Our Team
Lisa Conradi, Psy.D.
Executive Director
Lisa Conradi, Psy.D. is the Executive Director at the Chadwick Center for Children and Families at Rady Children’s Hospital – San Diego. In this role, she provides overall leadership support to the Chadwick Center, a children’s advocacy center and one of the largest trauma treatment centers in the nation. She has multiple years of experience in the field of child trauma and in supporting service systems in their efforts to become more trauma-informed. She has authored and co-authored a variety of publications on trauma screening and assessment practices, creating trauma-informed systems and presented nationally on innovative practices designed to improve the service delivery system for children who have experienced trauma. She is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and has received training from the developers on multiple evidence-based trauma-focused treatment practices, including Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) and Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP). She is on the editorial board for the Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma and a co-author of the upcoming book, Trauma-Informed Assessment with Children and Adolescents: Strategies to Support Clinicians.
Vicky Gwiasda
Project Director
Vicky Gwiasda joined the Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center (WRCAC) team in January 2016, serving first as a State Liaison, and since May 2016 as the Project Director. She has over twenty-five years of executive leadership experience in public and not-for-profit organizations at the national, state and local levels, with a focus on building safe, healthy and equitable homes and communities. Prior to joining WRCAC, Vicky served as the Executive Director of CALICO, the accredited children’s advocacy center of Alameda County, California; as the Director of Knowledge Enhancement at the Institute for Community Peace based in Washington DC; and as Deputy Director of the Illinois Violence Prevention Authority in Chicago, Illinois.
Amelia Siders, Ph.D.
State Chapter Liaison
Amelia Siders, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist who has worked to support children’s advocacy centers for over 12 years. She gained experience providing direct service as well as being a clinical supervisor and program director at a children’s advocacy center in Traverse City, Michigan. Following her time at the CAC, she had the opportunity to serve as the clinical director at the state chapter level for Children’s Advocacy Centers of Michigan. Her role at the chapter included providing resources, training, and supports for clinicians and advocates who served CACs throughout the state. She has been trained in several evidenced-based trauma informed treatment practices including Trauma-Informed Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. She has provided consultation in the areas of trauma-informed assessment and substance use treatment as well as served as an expert witness related to trauma and sexual abuse.
Patty Terzian
State Chapter Liaison
Patty Terzian has over fifteen years of experience in the non-profit sector developing and directing programs, providing outreach and trainings, and managing grants. In her previous role, Patty served for nine years as the Executive Director/Statewide Coordinator of the Oregon Network of Child Abuse Intervention Centers, the accredited state chapter of children’s advocacy centers. She led the chapter through considerable growth and development and collaborated with professionals across the state to improve services for Oregon’s children when there were concerns of abuse. Patty’s skills in project coordination, communications and training were honed through her early-career work in both the non-profit and corporate sectors.
Joyce Prusak
Training Specialist
Joyce Prusak is a Training Specialist with Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center (WRCAC). In this role, Joyce provides training and technical assistance focused on multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) and other issues related to strengthening the children’s advocacy center movement in the Western Region. Additionally, she works collaboratively on training and resources for MDT facilitators through WRCAC’s partnership with Regional Children’s Advocacy Centers across the country. Joyce has worked in the child advocacy field since 2007. She served as executive director of the Coffee County Children’s Advocacy Center for over fifteen years. During that time, she also served as Chair of the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Tennessee as well as interim director of the TN chapter. Joyce earned her bachelor’s degree in government from Georgetown University and her master’s degree in organizational leadership from Johns Hopkins University. Joyce spent the early days of her career life in Washington, D.C., on Capitol Hill and also worked on both state and national political campaigns.
Salli Kerr
Training Specialist
Salli Kerr has over five years of experience as an Executive Director and CEO in the non-profit sector and was instrumental in the formation and accreditation of the state chapter of children’s advocacy centers in Nevada. As Executive Director, Salli led a multi-service center that housed the Nye County Children’s Advocacy Center, the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Nevada and other service organizations for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and other crimes. Salli’s background of providing direct services, including foster-parenting, provides her with a unique perspective on the impact of trauma in the lives of victims and the positive influence that a coordinated response has on victims’ recovery and wellness.
