Angel Cruz is a Project Coordinator with the National Criminal Justice Training Center of Fox Valley Technical College. Angel leads program efforts funded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Angel previously worked as a Domestic Violence Shelter Coordinator for the Gila River Indian Community, where she managed the overall operations of a 30-bed shelter for domestic violence survivors and their children. Prior to that, Angel served as a Sexual Assault Program Coordinator with Gila River. In this position, Angel coordinated, developed, and monitored training plans for Sexual Assault Advocates in order to increase staff competency. She also helped develop and establish healing support groups for survivors of sexual violence. In 2011 Angel worked as a Chemical Dependency Counselor Aide at the Desert Visions Youth Wellness Center, and later, in 2012, a Social Worker II/CPS Investigator with Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.

Brittni Farmakes is a Project Coordinator with the AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program (AATTAP), working primarily in support of the AMBER Alert in Indian Country Initiative. Brittni is responsible for such tasks as coordinating delivery of training and technical assistance materials; identifying and assigning instructors; planning, developing, and coordinating project deliverables;  assisting in planning, budgeting, and allocating resources; preparing statistical project reports; and developing and implementing training calendars, agendas, and other program materials.

Prior to joining the AATTAP team, Brittni worked with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) for more than 15 years—serving most recently as a Criminal Intelligence Analyst for homicide and missing persons investigations. Earlier in her BCA career, she worked as Training and Conference Coordinator and helped support the Minnesota AMBER Alert and Missing Persons Clearinghouse.

Brittni holds a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice from Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Denise Gee Peacock is AATTAP’s Project Coordinator for Publications, Websites & eLearning. She oversees content and design for The AMBER Advocate and AMBER Alert in Indian Country (AIIC) websites, manages social media engagement, and writes for, edits, and designs the quarterly print/digital magazine, The AMBER Advocate. Denise also helps with special multimedia projects, marketing initiatives, AATTAP-AIIC national symposiums, and eLearning needs.

Prior to her current role, Denise was a communications-focused NCJTC Associate from 2018 to 2022, providing compelling content to The AMBER Advocate, writing high-level AATTAP and AIIC reports, and helping update the new multimedia edition of When Your Child is Missing: A Family Survival Guide.

From 2010 to 2018, Denise served as Media Relations Manager for Southern Methodist University in Dallas. She helped SMU’s Dedman School of Law, Human Rights Program, Maguire School of Ethics, and Texas-Mexico Program garner unprecedented publicity that involved SMU subject matter experts being featured in major media outlets in this country and abroad.

In 2018 Denise won the International Circle of Excellence Gold Award from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) for her work on the sensitively written and beautifully designed book, No Resting Place: Holocaust Poland, produced for SMU’s Human Rights Program. The book commemorated the 20th anniversary of SMU's “Holocaust Poland” trip—one of the longest running, most comprehensive Holocaust study-abroad trips offered by a U.S. university. Prior to that Denise also helped SMU win several national CASE awards for “Best Practices in Marketing and Communications.”

Earlier in her career, Denise served as Editorial Director for Media News Group’s 200+ specialty publications/websites and worked as a senior editor for Better Homes and Gardens, Coastal Living, and Southern Living. She also has written seven books for national publishers. Denise holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Louisiana State University.

Valerie Bribiescas is a retired detective with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in Arizona where she specialized in crimes of violence, child abuse, and family violence investigations.  She has over 25 years’ experience as a peace officer, with the majority of her policing career with Tribal law enforcement. Her assignments included field operations, professional standards, administration, records, and criminal investigations.

Valerie is a nationally recognized expert on the cultural complexities of law enforcement operations on tribal lands and advanced forensic interviewing.  She teaches law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and child protection officials culturally based approaches to conducting forensic interviews involving Native American children and adults.  She has taught extensively for the Arizona Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, the Advanced Forensic Interview Training sponsored through Prevent Child Abuse AZ, as well as various Tribal, state, local, and federal agencies.

Valerie holds a Masters Degree in Education from Northern Arizona University, and is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, residing in Chandler, Arizona.

