"I am a part of the Joyful Heart Foundation because shedding light into the darkness that surrounds violence and abuse is the first step toward ending it. I am proud to play a role in Joyful Heart's vision which seeks to ignite and foster open dialogue about how to collaboratively end the cycle of violence and abuse."

"I am a part of the Joyful Heart Foundation because we all have a responsibility to build a community that helps survivors to heal. I am excited and proud to play a role in Joyful Heart's vision because I believe so strongly in the holistic approach of all that we do to heal, educate and empower."

Molly Solomon has nearly a decade of experience in non-profit administration, and comes to Joyful Heart from Safe Horizon where she oversaw the finances and operations of the agency's development and marketing initiatives. Prior to her work with Safe Horizon, Molly held various roles in New York's theater industry, lending her administrative talents to the companies of Rent and De La Guarda. Molly holds a BS in Sociology and is a proud resident of Brooklyn.

"My work with Joyful Heart is a gift - in every sense of the word. I find myself blessed to work alongside the most dedicated and passionate professionals in our field. Each day, I witness the positive impact our programs and outreach have on survivors of abuse and violence, and each interaction leaves me increasingly in awe of the resiliency of the human spirit. I am part of the Joyful Heart Foundation because I can't imagine not being involved in this incredible and joyous movement."

As Vice President of Marketing & Communications for Joyful Heart, Nathan Richards focuses on developing the organization's online and print marketing efforts to help grow JHF's base of supporters and practitioners, as well as keeping clients and survivors in touch with the foundation and one another. Prior to joining Joyful Heart, Nathan was Director of Global Marketing and Communications at TransPerfect Translations, the world's largest privately-owned provider of language services. Nathan attended Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service with a concentration in Business, Information, and Communications.

"I am honored to be part of the Joyful Heart team. The foundation's focus on wellness of the whole individual-nurturing body, mind and spirit-resonates with my perspective on life and healing. I believe that at our core, each of us has within ourselves the power to heal and thrive fully. Joyful Heart respectfully connects survivors of violence with their own personal core of strength, providing a gentle, safe pathway from darkness to a life filled with abundance."

Sherisa is a licensed marriage and family therapist in California with specific expertise in the application of the arts to language acquisition, education and the healing of trauma. She earned her master's degree in clinical psychology from San Jose State University and began her professional career as a not- for-profit executive with special focus on fundraising, board development, and organizational dynamics. For close to a decade, she has integrated the talent of artists, dancers, storytellers, and other performers with the California State curriculum to develop programs for language learners that maintained the academic standings they held in their native language while acquiring English as a second language. Her work includes a strong focus on somatic therapies, including yoga, breathing, mindfulness and movement, as well as applying these techniques to strengthen coping skills in young children and adults.

"I am part of the Joyful Heart Foundation because it represents all that I value--our commitment to survivors, our hope for justice and our determination to make the world a safe place for everyone."

Sarah Tofte comes to Joyful Heart with ten years of experience working on criminal justice responses to sexual and domestic violence. Her area of expertise is on the rape kit backlog in the United States, and she has significant experience engaging policymakers, non-profits and the media on issues of violence against women. Before starting at Joyful Heart, Sarah was at Human Rights Watch. She is most proud of her family, especially her son Max.

"I believe strongly in the power of communities to create lasting change. Like the Joyful Heart Foundation, ending violence against women and girls is my life's work. My particular passion is linking violence against women and girls to an anti-oppression framework that also addresses the importance of maintaining our health and well-being as advocates, organizations, and community members. What better place to bring all this together than at the Joyful Heart Foundation? I'm thrilled to be of service to Joyful Heart and my adopted community of Hawaiʻi by fulfilling the vision of Joyful Heart and my own vision of a world of peace, justice and balance."

Kata Issari has been working in the field of sexual and domestic violence for 30 years. She is an advocate, educator, fundraiser, therapist and community activist with over 20 years experience as a manager, organizational consultant and anti-oppression trainer. After completing her MSW at the University of Michigan, Kata established the first clinical program and 24-hour rape crisis line, at the U of M campus' Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center. She has served on the boards of the National Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Advocates for Abused and Battered Lesbians (now the Northwest Network) and the Women's Funding Alliance in Seattle. Kata has lectured throughout the U.S. on a variety of issues related to sexual and domestic violence.

She is a founding member of INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence and is currently a consultant/trainer for the Advocacy Learning Center, a project of Praxis International and Manavi. Originally from Iran, Kata immigrated to the U.S. as a child and currently lives in Honolulu, where for over a decade she managed PACT Family Peace Center, a domestic violence program serving survivors, batterers and children exposed to domestic violence. While at Family Peace Center, Kata was instrumental in helping to design and implement Namelehuapono, the only existing culturally-based, domestic violence intervention for Native Hawaiian and Polynesian survivors and offenders. She also led the development of the Keiki Safe Project, a school-based counseling and community response model for children exposed to domestic violence and collaborated to secure federal funding for PACT Family Peace Center's award as one of ten national sites for the Department of Justice's Safe Start Promising Practices initiative, both research partnerships with the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

"I am part of the Joyful Heart Foundation because of the inspiration, motivation and strength I receive from colleagues, practitioners, survivors of abuse and fellow travelers on this journey to do this thing that we have each decided that we must do. This thing that can seem like the hardest thing in the world. This thing that scares people and makes them laugh. This thing that incites and unravels power and brings light to uneasy truths. This thing that is both simple and subversive; to celebrate love instead of fear, to make noise while others are silent, and in the end, to choose to be part of the joyful revolution."

