Sabrina Fernandez is a Program Manager at the IACP, overseeing training and technical assistance (TTA) initiatives for police, prosecutors, and multidisciplinary teams across the U.S. For over 18 years, she has enhanced police response to public safety and collaborated directly with the field to build programming and resources. Sabrina has addressed operational challenges facing police, developing resources to assist in investigating and prosecuting criminal activity, preventing and responding to victimization, and increasing community safety. Prior to the IACP, she worked at the University of Tennessee Law Enforcement Innovation Center, Tennessee Regional Community Policing Institute, University of Tennessee's Social Work Office of Research and Public Service, and the Baltimore Office of Homeless Services. She began her career as a social worker and social policy advocate. Sabrina’s 18-year policing TTA portfolio includes crisis response, police response to individuals with behavioral health conditions, deflection, violent crime, human trafficking, juvenile justice, internet crimes against children, school safety, crime analysis, patrol and tactical operations, crime prevention, and crime-scene investigation. Sabrina holds a Master of Public Policy and a Certificate in Health Policy from The Johns Hopkins University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, English, and French with a Minor in Global Studies from Drury University. She can be reached at fernandez@theiacp.org. 

Erica Harris, MS, ADAC has over 18 years working professionally with and on behalf of underserved and marginalized communities on public health subjects. Currently, she works with the University of Cincinnati Center for Developmental Disabilities to train and educate law enforcement professionals on topics related specifically to disability inclusion and interacting with individuals who have intellectual and developmental disabilities. Erica is a long-time consultant to The Arc’s National Center on Criminal Justice and Disability (NCCJD) and has extensive experience in developing training curricula, providing training to police, professionals, self-advocates, and family members to assist them in identifying effective and safe for interactions involving law enforcement and the criminal justice system. Erica works with individuals who share their lived experiences and other subject matter experts as co-facilitators to ensure the effectiveness of her training sessions. Her regional and national efforts focus on training members of law enforcement on topics that include Accommodations, Communication, Behavior, Triggers, Crisis Prevention and De-escalation.

Lt. Craig Parker is a seasoned law enforcement professional with 15 years of experience at the Tuscaloosa Police Department in Alabama. Throughout his career, he has held various leadership roles, including Field Training Officer, Patrol Sergeant, and Shift Commander. His dedication to addressing behavioral health crises led him to become a Mental Health Officer in 2019 and establish the TPD Behavioral Health Unit in 2020, which later expanded into the Behavioral Intervention Team. This initiative has grown significantly, incorporating numerous officers and specialists focused on crisis intervention and threat assessment. As one of only two CIT master trainers in Alabama, Lt. Parker has trained hundreds of officers across the state in de-escalation techniques for individuals in behavioral crises. His leadership has earned him several accolades, including TPD’s Supervisory Leadership Award (2020) and CIT Officer of the Year (2021) from NAMI-Alabama. His Behavioral Intervention Team was also recognized as Program of the Year in 2024. Beyond his work with behavioral health, Lt. Parker serves as an FBI Threat Management Coordinator and Liaison to the Joint Terrorism Task Force. He is a certified instructor with expertise in mental health crisis intervention, trauma effects on youth, and threat management strategies. His expertise has led him to present at prestigious conferences, including events hosted by the IACP, FBI, and PBSO. In addition to his primary responsibilities, he is a member of the TPD Honor Guard and a Crisis Negotiator attached to TPD SWAT. Recently, he founded Creed Protective Solutions, LLC, to provide specialized security training and site assessments for schools, houses of worship, private businesses, and other organizations beyond Tuscaloosa.

Michele Saunders, LCSW, has dedicated over 35 years to community mental health. Recently retired from the Department of Veteran Affairs, she provided crucial support to veterans and their families. As a founding member and longtime 1st Vice President of CIT International, she played a key role in shaping its strategic direction and advancing CIT nationwide. Even in retirement, she remains actively involved, supporting CIT International’s annual conference and offering technical assistance. Michele led the Florida CIT Coalition for 20 years, helping law enforcement and corrections enhance crisis intervention strategies. She has consulted on initiatives promoting collaboration among criminal justice, mental health, and substance abuse professionals, focusing on jail diversion and improved services for people with serious mental illnesses. With over 24 years dedicated to CIT development, she also works as a consultant with Policy Research Associates, supporting SIM Mapping and CIT program growth. She also worked with the SAMHSA GAINS Service Member, Veterans, and their Families TA Center, providing strategic planning facilitation focused on suicide prevention, a testament to her credibility and authority in the field. Her leadership extends beyond CIT—she has held key roles in government and nonprofit organizations, including Director of Community Services for Seminole County, Executive Director of Florida Partners in Crisis, and Executive Vice President at Lakeside Behavioral Healthcare (now Aspire Health Partners). Her academic qualifications include a Bachelor of Social Work degree from James Madison University and a Master of Social Work degree from Florida State University. She has been a Licensed Clinical Social Worker since 1986.