Cathy Delapaz has extensive experience in Adult Education & Training. She specializes in managing the curriculum development process from initial program instructional design through Subject Matter Expert (SME) content development, then monitoring and maintaining a robust curriculum delivery process. She ensures all curriculum addresses cultural competence and victim-centered instructional approaches. Cathy has developed training programs for and delivered training through instruction to over 20,000 Criminal Justice system members as well as many community groups, NGOs, and NPOs. She has developed training for the FBI, The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, The Department of Justice, The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Child Advocacy Centers nationwide, Child Protective Services, Law Enforcement agencies, and many others.

She holds a Master's degree (M.Ed.) in Adult Education & Training, and a Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice. A Subject Matter Expert in all aspects of child sexual abuse and exploitation, child sex trafficking, and missing and abducted children, she is a 34-year veteran from the Dallas Police Department (Ret. 2019). There her assignments included 5 years as a uniformed patrol officer, 9 years as an undercover Narcotics Detective, 2 years in Internal Affairs and her last 18 yrs. in the Crimes Against Children (CAC) Unit.

While in the CAC Unit Cathy co-founded the Dallas Police Department's (DPD) High-Risk Victim (HRV) Model in 2003, the first victim-centered, trauma-informed response to child sex trafficking victims in the US. The HRV model is responsible for development of a law enforcement led response protocol which dramatically increases recoveries and interviews of child sex trafficking victims, as well as access to victim advocacy and services. This model has been replicated across the country through her training and has broadly benefitted the field of law enforcement. She developed DPD's "Cross City" victim recovery operation model, later replicated by the FBI as "Cross Country". This model has recovered thousands of child sexual exploitation victims across the country. Cathy developed DPD's "Operation Brick & Mortar", a recovery operation resulting in many victim recoveries, buyer and trafficker arrests and a component of connection of victims to immediate advocacy services.

Cathy built a “victim recovery store”  for recovered runaways and sex trafficking victims within the DPD CAC Office. She secured recovery packages from community businesses that included: snacks, drinks, sweat suits, socks, toiletries, a backpack, a blanket, and an art set. She also built an adult recovery package for recovered adult sex trafficking victims that included essentials, as well as victim service providers emergency contact information. Thousands of victims in Dallas received these packages over the span of 2003-2019. She secured donations from the community to furnish a soft victim recovery interview room within the CAC Unit office space and a separate soft advocate interview room so children could move from the disclosure space when connecting with advocacy.

Cathy has conducted many undercover chat/sting operations focused on child sex buyers and traffickers. Cathy also developed long-term missing operations aimed at the recovery of children missing from Child Protective Services (CPS) care and other endangered missing.

She managed the daily operation of the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit, enacting daily processes to ensure optimal CyberTip management and investigative uniformity.

She also was responsible for investigation of active and cold case child abductions. Cathy has trained around the world on these subjects.

Jenniffer Price-Lehmann is a Deputy Administrator with AATTAP and is responsible for the management, compliance and oversight of program activities, major events, training and technical assistance delivery, and required reporting and performance metrics for its programs. Jenniffer serves in a lead role in the development of grant proposals and related submissions.

Jenniffer was in law enforcement for twenty four years and previously served as the Director of Special Operations for the Wisconsin Department of Justice (WIDOJ), Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) where she led the Wisconsin Statewide Intelligence Center including the Technical Services Unit; Criminal Intelligence; AMBER Alert; Silver Alert; Wisconsin Clearinghouse For Missing and Exploited Children and Adults; the Wisconsin Crime Alert Network; and the Cyber Crimes Unit.

Prior to her appointment to the Director of Special Operations, Jenniffer was the Special Agent in Charge of DCI’s Digital Forensics and Child Sex Trafficking Units and the Commander for the Wisconsin ICAC Task Force.  Jenniffer developed DCI’s child sex trafficking unit and authored legislative initiatives that resulted in funding to support the ongoing efforts of the DCI ICAC and human trafficking programs.

Jenniffer was a founding member of the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Child Abduction Response Team (CART) since its inception in 2009 and served as the CART Commander from 2010 until her appointment as the AATTAP Program Manager in 2021; and she led the WIDOJ CART to becoming Wisconsin’s first USDOJ certified program.

