|
Nominated by the Arkansas Coalition Against Sexual Assault (ACASA) David L. Williams A corporal with the Fayetteville Police Department in Arkansas, David has worked as a law enforcement trainer with ACASA since 2007. A law enforcement officer for 17 years, he provides training on sexual assault issues for the Criminal Justice Institute and was a founding member of his police department’s Crisis Intervention Team and Special Investigations Unit. David has developed curricula and resource materials for training topics such as stranger vs. non-stranger sexual assault, victim interviewing techniques, the language of sexual assault, interrogation techniques, and case review of serial rapists. |
|
|
Nominated by the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CALCASA) Linda Bowen Linda’s career in the anti-rape movement started more than 37 years ago, when she became a founder of the women's center of San Joaquin County's rape crisis center. She served as director of the women’s center from 1976-86. While working at the center, she identified the critical need for confidential communications between sexual assault survivors and rape crisis advocates, and worked with her local legislator to draft the California Sexual Assault Counselor-Victim Privilege Law. In 1980, she became one of the founding members of the state sexual assault coalition, now known as CALCASA. For the past 26 years, she has been in charge of administering funds to California’s 84 rape crisis centers while working as Chief of the Sexual Assault Section of the California Emergency Management Agency. |
|
 |
Nominated by the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CCASA) Crista Maestas A prosecutor for the 12th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, Crista is an advocate for sexual assault victims. She is involved with the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART), and has worked closely with the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) and Tu Casa. She has dedicated hours of her own time to prosecute cases and work with sexual assault victims. |
|
Nominated by Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services (CONNSACS) Anne Mahoney Anne prosecutes major felonies, including sexual assaults, as Senior Assistant State’s Attorney in the Hartford Judicial District. After graduating from Trinity College and the University of Connecticut School of Law, Anne began her legal career as a member of the United States Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps. She has seen more than 50 jury trials to verdict and is an expert trainer and valued collaborator among sexual assault victim advocates throughout Connecticut. Anne was a member of the Hartford Child Abuse Multidisciplinary Team for more than 15 years and is the Connecticut Chief State’s Attorney’s designee to the Child Fatality Review Panel. She was a valuable voice in advocating for the creation of the State of Connecticut Gail Burns-Smith Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners Program, which provides on-call forensic nurses to hospitals in central Connecticut. Anne was also one of the first prosecutors to employ the use of a therapy dog to assist a child sexual abuse survivor to testify in court against her perpetrator. |
|
|
Nominated by the DC Rape Crisis Center Denise Snyder Denise has been an advocate in the violence against women movement for more than 25 Years. Prior to coming to the DC Rape Crisis Center, she was the executive director of Arlington Community Temporary Shelter and the Lutheran Volunteer Corps, as well as the director of administration for the Nuclear Freeze Campaign. While at the DC Rape Crisis Center, Denise established a city-wide victim service center known as The Lighthouse Center for Healing. Under her tenure at the DC Rape Crisis Center, counseling services expanded more than 400 percent, and the center introduced specialized programs for older women, substance abusers, and women with disabilities. Additionally, the center established new programs (such as community organizing, SANE and an annual teen conference); initiated the Anti Rape Act of 1994 and revisions to the statute of limitations for sex offenders, successfully lobbying for their passage; and developed extensive public relations programs, doing more than 70 media interviews annually. |
|
 |
Nominated by the Guam Coalition Against Sexual Assault & Family Violence Alicia Limtiaco Alicia has served as U.S. Attorney for Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands since 2010. She was instrumental in coordinating human trafficking training and facilitating the Human Trafficking Task Force/Victim Service Providers Committee. Prior to her role as U.S. Attorney, she was elected the first female Attorney General of Guam in 2006. During her tenure in Guam, she spearheaded initiatives addressing human trafficking, child pornography, and Internet crimes against children including sexual exploitation, and helped with the implementation and compliance of Guam’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). She served as chair of the Executive Branch of the Family Violence and Sexual Assault Task Force and as a member of the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) Steering Committee. |
|
Nominated by the Indiana Coalition Against Sexual Assault (INCASA) Kristina Korobov Kristina is the Director of Prosecutor Education at the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office in Indianapolis. She is responsible for meeting the training needs of the attorneys in her office and prosecutes child abuse homicides as well as domestic violence and sex crime cases. From 1996-2005, Kristina was the Prosecutor’s Office’s Chief of the Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit, Chief of the Domestic Violence Unit and Major Felony Prosecutor. During her tenure, she was responsible for attorney supervision and training, police development, community outreach, and law enforcement training. |
