Directory
Faculty

Co-Director



Co-Director
Email: jheinze@umich.edu
Dr. Heinze is an educational psychologist and Associate Professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. His research investigates how schools influence disparities in violence and other risk outcomes from an ecological perspective that includes individual, interpersonal, and contextual influences on development. He is particularly interested in structural features of school context and policy that perpetuate inequity in violence and firearm outcomes, but also how these institutions can serve as a setting for intervention.



Co-Director



Co-Director
Email: marcz@umich.edu
Dr. Zimmerman is a Professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education at University of Michigan School of Public Health and PI of the Prevention Research Center of Michigan and Michigan Youth Violence Prevention Center. He is the pre-eminent researcher in the field of community and youth empowerment and has expertise in youth violence prevention and positive youth development. Dr. Zimmerman has over 25 years of experience leading multi-disciplinary teams and coordinating large initiatives.



Evaluation Director



Evaluation Director
Dr. Hsieh is a Research Assistant Professor at the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention at the University of Michigan. Dr. Hsieh is Principal Investigator on an NIJ-funded evaluation of the Sandy Hook Promise Anonymous Reporting System and Co-I on several school safety projects and the project director for the University of Michigan Flint Adolescent Study, a 20-year longitudinal study of youth growing up in Flint, MI. Her research focuses on adolescent resilience, youth violence, and violence victimization, and has expertise in longitudinal and cross-domain data analysis.
Staff



Managing Director



Managing Director
Alison Grodzinski MLIS is the Managing Director for the National Center for School Safety, and the CDC-funded Michigan Youth Violence Prevention Center and Prevention Research Center, based at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She holds a Masters in Library and Information Science and Graduate Certificate in Public Health. Prior to joining the Center in 2007, Alison held positions as a health sciences librarian at Central Michigan University and then at the University of Michigan. In her current role, Alison manages a variety of public health research and evaluation projects which aim to reduce violence and promote safe and healthy communities.



Program Manager & Technical Assistance Lead



Program Manager & Technical Assistance Lead
Email: eetorres@umich.edu
Ms. Torres is a Research Area Specialist at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She has experience in youth violence prevention and helping schools change policies and systems to better support health through training and technical assistance. Emily also has experience in community engagement, partnership building, and outreach. She holds an MPH in Health Behavior and Health Education from the University of Michigan.



Training Manager



Training Manager
Email: mbrent@umich.edu
Mr. Miller is an Instructional Designer at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. He has experience creating training materials for students, teachers, and administrators. He has also developed English language tests and examiner certification courses for an international audience. He holds an MA in Linguistics from Eastern Michigan University and a PMP certification from the Project Management Institute.



Instructional Design Lead



Instructional Design Lead
Email: cseiger@umich.edu
Ms. Seiger is an Instructional Designer for the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She has an MA in Design and Technologies for Learning and a graduate certificate in Learning Experience Design. She has experience creating self-paced trainings and training materials for learning.



Evaluation Specialist



Evaluation Specialist
Email: lschrein@umich.edu
Laura Schreiner is an Evaluation Specialist at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She has experience in community organizing, civic engagement, and the cultivation of lasting systems improvement. Her experience ranges from the development and management of community-based programs, campaigns, and participatory research projects to conducting policy analyses, evaluations, and better practice research for nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, city governments, and school districts. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Scripps College and an Executive Master of Public Administration from the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy and Governance.



Postdoctoral Research Fellow



Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Sarah Stilwell is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. In her role, she contributes to school safety evaluation work, implementation efficacy, and positive youth development work. She has experience in community-based research, program management/implementation, and mixed-methods data collection and analysis. As a former elementary educator, she brings a unique perspective that aims to bridge both research and practice. Sarah earned her Ph.D. in Education and Psychology from the University of Michigan.



Marketing Communications Specialist



Marketing Communications Specialist
Email: erinwyat@umich.edu
Erin Wyatt is a Marketing Communications Specialist at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She has experience in social media marketing, communications, graphic design, and working with non-profit organizations.



School Safety Specialist



School Safety Specialist
Email: acschr@umich.edu
Ms. Schreiber is a former high school English/social science teacher and human resources professional. She holds an MA in Industrial Relations from Wayne State University, a secondary teaching certification from the University of Detroit, and a BA in psychology from Michigan State University.



