Speakers

Dr. Karie Gibson

Dr. Karie Gibson has been a Special Agent with the FBI for 15 years and currently serves as the Unit Chief for the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit-1 (BAU-1), Behavioral Threat Assessment Center (BTAC), a national-level, multi-agency, multi-disciplinary Task Force focused on the prevention of terrorism and targeted violence through the application of behaviorally-based operational support, training and research for local, state, federal, and international partners. BTAC routinely completes threat assessments, threat management strategies, statement analysis, interview and interrogation strategies, prosecutorial strategies, media strategies, and unknown offender profiles. Dr. Gibson was a Supervisory Special Agent/Profiler at BAU-1 for 6 ½ years prior to being promoted to Unit Chief.

Prior to becoming an agent with the FBI, Dr. Gibson was and continues to be a licensed clinical psychologist. She was an officer in the United States Air Force (USAF) where for four years she worked as a psychologist conducting therapy and psychological assessments for military members and their families. After the USAF, Dr. Gibson was a Forensic Evaluator for the State of Washington for one year before leaving to join the FBI. As a Forensic Evaluator, Dr. Gibson completed court ordered evaluations such as competency to stand trial, mental state at time of offense, and civil commitment evaluations.

Dr. Gibson earned a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Psychology from the University of Minnesota, Morris in 1997; a Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in psychological assessment from the Minnesota School of Professional Psychology in 2000; and a Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) degree in Clinical Psychology with a concentration in forensics from the Minnesota School of Professional Psychology in 2002.

Dr. James Marley

James A. Marley, PhD, is Associate Dean for Academics at Loyola University Chicago School of Social Work. He is a member of the Steering Committee for the Prevention Practitioners Network and involved in a current DHS grant focused on targeted violence and terrorism prevention in Illinois. He is on the editorial board for the Clinical Social Work Journal and a member of the National Organization for Forensic Social Work and the Society for Terrorism Research.

Dr. Heidi Ellis

Heidi Ellis, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in Psychology and Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital, and a licensed clinical psychologist. She is also the Director of the Trauma and Community Resilience Center at Boston Children’s Hospital, a partner in the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Dr. Ellis' primary focus is on understanding and promoting youth mental health and well-being, with a particular emphasis on understanding how trauma exposure, violence, and social context impact developmental trajectories. Over the past 15 years she has conducted a Community Based Participatory Research program with Somali youth and was Principal Investigator of a multi-site, longitudinal research project examining developmental pathways to and away from violence, including ideological violence, gang involvement, and civic engagement. She is also conducting research to advance a public health approach to preventing violent extremism across the ideological spectrum. Dr. Ellis is co-developer of the trauma treatment model Trauma Systems Therapy, and is engaged in capacity building and training related to trauma-informed multidisciplinary approaches to the repatriation and reintegration of children from formerly ISIS-controlled territories. She also directs the Massachusetts Area Prevention Framework, a multidisciplinary team approach to preventing targeted violence and terrorism among adolescents.

Brette Steele

Brette Steele serves as the Senior Director for Preventing Targeted Violence at the McCain Institute for International Leadership. Prior to joining the McCain Institute, Steele served as the Regional Director of Strategic Engagement for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Terrorism Prevention Partnerships. In that role she advised the State of California in the development of a statewide Preventing Violent Extremism Strategy and partnered with counties, cities, and nonprofit organizations to develop and implement Preventing Violent Extremism programs.

Steele established and served as Deputy Director of the U.S. Countering Violent Extremism Task Force, which coordinated all federal efforts to prevent violent extremism in the United States. Prior to establishing the Countering Violent Extremism Task Force, Steele served as Senior Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General and coordinated the U.S. Department of Justice’s terrorism prevention and forensic science reform initiatives. Steele also chaired the U.S. Department of Justice Arab- and Muslim-American Engagement Advisory Committee and vice chaired the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities. Steele graduated with a B.A. from University of California, Berkeley, and a J.D. from UCLA School of Law.

Chief Noel March

Noel C. March is Lecturer of Justice Studies and Director of the Maine Community Policing Institute at the University of Maine at Augusta (UMA). He is an experienced Chief of Police and remains sworn as such at UMA.