|
 |
Nominated by Jane Doe Inc. (The Massachusetts Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence) Becky Lockwood Becky is the Associate Director of the Center for Women and Community, which houses the rape crisis center for survivors of all gender expressions in the five-college community and Hampshire County. Becky worked for 10 years as Director of Youth Programs at Community Action, where she created and implemented prevention programs focused on reducing youth substance abuse, teen pregnancy, interpersonal violence and HIV/AIDS, and developed and facilitated the area’s first social group for youth who identify themselves as queer/transgender. Becky co-chairs the statewide Higher Education Sexual Violence Working Group, an advisory committee of the Massachusetts Governor’s Council on Sexual and Domestic Violence, and worked on the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s EMPOWER project, which completed a statewide sexual assault prevention plan in 2010. |
|
Nominated by the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence (KCSDV) Angela Blumel Angela is Director of Advocacy Services with the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault (MOCSA), a rape crisis center that serves more than 60,000 individuals annually. During her career, Angie has served as volunteer manager, domestic violence victim advocate and project director for numerous grants. She has presented at local, regional and national conferences and has worked to improve the community’s response to victims of sexual violence through advocacy, education, and collaboration. She is passionate about working to improve services to survivors of sexual abuse and assault. |
|
 |
Nominated by the Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault Judy Benitez Judy is the executive director of Iris Domestic Violence Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She is the founder of Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault, the state’s coalition of sexual assault crisis centers and other agencies concerned with sexual violence, where she served as executive director from 1993 to 2013. She has worked with victims of crime since 1990. Judy has been qualified as an expert witness on sexual assault and domestic violence in state district court. She has lectured internationally at dozens of trainings on crime victimization, sexual violence, and violence against women and children. She has been interviewed by the Washington Post, USA Today, Headline News live, the BBC live, Huffington Post, the Christian Science Monitor, Fox News, NPR, CBS Evening News, and other media outlets. |
|
Nominated by the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault (MECASA) Terry Moore Lt. Col. Terry Moore, who is retired from the U.S. Air Force, serves as a Governor's Aide-de-Camp on the Board of Trustees for Maine Veterans’ Homes, is on the Board of Advisors for www.statesidelegal.org, serves on the Volunteers of America Northern New England Veterans' Advisory Committee, and is an Ambassador for Women, Work and Community. She also is a member of professional and veteran service organizations. She recently completed her two-year appointment on the Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee on Women Veterans and was chair of the Maine Women Veterans' Commission from November 2008 to June 2012. Terry retired from the Air Force in 2003, after 20 years of service. She is establishing Women Vets USA Inc., a nonprofit organization that will focus on advocating for and connecting women veterans with peers, services, and online information resources. |
|
|
Nominated by the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault (MNCASA) Cordelia Anderson An advocate for primary prevention and social change, Cordelia has devoted her life and work to preventing sexual violence. Since 1976, she has worked to prevent the sexual abuse and exploitation of children and youth. In 1992, she started Sensibilities Inc., a training and consultation business focused on prevention. Cordelia trains internationally and has presented more than 2,000 workshops. She is the recipient of various awards, including the 2006 Outstanding Professional Award from American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC). In the 1980s, she worked with Illusion Theater to create “Touch,” a play teaching children about child sexual abuse. |
|
|
Nominated by the Nebraska Domestic Violence Sexual Assault Coalition (NDVSAC) Cari Emerson Cari joined Hope Crisis Center in Fairbury, Nebraska, in 2007. She began as a Victim Advocate, serving victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Since assuming her role as Sexual Assault Advocate in 2010, Cari has enhanced services for sexual assault victims in her agency and within the community. She has made strides in the development of collaborations in her community and provides holistic individual advocacy and support to victims. Prior to joining Hope Crisis Center, Cari gained experience as a Criminal Justice Advocate with the S.A.F.E. Center in Kearney, Nebraska, and then as an Integrated Care Coordinator at Region V Systems in Nebraska. |
|
 |
Nominated by the Nevada Coalition Against Sexual Violence (NCASV) Jane Heenan Jane has worked as a licensed marriage and family therapist in private practice since 2002, working with a diverse group of LGBTQIA persons, most of whom had personal histories of gender-based violence. Jane was a part of successful efforts to introduce the first transgender-inclusive legislation in Nevada’s history in 2009, and was intimately involved in the bipartisan 2011 passage of basic civil rights protections for Nevada’s transgender citizens in employment, public accommodations, and housing. A committed community activist advocating for gender diversity since 1998, Jane has volunteered in numerous professional and semi-professional settings with her latest achievement, Gender Justice Nevada and the Queer Anti-Violence Project (QAVP). |