Jenniffer has developed curriculum and provided training to thousands of criminal justice, government, and community stakeholders in the investigations of crimes against children, including child abductions, sexual assault and abuse of a child, child enticement, computer facilitated crimes against children, child sex trafficking and forensic interviewing of children.  Additionally, Jenniffer has trained law enforcement in vicarious trauma associated with child exploitation investigations and delivered training to WIDOJ new employees in the area of trauma informed care and resiliency.  She developed the Division of Criminal Investigation’s current policy on ICAC Wellness that provides specialized mental health services to employees serving on the ICAC and human trafficking units.  In her role as the Director of Special Operations, Jenniffer led, planned and directed DCI’s wellness program and coordinated the division’s wellness initiatives to achieve employee well-being goals and objectives in a multiple work and location environment setting.

Tyesha M. Wood is a Program Manager with AATTAP's AMBER Alert in Indian Country initiative. Tyesha is a former police detective with 17 years of law enforcement experience with tribal nations in Arizona. A majority of her police career was comprised of work in criminal investigations, with more than 15 years as a detective working in the areas of sex crimes and crimes against children. Tyesha has experience in working with multi-disciplinary teams in tribal family advocacy centers to ensure the safety and protection of children. She also served for two years as an Executive Protection Officer for the Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice-President.

Tyesha is an alumnus of the 2018-19 McCain Institute of International Leadership Next Generation Leaders Program. She holds a B.A. in sociology from the University of Arizona, and is a member of the Navajo Nation.

Charles “Chuck” Fleeger serves as the AATTAP Region 3 Liaison, and is an Associate Employee with the National Criminal Justice Training Center (NCJTC) providing subject matter expertise and instruction in Child Abduction Response Team (CART) training and Search and Cavass Operations in Child Abductions.

Chuck currently serves as the Executive Director of the Amber Alert Network Brazos Valley, a regional non-profit in central Texas that focuses on local missing children issues, public education and partnering with local law enforcement and other responders in alerting, response and investigative readiness.  He has served as a regional Amber Alert Coordinator since 2003.

Chuck retired as an Assistant Chief of Police with the College Station Police Department where he served for over 30 years and completed his career in law enforcement with over 34 years total service with College Station and the United States Army Military Police Corps.

Chuck has worked with the AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program since 2014 serving as an instructor and curriculum development associate in areas related to Child Abduction Response Teams (CART), Search & Canvass Operations, and AMBER Alert Best Practices.

Byron Fassett is a nationally recognized subject matter expert (SME) on the victimization of women and children through sex trafficking, child sexual abuse and exploitation, and has over 37 years law enforcement experience with the Dallas Police Department.  For over 25 years, Byron specialized in conducting investigations involving the sexual abuse and exploitation of children in with Dallas Police Department supervising the department’s Child Exploitation Squad which handled approximately 1,100 cases a year, consisted of 17 detectives and was divided into three teams; the Investigations Team, the High Risk Victims and Trafficking Team, (HRVT) and the Internet Crimes Against Children Team (ICAC). These teams investigate child abductions, child pornography, victimization of children through sex trafficking, sexual assaults of children by non-family members/strangers, Internet facilitated sexual abuse of children, and other forms of sexual abuse and exploitation of children.

Byron developed and wrote the grant for the Sexual Offender Apprehension Program (SOAP) and started the SOAP team in the Dallas Police Department’s Child Exploitation Squad. He co-developed and wrote the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) grant for the Dallas Police Department and started the ICAC team in the Department’s Child Exploitation Squad.

In 2003, Byron Fassett co-developed the nationally recognized High Risk Victims and Trafficking Team (HRVT) within the Dallas Police Department. The HRVT Team specializes in investigations involving the sexual abuse and exploitation of high-risk/multiple runaways, child victims of trafficking, and repeat victims of sexual abuse. Additionally, the HRVT team proactively identifies cases with children who have repeat/multiple runaways and has enacted a mandatory interview policy to identify current or past victimization. Byron Fassett co-authored an article, “Juvenile Prostitution: An Overlooked Form of Child Sexual Abuse” in 1994 for the APSAC ADVISOR (American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children). Byron initiated and co-developed the Dallas County Child Sex Trafficking Care Coordination Team. This team provides a comprehensive response for all identified High Risk Victims and Child Sex Trafficking Victims.