From 2010 to 2018 he served as an appointee of President Barack Obama as the United States Marshal in Maine where he represented the U.S. Department of Justice in the protection of our federal courts and judges, the investigation and apprehension of federal fugitives, the investigation of registered sex offenders, confiscation of criminal assets and support of the witness protection program.

Chief March is a nationally recognized subject-matter-expert in Community Oriented Policing. He is also the author of an award winning online police training program and he instructs and speaks on public safety topics at colleges and conferences internationally. His work has been featured in numerous professional publications and he is a decorated veteran of law enforcement in Connecticut and Maine, where he has held the ranks of Police Officer, Drug Unit Supervisor, and Chief Deputy Sheriff. Noel presently sits on the Board of Directors for the International Association of Chiefs of Police. He is a graduate of the 170th session of the FBI National Academy as well as the University of New England and the University of Maine Graduate School, where he earned degrees in Organizational Leadership and Peace & Reconciliation Studies, respectively

Dr. Rachel Nielsen

Dr. Rachel Nielsen joined Nicoletti-Flater Associates in 2017 as a doctoral intern and then became a Psychological Services Staff Member after completing her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Denver, Graduate School of Professional Psychology (GSPP) in 2018. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Academic Psychology, a Master of Arts in Forensic Psychology, and a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology. Dr. Nielsen works with children, adolescents, adults, families, and couples. She often works with clients who have experienced trauma, divorce, abuse, and other adverse experiences. Common treatment issues include anxiety, depression, PTSD, self-harming, suicidal thoughts and attempts, school refusal, tantrums, and sleep disturbances. Dr. Nielsen has previously worked in child protective services, State hospital inpatient care, sex offender assessment and treatment, child abuse prevention, and mobile crisis intervention. She specializes in forensic psychology, trauma, and behaviorism. Her doctoral research addressed stigma and best practices for working with women in prostitution and sex trafficking. Dr. Nielsen is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Colorado Psychological Association, and the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (Rocky Mountains and Norway chapters). She also currently serves as the Director of the Colorado Resilience Collaborative at the University of Denver, International Disaster Psychology program.

Nichole Miller

Nichole has been an educator for 21 years and joined the Ohio School Safety Center as a Regional Liaison in May 2021. She was a music educator for ten years and then a School Counselor for eleven years, working at all grades levels K-12. Nichole served as the Ohio School Counselor Association President in 2019. In this position she worked with the Ohio Department of Education to develop positive working relationships. Additionally, she was able to work at the legislative level to address inadequacies regarding school counselor roles and responsibilities. This included the opportunity to meet with several legislators and the Lt. Governor of Ohio. The goal in moving to this position within OSSC is to focus on prevention, as it applies to school safety. Addressing climate and culture, along with improving students connection to school can greatly reduce the possibility of school violence. Having worked to build relationships with the most difficult students, she has seen the outcomes that occur within those positive relationships. This is the focus of her scope of practice within OSSC.

Dr. Eric Plummer

Dr. Eric Plummer is currently the Chief of Police for Radford University providing leadership for the Office of Emergency Management and the University Police Department (UPD). He also serves as a national critical incident management instructor for the National Emergency Response and Recovery Training Center (NERRTC) through Texas A&M University-TEEX and has developed courses for FEMA in the areas of critical incident response and Complex Coordinated Terrorist Attack programs.

Plummer previously worked at the University of North Dakota where he served as the Associate Vice President for Public Safety and Chief of Police providing leadership for the emergency management, safety, risk management and insurance, as well as the University Police Department (UPD). Plummer has also served as a Chief of Police for Southern Arkansas University, as well as with the Florida Highway Patrol in numerous roles including state trooper, homicide detective, criminal and internal affairs investigator, and supervisor. In his various roles he has created several threat assessment/behavioral intervention teams and has been an active member of those teams.

Plummer holds a Ph.D. in Public Safety with a concentration in Emergency Management, a master’s degree in management, as well as a bachelor’s degree in sociology. He is a graduate of Harvard University’s Executive Education Course in Crisis Leadership and the Southern Police Institute’s 50th Command Officer Development Course through the University of Louisville.

