2024 Tennessee FJC Conference Speakers
Lundy Bancroft
Lundy Bancroft has specialized for thirty years in interventions for abusive men and their families. He is the author of the best-seller Why Does He Do That? the prizewinning professional book The Batterer as Parent, and four other books in the field of abuse and recovery. Lundy is the former Training Director of Emerge, the U.S.’s first batterer intervention program. He has worked with over a thousand abusers directly and has supervised another thousand cases. He has presented to hundreds of audiences across the U.S. and Canada, and overseas. His latest book is In Custody, a novel that exposes the corruption in the child custody system.
Becky Bullard
Becky Owens Bullard is the Senior Director of Programs for the Nashville Office of Family Safety (OFS) where she oversees the strategic work of OFS programs, client services in both court and community based Family Justice Centers, training and technical assistance, and multidisciplinary response to high-risk domestic violence, firearms dispossession, human trafficking, strangulation, sexual assault, and fatality review. Ms. Bullard is also a national speaker and consultant for the Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime (OVC TTAC) on multi-disciplinary collaboration, leadership, interpersonal violence, risk assessment, and the intersections of human trafficking & domestic & sexual violence.
Dorthy Stucky Halley and Steven M.S. Halley
Dorthy Stucky Halley, LMSW, and Steven M.S. Halley, LSCSW are co-founders and co-directors of the Family Peace Initiative. Steve and Dorthy have been visionary in the development of an evidence-informed motive typology conceived from victims’ voices, and a trauma-focused approach for intervening with persons using violence. They are internationally recognized for their expertise and engaging presentations that bring new understanding for effective response to domestic violence. Complete bios can be found at familypeaceinitiative.com
Heather Herrmann
Heather Herrmann is the Director of Education & Strategic Initiatives for the Metro Nashville Office of Family Safety. Heather has over fifteen years of experience working in mission-based non-profits. Much of her career has been focused on work with vulnerable populations- survivors of domestic and sexual violence, children living in poverty, and youth struggling with mental and behavioral health. Before her time with the Office of Family Safety, she has worked in a variety of non-profit settings including rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters, youth services agencies, and the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic & Sexual Violence. This has given her expertise in advocacy on both a micro and macro level. She centers her advocacy work in an evidence-based, social-ecological model of change. Her experience has led her to a focus on trauma, healing, and wellness for both trauma survivors and service providers.
Natalie Ivey
Natalie Ivey (JD) is a Training and Criminal Justice Specialist for the Stalking, Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center (SPARC), an Aequitas initiative. As a Training and Criminal Justice Specialist, Natalie works to educate and equip criminal legal systems to recognize and effectively respond to the crime of stalking. Before joining the team at SPARC, Natalie served as the Program Manager for the Buncombe County Pretrial Services Program, improving the efficiency of the program and aligning its services with national best practice standards for pretrial reporting and supervision. Prior to her work in the pretrial field, Natalie worked in various capacities to improve systemic response to victims of crime, specifically victims of intimate partner violence.
Natalie began her career as a prosecutor, focusing on misdemeanor and felony domestic and sexual violence crimes, but shifted her professional focus to improving systemic response and providing direct services to victims of crime. Through her time with Genesis House and the Community Coalition Against Human Trafficking, Natalie has served as nonprofit leader and advocate. She has extensive experience facilitating community education programs, building effective coalitions, designing victim service programs, and providing trauma-informed direct services.
Natalie graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor of Science in History and the University of Tennessee College of Law with a Juris Doctor degree. Natalie is based in Asheville, North Carolina.
Lou Longhitano
Lou Longhitano is an Attorney Advisor at AEquitas, providing human trafficking training and technical assistance to prosecutors and allied professionals across the United States and around the world. Lou serves as a coordinator and advisor to the Northern California Coalition to Safeguard Communities (NCCSC) which is combatting labor trafficking and exploitation, multinational organized crime, and environmental degradation in illicit businesses.
Lou served for 28 years as a county prosecutor, first for 7 years at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in New York, and another 21 years at the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in Illinois, where he investigated and prosecuted human trafficking, organized crime, gang crimes, and cold case homicides, including the Brown’s Chicken mass-homicide case in Palatine, IL. Lou built and supervised the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Human Trafficking Unit and was a founding member of the core team of the Cook County Human Trafficking Task Force.
Kaylin Render
Kaylin Render is the Assistant District Attorney for the State of Tennessee, Office of the Second Judicial District. She has worked there since 2005 as the STOP Domestic Violence Prosecutor. She graduated from the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University and received her undergraduate degree from Emory and Henry College. She received the Victim Services Award in 2021 and the Tribute to Women Award in 2022.
Taryne Tillinghast
Taryne Tillinghast graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Music Industry from the University of New Haven in New Haven, Connecticut. While there she was a brother of Alpha Phi Omega Service Fraternity where she served as Service Vice President and was responsible for the planning and execution of hundreds of hours of community service and an event that raised over $10,000 for childhood cancer research. This work created a passion for public interest and finding ways to incorporate service into her daily life.
Taryne moved to Nashville in 2019 and attended Belmont University College of Law. While there, she interned with the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and developed an interest in family law. After being admitted to the Tennessee Bar in 2021, she became a Family Law Staff Attorney at Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee in Nashville. In her free time, you can find Taryne taking walks with her hound dog, Todd; traveling with her husband; or curling up with a good book.
Rebecca Toca
Rebecca Toca is the Lead Family Law attorney at the Nashville Office of the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands. Rebecca joined the Legal Aid Society in October of 2020, practicing family law in the Nashville Office. She represents victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in civil cases seeking safety and independence. Representation includes administrative advocacy, litigation in Davidson and Williamson County courts, and community education. She also manages the day-to-day operations of the Nashville Family Law team.
Prior to moving to Tennessee and joining Legal Aid, Rebecca served as an Assistant District Attorney at the Queens County District Attorney’s Office in Queens, New York for seven years. Rebecca served in the Domestic Violence Bureau, prosecuting violent crimes such as attempted murder, burglaries, felony assaults and felony criminal contempt cases.
Rebecca is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and of the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law. While in law school, she served as a student attorney for the Columbus Community Legal Services Families and the Law Clinic, as well as the Montgomery County State Attorney’s Office. Prior to law school, Rebecca worked for the Federal Aviation Administration, in the Office of International Aviation and the Office of Aerospace Medicine. She enjoys exploring her new home in Middle Tennessee with her husband and two children.
Mark Wynn
Mark Wynn is a national trainer to police executives, patrol officers, training officers, prosecutors, judges, legislators, social service providers, healthcare professionals and victim advocates in all fifty states and internationally for over thirty years. He is a Fulbright Specialist for the Department of State and is a survivor, enabling him to teach both effectively and passionately. In short, he is devoted to ending domestic/sexual, elder and child abuse as a police officer, detective, educator, program supervisor and now consultant and advisor.
Mark is a 21-year member of the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department – Served as Lieutenant to the Domestic Violence Division – member of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team for fifteen years. He has received numerous awards for his work as a police officer and in domestic violence.