School Safety Specialist



School Safety Specialist
Email: hmurph@umich.edu
Heather Murphy is a School Safety Specialist with the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Heather holds a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Adler University in Chicago and has over 10 years of experience as a Licensed Professional Counselor and Nationally Certified Counselor. Heather has worked in a variety of settings including schools, partial hospitalization, community mental health and private practice. Heather has experience in clinical counseling, social-emotional learning development and implementation, mental health crisis prevention and stabilization, child welfare and trauma-informed care.



School Safety Specialist



School Safety Specialist
Email: chavezmc@umich.edu
Melissa Chavez is a School Safety Specialist at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She has experience in clinical research, both in orthopedics and pediatric social & emotional neurodevelopment spaces, and public health research experience in nutrition equity and health & wellbeing. She also has experience in community engagement, advocacy, and outreach, and is a Board of Directors member for a non-profit organization in Grand Rapids, MI. She holds a Master’s in Public Health from Western Michigan University.



School Safety Specialist



School Safety Specialist
Email: bjennet@umich.edu
Ben Jennett is a School Safety Specialist at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. He has experience in law enforcement, school discipline with integration of restorative practices, and threat assessments in school settings. Ben holds a Master’s in Legal Studies from Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.Â



Technical Assistance Administrative Coordinator



Technical Assistance Administrative Coordinator
Email: bvspears@umich.edu
Brianna Spears is an Administrative Coordinator at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She holds a BA in psychology and a minor in science, technology, and society from the University of Michigan. She has previously worked as a research assistant at the University of Michigan, where she supported the study of language learning in young children.



Senior Secretary



Senior Secretary



Administrative Coordinator



Administrative Coordinator
Email: thartwig@umich.edu
Teresa Hartwig is an administrative coordinator at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She ensures proper management of awarded funds with sponsor, federal, state, and University regulations. Teresa also assists the department with all administrative aspects of proposal development. Her areas of interest also include adolescent and young adult mental health along with suicide prevention. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Health Administration and a Minor in Psychology from Eastern Michigan University.



Web Administrator



Web Administrator
Email: jra@umich.edu
Mr. Alberts is a web administrator and also coordinates the PRC and field office computer systems. Mr. Alberts has over 10 years of experience developing and managing multiple Center websites and servers.
Topic Experts



Deterrent Measures



Deterrent Measures
Ron Avi Astor serves as the subject matter expert consultant for the Deterrent Measures subject core. Dr. Astor holds the Marjory Crump Chair Professorship in Social Welfare at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, with a joint appointment in the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. His work examines the role of the physical, social-organizational, and cultural contexts in schools related to different kinds of school violence. His studies have included tens of thousands of students, teachers, parents and administrators, and findings from these studies have been published in more than 150 scholarly manuscripts. His most recent books all published by Oxford University Press include 1. Bullying, school violence, and climate in evolving contexts: Culture, organization and time. 2. Mapping and monitoring bullying and violence: Building a safe school climate and 3. Welcoming practices: Creating schools that support students and families in transition. Currently, Astor is creating an international model for sustainable and scalable infrastructures that support safe and welcoming schools. Astor has won numerous national research awards from the Society for Social Work and Research, American Psychological Association (APA), and the American Educational Research Association (AERA). He holds an honorary doctorate from Hebrew Union College, is a fellow of the APA, AERA, and SSWR and is an elected member of both the National Academy of Education and the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare.



Notification Technology, Mental Health/Violence Prevention



Notification Technology, Mental Health/Violence Prevention
Ms. Bennett has more than 20 years of leadership experience in healthcare, government and non-profit human services organizations. With a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, a Master of Science in Negotiations and Conflict Management and certifications as a Grants Specialist and as an executive and professional development coach, Ms. Bennett has a passion for unlocking client potential and improving performance.
Over the course of her career, Ms. Bennett has worked with and trained personnel in healthcare, government, and human services organizations, across the nation, to build grants management infrastructures and has generated more than $80 million dollars in public and private grant-funds. Relentless about achieving results, Ms. Bennett has led initiatives in pre- and post-grant award implementation, program development and evaluation, standard operating procedures and team building. Ms. Bennett has served as host, presenter and panelist at national, state and local conferences, some of which include the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) Conference, the Ascension Health Care on Philanthropy Conference, the Maryland Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Statewide Conference, and the Maryland Coalition for Women’s Employment (MCWE) Conference.
As National Grants Director with Sandy Hook Promise, Ms. Bennett liaises with Sandy Hook’s federal and state government partners to successfully implement STOP grant funding at the local level.