Sergeant Jones has been in law enforcement for over 18 years. She came to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office in March of 2007. She began her career in law enforcement in January of 2000 with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. Sergeant Jones has served in multiple divisions including corrections, court services, and road patrol. She was promoted in June of 2015 serving as a supervisor in both the Jail and Road Patrol divisions and now the Professional Standards Division. 

She works primarily with intimate partner crime such as stalking, domestic violence, strangulation, and protection order violations along with conducting internal investigations, training, and orientation. Sergeant Jones has been engaged in changing her department’s culture, the department’s response to intimate partner crime, and establishing new policy and procedures with regards to issues within the minority populations of the community and intimate partner crime. 

Sergeant Denise Jones served in the Ohio Army National Guard for six years after graduating from high school. She has continued her education throughout her tenure at the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, graduating with her Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice Administration along with her Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice Administration and Master of Science degree in Emergency Services Management, and is working on a Bachelor of Science degree in Homeland Security from Columbia Southern University.

Tina Dimachkieh currently serves as the Project Manager for the Programs Team at the IACP. Ms. Dimachkieh manages programmatic activities for multiple multimillion dollar cooperative agreements with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) in the field of victim services focused on identifying and preventing gender bias through strengthening law enforcement response to crimes of domestic violence, sexual assault, strangulation, and stalking, and addressing and mitigating the negative effects of vicarious trauma. Ms. Dimachkieh works with subject matter experts and advisory board members to provide national comprehensive training and technical assistance (TTA) to law enforcement agencies and multidisciplinary partners composed of victim advocacy groups, criminal justice professionals, first responders, and medical professionals across the country. 

Meg Garvin is the Executive Director of the National Crime Victim Law Institute (NCVLI) and a Clinical Professor of Law at Lewis & Clark Law School. Ms. 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 has served 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 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 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, Ms. Garvin practiced law in Minneapolis, Minnesota and clerked for the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Pronouns: she/her/hers. 

Chris Newlin is the executive director of the National Children’s Advocacy Center (NCAC) in Huntsville, AL, where he is responsible for providing leadership and management of the agency, as well as participating in national and international training and leadership activities regarding the protection of children.  The NCAC was the first Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) in the world and provides child abuse prevention and intervention services in Huntsville/Madison County; and also houses the NCAC Training Center, the Southern Regional Children’s Advocacy Center, the NCAC Virtual Training Center, and the Child Abuse Library Online (CALiO).  The NCAC is a past multi-year winner of the Better Business Bureau’s Torch Award for Workplace Ethics; 2012 Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce Non-Profit of the Year; 2016 Federal Bureau of Investigation Director’s Community Leadership Award recipient; (multi-year finalist), winner in 2017 and 2019 of the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce Best Places to Work; and a Private Sector Member of the Virtual Global Taskforce.  Chris has more than 24 years of experience working in CACs as a forensic interviewer, victim advocate, clinical director, and executive director. He has provided training in more than 30 countries at numerous international conferences and continues to provide technical assistance on a regular basis to professionals working to develop multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) and CACs throughout the world. Chris received his master’s degree in school psychology from the University of Central Arkansas, is a licensed professional counselor, and has completed coursework at the Harvard University Business School Executive Education Program.

Paula Gomez Stordy has more than 25 years of experience working in the field of gender-based violence, of which 17 years were in non-profit management. She is the Senior Director of National Training and Technical Assistance for Esperanza United: National Latin@ Network for Healthy Families and Communities, a national resource center with a focus on providing training, research, and policy advocacy to prevent and end domestic violence and sexual assault. Ms. Gomez Stordy directs national training and technical assistance overseeing federal grants, programming, and supervision of staff to enhance culturally responsive approaches and capacity to both mainstream and culturally specific organizations across the country.

Leo Martinez is a Project Manager with Esperanza United, formerly Casa de Esperanza - National Latin@ Network. With Esperanza United he currently works providing Language Access and Cultural Responsiveness training as part of the national resource center on domestic violence in the Latino community; he is a Training and Technical Assistance lead with the Vicarious Trauma Response Initiative, a national initiative funded by the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) and led by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP); he informs the Intimate Partner Homicide project focused on Latino victims and funded by the Office on Violence against Women (OVW). He also collaborates on the Enhancing Access Peer to Peer project focused on language access, funded also by the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). 