Abigail Sims has been working in the area of sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse intervention and prevention since 1995. Abigail focuses on engaging individuals and communities in creating programs and spaces that support survivors of violence and abuse to experience their fullest potential through the implementation of community based educational and advocacy services. Abigail is an experienced facilitator and trainer who works extensively with teens and adults and professionals in a variety of settings, including youth and family-serving organizations, health care settings and academic institutions. She is also a certified self-defense instructor. Abigail believes that the innovative and responsive programming that the Joyful Heart Foundation employs will transform the way we all participate in healing our communities, our relationships, and ourselves.

"I am part of the Joyful Heart Foundation because I deeply believe that we all have voices that are meant to be heard and spirits that deserve to be unleashed unto the world with unabashed vigor. I am honored to be part of an organization and community committed to lighting an empowered path towards hope, healing and joy for so many courageous survivors, healers and advocates."

With over six years experience in non-profit fundraising, corporate philanthropy and building strategic partnerships, Joanna comes to Joyful Heart from Capital One, where she oversaw community engagement, associate volunteerism and grant programs as one half of Capital One's Community Relations team in NY, NJ and CT. Prior to Capital One, Joanna was the Corporate Development Manager at Safe Horizon, where she managed corporate relations and cause-related marketing campaigns addressing domestic violence and child abuse. Joanna began her career in artist management and marketing in the music industry, and holds a BA and MA in American Studies.

“I’m excited about being part of Joyful Heart’s mission to heal, educate and empower survivors of trauma. It’s amazing to see the transformation of a survivor, who is able to find hope and feel empowered about their future. It is truly a privilege to be a part of this journey of healing that changes the lives of not only the survivors but also their children, who can grow up in a safer environment instilled with hopes and dreams.”

Monica is a marriage and family therapist who has worked with survivors of domestic violence and their children for nine years. She earned her Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles. Monica’s experience in community mental health includes the coordination of a county funded domestic violence program that supported survivors in becoming self-reliant by providing counseling services, independent living skills classes and vocational training. She also has experience working at a domestic violence shelter where she provided individual and group therapy.

"I am part of Joyful Heart because its vision and values are in alignment with my desire to work with survivors, communities and healers from the inside out. The work of Joyful Heart is awe-inspiring and its approach to domestic violence, child abuse and sexual assault work is transformative. I feel lucky to be a part of this great organization."

Prior to joining Joyful Heart, Zoë was the Director of Training and Technical Assistance with the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence. In this role, she oversaw Department of Children and Families, Family Violence Prevention Services Act and Victims Of Crimes Act grant programs. She also provided training and technical assistance to domestic violence center staff and community partners and served as a resource for FCADV regional committees and caucuses. Zoë also served as the Prevention Education Coordinator for the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence. As the Statewide Coordinator for the Centers for Disease Control-funded Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancement and Leadership Through Alliances (DELTA) Program, she worked with state and local grantees on primary prevention strategies. She is also the author of the book Dirty Laundry: Women of Color Speak Out about Domestic Violence; a meditation CD entitled Balance-An Evening Meditation for Activists, Advocates and Helping Professionals and a Choreoplay called From Ashes to Angel Dust: A Journey Through Womanhood.

"I am incredibly honored to be part of the team at the Joyful Heart Foundation. Joyful Heart's innovation inspires me, with its message of hope and healing for survivors and its efforts to spread awareness and begin a national discourse about sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse."

Before joining Joyful Heart, Liz helped to found a non-profit organization focusing on prisoner reintegration. She has also served as a law clerk in the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court. During law school, she held internships at the ACLU of Pennsylvania, Koob & Magoolaghan and the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project. As a member of the Violence Against Women Committee of the Coalition for Women Prisoners, Liz advocates for the reform of criminal justice practices that are harmful to survivors of domestic violence.

"I am a part of the Joyful Heart Foundation because I believe in the movement it has created to bring issues of sexual and domestic violence into the light and its ability to heal, educate and empower survivors in a uniquely beautiful and lasting way. It is truly joyous, directly affecting all those touched by Joyful Heart in one way or another, and it is actively making a difference to change our collective response to these horrible acts."