PATRICIA Kickland

Patricia Kickland has worked as a Program Manager for the Hawai`i State Fusion center for two and a half years. Her primary job duties are to establish, train, and operate behavioral intervention/threat assessment teams (BITAT) throughout the state of Hawai`i. One of her program goals is to support community stakeholders who provide direct services and facilitate their collaboration with BITAT teams. She also provides outreach and education in the area of violent extremism, especially by recognizing community partners as customers of HSFC intelligence products and briefings. Previously, Ms. Kickland was an investigator with the Hawai`i Crime Victim Compensation Commission. Before that, Ms. Kickland was a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney with the City and County of Honolulu. She served on vertical prosecution teams for Elder Abuse, Career Criminal, and Sexual Assault, including trafficking. During law school, Ms. Kickland worked as an advocate for a domestic violence shelter, and volunteered at a county prosecutor office and county public defender office.

Dr. Ghayda Hassan

Dr. Ghayda Hassan is a clinical psychologist and professor of clinical psychology at UQÀM. She has a number of research, clinical, and community-based national and international affiliations. She is the director of the Canada Practitioners Network for the Prevention of Radicalization and Extremist Violence (CPN-PREV, funded by Public Safety Canada). She also is a UNESCO co-chair on Prevention of Violence Radicalization, as well as a researcher and clinical consultant at the SHERPA-RAPS team and the CIUSSS-CODIM. She is a researcher, clinician, as well as a policy consultant in matters of interventions in the context of violence (radicalization, family violence, and war).

Sarah Ousman

Sarah Ousman current serves as the Mapping Coordinator at the Canada Practitioners Network for the Prevention of Radicalization and Extremist Violence (CPN-PREV). Sarah is also a PhD student in Psychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM), and a FRQSC scholarship holder. Her thesis, which focuses on the assessment of the risk of violence related to radicalization and extremism, is directed by Ghayda Hassan (UQÀM) and Anne Crocker (Institut national de psychiatrie légale Philippe-Pinel de Montréal). In addition to her interest in clinical intervention in a context of radicalization and social polarizations, Sarah is interested in transcultural psychology and in working with refugee women as well as marginalized communities.

Dr. Amra Sabic-El-Rayess

Dr. Amra Sabic-El-Rayess is an interdisciplinary scholar who has researched, published, and taught globally on education’s links to social transformations, displacement theory/model of radicalization, empowerment & storytelling, Islam, corruption, elite formation, violence, and anti-Muslim racism. In 2021, she was a keynote speaker at the National Council of Urban Education Associations’ conference presenting on how educators can prevent student radicalization. In 2019, she delivered the inaugural Charo Uceda Lecture at Teachers College, Columbia University on “How to Empower and ‘Un-Other’ Yourself?” Her recent Al Jazeera and EdWeek op-eds examine the stark parallels between the white supremacy movement in the US and anti-Muslim hate that led to the Bosnian Genocide. She is the principal investigator and lead on Reimagine Resilience.

Dave Fortier

Director of Disaster Recovery, BIDMC Fellowship in Disaster Medicine – Boston MA, USA

Senior Fellow, Strong Cities Network - Specializing in Rights and Needs for Victims of Terrorism – London England, UK

Conflict mitigation, education, prevention, and response leader focusing on counterterrorism and extremism prevention development programs, survivor and first responder resilience, promoting innovative recovery approaches to local, national, and international mass casualty events. Bringing expertise across the national and international security paradigm such as developing counter-narrative strategies, radicalization awareness, designing peer-to-peer programing, facilitating trauma response, and innovative resilience center implementation methods.

Sammie Wicks

Sammie Wicks is a Senior Program Manager at the National Policing Institute’s Center for Mass Violence Response Studies. Prior to working with the National Policing Institute, Sammie served as a law enforcement officer for ten years. He began his law enforcement career with the Memphis Police Department in 2011, where he served in various roles to include patrol officer, crisis intervention officer, and community outreach officer. Sammie then served as a police officer with the Aurora Police Department from 2016 to 2021. As a member of the agency’s Crisis Response Team, he developed and managed the agency’s Targeted Violence Prevention Program. In this role, he partnered with a mental health professional and conducted behavioral threat assessments and individualized pre-criminal psycho-social interventions.

