Top Row (L to R): Kim Loan Nguyen, Sujeeta Bhatt, Aparna Reddi, Tamara Wilds, Nicole Mason, and Nancy Cantalupo
Bottom Row (L to R): Desiree Hoffman-Hizi, Amanda Johnston, Laura Quiros, Thembi Carr, E.J. Encalarde, and Laverne Saulny
Not pictured: Jennifer Augustine, Joi Rhone, and Jaya Vasandani

Jennifer Augustine has ten years of experience in adolescent sexual and reproductive health, with expertise in HIV/STI and teen pregnancy prevention program development, implementation, and evaluation. As Director of HIV/STI Prevention Programs at Advocates for Youth, Ms. Augustine is responsible for the oversight of Advocates’ Youth of Color Initiative, a partnership with national and community-based organizations. Ms. Augustine also oversees Advocates’ Young Women of Color Initiative, including a peer education program for young women of color and a Young Women of Color Leadership Council.

Dr. Sujeeta Bhatt received her B.S. in Biopsychology from the University of Michigan and M.A. in Psychology from American University. Additionally, in 2004, Dr. Bhatt received her Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience from American University. Currently, Dr. Bhatt is a postdoctoral fellow at the Georgetown University Medical Center, Department of Neurology. Dr. Bhatt’s current work focuses on understanding the cognitive processes involved in deception. Specifically, her studies are designed to identify neural signatures of varying forms of deception by using the event-related fMRI BOLD (blood oxygen level dependent) effect of in hopes to create a cognitive model of deception. Further, she is cross-validating the results from the deception fMRI studies with the polygraph, a traditional measure of deception. In addition to her work in neuroscience, Dr. Bhatt is actively involved in the community as a committee member for Hands-on-DC and active member for both the Association of Women in Science and Suited for Change.

Nancy Chi Cantalupo is Assistant Dean for Clinical Programs at Georgetown University Law Center, where she is responsible for administrative supervision of the J.D. clinical program and student academic counseling related to clinical education. She is also responsible for the academic administration of the Law Center's graduate clinical fellowship program and the LL.M. (Advocacy) degree. She has also worked as an associate at Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, a national law firm, and as Associate Director of the International Legal Studies Program at American University’s Washington College of Law. Her dedication to improving the lives of women and girls of color comes from her experience organizing women students, faculty and staff at Georgetown University to build a women’s resource center, from her eight years as the first director of that center, and from her studies and volunteer activities in the areas of women’s studies and international human rights. She has studied and/or worked in Asia, Europe, and Africa, including by investigating and documenting domestic violence in Ghana with a fact-finding team from the International Women's Human Rights Clinic from Georgetown University Law Center. She holds a Juris Doctorate and a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and is conversant in Mandarin Chinese.

Thembi Carr is a native from Cincinnati, OH. She attended The Ohio State University where she received a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Development and Family Science with a focus on Family Counseling. Currently, she attends the University of Cincinnati where she has earned a Master’s Degree in Education and currently is in the doctoral program in Educational Foundations. Upon graduation, I aspire to teach in the field of higher education with a focus on multicultural education.

Desiree Hoffman-Hizi is a 1998 Graduate of Dickinson College where she received her Bachelors degree in International Studies with Certificates in Women’s Studies and Latin American Studies. Desiree received a Master’s Degree in Public Policy and Women’s Studies from George Washington University in 2003. In 2002, she was given the Graduate Prize for Feminist Scholarship from the George Washington University, for her research on the costs of militarization post-911 on women and other historically marginalized communities. In 2002, she also received the Service to the Community of Women Award. After Graduate School, Desiree worked as an Advocacy Associate at the YWCA USA. At the YWCA she monitored public policy on behalf of over 300 local associations across the United States. Currently, Desiree works at the AFL-CIO Voice@Work Campaign where she tracks policy developments under the Employee Free Choice Act and helps affiliates build community and political relationships.

Amanda Johnston is a poet who has performed across the country for causes ranging from reproductive freedom to domestic violence awareness. Honors include a 2003 and 2004 Artist Enrichment grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women and membership with the Affrilachian Poets, a grassroots collective of poets founded by Frank X Walker and Nikky Finney among others. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Kentucky Women Writers Conference, the National Women’s Alliance and on the Editorial Board for The Heartland Review, a journal of poetry, fiction, and fine art.

