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Board of Directors

BARCC's board of directors provides governance and fiscal oversight. Board members are recruited from the community and bring a range of skills and experience to their leadership role. Board meetings are held eight times per year.

If you are interested in joining BARCC's board, please e-mail us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

April Evans

April Evans, Chair

April Evans has been a BARCC supporter and contributor for many years and joined the board in 2015 after serving as a pro-bono consultant to BARCC’s executive director Gina Scaramella in 2014. As partner and chief financial officer at the private equity firm Monitor Clipper Partners, April brings considerable experience to BARCC’s Finance Committee. Her advocacy in the Boston community extends to memberships on the boards of the Women’s Association of Venture and Equity, the Simmons College Board of Trustees, the Simmons College School of Management Business Advisory Council, and the Massachusetts chapter of the ACLU. Says April: “I am proud to be able to do something, small as it may be, to support survivors as they find ways to heal and move forward with their lives despite the traumas they have, and do still, experience.

Laura Nielsen

Laura Nielsen

Laura Nielsen has served at BARCC in a variety of ways, first as an intern in graduate school, then as a counselor and hotline coordinator. She joined the board of directors in 2015. After five years doing crisis and trauma counseling, Laura returned to school to study nutrition counseling. “I believe that the work BARCC does is extremely important to our communities and have seen that the safe, accepting space and services it provides for its clients is invaluable and changes lives,” Laura says. “I love being able to continue to support and be involved with the amazing, dedicated, selfless group of people that make up BARCC's staff and volunteers.

Ed Reiss, Treasurer

Edward Reiss, Treasurer

Ed Reiss has been a part of BARCC since 2003, beginning with over 10 years of service on the Champions for Change Gala Committee before transitioning onto the board in 2011. A real estate professional for over 40 years, he has worked in corporate real estate for Harvard and Trammel Crow and asset management for AEW Capital Management and RREEF Property Trust. He brings that valuable experience to the BARCC Finance Committee. Ed says, “I believe to be a complete human being we need to give back in some meaningful way. Working with BARCC has provided this opportunity for me. The work is important and the people with whom I’ve been associated are committed and focused.

Oyenike Balogun-Mwangi

Oyenike Balogun-Mwangi

Oyenike Balogun-Mwangi was a hotline volunteer at BARCC in 2012-2013 and joined the Board of Directors in 2023. She is a licensed psychologist in private practice and an assistant professor in the department of natural and applied sciences at Bentley University. In her roles as an instructor, researcher, and clinician, Oyenike works to center intersectional disparities in mental health, especially among marginalized groups. Her most recent research studies have focused on the experiences of Black adults with serious mental illness, microaggressions among highly educated women of color, and body image among Black African women. Oyenike has provided care to vulnerable populations in a range of settings including the Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Lemuel Shattuck Hospital, and Harvard University Health Services. “I am honored and proud to be joining BARCC in its 50th year of survivor-centered work.”

Laura Brelsford

Laura Brelsford

Laura Brelsford joined the BARCC Board of Directors in 2014, but has been working with the organization since 2012 as the MBTA representative to the MASS (Movement for Access, Safety, and Survivors) Collaboration, a project to empower survivors of sexual violence with disabilities. As the Assistant General Manager for System-Wide Accessibility at the MBTA, Laura oversees initiatives to make the MBTA more accessible for all customers. She was honored in 2015 with the Marie Felton Award from the Boston Center for Independent Living for her work. “Supporting BARCC is important to me because the statistics regarding sexual assault and people with disabilities are daunting, and we must counter them collectively,” Laura says. “My favorite part of BARCC is simply the people—BARCC's staff and volunteers demonstrate a commitment to offering empowering and inclusive services every day."

Stephanie Brown

Stephanie Brown

Stephanie Brown has been a part of the BARCC family since 1995. She has served as a volunteer advocate (before the medical advocacy program), a medical advocate, and a medical advocacy supervisor. She joined the board of directors in 2003. Stephanie is the CEO of Casa Myrna, an organization working to end domestic violence. “I found BARCC when I first moved to Boston from Florida in 1994. I was looking for a community of like-minded feminist activists and found them at BARCC! BARCC has given me the opportunity to work toward ending sexual assault while allowing me to learn skills, mature, and be part of an evolving organization,” says Stephanie. “I’m so proud of the work BARCC does. Because it is such a respected organization that makes a significant impact on our community, it is an honor to tell people that I was a volunteer and serve on the board.

