Joyful Heart Foundation Staff

Robyn Mazur is a seasoned non-profit executive with over twenty-five years of professional experience in gender and family justice. Prior to joining the Joyful Heart Foundation, Robyn was the Senior Director of National Training and Technical Assistance at the Center for Justice Innovation where she specialized in strategic program planning and implementation, partnership cultivation, relationship management and development of complex, large-scale programs such as the national domestic violence homicide prevention resource center. Robyn worked with legal stakeholders and communities who were interested in enhancing their responses to gender-based violence and provided training across the U.S. and internationally on the issues of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. Robyn is an attorney and prior to joining the Center, she worked at the National Network to End Domestic Violence in Washington, DC and the House of Ruth in Baltimore, MD.

Leslie serves as the Chief Financial Officer at the Joyful Heart Foundation, bringing over 20 years of dedicated experience in nonprofit financial leadership. Deeply committed to the organization’s mission, Leslie applies her expertise in financial planning and analysis, budgeting, grant management, and fundraising strategies to support meaningful impact. She is proud to align her professional skill set with the Foundation’s purpose-driven work.

Leslie earned her Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, two children, and their dog. Outside the office, Leslie enjoys exploring New York City by foot, appreciating the unique character of its diverse neighborhoods.

Ilse has 25 years invested in victim advocacy and is a nationally recognized expert on the rape kit backlog. She leads Joyful Heart’s End The Backlog campaign, which is at the forefront of identifying untested rape kits across the country, appealing for laws and policies to improve criminal justice responses to sexual violence; and working with jurisdictions to assist them to develop and implement survivor-centered reforms. Ilse also manages the Foundations Image-Based Abuse Initiative, which raises awareness of the problem, changes laws and policies at the state and federal level, and pushes for rights and resources for survivors. Previously, Ilse spent 16 years at the National Center for Victims of Crime, where she created the DNA Resource Center and led the center’s efforts to reform policies and practices related to testing rape kits, stalking, and victims’ rights. She credits her mother with instilling a duty in her to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Born and raised in New York, Laura Rubeli comes to the Joyful Heart Foundation with over 30 years of professional experience. Prior to joining Joyful Heart, Laura held the position of cold case sexual assault victim advocate at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

Laura worked in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General’s statewide efforts to submit previously untested sexual assault kits for testing and eliminate Nevada’s rape kit backlog. Laura is dedicated to providing a victim-centered and trauma-informed approach to reengage sexual assault victims back into the criminal justice system.

Lois Kim supports the Policy and Advocacy team at the Joyful Heart Foundation, where she contributes to advancing meaningful change for survivors of sexual assault. She graduated from The George Washington University with a degree in Asian Studies and minors in Political Science and History. Before joining Joyful Heart, she interned with the Humane World Action Fund, focusing on federal policy. Lois is passionate about public interest work and committed to building a more compassionate and equitable future.

Burcu Sagiroglu develops and implements policy advocacy strategies to end the rape kit backlog, to increase access to healing and justice for survivors, and to change the society’s response to gender-based violence both online and offline. Through academic research, consulting projects, and internships, she worked on access to resources and rights for vulnerable groups, including street children with disabilities in India, human trafficking survivors in Maryland and Peru, and refugees in the U.S. and West Asia. She holds a master’s in public policy from University of Maryland College Park, and a bachelor’s degree in government from Colby College, ME.