Change Agent

Gael Strack is the CEO and co-Founder of Alliance for Hope International. She led and continues to lead many innovations in Domestic Violence work including co-founding the first Family Justice Center in San Diego, publishing ground-breaking medical domestic violence research and spearheading education on Strangulation Prevention.

Jane Stevens has worked for nearly 40 years as a journalist primarily covering science, health and technology. When she learned about Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, she saw unmet needs to disseminate the findings of ACEs science and to bring practitioners together. She created Acestoohigh.com and ACESconnection.com, a news site and social networking site which both serve as hubs for education about ACEs and resiliency as well as offering connection for communities striving to put ACEs science into practice.

Sonya Passi is the founder and CEO of FreeFrom, a non-profit helping survivors of domestic violence achieve financial stability and greater long term safety. During her time in law school, Sonya was also instrumental in creating the Family Violence Appellate Project. She seeks to fill the gaps in services available for survivors of family violence.

Pastor Will Yancy, M.A. Ed., and Jackie Yancy, PhD, MSC/MFCT lead Triumph Educational Center in Oakland, California. Here they lead domestic violence abusers through the 52 week court mandated batterer intervention program. They also train others in the community to recognize and respond to domestic violence. Both Will and Jackie have a lot to say about how to motivate change, as well as effective strategies to create safe and thriving families.

Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley has worked in the DA's office for over thirty years. She is nationally known for her revolutionary work on behalf of Domestic Violence survivors, and for sexually exploited people, especially children. In this conversation, Nancy speaks candidly about the motivations for her work, how she practices self care and her commitment to learning from victims and survivors.

In this last episode of season two, Carey talks with Dr. Aparna Kota, a pediatrician with Kaiser Permanente. She works in San Francisco, where she is a local leader for child abuse prevention and advocacy. She is also on the board of Safe and Sound (formerly the SF Child Abuse Prevention Center) and she is an associate clinical faculty at UCSF where she teaches medical students and pediatric residents. She and Carey talk about leadership and struggling to use data about Adverse Childhood Experiences (or ACEs) in clinical practice.

Stay tuned for season three of Change Agent, coming in 2018.

Carey talks with Katie Albright, director of Safe and Sound (formerly the San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center). Throughout her career, Katie has been pioneering in the fields of law, education and social services, both domestically and internationally. Pioneering is a legacy in her family as her mother, Madeleine Albright was the first woman in US history to serve as secretary of state. Katie and Carey discuss the value of a big vision that is grounded in real data and strategic partnerships.

Carey talks with Richmond Assistant Police Chief Bisa French. Assistant Chief French serves the city and neighborhood where she grew up with a commitment to justice both for families and the larger community. She and Carey talk about how our own stories can better connect us to the people we serve.

Carey talks with the Honorable Joni Hiramoto, a judge serving the Contra Costa County Superior Court for the last 20 years. They discuss her expansive work, ranging from hearing domestic violence cases, to teaching young judges, to helping form Richmond’s restraining order clinic.

Carey talks with Nancy Lemon, Esq., a John and Elizabeth Boalt Lecturer at UC Berkeley School of Law. Nancy created the first comprehensive domestic violence law course and its accompanying text book in 1980s; she is still teaching this course now. She is also the legal director of the Family Violence Appellate project which she co-founded.