Sammie has previously served as a Data and Research Task Force member on the Colorado Governor’s Human Trafficking Council. Sammie currently serves as a Colorado Preventing Targeted Violence team member, supporting local threat management teams.

Sammie’s research focuses on transnational organized crime in diaspora communities, terrorist propaganda, and violent social movements. He holds an M.A. in International Security with a Middle Eastern and North African Religious and Political Thought specialization from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. He also holds a B.A. in History from Rhodes College.

Bruno Dias

Bruno Dias is the Director of Safety, Security, and Threat Management for Mansfield ISD. He is responsible for directing threat assessment & management, security & safety systems, and emergency management initiatives for a school district with 35,500 students and 4,600 staff members. Bruno is an Association of Threat Assessment Professionals (ATAP) Certified Threat Manager, K-12 specialist, and Vice-President for the ATAP Texas Chapter. He is also a Department of Homeland Security National Threat Evaluation and Reporting (NTER) Program Master Trainer. Bruno is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in criminal justice. In 2020, Bruno was sponsored by the DHS FEMA to attend the prestigious Naval Postgraduate School, where he obtained an M.A. in Homeland Defense and Security. Before joining the public education sector, Bruno managed corporate security investigations for a Fortune 10 company in the U.S. and Canada. He retired from law enforcement at the rank of Commander, where he worked various assignments, including serving as a Major Crimes Task Force Commander and Regional SWAT Commander. Under Bruno's command, multiple homicides were solved, and violent crime was reduced by 90%. Bruno is an Adjunct Professor and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Psychology, Public Policy, and Law.

Dr. Loretta Whitson

Dr. Loretta Whitson (Executive Director) is responsible for CASC operations and has devoted her life’s work to advancing the school counseling profession. She works closely with state leaders, legislators and journalists, clarifying complex educational issues and champions policies and practices to support school counselors in California. For over twenty years Dr. Whitson was Director of Student Support Services in Monrovia USD where she oversaw the school counseling program, as well as several district-level operations. Between 2015-2017 Dr. Whitson served as an Assistant Professor and Chair of the Educational Counseling Program for the University of La Verne and was a visiting professor for 10 years at California State University Northridge.

Chief Debra A. Williams

Chief Debra A. Williams has over 39 years of law enforcement experience. She began her career with the City of Atlanta Police Department in 1983, until retiring in 2011, as a major in rank. After retiring with the City of Atlanta Police Department, she served as a Senior Police Advisor and Deputy Team Leader responsible for providing law enforcement instructions, mentoring, and the delivery of training programs with the Narcotics Affairs Section in Mexico. In 2014, she joined the Clayton County Public Schools Police Department as the major over day-to-day operations.

In August 2018, “she was called” as the Chief of Police for Clark Atlanta University Department of Public Safety. She place emphasis on “called” because she feels that it is a calling for her to serve in this capacity. During her tenure at Clark Atlanta University, she has helped bridged the gap with the students, faculty, staff, alums and the community by implementing several programs initiatives and events. During her short tenure, she has received the Leadership Award from the School of Education in 2018 and an Honorary Service Award by the Student Life Awards in 2019. The National Society of Leadership and Success recognized her for Excellence in Service to Students Award and the Atlanta University Center Consortium for her Leadership of the Public Safety and Campus Security Council. She was also recognized as one of the nominees for Georgia’s Chief of the Year at the 2020 Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police Conference.

Her education accomplishments include a Master of Science, Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice and an Associate Degree in Accounting. She is a graduate of Georgia Association Chief of Police Executive Training and the Police Executive Research Forum’s (PERF) Senior Management Institute of Policing (SMIP) in Boston, Massachusetts. She participated in the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), where she visited Israel and received training on Intervention Strategies for Domestic and Gender-Based Violence in San Salvador. Furthermore, she has received several commendations throughout her career, such as 2009 Manager of the Year for APD, Female Officer of the Year for the State of Georgia and finalist for Female Officer of the Year with the International Association of Women Police. Additionally, she is a Georgia State POST Certified Senior Instructor, enjoys mentoring young female officers, leading exercise classes and playing golf.

