Preventing Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Among Youth
Presenters
Kathleen C. Basile, PhD
Senior Scientist, Office of the Associate Director for Science, Division of Violence Prevention, CDC
Dr. Basile is a senior scientist in the Office of the Associate Director for Science in the Division of Violence Prevention at CDC. She has been at CDC since 2000. Her main research interests are the measurement, prevalence, risk and protective factors, and health consequences of sexual violence and intimate partner violence of adults and adolescents.
Before coming to CDC, Dr. Basile was a research associate in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University where she led education policy related research. She received her master’s and doctoral degrees in sociology from Georgia State University.
Christy K. Burch
Executive Director, Women’s Crisis Center
Christy K. Burch has been working to end power-based personal violence for more than 21 years. Ms. Burch is the executive director of Women’s Crisis Center. She is a mother, an artist, and founder of Your Story is My Story Inc., a company dedicated to creating social change through, advocacy, art and activism.
Ms. Burch honed her skills in her previous capacities at the University of Kentucky’s Violence Intervention and Prevention Center (VIP), the birthplace of the Green Dot Violence Prevention Strategy. She formerly served as the training administrator for the Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and has consulted for a rape crisis centers and domestic violence programs throughout the Commonwealth.
Training, mentoring, public speaking, leadership, and merging art and advocacy are some of the modalities that Ms. Burch brings to her work with non-profit agencies. She is a sought after speaker and prevention specialist and has provided thousands of trainings and national presentations. Ms. Burch uses her years of experience with both prevention and intervention to work alongside communities to help end violence.
Ramona Finnie, DrPH, MPH, CHES
Service Fellow, Community Guide Branch, CDC
Dr. Finnie is a service fellow in the Community Guide Branch where she has worked on systematic reviews for intervention approaches to prevent cardiovascular disease, childhood obesity, health equity and intimate partner and sexual violence. Dr. Finnie holds a masters of public health (MPH) in behavior science and health education and a doctorate in public health (DrPH) in health promotion.
Nicole Greene
Acting Director, Office on Women’s Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Nicole Greene serves as acting director and deputy director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office on Women’s Health (OWH). Ms. Greene leads the OWH in the development of women’s and girls’ health education, policy, and program activities, as well as oversees all administrative, financial, and strategic planning operations. Ms. Greene serves as a spokesperson for OWH speaking on topics as domestic violence, National Women’s Health Week, and Lyme disease. Ms. Greene also facilitates partnerships with business and community leaders, celebrities, and other personalities.
As a former Council for Excellence in Government Fellow and a graduate of the prestigious Leadership for a Democratic Society program through the Federal Executive Institute, Ms. Greene leads change management in the office. She also guides all aspects of personnel management, staff development, and staff performance-related activities, employing a robust employee and labor relations program.
Prior to joining OWH, Ms. Greene spent more than 20 years at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). During that time she served as a senior project officer in the Federally Qualified Health Center Program as well as director of policy of the National Practitioner Data Banks.
Melissa Greenwell
Director, Buffalo Trace Women’s Crisis Center
Melissa Greenwell has dedicated herself to preventing sexual and domestic violence for nearly 20 years. Ms. Greenwell is a mother, advocate, leader, and director of Buffalo Trace Women’s Crisis Center. As director, she provides direction and leadership to the sexual and intimate partner violence response, and assists in education and prevention efforts.
Ms. Greenwell began her career as a case manager at DOVES, a domestic violence shelter. She provided direct service to survivors at Women’s Crisis Center from 1999 until 2011, at which time she was named director. She is passionate about engaging the community and building connections to the mission of Women’s Crisis Center, and she believes in being a strong partner to her community as well. She serves on many committees and boards at both the local and state levels.
She remains hopeful that that we can create communities where everyone does their part to create a safe place for us all to live.
Cierra Olivia Thomas-Williams, MA
Prevention Specialist, Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Cierra Olivia Thomas-Williams, MA is a prevention specialist with the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ICADV), and her work focuses on primary prevention with and for people with disabilities. In 2015, after 17 years as a victim’s advocate who also coordinated prevention efforts for local shelters in Oregon and Indiana, Ms. Thomas-Williams was invited to join the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ICADV) prevention team in 2015 to focus more intentionally on priority or underserved populations including teens and people with disabilities. Ms. Thomas-Williams now works collaboratively with the ICADV prevention team to develop, implement, evaluate, and report on strategies supporting Indiana’s sexual violence prevention plan and intimate partner violence prevention plan as they relate to special populations.
Ms. Thomas-Williams was honored as the 2013 Indiana Preventionist of the year for her work in the fields of domestic and sexual violence prevention. ARC of Indiana (a disability advocacy agency) awarded Ms. Thomas-Williams the 2013 Innovation Award for her collaborations with Stone Belt, ARC.