inc., a Non-Profit for sexual assault survivors in the military. Survivors United connects survivors of sexual assault with critical resources and support. This is a nonprofit organization comprised of survivors and family members of survivors who understand the trauma of sexual assault as well as the challenges that come with reporting an assault and navigating the military justice system.

Adrian testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Sexual Assault in the Military in order to shine light on current legislative inadequacies for sexual assault survivors, while recommending the necessary changes to ensure justice is served for sexual assault survivors and their families. In 2020, Adrian became a nationally credentialed victim advocate, and has worked multiple cases in support of justice for sexual assault survivors.

Adrian is currently living in Virginia with her family where she is a Victim Witness Assistant Director for a local county. Last year, she completed her Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice with an Emphasis in Legal Studies. Adrian is pursuing a Doctoral Degree in Community Counseling and Traumatology.