Byron has provided training to over 10,000 law enforcement officers, child protection officials, first responders, and a wide range of child protection stakeholders, both nationally and Internationally, on the issue of sex trafficking with regards to dynamics, investigative, and intervention techniques in the United States, Canada, Thailand, and numerous other countries in Southeast Asia. Byron has been qualified as an expert in both federal and state court on the dynamics of child sex trafficking and investigative and intervention techniques. He has instructed for Fox Valley Technical College, The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), FBI Academy, and various other agencies and conferences throughout the country and Internationally.

In his current position as a Deputy Administrator for the National Criminal Justice Training Center (NCJTC), AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance (AATTAP) and Missing and Exploited Child (MEC) Programs, Byron is responsible for overseeing the development and delivery of training and technical assistance to law enforcement, prosecutors, social services, child protection officials, on issues related to child protection, exploitation, sex trafficking, and youth at risk of victimization; as well as the onboarding and development of all associate employees working with AATTAP.

Carri Gordon has worked for the Washington State Patrol since 1991. For 17 years she worked in the Communications Division, with the last five years as the Training Program Manager responsible for all dispatch/radio training for troopers and dispatchers. During this time Carri was also heavily involved with the implementation of the Washington State AMBER Alert Plan and developing procedure and training.

In June 2012, Carri became the Washington State AMBER Alert Coordinator and Missing Persons Clearinghouse Manager.  Carri assists with AATTAP's first responder curriculum development and instructional delivery, both classroom and webinar events.

Josefina “Josie” Sabori currently serves as the AATTAP Region 4 Liaison, supporting the AMBER Alert Coordinators, Missing Person Clearinghouse Managers, and Child Abduction Response Teams for her region. She represents the Southern Arizona region as a human trafficking subject matter expert and serves as a liaison and educator for international guests who seek assistance in law enforcement response to human trafficking.

Josie has a strong sense of civic duty and to her country. She is currently a Chaplain’s Assistant in the Air Force, Arizona Air National Guard, 162nd Wing, Tucson, where she provides support to the chaplains, airmen, and families in crisis. Josie is also the 162nd Wing Combatting Trafficking in Persons program manager, responsible for conducting training and developing tools for  human trafficking awareness.

Josie assisted with the Southern Arizona Anti-Trafficking Unified Response Network and worked closely on committees with law enforcement, prosecution, at-risk juveniles, victim services, training, and outreach subcommittees.

Josie served 12 years as a dedicated detective with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. She was assigned to the Arizona Southern Children’s Advocacy Center, Crimes Against Children Unit, where she managed programs for runaways and investigated child exploitation cases, including luring of minors through technology. She worked closely with the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board on training programs for first responders, identifying and investigating cases involving human trafficking. She also served on many task forces involving human trafficking. While she worked at the Advocacy Center she developed lesson plans for law enforcement to recognize and recover victims of human trafficking. She worked closely with forensic interviewers, doctors, therapists, victim advocates, as well as the Department of Child Safety for local and tribal communities, Federal Bureau of Investigations, and U.S. Customs & Border Protection.

Outreach and Volunteer Efforts and Accomplishments

While serving as a detective, Josie was the Vice President of the Fraternal Order of Police, Pima Lodge 20. She worked hard to improve the conditions for law enforcement officers and volunteered over 600 hours every year to her community. She managed Christmas events and fundraisers, to include Cops and Kids, where 100s of children shop for warm clothes and a toy.  She also had the largest group of law enforcement officers and personnel in Arizona participating in the Special Olympics Torch Run for Law Enforcement.

Josie continues her community outreach with Camp Fury Tucson for Girl Scouts, to empower women. In addition, she is on the Arizona Women’s Initiative Network (AZWIN) committee to assist in the recruitment, promotion, and mentoring of female law enforcement officers, and to assure continued growth of their successful careers throughout Arizona. She continues to empower all women in the public through her certified instruction of the Rape Aggression Defense system.

Josie is a 162nd Wing Family Readiness volunteer, providing support to airmen, their families, and the community. Josefina does her own fundraising to pay for gifts and adopts civilian and military families in need every year during the holiday season. In her down time she mentors teenagers in foster care. She develops a positive relationship between law enforcement and teen fosters.

Josie has been recognized by her community for her police work and was nominated Guardsman of the Year 2014 for her outreach to the community by Major General Edward P. Maxwell and Brigadier General Howard Purcell. Tucson Model Magazine nominated her for Hero of the Year 2016. Cox Communication recognized her during Hispanic Heritage Month, creating a commercial featuring her dedication to and accomplishments in community outreach. Josie was also nominated for the 2016 Women of Influence award and recognized by U.S. Congresswoman Martha McSally, and was awarded the First Responder of Distinction.