Capacity Building



Capacity Building
Danny Carlson serves as NAESP’s Associate Executive Director, Policy & Advocacy. Prior to joining NAESP, Danny was a policy analyst for the National Governor’s Association Center for Best Practices. In that role, he oversaw the Education Division’s K-12 human capital work, advancing policies to address principal challenges across the country. Danny previously served as an education advisor to a United States Senator and was responsible for advancing her K-12 education agenda. In that capacity, he crafted policy provisions included in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to improve principal and teacher recruitment and retention, address chronic absenteeism, and boost opportunities for STEM education.



Co-Investigator - Threat Assessment



Co-Investigator - Threat Assessment
Dr. Cornell serves as the subject expert for Threat Assessment. Dr. Cornell draws upon 20 years of experience with development, research, practice, and training in school-based threat assessment and more than 35 years of experience evaluating and working with violent offenders. He developed the only model of school threat assessment subject to controlled studies, authored a detailed manual for school-based teams, and has conducted hundreds of threat assessment workshops across the U.S. He has extensive experience with consulting and training school-based teams as well as creating a train-the-trainer program that prepares trainers to provide high-quality training. He has worked extensively with state and school district partners in Virginia as well as California, Florida, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas, among others.



Mental Health/Violence Prevention and Capacity Building



Mental Health/Violence Prevention and Capacity Building
Kayla Jackson is a Project Director at AASA. She is currently working on a number of projects including a Department of Labor funded apprenticeship initiative and a New York Life Foundation funded childhood bereavement project. She joined the Children’s Program team in June 2011 to serve as the Project Director for the CDC-funded coordinated school health project, Strengthening School Administrator Support for Coordinated School Health. Prior to joining AASA, Jackson was the Vice President of Programs at the National Network for Youth where she had responsibility for all programmatic activities at NN4Y; two federal cooperative agreements; and the annual national membership conference. She has extensive background in women’s and adolescent health, particularly the health needs of women of color, youth, and youth at high risk for negative health outcomes related to reproductive health, breast cancer, mental health, and sexually transmitted infections/HIV. Jackson had an article published in the February 2019 issue of School Administrator titled “Unpacking an Invisible Burden: Children’s Mental Health”. Jackson received her BA in English from Mount Holyoke College and an MPA from NYU.



Threat Assessment



Threat Assessment
Dr. Jennifer L. Maeng is a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education and Human Development and a former high school science teacher. Her scholarship addresses the role contextual factors of the educational setting, such as school climate and safety, play in supporting effective teaching and learning and understanding professional development that facilitates teachers’ implementation of research-based STEM instruction. She has been a principal investigator or in a substantive senior research role on more than 10 grant-funded projects from agencies including the U.S. Department of Education, Virginia Department of Education, National Institute of Justice, and National Science Foundation.



Notification Technology, Mental Health/Violence Prevention



Notification Technology, Mental Health/Violence Prevention
Rachel Masi, Ph.D. Dr. Masi is the Director of Research at Sandy Hook Promise (SHP), where she oversees studies evaluating the effectiveness of SHP’s programs and utilizes these findings, together with current research, to improve SHP’s program development and delivery. Dr. Masi is also a licensed clinical psychologist who provides treatment to children, adolescents, adults, and their families in a private practice setting. Dr. Masi specializes in parent education, child development, and clinical psychology, focusing on the critical intersection of psychology and education. Prior to SHP, Dr. Masi worked on nationally recognized research projects, including at the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University, and in partnership with schools, community organizations and government agencies, to inform practice and create lasting and systemic change. Dr. Masi received her B.A. in Psychology from Duke University, her M.A. in Psychology and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She completed her pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship at ANDRUS, an outpatient community mental health center in White Plains, New York.



Co-Investigator - Law Enforcement and Coordination



Co-Investigator - Law Enforcement and Coordination
Dr. Melde serves as a subject expert in the Law Enforcement and Coordination subject core. For the past 15 years, Dr. Melde has worked with schools and prevention program providers in the areas of training, implementation fidelity, and curriculum review. He has worked on the national process and outcome evaluation of the National Crime Prevention Council’s Teens, Crime, and the Community: Community Works program, served on the curriculum review and redevelopment committee for the Community Works program, the national process and outcome evaluation of the Gang Resistance Education and Training program, as well as the ongoing process and outcome randomized controlled trial of an innovative whole-school change program throughout Genesee County, Michigan. This ongoing randomized controlled trial integrates three evidence-based practices – restorative justice, youth mental health first aid training, and crime reduction through environmental design – to improve school climate and reduce the use of exclusionary practices in schools. Dr. Melde has published extensively in the areas of youth violence and perceptions of crime and victimization risk.



