GENERAL SESSION SPEAKERS Debi Cain, Michigan Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention and Treatment Board Summit Emcee Ms. Cain is the Executive Director to the Michigan Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention and Treatment Board. Ms. Cain is the founding executive director of H.A.V.E.N., a large suburban sexual assault and domestic violence program in metro-detroit. Debi then spent four years as the director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Debi has served as a consultant, author, and/or editor for a number of articles, manuals, and publications related to violence against women and children. She has been involved in developing training curriculum for judges, police, Children s Protective Services staff, Friend of the Court, prosecutors, welfare workers, domestic violence and sexual assault program staff. Debra has reviewed manuscripts for groups such as Child Maltreatment and The Journal of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children. She served on National Sexual Violence Applied Research Advisory Group which advised the Sexual Violence Applied Research Forum. Debi has received various awards for her work and dedication to the field. Ms. Cain has a Master of Science in administration and a Bachelor of Science in psychology and political science. Lauren Debski, Campus Sexual Assault Survivor Lauren is originally from Delaware and studied at James Madison University, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Today, she lives in Richmond, Virginia, where she works as a full-time nurse on an oncology critical care unit and rides on an ambulance every eight days. She is currently studying to become a Family Nurse Practitioner and plans to specialize in Women's Health. Lauren has been public speaking since 2011. Emma Hanrahan, Campus Sexual Assault Survivor Emma lives in Lake Placid, New York with her 2-year-old son. Right now she is attending community college and is about halfway through their Criminal Justice program. Emma says she gets the most comfort and happiness from connecting with someone else that needs help,
and that it s as simple as listening, offering advice or pointing them in the right direction to supportive resources. Dr. Rebecca Campbell, Michigan State University Working with Campus Sexual Assault Survivors: Understanding the Neurobiology of Trauma Dr. Rebecca Campbell is a Professor of Psychology at Michigan State University. She holds a Ph.D. in community psychology with a concentration in statistics, also from Michigan State University. For the past 25 years, she has been conducting community-based research on violence against women and children, with an emphasis on sexual assault. Dr. Campbell s research examines how disclosure and help-seeking affects victims psychological and physical health. Most recently, she was the lead researcher for the National Institute of Justice-funded Detroit Sexual Assault Kit Action Research Project, which was a four-year multidisciplinary study of Detroit's untested rape kits. Dr. Campbell also conducts training for law enforcement and multidisciplinary practitioners in civilian, military, and campus community settings on the neurobiology of trauma. In 2015, Dr. Campbell received the Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime, Vision 21 Crime Victims Research Award. Casey Corcoran, Program Director, Children & Youth Program, Futures Without Violence National Best Practices: A Comprehensive Response to Gender Based Violence Mr. Corcoran is a Program Director at Futures Without Violence. For more than 30 years, FUTURES has been providing groundbreaking programs, policies, and campaigns that empower individuals and organizations working to end violence against women and children. Casey s current work focuses on the development of a national training institute to help colleges and universities create comprehensive responses to sexual violence on their campuses. Before coming to Futures Without Violence he worked at the Boston Public Health Commission as the Director of the Start Strong: Building Healthy Teen Relationship Initiative. He received B.A. from Rutgers College and his M.A.T. from Trinity College.
Leslie Gomez and Gina Smith, Pepper Hamilton LLP Keynote Address: Reflections from the Road Leslie M. Gomez, Esq. Ms. Gomez is a partner in the Education Counseling, Litigation and Investigation Services and White Collar Litigation and Investigations Groups of Pepper Hamilton LLP, resident in the Philadelphia office and is co-chair of the firm s Child Advocacy Practice Group and the Pepper Latino/a Caucus. Ms. Gomez focuses her practice on the institutional response to sexual misconduct. She provides consulting, counseling and legal advice on all issues related to sexual assault, intimate partner violence, stalking, sexual and gender-based harassment and child abuse. Ms. Gomez helps institutions develop comprehensive policies, procedures, systems and training programs in compliance with Title IX, the Clery Act, the Violence Against Women Act and state and local laws. She has nearly two decades of experience investigating sex crimes, child abuse, domestic violence and stalking, first as a career child abuse, domestic violence and sexual assault prosecutor, and later as counsel to colleges, universities, K-12 schools and other institutions. Ms. Gomez directs internal investigations, coordinates communications and interactions with law enforcement, assists in the design and implementation of disciplinary proceedings, and provides advice about the interplay between civil and criminal proceedings. She has led numerous highly complex investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct at educational and religious institutions. Ms. Gomez is also a nationally recognized expert in child abuse and child protection, including the dynamics of child abuse, child protective services laws and the coordination of investigations with child protective services and local, state and federal law enforcement. Ms. Gomez served as an expert on the stalking subcommittee of the U.S. Department of Education s Negotiated Rulemaking Committee for the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013. Prior to joining Pepper, she was of counsel with Ballard Spahr in Philadelphia. Before that, she served as an assistant district attorney at the Philadelphia District Attorney s Office for 14 years, including five years as the assistant chief and chief of the Juvenile Court Unit. Ms. Gomez prosecuted complex child abuse, kidnapping, domestic violence, stalking and sexual assault cases for more than 11 years. She regularly prosecuted cases involving very young and especially vulnerable children, children with special needs or disabilities, children who were long-term victims of incest or child abuse and cases involving serial pedophiles and repeat sexual offenders. Ms. Gomez s publications include, The Labyrinth of Title IX: Clarifying the Dear Colleague Letter (co-author), NASPA Leadership Exchange (Fall 2012) and The Paradigm Shift in Campus Responses to Sexual Misconduct: From Compliance to Compassion