Derek VanLuchene is a Project Coordinator for the AATTAP with a focus on its Child Abduction Response Team (CART) program and continuing to expand the number of U.S. DOJ Certified CART programs, increase the number of trained CART programs in Indian Country and assist previously-trained teams in maintaining operational capacity and readiness. Derek works closely with a talented team of CART trainers, the AATTAP CART Certification team to assess the status of CART programs across the country.

Derek brings a unique perspective to the investigation and response to child abductions. In 1987, when Derek was 17 years old, his 8 year old brother Ryan was abducted and murdered by a repeat sex offender. Ryan was taken from the family’s backyard in a rural Montana community. Since that time, Derek has devoted himself to issues of  sex offender management and child abduction response.

Derek spent 18 years as a Montana Law Enforcement Officer working for both the Conrad Police Department and The Montana Division of Criminal Investigation. Currently, Derek manages Ryan United, a non-profit organization dedicated to his brother. Through Ryan United, Derek provides resources to crime victims, law enforcement, corrections officials specific to sex offender management, child abduction and community safety.

Derek has worked as an associate with FVTC and its National Criminal Justice Training Center, as well as with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, for over 10 years and has taught extensively in the CART program and other investigative courses.

Janell Rasmussen has spent over 20 years working in public safety to develop, implement and operate multiple statewide law enforcement programs that have been highly successful and nationally recognized. During her time at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), Rasmussen was responsible for the development and operations of multiple statewide programs, including the Minnesota AMBER Alert Plan, the Missing Children’s Clearinghouse, the Communication & Duty Officer Program, the Crimes Against Children in Indian Country Conference, and the President’s Initiative on Missing & Unidentified Persons. She also served in capacities as Legislative and Media Coordinator during her tenure at the BCA. Janell is a highly regarded professional known for building collaborative partnerships with diverse stakeholder groups, enhancing government operations and her work in Law Enforcement Training. Janell recently left the BCA as Director of Criminal Justice Training & Education after 16 years to continue her work in child protection as Deputy Director at the Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis. Janell has received certifications from the Federal Bureau of Investigation Training School - Instructor Development Program, International Association of Chiefs of Police - Leadership in Police Organizations Program, National Judicial College - Tribal Faculty Development Program, and numerous training certificates on a multitude of topics, including management, leadership, human trafficking, AMBER Alerts, domestic violence, investigative resources, information sharing, project management, and program development.

Gus Paidousis is currently the Security Chief for the Knox County, Tennessee, School District, leading a force of over 100 armed security officers to protect 59,000 students and approximately 8,000 staff members. Gus has been with the school system since May 2013. Prior to serving the school district, he served the Knoxville, Tennessee, Police Department for 31 plus years, retiring as a Deputy Chief.

Gus has served in a variety of roles throughout his law enforcement career, to include Patrol Officer, Training Director, Staff Officer to the Chief of Police, as well as Deputy Chief of the Patrol, Criminal Investigations and Support Services Divisions. He was a member of the department’s Special Operations Squad for approximately 12 years and was instrumental in developing and implementing the East Tennessee AMBER Alert Plan.

Gus is a graduate of East Tennessee State University and the 191^st session of the National Academy conducted by the FBI. He also graduated from the 27^th session of the Police Executive Research Forum's Senior Management Institute for Police.

As an associate with the National Criminal Justice Training Center of Fox Valley Technical College, Gus has instructed and presented nationally and internationally on a wide range of child protection topics over the past decade. These topics include the scope and scale of the problem of missing, abducted and endangered children; initial law enforcement planning and response to missing and abducted child incidents; leadership issues around these case types; AMBER Alert program policy and procedural considerations; and Child Abduction Response Team (CART) development, policy and procedures. Mr. Paidousis also serves as an assessor for AATTAP's CART Certification process.

Mishelle Bowen has been an Administrative Assistant with Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, Wisconsin, since 2001. Mishelle supports AATTAP programs, meetings, and special events.