Natasha Haunsperger worked as an interpreter with the United Nations International Police Task Force (IPTF), charged with reintegrating war zones back into Croatia proper. Ms. Haunsperger joined the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) in 2006, shortly after she had immigrated to Oregon from Croatia. Her previous experiences with war refugees and conflict resolution ultimately led her to proactively focus and engage with the large multicultural/ethnic communities in the Portland area. During her assignment with the PPB Criminal Intelligence Unit, Officer Haunsperger focused on both intelligence and criminal investigations involving foreign-born labor trafficking subjects in the state of Oregon. She also co-produced a documentary film on foreign-born labor trafficking, "Reclaiming Their Lives," and is actively working on raising public awareness about trafficking trends in the Pacific Northwest. Officer Haunsperger is committed to developing a training curriculum for first responders and community-based stakeholders, focusing on early detection and identification of possible labor trafficking activities and victims’ identification and rescue.

Alexander Jones serves as the Chief of Police for the City of Arlington, Texas. He leads the department in the 48th largest city in the country with almost 900 sworn officers and professional staff members with an annual budget of $109 million dollars. Chief Jones began his policing career with the Baltimore County (Maryland) Police Department in 1995 and quickly rose through the ranks to become the department's second highest-ranking officer. He previously served as the Colonel of Operations overseeing ten police precincts, patrol operations, Safe School Division, Youth and Community Service Section, and the Support Operations Division. Chief Jones also served as the Bureau Chief of Community Relations, which included the Community Resource and Wellness Section and the Youth and Community Service Section. The focus of the bureau was on community relations and building trust with the communities of Baltimore County. He was instrumental in establishing many successful youth programs.

Chief Jones obtained a Master of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from Ashworth College and received an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the University of Hartford.

Sergeant Shade McMillian, a proud Florida native, has dedicated over 18 years to law enforcement, serving with distinction at the Leon County Sheriff’s Office in Tallahassee since 2005. Rising through the ranks, he became a Sergeant in 2021, having held critical positions such as Field Training Officer, School Resource Deputy, Violent Crimes Detective, Public Information Officer, and Sergeant in Youth and Young Adult Services, Violent Crimes Unit, and Special Investigations/Human Trafficking Unit.

In 2023, Sergeant McMillian played a pivotal role in establishing the Capital City Human Trafficking Task Force (CCHTTF), a collaborative effort involving federal, state, and local law enforcement aimed at combating human trafficking in Florida, with a focus on the state capitol, Tallahassee.

Sergeant McMillian has been a dedicated member of the Florida Gang Investigators Association, serving as North Central Florida Regional Director on the Board of Directors since 2013. An expert in his field, he regularly trains law enforcement officers and school administrators statewide on critical topics including human trafficking, school safety, and gang awareness.

Robin Hassler Thompson, M.A., J.D., is the Executive Director of the Survive and Thrive Advocacy Center (STAC), an anti-trafficking non-profit she helped to co-found in 2015. She is an active member of the Big Bend Coalition Against Human Trafficking. In 2001 she traveled to Bangladesh on a U.S. State Department mission, which included a visit to a trafficking rescue shelter in Dhaka. This so inspired her that since then, she has directed and collaborated on many anti-trafficking projects, produced and conducted anti-human trafficking training programs, and authored numerous publications and curricula on both sex and labor trafficking. Robin has served on and held leadership positions on local, state, and national boards and committees including the Florida Supreme Court-appointed Commission on Access to Civil Justice and the Tallahassee/Leon County Commission on the Status of Women and Girls. Robin led Florida’s first Task Force on Domestic and Sexual Violence and served on the National Advisory Council on Violence Against Women. She holds both a J.D. and a master's degree from Florida State University and a B.A. from American University in Washington, D.C.

As a Senior Policy Advisor at the Office for Victims of Crime, Department of Justice (DOJ), Alissa develops and implements national criminal justice system policy initiatives. Her current portfolio includes oversight of the Enhanced Collaborative Model (ECM) Task Force to Combat Human Trafficking programming and related training and technical assistance to ECMs, law enforcement, prosecution and victim service provider partners. Alissa worked previously at the Bureau of Justice Assistance (DOJ) supporting a range of law enforcement and community-based crime reduction initiatives. Prior to joining DOJ, Alissa worked for the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) where she oversaw grant programs that advance policy and practice within the law enforcement profession. Before joining the IACP, Alissa worked for Circle Solutions, Inc., providing research and evaluation services for the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) supported Cops in Schools program.  Ms. Huntoon earned her B.A. in Sociology with an emphasis in criminal justice from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities and her Master’s of Public Policy from American University.

Hilary Burgess joined the International Association of Chiefs of Police in 2018. She has served as a Senior Project Manager since 2022 for multiple Department of Justice (DOJ) Office for Victims of Crime anti-human trafficking initiatives. Hilary first gained valuable experience working for four years on the DOJ COPS Office-funded Collaborative Reform Initiative Technical Assistance Center (CRI-TAC) program where she managed technical assistance delivery and resource development for the policing field. She previously worked for the National Sheriffs' Association for over 13 years where she served in multiple capacities, including Director of Professional Development. Hilary is a skilled project manager, earning a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California.