(co-author), Today s Campus (August 2013). Ms. Gomez serves as a volunteer child advocate attorney for the Support Center for Child Advocates. Ms. Gomez is a faculty member ChildFirst Pennsylvania, a statewide forensic interview training initiative through the National Child Protection Training Center. She is a member of the boards of the Center City Crime Victims Services and the Joseph J. Peters Institute, a nonprofit providing outpatient assessment and treatment in the area of sexual abuse. Ms. Gomez received the Distinguished Advocate Award from the Support Center for Child Advocates in 2010. She was the Apple Fest Honoree of St. Christopher s Hospital for Children in 2009 and recipient of the Team Excellence Award from the Philadelphia Children s Alliance in 2008. Ms. Gomez is a graduate of Yale Law School (J.D. 1995) and Brown University (A.B., magna cum laude, 1992), where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and was the recipient of the Bernard Pollock Prize. From 1995-97, she was a law clerk to the Honorable Carolyn Engel Temin of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District. Ms. Gomez is admitted to the Pennsylvania bar and is proficient in Spanish. Gina Maisto Smith, Esq. Ms. Smith is a partner in the Education Counseling, Litigation and Investigation Services and White Collar Litigation and Investigations Groups of Pepper Hamilton LLP, resident in the Philadelphia office. She chairs a national practice dedicated to the institutional response to sexual misconduct. Ms. Smith is frequently called upon to advise colleges and universities about sexual misconduct policies, changes in the law, and investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct, including sexual and gender-based misconduct and violence, intimate partner violence and stalking. She regularly conducts policy audits, assists in the development of policy and provides advice about the implementation of internal and external operating procedures. She also conducts sexual misconduct investigations. Ms. Smith helps clients integrate the requirements of federal, state, and local authority, including Title IX, the Clery Act, the Violence Against Women Act, criminal law, HIPAA, and FERPA. Ms. Smith s depth in child abuse investigation and prosecution enables her to assist clients in meeting their child protective services compliance requirements. Ms. Smith regularly conducts training for diverse university constituencies, including Title IX coordinators, sexual assault response teams, student conduct administrators, judicial hearing boards, investigators, senior leadership, boards, and members of the campus community. Prior to joining Pepper, Ms. Smith was a partner with Ballard Spahr in Philadelphia. Prior to that, she spent nearly two decades in the Philadelphia District Attorney s Office where she investigated numerous cases, handled more than 100 jury trials, and developed unmatched experience in the investigation and prosecution of sex crimes,
child abuse and domestic violence. She also trained prosecutors, investigators, and police in handling the most difficult aspects of sex crimes, child abuse and domestic violence investigations. Ms. Smith served as an expert on the education, prevention and training subcommittee of the U.S. Department of Education s Negotiated Rulemaking Committee for the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013. She is an adjunct professor in trial advocacy at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and a past adjunct professor at Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law. She has served as a mentor for second-year law students through the Temple Summer Professional Experience Curriculum, a domestic-violence protocol trainer at the Philadelphia Police Department, and as a guest speaker educating local high school, college and law students about sexual assault, domestic violence, and legal career topics. Ms. Smith has served as a faculty member of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Commission on Capital Education since 2005 and serves on the CLE Committee of the National Association of College and University Attorneys. She is a past faculty member of the American Prosecutors Research Institute, the National and Northeast Regional Children s Advocacy Centers, and the National District Attorneys Association. She is a past participant in the National Judicial College s Capital Improvements Initiative: Curriculum Development and Faculty Workshop. Ms. Smith is a member of the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and a past member of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association. She is a member of the American and Pennsylvania Bar Associations, and the Criminal Law Committee of the Federal Bar Association, Philadelphia Chapter. She serves on the board of directors of The University of Pennsylvania s Field Center for Children s Policy, Practice and Research and The Center for Excellence in Higher Education Law and Policy at Stetson University College of Law. She is also a member of the Center City Crime Victims Services Advisory Committee and the Support Center for Child Advocates Development Committee, and is on the board of the Chestnut Hill Youth Sports Club, where she also serves as the commissioner for boys soccer and basketball. In March 2012, Ms. Smith was honored by the Asia Adams Foundation for her advocacy for the rights of those affected by interpersonal violence. The mission of the foundation is to increase public awareness and educate children, teens, young adults and communities to protect their health, safety and welfare and to prevent teen violence. In 2011, Ms. Smith received the Philadelphia Victim Advocate Award from the Center City Crime Victims Services. This award honors a crusader for victim s rights whose dedication and passion inspires others to do more for the victims of crime in Philadelphia. In 2005, she received the Distinguished Advocate Award from the Support Center for Child Advocates for her commitment to abused and neglected children. Ms. Smith is a graduate of
Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law (J.D. 1987) and Saint Joseph s University (B.A. 1983). Ms. Smith is admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar. Dr. Antonia Abbey, Wayne State University The Realities of Impaired Capacity: Alcohol's Role on Sexual Assault on Campus Antonia Abbey is a Professor of Psychology at Wayne State University. She received her Ph.D. in social psychology from Northwestern University. She has a longstanding interest in women's health and reducing violence against women. Her research interests include understanding the causes of sexual assault; alcohol s role in sexual assault; and sexual assault measurement issues. This research has primarily been funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. She has published more than 100 journal articles and book chapters. Dr. Abbey has been the keynote speaker at national and international conferences. She has also served on a variety of national advisory committees for the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute of Justice, and the Department of Defense.