Mishelle works on a variety of projects including assisting in maintaining the AATTAP Distance Learning Programs, AMBER Alert Partners contact lists and group memberships, class registrations and student databases. Mishelle is skilled at reconciling program paperwork. She coordinates critical supply chain operations, including the shipping, receiving and inventory of all AATTAP materials and equipment for the Appleton FVTC office. Mishelle assists in preparation of statistical reports for program administration, as well as evaluation summaries and pre- and post-training/event questionnaires in support of continuous program improvement. She also supports the NCJTC’s staff and associate database which includes over 300 members.

Jill Nysse is a Project Coordinator with expertise in office oversight and coordination. Her more than 15 years of progressive administrative experience have made her thorough and effective in organization and time management.

Jill processes training program registrations to ensure accuracy and compliance with federal grant requirements. She coordinates all AATTAP travel and lodging negotiations, logistics and documentation. She also prepares statistical reports for program administration, as well as evaluation summaries and pre- and post-training/event questionnaires in support of continuous program improvement.

Jill serves as an essential liaison between AATTAP’s customers, stakeholders, partners and personnel, coordinating all requests for training, technical assistance, meetings and events; she guides and supports inquiries and requests from inception through delivery, working with a wide variety of professions and officials including mayors, chiefs of police, police officers, judges, prosecutors, school officials, legislators, Native American tribal members, Hispanic contingents, and federal across the U.S.

Jill has extensive experience in providing onsite program support, and has assisted in the coordination of multiple conference and symposium events in the areas of missing, abducted and exploited children. Jill hold two Associates Degrees in Meeting and Event Management and Administrative Assistance from Fox Valley Technical College (FVTC).

Joan Collins retired from the Rhode Island State Police in June 2021 after 28 years of service. From 1996 to 2021 she served as Police Communications Specialist Supervisor overseeing the RILETS Telecommunications Unit. Joan was the RISF/NCIC Quality Assurance Officer, responsible for auditing and training all RILETS users within Rhode Island.

Other duties and assignments throughout the years involved assisting with implementation, developing procedures and training for Abducted Children (AMBER) Alerts, Missing Senior Citizen (SILVER) Alerts, and Violent Threats against Police (BLUE) Alerts. She also served as the Sex Offender Database manager, Rhode Island Most Wanted site manager, and worked with the Rhode Island Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (RIICAC).

Prior to working with the Rhode Island State Police, Joan worked with the Warwick, RI, Police Department from 1982 to 1992 as a Communications Dispatch Clerk and Communications Specialist Dispatcher.  From 1989-1994 Joan served as a Reserve Police Officer with Warwick Police.

Melissa Blasing serves as a program manager focusing on the AMBER Alert in Indian Country Initiative. Melissa also manages and facilitates the design and delivery of training and technical assistance and serves as a coordinator for a assigned AATTAP courses. Melissa writes and edits reports and documents, coordinates training and technical assistance activities, provides follow-up support to recipients for assistance, and provides guidance and program support for NCJTC-AATTAP Associates. Melissa also provides development oversight for AATTAP’s webinar series.

Ms. Blasing has worked with multiple organizations on sexual assault victim assistance and leadership development programs with at-risk youth. She is a leader in program creation, development, and outreach. Melissa Blasing has Bachelor and Master Degrees in Criminal Justice from St. Cloud State University.

Bonnie Ferenbach is a Program Manager for AATTAP’s eLearning, website and publications project deliverables. She coordinates AMBER Alert’s AMBER Advocate and AMBER Alert in Indian Country websites and serves as the primary contact for content, design and functional components for all technology projects. Bonnie is an experienced curriculum designer and instructor, is skilled in public speaking and presentation, and serves as a founding member of the NCJTC’s Distance Learning team.

Bonnie also coordinates the development, editing and deployment of the AMBER Advocate newsletter. In this role, she works with AATTAP Associates and personnel to produce a high-quality publication reflecting the work of AMBER Alert partners across the US and internationally. Bonnie is also responsible for the coordination of AMBER Alert’s major publications and related holdings.

Representing the AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program, Bonnie served on the executive team and training committee of the NCMEC Missing Kids Readiness Project and Public Safety Telecommunications Best Practices Project, which authored APCO ANS1.101 National Standard for Public Safety Telecommunicators When Responding to Calls of Missing, Abducted and Sexually Exploited Children.  She is a lead trainer for the AATTAP’s Telecommunications Best Practices for Missing and Abducted Children (TELMAC) curriculum, which provides law enforcement and PSAP personnel with critically important background and operational guidelines in the area of call handling, intake and data management in cases of missing, abducted and sexually exploited children.

