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Leadership

Deborah Shore, Executive Director and Founder

As founder and executive director of Sasha Bruce Youthwork, Deborah Shore has led groundbreaking work in youth and family service development in the District of Columbia. Through three decades of mission-driven work, Ms. Shore and SBY have developed a deep understanding of the needs of troubled youth and families and unsurpassed expertise to meet these needs. Her vision for empowering at-risk and homeless youth through a competency-based approach to counseling and supportive services has been enhanced through the recruitment and training of an exceptional staff and the development of strong management systems to ensure that SBY’s work meets the highest standards of quality and cost-effectiveness. Ms. Shore has received several awards for her leadership in the nonprofit sector, most recently a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Network for Youth.

Nicholette Smith-Bligen, Chief Operating Officer

Nicholette Smith-Bligen provides internal management and coordination of an array of services and programs within SBY, including leading and directing the functions of administration and programs. She has deep experience in the public and private sectors, specifically with organizations promoting positive youth development. A former executive at the District’s Child & Family Services Agency, Ms. Smith-Bligen’s most recent work was as chief of staff and vice president of operations at the DC Children & Youth Investment Trust Corporation.

Vera Johnson-Bowlding, Director of Community Engagement

Vera Johnson-Bowlding has worked at SBY since 1977 and currently serves as the organization’s director of community engagement. Ms. Johnson-Bowlding has filled several leadership roles at SBY including supervisor, trainer and program developer and her contributions over three decades have been central to making SBY a premiere provider of youth and family services in the nation’s capital. Ms. Johnson-Bowlding has served on many boards and committees, including the Consortium for Child Welfare, the Consortium for Youth Services, the Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative, the South Washington Family Strengthening Collaborative, and the DC HIV Prevention Community Planning Committee. She has a master’s degree in counseling and LGSW accreditation.

James Beck, Development Director

James Beck has 15 years of executive experience in the nonprofit human services sector. His commitment to mission-driven service organizations is demonstrated by his participation on several nonprofit boards in San Francisco and Maryland. Mr. Beck’s core expertise is in fundraising, design, implementation, and evaluation of strategic initiatives and programs, contract compliance, community relations, board development and organizational governance. A founder of a medically monitored syringe exchange specifically for homeless youth, Mr. Beck received a Master’s Degree in nonprofit administration from the University of San Francisco.

Taunya Melvin, Operations Director

Taunya Melvin brings 18 years of property and operations management experience. She has worked both in the private and non-profit sector. She loves working with organizations whose goals are to make great differences in the lives of the under-privileged especially youth. Mrs. Melvin received a Bachelor’s Degree in psychology from Howard University and a Master’s Degree in nonprofit management from Trinity University both here in Washington, DC. She currently serves as the Vice President of the Board of Directors for the New Solid Rock Community Outreach Program, a faith-based organization located in the Petworth neighborhood.

Marissa Johnson, Human Resources Coordinator

Marissa Johnson has 6 years of experience using best practices from the human resources development field to enhance the operations of nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Marissa brings a passion to managing SBY’s employee planning, recruitment and development in service to the agency’s mission. Prior to coming to SBY, Marissa worked at CRA International as a Senior Human Resources Generalist for the Washington, DC and New York City Offices.

AIDS Preventions Services

Lensa Gelana, Director

Lensa Gelana oversees SBY’s street outreach work, including its HIV prevention services. She has developed harm reduction based programs for youth engaged in sex for gain and provided technical assistance and training for medical and social service providers both in the U.S. and Africa. Ms. Gelana has a Masters in Public Health with strong experience in contract compliance.

Kindred Connections Family Support Center

Steven Hazel, Director

Steven Hazel is a highly trained social worker with 17 years of experience working with youth and families in low income urban and rural areas such as New York City, Atlanta, Ga, Washington DC, and the US Virgin Islands. Prior to coming to SBY, Mr. Hazel served as the Director of Community Programs at the Northern Virginia AIDS Ministry, Inc. where he provided direction and oversight for the HIV prevention education services that reach 15,000 youth annually in the five counties of Northern Virginia. He is a graduate of St. John University in New York City with a B.A. degree in Sociology and he attended the Hunter College School of Social Work in New York City where he received his Masters Degree in Social Work.

