Staff

Irish S. Burch was named president and CEO of DCAC in January of 2021.
Full bio to come.

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

Please contact Nakisha at nbiglow@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

Mariama Maiga serves as chief financial officer, where she manages and monitors the financial and business activities of DCAC in accordance with established policies, goals, and objectives.

Mariama is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with over 10 years of experience in nonprofit accounting. She previously served as director of finance at DCAC before taking on this role in the summer of 2020. Prior to joining DCAC, she served at The Family Place as senior accountant.

Mariama holds a Master of Science in Finance and Economics from The University of Manchester (UK). She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics, and a Bachelor of Arts in Finance and International Business from Texas Tech University.

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 – Senior Director of National Training
Lana Ahrens – Director of National Training
Ashton Abbott – National Training Coordinator
Nancy Arreguin – National Training Specialist
LeighAnn Lozano – Conference Specialist
Guadalupe Mata – National Training Coordinator
Brittany McGowan – National Training Specialist

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

Mindy Jackson – Director of Support Services
Yesenia Altamirano – Assistant Director of Support Services
Sara Campbell – Assistant Director of Support Services
Lexi Allman – 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
Claudia Martinez – Family Advocate
Kelsey Moore – Family Advocate
Jasabet Munoz – Bilingual Family Advocate
Ali Piepenbrok – Family Advocate
Carlos Rubio – Family Advocate
Maria Orozco Velazquez – Family Advocate

Julie Smith – Director of Culture and HR
Meredith Cochrane – HR Specialist
Stephanie Gutierrez – HR Administrator

Tiphanie Sanders- Wright – Director of Operations
Pat Bastidas – Client Services Associate
Leticia Cruz – Receptionist
Decrick Green – Security
Melissa Hale – Client Services Associate
Renee Hollingsworth-Hartley – Records Management Associate
Mark Lecoq – Security
Marci Mondelo – Client Services Associate
Jacob Montelongo – Building Custodian
Gloria Ortiz – Client Services Associate
Alberto Perez – Building Engineer
Alicia Robledo – Accounting Specialist
Sandra Santacruz – Client Services Associate
Michelle Santamaria – Client Services Associate
Maria Siharath – Accountant
Cristina Velazquez – Client Services Associate

Kim Skidmore – Director of Forensic Services
Bernadette Yupit-Martinez – Assistant Director of 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

Ben Greenberg – Outcomes Analyst, Direct Services
Sonya Naderi – Marketing and Public Relations Specialist
Ashley Southerland – Outcomes Analyst, Indirect Services

Carrie Wright – Director of MDT Services
Iliana Arambula-Dove – MDT Coordinator
Octavia Davis – MDT Coordinator
Vernita Johnson – MDT Coordinator
Chris Maddox – MDT Coordinator
Tony Pillow – MDT Coordinator
Susan Rial – MDT Data Entry Clerk
Noreen Rowlett – MDT Coordinator
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
Lauren Copenhaver – Therapist
Meggie Evans – Therapist
Melissa Graham – Therapist
Ana Guzmán – Bilingual Therapist
Aleida Jaimes-Correa – Therapist
Tiana Johnson – Therapist
Nicholas La Mere – Therapist
Leah Levy – Therapist
Maria Ramirez – Therapist
Michelle Rodgers – 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