Lendon Ebbels joins the Joyful Heart Foundation as a recent graduate of McGill University, where she obtained her BA in Sociology. There, she volunteered extensively with its student-run sexual assault center, providing support and information to survivors and their allies and promoting an awareness of issues and myths surrounding sexual assault in the community as a workshop facilitator, media watch coordinator, and external representative. Lendon held two internships with Human Rights Watch, where she lent her support to efforts to end the rape kit backlog and other US-based advocacy goals.

"The Joyful Heart Foundation is truly transformative. The comprehensiveness of its healing programs for survivors ensures that all elements of self are addressed. Moreover, by raising awareness around abuse issues, the Joyful Heart Foundation is helping to create a society that is more knowledgeable about and more accountable to these injustices. The Joyful Heart Foundation helps to improve the lives of countless individuals and I feel privileged to be a part of that."

After graduating from Lawrence University, Ben Clark served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Campamento, Honduras. In that role, he conducted topographic studies and designed potable water systems in rural communities and also managed the implementation of a latrine construction project in a nearby community. After returning from the Peace Corps, Ben completed an M.P.A. program at NYU’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, where he majored in Public and Non-Profit Management and Policy. He is also a current board member for Kids for Tomorrow, which funds educational programs in Kenya, Cambodia and New York City.

"I am very proud to have joined the Joyful Heart team. Fostering an open dialogue about violence, abuse and the impact of trauma honors the experiences of victims and empowers a community of survivors. The Joyful Heart Foundation offers services that respect the individuality of survivors while promoting community among them. I am honored to be part of such a proactive and self-aware foundation, one that models growth for survivors with its continuing efforts to match its activities and ideas with the needs of those it serves."

Allison Keeler joins the Joyful Heart Foundation with several years of administrative experience in mental health offices. She is a recent graduate of the University of Oregon, where she earned her M. Ed. in Couples and Family Therapy. During her graduate studies, she provided individual, couple and family counseling at the University’s Center for Family Therapy and volunteered at Oregon Family Support Network, a non-profit organization that offers support to families affected by serious mental illness. While completing her BA in Psychology at Chapman University in Orange, California, she volunteered with Olive Crest Homes & Services for Abused and Neglected Children and served as a research assistant in the Psychology Department. Allison enjoys long distance running, dancing, trivia and traveling. She resides in Los Angeles.

"I am grateful to be a part of the Joyful Heart Foundation, where we strive to bring light to issues that are typically categorized as "private" and "no one else's business." Domestic violence and sexual assault are everyone's business, and we—women and men—must work collaboratively to end the cycle of violence. I fully believe in this organization's unique, holistic approach to healing because every woman and child deserves to live a safe, joyous and fulfilling life in a community of compassion and empowerment."

Malissa Pansa-ad's interest in domestic violence and sexual assault issues began in college where she worked with her university's Office for Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance and joined SCREAM Theater (Students Challenging Reality and Educating Against Myths), a peer educational, interactive theater program that educates groups and initiates dialogue about issues of interpersonal violence including sexual assault, dating violence, same-sex violence, stalking, bullying and peer harassment. Malissa comes to Joyful Heart with experience in politics and legislative processes, having worked on Capitol Hill, for electoral campaigns and at a research institute. She holds a BA in Political Science from Douglass College, Rutgers University.

"I am thrilled to be involved with the Joyful Heart Foundation. I'm eager to help develop additional research that will enable the foundation to continue promoting their positive message of hope and renewal through pioneering programming."

As an advocate, therapist, volunteer and activist, Rose Garcia has been connected to issues of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse for the past 17 years. Rose began her involvement with survivors at the Centro de Damas Advocacy Group in Curacao Netherlands Antilles. At the agency, she was instrumental as an advocate in supporting survivors by helping to provide anything from first response support to legal aid. From there she was involved with several organizations that specialized in domestic violence issues. Eager to take her work to another level, Rose received her masters in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University in 2002 and was in clinical practice for four years and specialized in working with adult clients with emotional illness. Rose's natural curiosity and predilection for working with people in crisis to provide positive encouragement has helped her stay engaged in cutting edge trauma work for nearly two decades.

“I am part of the Joyful Heart Foundation because I believe deeper healing is possible for women who have experienced incest, sexual abuse and trauma. The Foundation offers a place where safe community, creative expression and deep contact with the natural world are brought together to allow for it. I am part of the Joyful Heart community because I want to be a part of giving women who have been violated in unimaginable ways their bodies back, a sense of security and experiences of joy and self-compassion within a trustworthy community.”

Elena’s personal and professional paths have led her to combine creativity and healing in her therapeutic work with trauma survivors. Having graduated from the Expressive Arts Therapy Program at The California Institute of Integral Studies with a masters in Counseling Psychology, Elena received her Marriage and Family Therapy license and Creative Arts Therapy license in the state of New York. Elena is the Clinical Director of Midtown Marriage and Family Therapy and provides in-depth psychotherapy to individuals and couples both at Midtown MFT and in her private practice located in Greenwich Village, New York. As a licensed psychotherapist specializing in trauma, Elena is an integral part of Joyful Heart’s retreat program development, training and facilitation.