Staff

Lynn M. Davis has served as president and CEO of DCAC since 2005 and strives to improve the lives of children who have been abused. He leads the executive team, sets the vision and direction of the Center, and manages the organization through change. 

Under Lynn’s leadership, DCAC has undergone expansive growth, including a $12 million Capital Campaign in 2012. DCAC currently has over 100 employees and serves over 7,300 victims and their non-offending family members; educates over 100,000 people and raises over $11 million each year. In 2018 DCAC was named a “Best Place to Work” by Dallas Business Journal. 

Lynn is a highly sought-after speaker and often trains on effective nonprofit management and on the Children’s Advocacy Center model. He has trained in both the UK and Australia. He has also taught as an adjunct professor at both the University of Texas at Arlington and the University of North Texas. In 2013, Lynn received the Nonprofit CEO of the Year Award from the Center for Nonprofit Management, and in 2018, he was voted by peers as the recipient of the inaugural CAC TX Most Valuable Director of the Year Award.

Prior to joining DCAC, Lynn was the president and CEO of Dallas Challenge, a nonprofit substance abuse organization, where for 16 years he coordinated the growth and expansion and directed the overall operations.

Lynn holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Dallas, an MS from the University of North Texas, and a BA from the University of Pittsburgh.

A lifelong volunteer, Lynn has served on the board of Children’s Advocacy Centers of Texas, the executive committee of the Mesquite ISD Education Foundation, the board of Sunnyvale ISD Education Foundation, and the Executive Committee of the Statewide Association of Substance Abuse Programs.

Please contact Lynn at ldavis@dcac.org

Erin Banister serves as chief operations officer overseeing DCAC’s Administrative Services, Facilities, Human Resources, IT and Security teams. In this role she also serves as the HIPAA Compliance Officer.

Having been with DCAC for over 14 years, she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the executive level with past experience in providing oversight for board relations, event logistics for fundraisers and the Crimes Against Children Conference and project management, including the construction of DCAC’s building in 2012 and its subsequent renovation in 2019 to accommodate space for clients services.

Prior to joining DCAC, Erin was with MBNA America Bank where she worked in co-branded marketing and sales for 11 years.

Erin attended North Central Texas College and Texas Women’s University and holds a Project Management Certification from Southern Methodist University. Erin has a passion for community service and volunteers with Operation Kindness, Traffick911!, Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance and Richardson High School.

Please contact Erin at ebanister@dcac.org

Sarah Burns serves as chief marketing officer, where she leads and directs marketing, public relations, advocacy efforts, event production and information services to help “Save Jane.”

Sarah has worked in nonprofit marketing her entire career. She joined DCAC after serving on the senior leadership team as senior communications director at Dallas Women’s Foundation, now Texas Women’s Foundation. Prior to that, she worked in service line marketing and internal communications at Children’s Health and in marketing at Genesis Women’s Shelter.

She attended Oklahoma State University and graduated from the Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism with a focus on Public Relations and a double minor of Marketing and Management.

Sarah is a 2018 recipient of Dallas Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 and is an active volunteer. She has previously served on the Board of Directors for the Junior League of Dallas and currently serves on the board of the Women’s Auxiliary to Children’s Medical Center. A believer in mentoring, she also currently serves on the Advisory Boards for the Corporate Communication and Public Affairs Division in the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University and the Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas.

Please contact Sarah at sburns@dcac.org

Matt Gilbert serves as chief partner relations officer, where he oversees the Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) Services and DCAC’s education and training efforts, including the Crimes Against Children Conference. Prior to joining DCAC, Matt served as the Region 3 East Director for the Child Protective Investigations division of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Region 3 East includes Dallas, Collin, Grayson, Fannin, Hunt, Rockwall, Kaufman, Navarro, and Ellis Counties. During his 12 years with DFPS, Matt was a caseworker, investigator, supervisor, and held multiple regional management positions. 

