Sarah M. Buel, JD, Director Emerita
Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University
Tempe, Arizona

Antonia A. Drew-Vann, CDVC
Asha Family Services, Inc.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Rus Ervin Funk, MSW, Secretary
Louisville, Kentucky

Rhonda Gerson, Chair
Houston, Texas

Candace Mosley, JD
National District Attorneys Association
Alexandria, Virginia

The Honorable Marshall B. Murray, JD
Milwaukee County Circuit Court
Wauwatosa, Wisconsin

Toby Myers, EdD, LCSW, LPC Vice-Chair
Houston, Texas

S. Gail Parr, JD, Treasurer
Attorney at Law
Austin, Texas

Michael Shaw, MSW
Iowa City, Iowa

As a domestic violence survivor, Sarah has been committed to improving the court and community response to abuse victims. She was a welfare mother for a short time before working full time in the day and going to school at night for seven years to obtain her undergraduate degree in 1987. She then graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1990.

Sarah has written extensively on family violence issues. She is a member of the American Bar Association’s Domestic Violence Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice Advisory Council on Violence Against Women, the Board of Directors of Texas CASA, the Texas Women’s Advocacy Project, the Texas Health Initiative on Domestic Violence Leadership Team, and numerous other boards and commissions. She is also currently an adjunct professor at Harvard Medical School.

In 1991, Sarah received the Boston Bar Association’s Public Service Award. In 1992, she received the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Outstanding Young Lawyer’s Award and the American Bar Association’s Top Twenty Young Lawyer’s Award. She narrated the 1992 Academy Award-winning documentary “Defending Our Lives” and in 1996 was profiled by NBC as one of the five most inspiring women in America. In 1997, Sarah received the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ Public Service Award. In 1998, she received the University of Texas Law Fellowships Public Service Award. In 1999, Sarah received the National Organization of Victim Assistance (NOVA) Allied Professional Award. She received the 2001 American Bar Association’s Fellows Award and the first Harvard Law School Gary Bellow Public Service Award in 2002.

Sarah is most proud of her son, Jacey, who runs a Teen Dating Violence Intervention Program and counsels violent youth in Boston schools.

Antonia, a nationally certified domestic violence counselor, is Chief Executive Officer and founder of Asha Family Services, Inc., a comprehensive family violence intervention and prevention agency located in Milwaukee, WI. Asha, the first and only recognized culturally specific family violence intervention prevention in the State of Wisconsin employs methods specific to African American families. Asha, word meaning “life” and “hope” is a private, non-profit spiritually based agency. Asha operates a full-scale outpatient mental health and substance abuse treatment clinic that includes HIV/AIDS education and counseling. Asha employs a holistic family-approach and strives through collaborative efforts, to provide effective, comprehensive family violence, intervention and prevention.

Antonia, a survivor herself, has worked in the area of violence against women and children since 1985. She researched and developed Asha’s programming through her life experiences, spiritual convictions, education and training under the guidance of an academic Board of Directors and a host of nationally recognized experts in the field. For more than 12 years, she has worked directly with thousands of battered and abused women. Her efforts at Asha are intended to provide redress, justice and healing for those individuals and families who suffer the long-term effects of partner abuse. Antonia has worked with female victims in three prison systems and for the past 12 years, has worked intensely with classes of incarcerated male offenders housed in prisons across Wisconsin. She actively contributes to local, state and national efforts speaking to bring awareness to and end violence against women and children.

In 1998, she received the I Am My Sister’s Keeper Award from the I Am My Sister’s Keep Annual Pastoral Women’s Conference. In 1997, she received an award from the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community for her work with batterers and in the field of domestic violence. That same year, she accepted an invitation to the White House for a meeting with then Vice President Al Gore, and others to receive information on Federal guidelines on violence in the work place. In 1996, she received the ONI Award from the New Jersey-based International Black Women’s Congress for her commitment to the protection, healing and upliftment of lives of people of African ancestry. In 1995, she received the Barbara Ulichny Advocate of the Year Award from the Milwaukee Women’s Center in recognition of her proactive community advocacy on behalf of women and children. Antonia is involved with the Milwaukee Commission on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. She is a member of the National Steering Committee for the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community and a Board member of the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence. In addition, she has written numerous articles and papers.

Rus is also a writer having written dozens of articles, chapters and two books related to violence prevention and engaging men and boys. He is a frequently-sought after speaker and trainer, and travels throughout the United States, Canada and Latin America. His training style has been described as "wonderful," "refreshingly empowering," and "magnificent."

Rhonda chaired the Houston Police Department Task Force on Domestic Violence from 1988 to 1991, and in 1984, chaired a demonstration program in the Harris County District Attorney’s office, which resulted in today’s Family Criminal Law Division. She was a founding board member of WOMAN, Inc., a community housing development organization. She is a founding Board member of the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence and currently serves as Chair of the Board. She also serves on the Governor’s Planning Council on STOP Violence Against Women, the Board of the Texas Freedom Network, and the Board of the Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council. Rhonda was appointed by the Texas Supreme Court to the Access to Justice Commission and is chairing the Commission’s Assisted Pro Se Committee. Rhonda has served on numerous other committees in the Houston area and statewide in Texas to address domestic violence, made presentations, participated in workshops, and provided training.