Chief Williams is married to retired City of Atlanta Police Major Khirus E. Williams and a servant member of The Enon Church in College Park. Proudly, Chief Williams is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated, National Organizations of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), and the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police (GACP, Historically Black Colleges & Universities Law Enforcement Executives & Administrators (HBCU-LEEA), Georgia Association of Campus Police and the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA).

Dr. Lina Alathari

Dr. Alathari is the Chief of the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC), where she oversees the center’s targeted violence behavioral research program. The findings from these projects have identified behaviors, motives, and triggers of individuals who engage in various forms of targeted violence to include school violence, workplace violence, terrorism, attacks against government officials and facilities, and mass attacks in public spaces.

Dr. Alathari also oversees NTAC’s training and consultation programs. She has testified before congress, frequently presents on threat assessment, and provides guidance to government agencies, K-12 schools, universities, and corporations on threat cases and establishing threat assessment programs.

Dr. Alathari was named a 2020 Safety, Security and International Affairs Finalist for the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals, and was the recipient of the 2019 Secret Service Director’s Team Impact Award, the 2019 DHS Secretary’s Meritorious Service Award, and the 2015 DHS Law Enforcement Information Sharing (LEIS) Visionary Award. Dr. Alathari's previous experience includes mental health treatment, behavior analysis, and crisis intervention. Immediately prior to joining the U.S. Secret Service, Dr. Alathari worked at the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute, an inpatient state psychiatric facility, where she oversaw the behavior management program for patients who posed a risk for violence, self-harm, and suicide.

Dr. Alathari earned a Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuropsychology from The George Washington University.

Chief Paul Dean

Paul H. Dean is the Chief of Police and Associate Vice President for Public Safety and Risk Management for the University of New Hampshire. Chief Dean is a 37 year veteran of law enforcement and holds a Master’s of Science in Leadership and, Bachelors of Science with honors in Criminal Justice Management from Granite State College and Executive Certificate in Public Leadership from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Chief Dean is a graduate of the 186^th Session of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, VA and The Babson College Command Officer Training program in Wellesley MA.

Chief Dean serves as an adjunct instructor for the University of New Hampshire Homeland Security Program. Chief Dean serves with the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators as an instructor in terrorism and emergency management related issues.

Chief Dean serves on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA) as the Vice President for Finance and as co-chair of the IACLEA Homeland Security & Domestic Preparedness Committee.

Chief Dean is the President of the New Hampshire Campus Law Enforcement Administrators Association, The United States Department of Homeland Security State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Government Coordinating Council (SLTGCC) and as an Executive Board member of the NH Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Chief Dean serves on the UNH President’s Leadership Council and, numerous campus committees including the Student, Faculty and Staff Behavioral Intervention teams and, is the chairperson of the University Emergency Group.

Eric Shen

Eric Shen is the Inspector in Charge of the Criminal Investigations Group

for the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS). Eric has over 15

years of federal law enforcement experience as a U.S. Postal Inspector.

In September 2005, he was assigned to the Los Angeles Division where he worked fraud workers compensation, identity theft, mail theft, and

workplace violence cases. In 2010, Eric was named the International

Association of Financial Crimes Investigators (IAFCI) Law Enforcement

Officer of the Year for his exemplary work on the federal arrest and

indictment of six members of a violent gang in Orange County, CA. In the same year, the team was recognized with the U.S. Attorney’s Task Force

of the Year Award for the Central District of California.

In 2011, Eric was promoted to Team Leader, Identity Theft / Economic Crimes (ITEC) Team, Los Angeles Division, where under his leadership, the ITEC Team received the IAFCI Task Force of the Year award. In

March 2015, Eric was promoted to Assistant Inspector in Charge (AIC), Los Angeles Division, where he managed various assignments, including mail theft and narcotics.

From 2012 to 2016, Eric served as a Director for the Asian Gang Investigators Association of California (AGIAC) where he coordinated an annual conference for Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST)

certification. In recognition for his service, he received the 2017 National Asian Peace Officers’ Association (NAPOA) award.

Eric holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminology, with a minor in Education, from the University of California, Irvine, where he is currently a member of the Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) Alumni Chapter.

He also completed the USPIS Career Leadership Academy

PPN Spring symposium - The mccain institute

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