Independent Living Program

Portia Laws, Director

Olaiya’s Cradle

Brandi Howard, Director

Project HYPE

Victoria Van Heuven, Director

Residential Empowerment Adolescent Community Home

Steve Smith, Director

Sasha Bruce House

George Johnson, Director
LaShelle Richmond, Clinical Coordinator

George Johnson began his professional tenure at SBY at the Bruce House shelter in 1987. He coordinates and supervises several service delivery programs aimed at stabilizing homeless and runaway youth and reuniting them with stable living situations. Additionally, Mr. Johnson oversees the agency’s after-care services for disconnected youth and he is an active speaker at United Way-sponsored events.

LaShelle Richmond serves as the Clinical Coordinator for SBY’s Dating Violence Prevention Project and its Bruce House Shelter. She has worked with the organization since 2000, first as a residential counselor at the agency’s short term emergency shelter, and then from 2002 to 2004 as the Program Director for the REACH (Residential Empowerment Adolescent Community Home) Program. As Clinical Coordinator, Ms. Richmond oversees all aspects of the counseling services for runaway youth and she assists with new SBY project development. An LICSW, Ms. Richmond’s previous experiences with SBY’s male pre-adjudicated population as the Program Director of REACH give her significant insight into designing approaches to target SBY’s young men.

Respite and Family Preservation Program

Michell Stanley, Director

Michell Stanley is a LICSW graduate from the top-ranked Washington University School of Social Work in St. Louis. During her tenure in Washington D.C., she has worked in both direct service and administrative levels of the Child Welfare, Mental Health, and Public School systems. She came to Sasha Bruce Youthwork knowing the challenges these systems face and enthusiastic towards effecting change through exceptional quality of service and dedication to social progress.

Tabara House

Vincent Jenkins, Director

Teen Mothers Program

Kim Daniels, Director

Transitional Living Program

Katrina Burt, Director

Third Party Monitoring

Victoria Van Heuven, Director

Youth-Led Program and Educational Advocacy

Erica deBardeleben, Director

Erica deBardeleben is a graduate of Spelman College and the University Of Pennsylvania Graduate School Of Education. Her career as an advocate for justice began as a Teach for America corps member, where she taught middle school social studies in an under-resourced school in North Central Philadelphia. After her 2 year teaching commitment, she moved to Washington, DC to pursue educational policy and advocacy work. Realizing that her true passion is to teach and work closely with communities to inspire progressive change, Erica most recently became program director of Youth-Led; Sasha Bruce Youthwork’s newest community outreach program designed to develop youth leaders in the fight for social justice.

YouthBuild

Cara Fuller, Director

Cara Fuller is the Director of SBY’s YouthBuild Program. Prior to coming to SBY, Ms Fuller worked at the Baltimore City Health Department. She is involved in a number of boards and initiatives that promote youth development and engagement. Ms. Fuller received her BA from Dartmouth College and MBA from Brandeis University.

Zocalo Outreach

Jacqueline Hamilton, Program Director

Ms. Hamilton started her leadership position at Sasha Bruce Youthwork’s Zocalo Program in December of 2007. In this capacity, she coordinates SBY’s home-based counseling and drug prevention education services as well as the agency’s pregnancy prevention and family counseling in partnership with city’s Family Strengthening Collaboratives. Ms. Hamilton has worked with youth and family services for over 16 years in various capacities. Specifically, she provided oversight and leadership for a homeless shelter for women and children in the southern Maryland area. Prior to that, Ms. Hamilton was the program administrator of the two family services centers in Prince George’s County that provided social, educational, leadership-building, information and referral services to youth and their families. She received her undergraduate degree in Behavioral Sciences from the University of Maryland and a Masters in Mental Health from Bowie State University.

Board of Directors

Elizabeth Stevens, chair

Philanthropist and Community Activist

Judy Lansing Kovler, PhD, vice chair

Psychiatric Social Worker
Private Practice

Constance L. Bruce, vice chair

Producer

Ann Jordan, secretary

Community Leader

W. Dean Smith, treasurer

Investment Manager
Capital Group Companies

Christopher Addison, chair, fundraising committee

Principal
Addison/Ripley Fine Art

Anne Ashmore-Hudson

Clinical Psychologist
Private Practice

Thomas W. Bruce

Vice President of Communications
Cornell University

Jane Rosenthal Cafritz

Interior Designer
Jane Cafritz Antiques and Interiors

Timothy Davis

Executive Director
Close Up Foundation

Roscoe Dellums, Esq.

Attorney
Law Office of Leola “Roscoe” Dellums, Esq.

Edgar N. James

Attorney
James & Hoffman

Tracy M. Bernstein