Bonnie was a member of the Illinois State Police for over a decade and for the last six years of her tenure there, served as a Regional Manager within the Division of Administration, Communications Services Bureau. In that role, she was responsible for administration, oversight and coordination of dispatch, data management, and emergency call-taking operations in central and downstate Illinois. While with the ISP, she also served as a member of the ISP training academy, working in training and professional development initiatives in law enforcement including competency-based programs, curriculum development, instructional design, authentic assessment methodologies, and team/group facilitation.

In 2001, Bonnie began close collaboration with the Illinois AMBER Alert Coordinator and Missing Children’s Clearinghouse Manager to prepare for the implementation of the Illinois AMBER Alert program in 2002. She coordinated the development, design, training and implementation of the telecommunications operations necessary to support the Illinois State Police's role as the control point for the issuance of all Illinois AMBER Alerts. She coordinated the development, with exceptional input from front line dispatch staff, AMBER Alert control point internal communications policies, procedures, and training materials. The experiences and lessons learned through this process inspired her to work with other public safety telecommunications professionals to develop national training and resources to support telecommunicator/call-takers in their ability to provide effective and compassionate first response to families and communities in cases of missing, abducted and sexually exploited children. Bonnie holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy from Millikin University.

Sharon Williams is a Program Manager with Fox Valley Technical College’s National Criminal Justice Training Center and the AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program. Ms. Williams has extensive experience spanning 40 years, holding positions specializing in criminal justice in the areas of program management, project coordination, product development, public relations, subject matter specialist, and direct client service. In these capacities, she has and continues to work directly and extensively with criminal justice practitioners and policymakers across all spectrums and levels of government, and community-based agencies and organizations committed to provide comprehensive responses in support of national, state, local and tribal initiatives exploring effective solutions to common problems to enhance public safety and advance crime prevention efforts. She has excellent verbal and communication skills and extensive research capabilities.

James Walters is responsible for developing and delivering training and technical assistance to law enforcement, prosecutors, social services, child protection officials and first responders in investigative techniques, program development and policy issues related to child protection, exploitation, missing and abducted children and youth at high risk of victimization.

With over thirty-five years of diversified experience as a peace officer, USAF Security Forces Supervisor, technical training instructor, program manager, investigator, special weapons and tactics team leader, and Regional SWAT Commander, Jim Walters is a nationally and internationally accredited subject matter expert and master training instructor. He has trained over 10,000 peace officers, military personnel, child protection officials, first responders, judicial officers and government leaders on a wide range of topics, from criminal investigative techniques to anti-terrorism and intelligence operations.

He has published articles and research into human trafficking, child exploitation and victimization in the US southern border region, as well as South and Central America. He has worked with survivors of human trafficking to develop insight into the causative factors which lead to victimization and has travelled internationally to study conditions globally in order to develop comprehensive strategies to combat trafficking and exploitation. Having served as a patrol officer, investigator and public safety consultant to tribal communities, Mr. Walters has also conducted research and evaluation of programs in tribal communities on topics related to high risk youth, trafficking and exploitation of Native American youth, public safety programs and technology facilitated crimes against children in Indian Country. Mr. Walters helped develop AATTAP’s Liaison program, and served as the first liaison for the “AMBER in Indian County” initiative which builds capacity in tribal communities to respond to child protection issues such as abductions, exploitation and human trafficking. Mr. Walters was also the AATTAP Liaison to the US Southern Border Initiative, conducting joint training and technical assistance with officials in the US and Mexico to improve communications, collaboration and response to issues related to cross border abductions, child sex trafficking, exploitation and sex tourism in the US–Mexican border region. As a result of this program, Mexican officials announced the implementation of Mexico’s “Alerta AMBER Mexico” Child Abduction Protocol in 2013.

On behalf of the U.S. State Department and Department of Defense, he has conducted training and technical assistance on the African continent, South and Central America as well as Europe, on issues of human trafficking, child exploitation, counter terrorism, leadership, policing, ethics and tactics.