|
Nominated by the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence (NHCADSV) Det. Sgt. Kathleen Kimball (retired) Kathleen served as a New Hampshire State Police trooper for 23 years. A member of New Hampshire’s Child and Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committees and the Attorney General's Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect, she helped write statewide protocols addressing sexual assault in children and adults. She has been an instructor at the New Hampshire Police Academy for 14 years, teaching members of law enforcement courses on sexual assault investigations. She served on the board of the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence for six years. She is the coordinator of the New Hampshire Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) initiative, and has been a member of the Attorney General’s Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect, the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Advisory Board, and several committees of the Governor’s Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence. |
|
|
Nominated by the New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs Inc. (NMSAP) Mark Medoff Mark is a playwright, screenwriter, film/theater director, actor, and professor at the Creative Media Institute for Film and Digital Arts at New Mexico State University. His play, “Children of a Lesser God,” received the Tony Award, Olivier Award, and an Academy Award nomination. He has represented strong, independent women in much of his work, and has supported agencies and causes to end violence against women and children. He is the winner of the national Kennedy Center Medallion for Excellence in Education and Artistic Achievement, given periodically to artists who teach and mentor students. He created a PSA addressing sexual violence for the La Pinon Sexual Assault Recovery Center, which has been made available for use across the United States. |
|
|
Nominated by the New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NYSCASA) Amanda Wingle Amanda is a member of Albany Medical College’s Class of 2015. She is the Region 2 Director of the American Medical Women's Association (AMWA) and former co-president of Albany Medical College’s AMWA chapter, where she helped implement the first Interpersonal Violence Awareness Week, now held annually. She created a curriculum for medical students on sexual assault. She is a volunteer with the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network’s (RAINN) online hotline and volunteers at a free clinic, providing primary care to uninsured and underinsured community members. |
|
 |
Nominated by the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence (OAESV) Dodie Sacia Since 2008, Dodie has volunteered more than 5,800 hours at the Rape Crisis Center of Medina and Summit Counties in Ohio. She is the secretary of the Summit County Sexual Assault Coalition, a founding member of the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence, and an active contributor to the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence (OAESV) Public Policy Committee. Since 2010, she has been a board member for Guardians Advocating Child Safety and Protection, has monitored nearly 500 sex- offense cases in the court of common pleas and municipal court, attended more than 60 trials and hundreds of pre-trial hearings and sentencings, and has assisted in training and mentoring new volunteers and staff for the rape crisis center. Dodie has provided testimony to the Ohio Legislature on funding for rape crisis programs, and has written multiple letters to the editor of the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal. |
|
Nominated by the Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (OCADVSA) Robert Funk Jr. Robert is owner and president of Prodigal LLC. Prodigal operates the Oklahoma City Barons hockey franchise, co-promotes Professional Bull Riders events in Oklahoma, and oversees Prodigal Sports Group. Robert uses his position to promote sexual violence awareness and prevention efforts. For the last three years in April, Funk has promoted Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) by putting a teal ribbon logo on the ice for Barons home games, placing teal ribbon stickers on the players’ helmets, and playing commercials on the video board during games. Funk participates in the annual press conference with Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt in an effort to engage men in the anti-sexual violence movement. He attends and sometimes speaks at conferences, rallies, and candlelight vigils across Oklahoma in support of victims’ rights. |
|
 |
Nominated by the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR) Patrick Rushton Since 2001, Patrick has served as the Education/Outreach Manager for the Victims Resource Center. He retired from the Wilkes-Barre City Police Department after 20 years of employment. He has received numerous recognitions, including: Wilkes-Barre City Neighborhood Watch Association's Person of the Year, Victims Resource Center’s Lifetime Friend Award, The Peace and Justice Center's Constance Kozel award, and the Vagina Warrior Award from Wilkes University’s V-Day committee. His responsibilities include development and implementation of the agency's prevention education programming, primary prevention plan, outreach to referral sources, professional trainings, systems advocacy, community awareness events, and public relations. As a certified sexual assault counselor, Patrick has provided individual services to victims of violence through a hotline, in court, and in person. He has served on PCAR's Men Against Sexual Violence committee and on the Board of Directors for Ruth’s Place House of Hope, a homeless shelter specifically for women. |