Matt graduated from Baylor University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Forensic Science and from the University of Texas at Arlington with a Master of Science degree in Healthcare Administration. Matt has also worked as a crime scene investigator and emergency medical technician. He is a happy (yet mostly unlucky) fisherman and an Eagle Scout. 

Please contact Matt at mgilbert@dcac.org

Please contact Mariama at Mariama Maiga

Carrie Paschall serves as chief investigative and support services officer, where she oversees the management and operations of the Forensic Interview and Family Support Services teams. Previously she served as director of forensic interview services at DCAC.

Carrie is often called upon by prosecutors to testify as an expert witness in forensic interviews of children in both civil and criminal cases and has testified in numerous criminal and civil trials in both juvenile and district court in Texas, Georgia, and Louisiana.

Prior to coming to DCAC in 2014, she was with the Tarrant County District Attorney’s office as the child forensic interviewer for the Crimes Against Children Unit for 14 years. As an interviewer, Carrie assisted local, state, and federal law enforcement officials by conducting video-recorded forensic interviews of children in cases where the child is alleged to have been the victim of, or witness to, child abuse and other violent crimes.

Prior to working for the Tarrant County District Attorney’s office, Carrie was an investigator for Child Protective Services, where she was the primary investigator in over 500 child abuse investigations. Carrie has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with an emphasis in Public Law and a minor in Criminal Justice from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Please contact Carrie cpaschall@dcac.org

Murphey Sears is the chief development officer and leads the development team to raise critical funds to provide services at DCAC. She provides strategic direction and initiatives for donor cultivation, grants, corporate engagement, and volunteers to raise over $4 million a year.

Murphey has worked in the nonprofit sector for over 10 years and most recently was the annual giving director at Dallas Women’s Foundation (now Texas Women’s Foundation), managing a donor portfolio of $2 million per year. Prior to her role at the Foundation, she worked at Genesis Women’s Shelter as the director of outreach and at the Perot Museum running the membership program.

Murphey received her Bachelor of Arts in English and French from Vanderbilt University and is a native of Houston. A lifelong volunteer, she has held leadership roles in the Junior League of Dallas, Junior Garden Club of Dallas, MS Society, and HPUMC Day School. At home, she and her husband are surround by kids and laughter with their three sons and daughter.

Please contact Murphey at msears@dcac.org

Kelly Slaven, LCSW, serves as chief clinical officer, where she leads a team of over 30 clinicians and students and supervises over 19,000 clinical hours. The clinicians at DCAC provide evidence-based treatment for the worst child abuse cases in the Dallas area. 

Kelly has been a social worker in the field of family violence for over 17 years. Most recently, Kelly was director of clinical services at DCAC and prior to that was director of clinical and professional services at Genesis Women’s Shelter and Support. Kelly worked at Genesis for 12 years as a therapist, assistant clinical director, and clinical director. 

Kelly frequently provides expert testimony in civil and criminal matters. Kelly is trained in Dr. Bruce Perry’s Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics; is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Certified, as well as an EMDR consultant; and is certified in Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Treatment. 

Kelly graduated from the University of Kansas with a Bachelor’s in English and California State University, Long Beach, with a Master’s in Social Work.

Please contact Kelly at kslaven@dcac.org

Holly Hopkins – Director of Crimes Against Children Conference
Ashton Abbott – Conference Associate
LeighAnn Lozano – Conference Associate
Guadalupe Mata – Conference Associate

Claire Collins – Director of Foundations and Development Operations
Leila Bergquist – Development Officer
Laura Boelsche – Development Operations Associate
Ellen Hatcher – Development Officer
Jenna Sampson – Volunteer Coordinator
Jessica Short – Development Officer

Lana Ahrens – Director of Education
Nancy Arreguin – Bilingual Education Specialist
Brittany McGowan – Education Specialist

