Several MNADV staff members are moving on this winter, but we have some great new staff members joining as well. Learn all about them here! 

Several MNADV staff members are moving on this winter, including Amy Johnson, our Assistant Executive Director, Amanda Wilson, our LAP Co-Director, Erin Boguski, our Director of Training and Services, and Tara Pavao, our Office Operations Manager. Amy and Amanda will continue to provide their expertise in a consulting capacity but are taking more time for their families. Tara will be moving back to her home state of Massachusetts, and Erin will be staying in the field as the newest addition to the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) team. We wish all of our outgoing staff members the best and will miss them, but we have some great new staff members joining as well!

Ayana Wallace
Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) Manager
Ayana is MNADV’s new LAP Manager. She will be responsible for managing several national sites that are in the process of implementing the LAP within their jurisdiction. Ayana graduated in 2012 from Dickinson College with her Bachelor’s degree in Women’s and Gender Studies and minors in English, History, and Creative Writing. She went on to obtain her Master’s degree in Women’s and Gender Studies from Towson University in 2014. While completing her Master’s program, she interned at the House of Ruth Maryland, and upon graduation began working as a Client Case Coordinator at the Betty Ann Krahnke Center. Ayana considers herself to be a womanist and has a passion for animal rights.

Kristine Chapman
Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) Manager
Kristine will support the day-to-day operations of the LAP program, providing training and technical assistance to sites interested in and already implementing the LAP, and coordinating logistics with jurisdictions approved for training. Kristine was previously the Director of Community Engagement for The Willow Domestic Violence Center in Lawrence, Kansas, the Director of Volunteers at Headquarters Counseling Center (the suicide prevention lifeline center for Kansas), and a 911 dispatcher for seven years.  She has a Bachelor’s in Emergency Management with a minor in Public Safety Telecommunications. Kristine loves to travel with her partner, grow veggies and flowers, and have adventures with her niece and nephew.

Jess Staskal
Project Coordinator for Communications & Training
Jess will be assisting with the development of publications, coordinating branding and messaging, maintaining MNADV’s social and digital media presence, and helping to educate the public about domestic violence. She will also be coordinating, developing and training at MNADV’s 5-day Comprehensive IPV Training as well as several other workshops, conferences, webinars, and events throughout Maryland. Jess graduated in 2013 from Drake University in Des Moines, IA with a Bachelor’s degree in Public Relations, and minors in Women’s Studies and Anthropology. She was previously the Program Coordinator at the National Stalking Resource Center, and the Communications Specialist at the Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault and the National Sexual Assault Coalition Resource Sharing Project. Jess lives with her partner and cat and is obsessed with carbs, politics, reading, bad reality tv, feminism and funny cat gifs.

Maria Franco-Rahman
Project Coordinator of Special Populations
Maria will be responsible for building and expanding the response and quality of services to survivors of domestic violence with a focus on communities of color, immigrants, the LGBTQIA community, faith communities, substance abuse treatment providers and abuser intervention facilitators throughout Maryland. As Project Coordinator, she will coordinate, develop, and provide trainings as well as offer technical assistance and participate in collaborative working groups. Maria’s work in the anti-violence against women movement for nearly a decade has been sustained by dreams of a loving, violent-free world where healing and liberation resounds. Her previous work has included direct service to undocumented domestic violence survivors in her role as the Residential Program Manager at a culturally specific transitional shelter in Los Angeles as well as coordinating and providing holistic healing interventions to both survivors and service providers through her work at Joyful Heart Foundation. She studied at Loyola Marymount University where she earned a B.A in Urban Studies and Business Administration with an emphasis in Management. She is a Los Angeles native and proud Chicana work daily to honor her ancestors.