 |
Nominated by the South Dakota Network Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault (SDNAFVSA) Krista Heeren-Graber Krista has worked in the sexual assault and domestic violence field for more than 25 years. She started at Children's Inn, a domestic violence and sexual assault shelter, as a women's and children's counselor, and was the acting director when she left to become executive director of the South Dakota Network Against Family Violence & Sexual Assault. She began as a one-person agency working out of her car, and grew the network to an agency of eight employees with an established office. She has served as a grant reviewer for the Office of Justice Programs in Washington, D.C., and has been appointed to the Governor's Task Force on Domestic Violence, the Governor's Citizen Review Panel for Child Protection Services, the Sexual Assault Task Force, and the Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision. In 1996, Siouxland Child Protection Council recognized Krista for her outstanding contribution in the area of child abuse, and the Business and Professional Women/USA presented her with a Women of Achievement Award in 2007. |
 |
Nominated by the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence Carmen Wyatt Carmen is the executive director of Avalon Center: Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Program, which serves five counties in middle Tennessee. During her tenure with the agency and under her leadership, the Avalon Center facilitated the formation of Cumberland County’s first domestic violence/sexual assault task force, bringing together various allied professional agencies in the area to enhance a coordinated community response for victims and bringing the top state honor, the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence’s 2009 County Team Award, to the agency. Additionally, a Sexual Assault Response Team has been organized to better serve the needs of sexual assault victims in Avalon’s service areas, and efforts to facilitate the training of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) in service areas have been a key objective for Avalon. In 2010, Avalon’s Abuse Intervention for Men (AIM) program received certification from the Tennessee Domestic Violence State Coordinating Council.
|
|
Nominated by the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault (UCASA) Gary Scheller In 2012, Gary was appointed the Director of the Utah Office for Victims of Crime, where he has worked for 14 years. Prior to his appointment, he served as assistant director for six years. He has made getting appropriate health care for victims of sexual assault a priority. This includes clearing the way for Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) to be compensated for the care they provide, and making sure that victims who need HIV prophylaxis have access to essential medications within the short time frame for when they are effective. Gary is a member of the UCASA 40-Hour Rape and Sexual Assault Advocacy Training Team and was honored by the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault with a Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) Award in 2006.
|
|
|
Nominated by the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence Keith Goslant Keith has been involved with the Sexual Assault Crisis Team (SACT) for more than 20 years, both as a volunteer and board chair. During his tenure, he worked with others to establish a shelter for victims/survivors of sexual violence that extends services to women and men. He has shared his personal stories of sexual violence/bullying in public forums and, helped train Vermont law enforcement on bias- and hate-motivated crimes. Keith has worked with hundreds of male survivors over the years, offering them support, advocacy and, most importantly, compassion, and hope. He has educated nurses, law enforcement officers, state attorneys and other advocates about the experiences of gay sexual violence survivors. |
|
 |
Nominated by the Washington Coalition Of Sexual Assault Programs (WCSAP) Debbie Medeiros Debbie is a member of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe. For the last eight years, she has worked to design, implement and manage the Cowlitz Tribe Pathways to Healing Program, a sexual assault and domestic violence program. One of her passions is to educate and raise awareness about issues within tribal communities to non-native agencies and governments. Recognizing the need culturally specific sexual violence services in her community she took action and led the creation of the Pathways program. Now, with a staff of five, the Pathways to Healing programs operate as a dual sexual assault and domestic violence tribal program offering direct services and conducting prevention and awareness activities. |
|
Nominated by the West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information and Services (WVFRIS) David Miller David has worked at the West Virginia State Police Forensic Laboratory for nearly 20 years. He serves as supervisor of the Evidence Processing and Receiving section, which examines sex crime kits for biological material suitable for DNA analysis. He served with the U.S. Air Force National Guard, 130th Security Forces Squadron, from 1997-2005. During his tenure at the state’s only crime lab, he has worked on an estimated more than 1,500 sexual assault case investigations and has collaborated with his colleagues and the West Virginia Foundation for Rape and Information Services to update sex crime kit components and documentation to help increase the likelihood that the best possible evidence will be collected. |