Mindy Jackson – Director of Support Services
Yesenia Altamirano – Assistant Director of Support Services
Sara Campbell – Assistant Director of Support Services
Lexi Allman – Family Advocate
Rachel Andrade – Client Services Associate, Family Assistance
Aishah Bilal – Family Advocate
Jennifer Cano – Bilingual Family Advocate
Marcela Chavez – Bilingual Family Advocate
Marisha DeVore – Children’s Programming Advocate
Rene Gonzalez – Family Advocate
Suzzie Gonzalez – Bilingual Family Advocate
Melissa Hale – Client Services Associate, Therapy and Family Assistance
Melissa Hernandez – Bilingual Family Advocate
Claudia Martinez – Family Advocate
Kelsey Moore – Family Advocate
Karla Moreno – Bilingual Family Advocate
Ali Piepenbrok – Family Advocate
Maria Ramirez – Bilingual Family Advocate
Rosalinda Zubiate – Client Services Associate Family Assistance

Katie Overman – Director of Information Services
Ben Greenberg – Outcomes Analyst, Direct Services
Ashley Southerland – Outcomes Analyst, Indirect Services

Tiphanie Sanders- Wright – Director of Operations
Julie Smith – Director of Culture and HR
Meredith Cochrane – HR Specialist
Stephanie Gutierrez – HR Administrator
Renee Hollingsworth-Hartley – Records Management Associate
Alicia Robledo – Associate Accountant/Bookkeeper

Kim Skidmore – Director of Forensic Services
Bernadette Yupit-Martinez – Assistant Director of Forensic Services
Pat Bastidas – Client Services Associate, Forensic Services
Stephanie Bernadac – Bilingual Forensic Interviewer
Bibiana Gutierrez – Bilingual Forensic Interviewer
Melissa Hernandez – Bilingual Forensic Interviewer
Mike Margolis – Forensic Interviewer
Jessica Parada – Bilingual Forensic Interviewer
Megan Peterson – Forensic Interviewer
MacKenzie Phillips – Forensic Interviewer
Cristina Velazquez – Client Services Associate, Forensic Services

Sonya Naderi – Marketing Specialist

Nakisha Biglow – Director of MDT Services
Carrie Wright – Director of MDT Services
Iliana Arambula-Dove – MDT Coordinator
Octavia Davis – MDT Coordinator
Sally Frank – MDT Coordinator
Vernita Johnson – MDT Coordinator
Chris Maddox – MDT Coordinator
Jalisa McGinnis – MDT Coordinator
Marci Mondelo – Partner Relations Associate
Tony Pillow – MDT Coordinator
Susan Rial – MDT Data Entry Clerk
Jennifer Steel – MDT Coordinator
Hillary Sullivan – MDT Coordinator

Katrina Cook, Ph.D. – Director of Clinical Services
Elena Doskey, Ph.D. – Director of Clinical Training
Suzanne Anderson – Assistant Director of Clinical Services
Leslie Boutte – Assistant Director of Clinical Services
Holly Dotson – Assistant Clinical Director
Karla Auten – Bilingual Therapist
Keila Barrientos – Bilingual Therapist
Amy Bell – Therapist
Hallie Brady – Therapist, Animal Assisted Therapy Coordinator
Jackie Chavez – Bilingual Therapist
Lauren Copenhaver – Therapist
Karen Esposito – Bilingual Therapist
Meggie Evans – Therapist
Ana Guzmán – Bilingual Therapist
Melissa Hale – Client Services Associates
Joyce Hansen – Therapist
Tiana Johnson – Therapist
Leah Levy – Therapist
Gloria Ortiz La Barba – Client Services Associates
DiTallianna Patterson – Therapist
Michelle Rodgers – Therapist
Ana Schmitz – Bilingual Therapist
Jennifer Sherenian – Problematic Sexual Behavior Coordinator
Jen Spivey – Therapist
Sophie Stevens – Therapist
Lauren Tison – Therapist
Tama Walley – Therapist
Clare Walters – Therapist
Gavi Wilkins – Bilingual Therapist
Deisy Ybarra – Bilingual Therapist