Jill Theresa Messing, MSW, PhD is a Professor in the School of Social Work and the Director of the Office of Gender-Based Violence at Arizona State University. Dr. Messing specializes in the development and testing of intimate partner violence risk assessments. As a social worker, she is particularly interested in the use of risk assessment in collaborative, innovative interventions and as a strategy for reducing intimate partner homicide. She is currently a Principal Investigator on the P.A.I.R. Studies, a 6-state series of case-control studies examining risk factors for intimate partner homicide.
Jesenia M. Pizarro, PhD is a Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice in Arizona State University. Her research focuses on violence, particularly lethal violence committed with firearms, the processing of violent crime in the criminal justice system, and transdisciplinary research approaches.
Tina Jiwatram-Negrón, MSW, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at Arizona State University. Her research focuses on examining GBV among socially and economically marginalized women globally, and addressing health and mental health disparities associated with GBV through intervention development in partnership with community-based organizations.
Ijeoma Ogbonnaya, MSW, PhDDr. Ogbonnaya studies the impact of intimate partner violence (IPV) on mental and physical health among populations most vulnerable to IPV.
Karin Wachter, PhD Dr. Wachter's goal is to generate applied research for local, national, and international practitioners and policy makers to alleviate the psychosocial consequences of forced migration and violence against women.
Marina Jessop, Senior Program Manager. Marina is the Senior Program Manager for the Office of Gender Based Violence. She has a Bachelors in Social Work from Arizona State University and a Honors Degree in Social Development from the University of Cape Town in South Africa where she served as an Ambassadorial Scholar for Rotary International, studying poverty, inequality and injustice issues for marginalized communities. Marina is currently getting her MSW from ASU.
Jill Etienne, Senior Research Analyst Jill’s work focuses on evaluative research of Intimate Partner Violence risk assessment instruments. Through research on risk, protective factors and community coordinated response, Jill is hopeful to add impact utilizing quantitative research for a reimagined movement to prevent gender based violence.
Alexandria Rogers, Senior Program Coordinator Alexandria Rogers is a Sr. Program Coordinator for the Survivor Link AmeriCorps Program. She is an AmeriCorps VISTA alum and has a Bachelor's degree in Globalization/International Affairs and Social Justice Studies from Eastern Kentucky University. Alexandria has experience working with various cultures and with survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, and human trafficking. She currently supports ASU students and works with the Survivor Link team to provide education on domestic violence intervention and prevention.
Julie Greenberg, Senior Program Manager Julie received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington in Political Science with an emphasis on third world Latin American politics. In 1999, Julie moved to Phoenix for a career in the financial industry and served in varying capacities until 2016. She then spent 13 months traveling through Central & South America, experiencing different cultures, volunteering along the way and practicing her Spanish. Julie now serves as a Program Manager in the ASU School of Social Work, Office of Gender-based Violence.
Nantongo Molly holds an MSW from the University of California Berkeley (2023), a BSWSA from Uganda Christine University (2015), and a certificate in psychology from Oxford University UK (2017). As a social worker with six years of experience working with children, youth, and families, she founded the Sanyuka Afri-Youth Initiative, an organization dedicated to fostering the entrepreneurial spirit among young people. Her research interests center around adolescent girls and young women living with HIV and experiencing Intimate partner violence and how Vocational skills/Training can mitigate the social wellbeing leading to empowerment and improve on their mental wellbeing.
Gillian Bryant, MSW is a doctoral student who earned both a Bachelor of Science in Psychology (2019) and a Master of Social Work (2024) from Arizona State University. Gillian's primary research interest is the oppression of individuals diagnosed with mental health conditions, particularly those labeled with borderline personality disorder. Additionally, she is interested in mad studies and community-based participatory research.
Zoe Reep, MSW. Zoe Reep holds a Masters in Clinical Social Work from Boston College (2024), a Bachelors in General Mathematics and Counseling Psychology from Michigan Technological University (2022) and certificates in Advanced Social Research (Boston College, 2024) and Global Community Development (Michigan Technological University, 2022). In her social work career, Zoe has worked for a youth mobile crisis team, in youth residential care, as a middle school counselor, and guided wilderness therapy. Her research interests lie in nature-based community programming, as she hypothesizes that interactions with nature can be adapted to create experiences of eustress and build skills such as distress tolerance, emotional regulation, trust, technical movement, risk assessment, confidence and grit. She hopes her work will shift the understanding of natural spaces from a place of leisure for those with privilege to a place of learning for diverse populations.
Aaliah Zonicle, MSW, PhD obtained her doctoral degree and MSW from Howard University School of Social Work, and her undergraduate degree from Clemson University. Dr. Zonicle’s research seeks to strategically highlight the disenfranchisement of Black women, specifically in the area of gender-based violence. Her dissertation research centered on the sexual harassment of Black women in the workplace, which further demonstrated the significance of advocating for the development of culturally proficient policies, workplace interventions, practice modalities, education, and research that is integral to the protection of Black women and other marginalized populations that endure this prevalent misconduct. During her doctoral studies, Dr. Zonicle was appointed as a research assistant for the Office on Violence Against Women’s Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention Initiative where she became fully immersed in culturally-responsive work by assisting in the development of community engagement strategies and advancements to prevent domestic violence homicide in the Black community. As a Bahamian-American, Dr. Zonicle passionately subscribes to the role of a global citizen and is committed to discovering new ways to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges.