Kim Loan Nguyen holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Phoenix and a Master’s in Social Work from the University of Phoenix. Since 2001, Kim has served as a Vietnamese community liason and interpreter in New Orleans East. Kim is also currently serving on the board of directors of Excelth, Inc. since 2003. Excelth, Inc. aims to provide excellence in community-based health care that increases access, reduces health disparities, and improves health outcomes. From 2004-2005, Kim served as the board president of Safe Neighborhood Action Plan (SNAP) New Orleans, Inc. SNAP New Orleans’ mission is to organize a collaborative of volunteer and non-profit organizations serving the area bounded by I-510, Chef Menteur, Bayou Sauvage, and I-10 in order to develop and fund a holistic, programmatic approach to community improvement and empowerment.

Laura Quiros, LMSW, is currently a Ph.D. social welfare candidate at Hunter College School of Social Work and a Program Associate in Palladia’s Program Planning and Development Department. She began her work with Palladia, Inc. (formerly known as Project Return Foundation) in February 2001. Laura Quiros was the Women’s Treatment Specialist for the SAMHSA funded Women and Co-occurring Violence Project (The Portal Project). Laura was largely responsible for integrating Seeking Safety: A Treatment Manual for PTSD and Substance Abuse (Lisa M. Najavits, Ph.D.) curriculum into Palladia. Laura’s passions for innovative start up projects lead her to pursue a position with the Clinical Consultation Team as a Mental Health Consultant, a collaboration between the New York Administration for Children Services and Palladia, as a Mental Health Consultant, she worked to implement a clinical perspective into the child welfare system. She also worked as Program Manager at a Palladia residential substance abuse facility. Laura has been published in REFLECTIONS; Narratives of Professional Healing, Fall 2000 and Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, Volume 22 Issue 3/4. Laura is also an avid marathon runner. She has completed six marathons to date.

Aparna Reddi holds a B.A. in Psychology and an M.S. in Social Work. She has spent the past five years working on women’s issues, with an emphasis on domestic violence survivors and working with Chinese garment workers displaced by 9/11. She currently works with the New York Asian Women’s Center (NYAWC) as the Residential Clinical Supervisor, where she runs the counseling component of the shelter program. In addition, Ms. Reddi heads an initative in NYAWC that aims to help Asian women who are survivors of human trafficking.

Joi Rhone is currently employed as a Technology Project Manager at Irwin Home Equity in San Ramon, CA. In addition, she is the principal in The Rhone Group, which has provided technical services to non-profits in the San Francisco Bay Area. She holds a BA in Sociology/Finance from the University of San Francisco and an M.B.A. from the University of Phoenix. She has served on the Boards of several organizations that serve the needs of people of color communities; namely, Pacific Center for Human Growth in Berkeley, CA; All Our Families Coalition in San Francisco, CA; and AIDS Project of the East Bay in Oakland, CA. She currently sits on the Boards of Zuna Institute and National Woman’s Alliance. But, by far, her most cherished accomplishment is being the proud parent of her 9 year old daughter, Michaela.

Laverne Saulny serves as Deputy Regional Manager for U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu for the New Orleans Region. Prior to becoming Deputy Regional Manager, Ms. Saulny founded an exclusive business “Write for You” that provided consulting services to nonprofit and for-profit organizations in the area of fund-raising, event planning and management, marketing, sponsorship campaigns, grant writing, capacity building, grant monitoring and business development. Ms. Saulny was renowned for having the unique ability to help organizations meet challenges with a full range of approaches and services.

Jaya Vasandani is Project Associate of the Correctional Association of NY’s Women in Prison Project, a group which addresses the effects of New York State’s criminal justice policies on women and their families through policy advocacy, community organizing, public education and prison monitoring. Before going to the Correctional Association, Jaya worked on women’s rights issues, including economic justice, violence against women, reproductive justice and sexual trafficking, as a Policy Associate at the Center for Women Policy Studies and the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund (now Legal Momentum) in Washington, DC. Jaya received a Bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in 2001.

Tamara A. Masters Wilds is currently the Executive Coordinator for Women Building for the Future (The Future PAC) and a doctoral fellow in the American Studies Department at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research focus is 20th Century social movements and ethnographic studies of Black Baptist Churches. In 2002 she contributed an essay to Paradox of Loyalty: An African American Response To The War On Terrorism, edited by Dr. Julianne Malveaux and Reginna Green. Her past professional and political experience includes working as the Director of African American Outreach at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Deputy Field Director for Delegate Operations and Constituencies for Gore 2000. In 2001 she won the Women’s Information Network (WIN) young women of achievement “Campaigner of the Year” award for her work during the 2000 election cycle. Ms. Wilds is also on the Advisory Board of Black Youth Vote! and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and Union Temple Baptist Church. A native Washingtonian, Ms. Wilds devotes much of her spare time to working with the city’s youth.