Donna M. Pence serves as the President and Lead Practice Improvement Trainer and Consultant for Pence-Wilson Training and Consulting, Inc. Ms. Pence has over 40 years of experience in law enforcement, beginning with her career as a patrol officer for the Metropolitan Nashville Park Patrol, and next as the first female Special Agent for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) where she enjoyed a 25 year career. While with the TBI, Ms. Pence was the top child abuse investigator and trainer, and during her tenure she designed training for new agents, collaborated on the Tennessee State Law Enforcement Training Academy’s “Child Abuse Investigation Specialist” curriculum, co-designed and trained multidisciplinary teams to support counties in the midst of large scale child abuse investigations, wrote a nationally recognized protocol on investigating “macro cases” (cases with multiple perpetrators and more than 5 victims), directed the TBI’s Missing Child Program, and advised agents on child abuse and child fatality cases. Most recently, Ms. Pence served as the Training Coordinator and Trainer for the Public Child Welfare Training Academy in Southern California. As a Master Trainer, she researched child maltreatment, child and adult interviewing, and assessment/investigation topics, designed curricula for the California Social Work Education Center, and delivered training to child welfare workers throughout California, as well as coached and mentored new trainers. She has been a member of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network’s Child Welfare working group and is currently serving as a consultant for the National Advisory Committee for the Center for Child Welfare Trauma Informed Policies, Practices, and Programs (TIPs Center), Chadwick Center for Children & Families and National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

Oronde Miller is a program officer at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF). As a member of the Racial Equity and Community Engagement team, he participates in the development of programming priorities, recommends proposals for funding, and implements national grant initiatives and multi-year projects. Mr. Miller has over 20 years of experience working with organizations helping to promote improved life outcomes for children and their families. Prior to joining the foundation, he developed and directed a national leadership institute aimed at helping professionals of color make sense of the experience of race, racism, and culture in the operations of public child welfare systems, and assisted in developing and coordinating a national and city-focused technical assistance strategy for Cities United, a national effort to reduce violence and violence-related deaths among African American boys and young men. Mr. Miller was a member of the inaugural class of the WKKF Community Leadership Network fellowship program as part of the racial equity and racial healing cohort, and he led multiple efforts to eliminate racial disparities within the nation’s child welfare, juvenile justice, and education systems, including the Alliance for Racial Equity in Child Welfare at the Center for the Study of Social Policy in Washington, DC, and several national and place-specific efforts while with Casey Family Programs in Seattle, Washington.

Maggie Bishop is the Executive Director of the Capacity Building Center for States. Ms. Bishop provides visionary and strategic direction for the Center for States and oversees the design, delivery, and evaluation of capacity building activities. She leads the Center for States in its efforts to support State child welfare agencies in effectively initiating and sustaining change and innovation to achieve improved system, organizational, and program performance. Prior to her work with the Center, Ms. Bishop served as the Director of the Division for Children, Youth and Families in New Hampshire for over 8 years. She has 40 years of experience working in public child welfare, with 22 of those years in management and leadership roles. She has a strong commitment to engaging and developing staff, and bringing innovative solutions to meet organizational needs.

Jennifer Marcelli serves as the Program Area Manager for foster care, family empowerment, and the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act (P.L. 113–183) for the Capacity Building Center for States. In her role, Ms. Marcelli works closely with the Children’s Bureau and other experts to shape and implement the priority agenda for her program areas. One of Ms. Marcelli’s primary responsibilities is helping build capacity in Foster Care and Permanency, Family Empowerment, and P.L. 113–183 by developing and managing projects, products, learning experiences, and constituency groups. With over 12 years of experience as a line worker, supervisor, and senior administrator in a child welfare organization, Ms. Marcelli has extensive experience in many child welfare program areas, including program development and implementation of youth, foster care, and adoption programs, and has extensive project management experience.