Kelsey Roberts
Training and Communications Coordinator
Kelsey Roberts is a Training and Communications Coordinator with Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center (WRCAC). In this role, Kelsey supports technical and training assistance efforts directed to multidisciplinary team (MDT) and Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) professionals, including managing communications, training logistics and behind-the-scenes coordination. In the western region, her current focus is on building resiliency and statewide MDT trainings, and nationally, she focuses on collaborative trainings with the Regional Children’s Advocacy Centers geared towards MDT Facilitators and Victim Advocates. Prior to joining the WRCAC team in 2021, Kelsey obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and was instrumental in the success of IT related projects and initiatives for a global immigration law firm through organizing, facilitating, and delivering live and virtual training as well as developing and managing related communications and resources. With a passion for working with children of adversity, Kelsey Roberts was drawn to the WRCAC to use her expertise in coordinating training and communications for the betterment of child victims and their families.
Lana Lo
Training and Communications Coordinator
Lana Lo is a Training and Communications Coordinator with Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center (WRCAC). In this role, Lana supports TTA efforts directed at state chapters and serves as the WRCAC website administrator. Prior to joining the WRCAC team in 2021, Lana worked for a nonprofit managing a prevention and early intervention program with a focus on expanding high-quality recovery residences to support the County of San Diego’s Behavioral Health Services (BHS) Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System (DMC-ODS). Lana holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, emphasizing Information Systems, from San Diego State University and a Master of Arts in Teaching and Learning with Technology from Ashford University.
Madison Stark
Training and Communications Coordinator
Madison Stark is a part-time Training and Communications Coordinator with Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center (WRCAC). In this role, Madison supports TTA efforts focused on increasing access to CAC mental health services in rural and frontier communities. Madison also serves as WRCAC’s Salesforce Administrator. Prior to joining the WRCAC team in 2019, Madison earned a B.S. in Biology from UNC Chapel Hill and served two years with AmeriCorps, implementing trauma-informed programs for youth in San Diego County. Madison is currently working towards her MSW at the University of Pennsylvania and exploring the use of social justice frameworks in responding to and preventing childhood trauma.
Al Killen-Harvey
Trainer
Al Killen-Harvey is the co founder of The Harvey Institute, a training and consultation company whose mission is improving health care outcomes through integrating sexual health. For the past 24 years he has worked at the Chadwick Center where he has served in a variety of clinical and training positions. Al is a frequent presenter, nationally and internationally, on a wide variety of topics related to children and adolescents as well as sexual identity and gender identity. He currently serves on the Advisory Board of The Children’s Advocacy Centers of California and is a past board member of CAPSAC.
Charles Wilson, MSSW
Trainer
Charles Wilson served as Director of the Chadwick Center for Children and Families for 20 years, retiring in 2020. He previously served as the Executive Director of the National Children’s Advocacy Center in Huntsville, Alabama, Board Member for the Alabama Network of CACs, Project Director for the Southern Regional Children’s Advocacy Center, and ex officio member of the Board of Directors of NCA. Charles is also the former President of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children and former member of the Board of Directors of the California Network of CACs.
Andrea Hazen, Ph.D.
Research Scientist
Andrea’s current work primarily focuses on mental health screening, assessment and treatment for children and families involved with child welfare services. She has expertise in child maltreatment and intimate partner violence research and program evaluation, and has published extensively on those topics. Dr. Hazen oversees the treatment outcome program for the Trauma Counseling Program and for the KidSTART Mental Health Clinic and serves as the evaluation lead for WRCAC and other projects focused on the delivery of trauma informed services in child welfare systems and on the implementation of screening, assessment, and evidence-based treatment to address the mental health needs of children involved with child welfare services.
Chris Perkins
IT Data Analyst
Christopher Perkins has more than fifteen years of experience with data and website management and administration and served as the project manager for the web-based California Mandated Reporter training portal. Chris manages WRCAC’s electronic learning and communication systems.