Sasha Bruce Youthwork // About // Leadership

Home > About ~ Leadership

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.

Vera Johnson-Bowlding, Managing Director of Community Programs and Engagement

Vera Johnson-Bowlding has worked at SBY since 1977 and currently serves as the organization’s director of community programs and 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.

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.

POWER Program

Margaux Delotte-Bennett, Director

Ms. Delotte-Bennett oversees SBY’s health services, including its street outreach work and HIV and pregnancy prevention services. She serves on the board of Sol y Soul, a social justice performance organization. Ms. Delotte-Bennett has a Masters in Social Work from Gallaudet University.

Kindred Connections Family Support Center

Jacqueline Hamilton, Interim Director

Independent Living Program

Robyn Brown, Program Manager

Olaiya’s Cradle

Brandi Howard, Director

Prevention Center

Charles Dark, Director

Transitional Housing Program

Katrina Burt, Director

Project HYPE

Victoria Van Heuven, Director

Teen Outreach Program (TOP)

Melva Williams, Director

Melva Williams is the Director of the Teen Outreach Program offered at Ballou Senior High School. Melva discovered a passion for working with young people 15 years ago. She has worked with several community based organizations serving youth and families in the areas of homelessness, parenting, sexual health and wellness particularly teen pregnancy prevention. She has a BS in Health Science, a Master’s in Social work and holds a LGSW in both Maryland and District of Columbia.

Project Safe Neighborhoods

Dan Davis, Director

Residential Empowerment Adolescent Community Home (REACH)

Barrington 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

Masica Williams-Jordan, Interim Director

Teen Mothers Program

Eric Collins, Director

Chloe House

Eric Collins, Director

Transitional Living Program

Katrina Burt, Director

Third Party Monitoring

Victoria Van Heuven, Director

Youth-Led Program

Erica Edwards, Director

Erica Edwards 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

Travis Brown, Jr.

Principal, Travis Brown, LLC

Thomas W. Bruce

Vice President of Communications
Cornell University

Jane Rosenthal Cafritz

Interior Designer
Jane Cafritz Antiques and Interiors

Roscoe Dellums, Esq.

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

Howard Fineman

Journalist
Huffington Post

Edgar N. James

Attorney
James & Hoffman

Keith Lemer

President
WellNet Healthcare

Tracy M. Bernstein