She has extensive training and public speaking experience, including presentations for the National Center for State Courts/National Criminal Justice Association, the American Prosecutor’s Research Institute, National Black Prosecutors Association, Houston Police Department, Fort Bend Independent School District, and the Fort Bend County Women’s Center. She has served in various capacities for the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. She has served on the National Advisory Board of the Battered Women’s Justice Project; the Advisory Committee of the American Bar Association Commission on Legal Problems of the Elderly; the Board of Directors of the Association of Government Attorneys in Capital Litigation; Domestic Violence Focus Group of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office; Criminal Justice Advisory Group, Houston Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, Treatment Alternatives to Incarceration Program, and the Board of Directors of the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence.

Candace received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Houston and her law degree from Southern Methodist University School of Law in Dallas.

Judge Murray serves on the Board of Directors of the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence. He is the Director of the Wisconsin Boys Olympic Development Program of the Wisconsin Youth Soccer Association. Judge Murray earned his Bachelor’s degree from Williams College in Williamstown, MA and his law degree from the New England School of Law in Boston.

She is founding Board member of the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence and currently serves as Vice-Chair. Since 1992, she has served on the Jewish Advisory Board of the FaithTrust Institute (formerly known as the Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence) in Seattle, WA. She is the Volunteer Coordinator for Love Shouldn't Hurt (scroll down), of Shalom Bayit: Houston Jewish Network Against Domestic Abuse, a program of Jewish Family Service. She has served on numerous Boards at the local, state and national levels, including the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Throughout her career, Toby has published numerous articles, publications and papers and made hundreds of presentations. From 1996 – 2000, she served on the Editorial Board of Violence Against Women: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal published by Sage Periodicals Press. She has been an adjunct professor for the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston and the University of Houston – Clear Lake. She’s received many honors during her career; including the Hannah G. Solomon Award from the National Council of Jewish Women, Greater Houston Section. The Bridge Over Troubled Waters in Pasadena, TX, named her a Woman of Distinction in 2001.

Toby received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The University of Texas at Austin and her doctorate from the University of Houston.

For nearly 20 years, Gail has been addressing violence against women issues through the law. From 1985-1991, she was the Staff Attorney for the Family Violence Project, a joint project of the Austin Center for Battered Women (now SafePlace) and Legal Aid Society of Central Texas. She was the Assistant Director for Public Policy for the Texas Council on Family Violence from 1991-1993. She was a partner in the law practice of Livingston & Parr from 1993-1994. She's been in private practice in Austin, since 1995. Early in her career, she was also a Research Attorney for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the Assistant Director and Staff Attorney: Staff Counsel for Inmates, Texas Department of Corrections (now the Texas Department of Criminal Justice).

She is a Sustaining Member of the Pro Bono College and a Maintaining Member of the College of the State Bar of Texas. She is a former member and Secretary of the Board of Directors of Texas Women Lawyers; a former member and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV); a former member of the Board of Directors of Texas Legal Services Center; and a former member of the Texas Supreme Court's Advisory Committee on Child Support and Visitation Guidelines.

Gail has trained for numerous organizations including, the Austin Center for Battered Women (now SafePlace); TCFV; the Texas Municipal Courts Association; Women & the Law Section, Travis County and State Bar of Texas; Volunteer Legal Services of Austin; Texas Lawyer's Care; Texas Legal Services Center; and Austin Legal Secretaries Association.

She has authored several articles for the Family Violence Section Newsletter, State Bar of Texas; The Alert, newsletter of the Texas Legal Service s Center; The River, newsletter of TCFV; TCFV manuals; and the Volunteer Legal Services' Center Divorce Basics Training Manual.

Gail graduated with High Honors in Sociology (with a concentration in Social Welfare Studies) from the University of Texas at Austin. She received her law degree from the University of Texas School of Law.

For more than 25 years, Michael has worked in a variety of capacities as a social worker and youth worker. Currently, he is the Shelter Manager at the Waypoint Domestic Violence Shelter. Michael is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence and the Iowa City Community School District. Previously, he was an elementary school Family Resource Center Coordinator, Project Manager for West Wind Education Policy, Inc., and Safety and Accountability Audit Director for the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence. He is a certified sexual assault and domestic violence advocate and an experienced trainer on a variety of sexual assault and domestic violence issues.

Michael received his Bachelor and Master degrees in social work from the University of Iowa and lives in Iowa City with his partner Alison and his three children.

Listen to Michael and Emiliano C. Diaz de Leon, Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, talk to PreventConnect's David Lee about why they signed a statement with more than 40 men titled, "Men Speak Out about Sexist Coverage of Rape: A Call to Action".