Notification Technology



Notification Technology
Kenji Okuma is the Crisis Center director for Sandy Hook Promise’s national Say Something Anonymous Reporting System. In this leadership role, he combines practical experiences from more than two decades in law enforcement with expertise in high-level, complex operations management and solution-oriented community relations to create safer schools and save lives.
Kenji believes in the power of information-sharing as absolutely critical in violence prevention, having personally seen and investigated countless acts of violence and suicide – and talking to survivors about what happened and the warning signs that preceded the tragedies. These experiences now drive his commitment to strengthening relationships between educators, mental health practitioners, and law enforcement to protect school communities nationwide.
During his tenure with the Nevada Department of Public Safety’s Investigation Division, Kenji (Detective Sergeant Ret.) worked with the Nevada Department of Education in the development and launch of the state-mandated, SafeVoice program for all public, charter, and private K-12 schools. Kenji designed and launched Nevada’s first-ever crisis center, specifically dedicated to receiving anonymous tips from students across the state.
Kenji has extensive training and experience in criminal procedures, threat assessment, homeland security, information privacy and security, as well as budget and grant management, policy and protocol administration, and was heavily engaged in the Nevada legislative process. Kenji also served as Executive Officer for the Nevada Threat Analysis Center, serving as the state liaison between the education community and local, state, and federal law enforcement partners, and as the Nevada state liaison to INTERPOL.
Kenji is a sought-after expert in the philosophy, design, and implementation of anonymous reporting systems. He lives in Nevada with his wife, Buffy, and his two dogs, Kato and Liv, where they raised their six adult children. Kenji regularly commutes to the Say Something Anonymous Reporting System Crisis Center in Miami, FL and Sandy Hook Promise headquarters in Newtown, CT.



Law Enforcement and Coordination, Training, and Deterrence



Law Enforcement and Coordination, Training, and Deterrence
Katherine Schweit is a former prosecutor and senior executive Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation who now consults with businesses and organizations to help resolve their most challenging security policies. She was among the teams responding to multiple active shooter incidents including shootings at the Holocaust Museum, Pentagon/Arlington Cemetery, Discovery Channel and the Navy Yard. She developed the FBI’s Active Shooter program and authored A Study of 160 Active Shooter Incident in the United States, 2000 – 2013. She is a Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional with extensive experience in curriculum development and a veteran instructor in terrorism and other national security matters including serving three years on the staff of the FBI’s renowned Counterintelligence Training Center. She is an adjunct faculty member at DePaul University College of Law and Webster University’s George Herbert Walker School of Business and Technology. A recognized expert in gun violence, mass killings and active shooter matters, Ms. Schweit routinely provides commentary for on-air and print media and speaks to professional, government, educational and private organizations. She is a member of the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals and the International Association of Chiefs of Police. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from Michigan State University and a Juris Doctorate from DePaul University College of Law. She now provides security consulting and litigation support to businesses and organizations navigating prevention, response, and recovery solutions to targeted violence and crisis communications matters.
katherine.schweit@gmail.com @KateSchweit #RunHide #Fight #SeeSomethingSaySomething



Notification Technology, Mental Health/Violence Prevention



Notification Technology, Mental Health/Violence Prevention
Anathea Simpkins is Sandy Hook Promise’s deputy national director of the Say Something Anonymous Reporting System (SS-ARS).
Anathea brings 25 years of education, publishing, and product management to her leadership position. Before joining Sandy Hook Promise (SHP), she worked as a classroom teacher, managed curriculum development at Pearson Education, and served as product director of educational programs for Sylvan Learning for 10 years. At SHP, she manages the SS-ARS team and program operations – including the only 24/7/365 Crisis Center dedicated to school-based anonymous reporting nationwide – as well as the account management of more than 100 districts across the U.S. Anathea’s expertise in education and educational policy coupled with her experience managing educational-technology projects and products make her uniquely qualified for this position. Anathea telecommutes to the Sandy Hook Promise headquarters in Newtown, CT and Crisis Center in Miami, FL, and lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her son Huxley.