Victoria Davids

Victoria Davids, Clerk

Victoria Davids joined the BARCC Board of Directions in 2020 and serves on the Development Committee. Victoria has been involved with BARCC in a fundraising capacity since 2012, when she first started leading teams for the Walk for Change. Outside of BARCC, Victoria is a senior data analyst at a travel technology startup called Hopjump, where she is also working to develop the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. According to Victoria, “I feel so lucky to have been exposed to BARCC at a young age through family friends. Learning about allyship and sexual violence prevention as a teenager through BARCC’s incredible work changed my life, and I am grateful to be able to give back to BARCC in whatever capacity I can.

Beth Molnar

Beth Molnar

Beth Molnar is a social and psychiatric epidemiologist and associate professor in the Department of Health Sciences at Northeastern University. She has served on the BARCC Board of Directors since 2007. "I was fortunate to volunteer in the medical advocacy program for many years prior to joining the board,” she says. “BARCC has shaped my life in innumerable ways, and I am so proud to be president of the board and in awe of all barcc accomplishes for survivors, families and communities." Beth’s research at Northeastern focuses on the way that trauma and violence affects child survivors and first responders, as well as the social context of high-risk behaviors among adolescents. Beth is currently leading projects related to vicarious trauma, strategies to prevent emotional and behavioral disorders among children, middle school dating violence prevention, and the role of justice in healing from sexual violence. Prior to working at Northeastern, Beth was an associate professor of human development and health at the Harvard School of Public Health, where she cofounded the Boston Data Project at the Harvard Youth Violence Prevention Center.

Shavonne Moore

Shavonne Moore

Shavonne J. Moore is a licensed psychologist and health-care provider who has been part of the BARCC community for three years and joined board of directors in 2016. Outside of BARCC, Shavonne develops curricula on sexual and interpersonal trauma with the Trauma Center of the Justice Resource Institute and is the founder and director of Shatter the Silence, a sexual violence prevention task force. Shavonne also provides clinical services at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center, where she specializes in the assessment and treatment of trauma and mental illness. Shavonne, who received her PhD in counseling psychology from Purdue University, was the 2014 recipient of the APA Early Career Achievement Award, which recognized her clinical, community, and professional contributions to leadership, education, and advocacy. According to Shavonne, “Supporting BARCC is important because I believe in what BARCC stands for. I stand with BARCC because BARCC stands with survivors.

Cliff Pollan headshot

Cliff Pollan

Cliff Pollan is a technology-oriented entrepreneur who joined the BARCC Board of Directors in 2017. He also serves as the CEO of Sococo, a technology startup. He first became involved with the BARCC community by attending the annual Champions for Change Gala. According to Cliff, he feels deeply touched by the experiences of friends and family members who have survived sexual violence and motivated to help BARCC continue to provide no-cost services and support to survivors. Says Cliff, “My favorite aspect of BARCC is the amazing staff, along with the strong, passionate culture. It is truly unmatched and makes BARCC the most amazing organization I have ever been part of.

Leslie Pucker headshot

Leslie Pucker

Leslie Pucker is a supervisor with the Visiting Moms Program at Jewish Family and Children’s Services (JF&CS). As a social worker, Leslie also volunteers as a clinician in the Early Connections Program and co-facilitates a weekly support group for new parents at JF&CS. She has been cochair of the Advisory Council of the Jewish Teen Foundation of Greater Boston since 2018 and has volunteered in various leadership roles in Combined Jewish Philanthropy’s Boston-Haifa Connection since 2010. Leslie is married and has two daughters. She has served on the BARCC board for over three years and has been a supporter for over 15 years. Leslie says, “I appreciate BARCC’s commitment to supporting survivors through a diverse array of services as well as BARCC’s prevention and advocacy work and commitment to ending sexual violence through healing and social change.

Our mission is to end sexual violence. We empower survivors of sexual violence to heal and provide education and advocacy for social change to prevent sexual violence.