Focus 2018: Workshop Session II Presenters

Safe Place – Does it Work? Measuring Impact through Outcomes (SP)
Presenter: Robin Donaldson, Chief Operating Officer, Indiana Youth Services Association

Robin Donaldson is the Chief Operating Officer at Indiana Youth Services Association, a member organization that provides accreditation, training, and support for Youth Service Bureaus in Indiana. Previously, Donaldson was the Program Development and Research Director for National Safe Place from 2008 to 2013. Prior to joining National Safe Place, she was the Assistant Director at Youth Services Bureau (YSB) of Monroe County in Bloomington, Indiana and had been at YSB of Monroe County for 12 years. She has been teaching psychology, human resource, and youth development credentialing classes at Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana since August 2001. Donaldson has been a licensed Mental Health Counselor, is a licensed foster parent, and has a Master’s Degree in Counseling and Social Psychology. She is the mother of four sons, ages 32, 30, 25 and 16.

Implementing Change: Addressing the Intersections of Youth Homelessness and Juvenile Justice (TC)
Presenter: Naomi Smoot, Executive Director, Coalition for Juvenile Justice

Naomi Smoot serves as the Executive Director of the Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ) where she oversees member relations and development, fundraising and grant management, and CJJ's initiatives in government relations, leadership development, juvenile justice reform, communications, and training and technical assistance. During her tenure at CJJ, Naomi has spearheaded the organization's federal policy work and served as co-chair of the Act4JJ Coalition. She has assisted State Advisory Groups in their pursuit to build their capacity as change agents and worked with youth members in an attempt to improve relationships between law enforcement and the communities in which they work. Prior to CJJ, Naomi represented young people in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the District of Columbia in juvenile court proceedings and special education matters. Before attending law school, Naomi worked as a print journalist for nearly a decade, amassing nearly a dozen awards for her news coverage. She received her J.D. from the University of the District of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law, and her B.S. from Christopher Newport University.

New Requirements for Not-for-Profit Financial Statements (OD)
Presenter: Janet Ramey, Principal, Brown Smith Wallace

Janet Ramey is a Principal in the Audit Services group of Brown Smith Wallace and serves as team leader in providing financial services in the not-for-profit and tax-exempt sector. She has more than 25 years of experience specializing in services for the tax exempt community. During Ramey’s professional career, she has had the opportunity to provide services including audit, consulting, financial statement analyses and presentation, financial reporting and management recommendations, systems implementation, controllership, internal audit, and training.

A frequent speaker at local and national seminars and conferences, Janet has publicly presented on many technical topics including: fair-value measurement, internal controls, enterprise risk management, best practices for tax exempts, and accounting for contributions and gifts. She has also written or contributed to several articles and white papers on topics such as not-for-profit health checkups, audit committees, and board governance.

Building Relationships with Youth Survivors of Human Trafficking (TC)
Presenter: TC Cassidy, Director of Organizational Advancement, National Safe Place Network

TC Cassidy holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from East Tennessee State University. She is currently completing a second Master’s Degree in Divinity from Phillips Theological Seminary. She has extensive experience in the youth services field and has worked in both direct care and supervisory positions in basic center, transitional living, and street outreach programs. Cassidy is a talented facilitator and has provided training and technical assistance for more than 12 years to runaway and homeless youth providers, first as a representative of a major agency in the Southeastern Network and most recently for NRCYS, as a Senior Program Development Specialist. She is already well known to RHY providers across the country and she will continue to lead the technical assistance team.

Celebrating What's Important – Nicho Shrine Art Workshop (YE)
Presenter: Tiffany Ackerman, Art Teacher, YMCA Safe Place Services

Originally from Gainesville, Florida, Tiffany Ackerman has found peace, safety, and sanity in the creation of art. She is the gallery director at Flame Run Glass studio, and a professional artist working in Louisville, Kentucky. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from the University of Louisville, and has happily and proudly been the in-house art teacher at the YMCA Safe Place Shelter House since 2012.