Board and Staff
Board of Directors
Debra Murphy – Board Chair
Business Community Representative
4-Clarity Consulting
Linda (Lin) Breeden
Community Representative
Jennifer Dunn
Community Representative
Michelle Gaudet
Business Community Representative
GWS Mediation, LLC
Kim Grant
Community Representative
George Hutcherson
Community Representative
Retired
Sherie McNeal – Vice Chair
Business Community Representative
Southeast Restoration Group
Cindy Murphy
Community Representative
Abby Roach – Secretary
Business Community Representative
Roach, Caudill and Gunn, LLP
Ellia Simon
Business Community Representative
Ellia Simon Agency, Financial Services
Staff
Meg Rogers, Executive Director
Meg Rogers is a resident of Cherokee County, Georgia and has been working on behalf of victims of domestic violence since 1993. First as a volunteer Board Member of the Cherokee Family Violence Center, then as its Executive Director and as a member of various state organizations advocating for social change and batterer accountability. Meg previously served on the Georgia Commission on Family Violence where she chaired the Family Violence Intervention Program Certification committee, the Legislative Committee and served on its Executive Committee. She is also the past Chair of the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence, a 42 shelter member organization and past Chair of the Blue Ridge Judicial Domestic Violence Task Force. Meg was a recipient of the 2003 Gender Justice Award of the Georgia Commission on Family Violence.
Lisa Clough, Child Advocate
Lisa Clough started in 2014 as a volunteer for the Children’s Program. Through the years, she has facilitated support group, assisted with community activities, and helped with the Children’s Program in many ways. She joined the team officially in Fall 2017 as a Child Advocate.
Tommie DeGonzague, Legal Program Director
Tommie DeGonzague has been employed at Cherokee Family Violence Center since 2005. Prior to her position at CFVC, Tommie served as the Director of the Family Violence and Sexual Assault Program at the YWCA of Northwest Georgia. She has over 16 years of experience providing advocacy for survivors and is regularly utilized as an expert witness in legal proceedings. Tommie is passionate about providing assistance to all victims of family violence, and is an active member of the Cherokee County Domestic Violence Task Force and serves as the current Chair of the Cherokee County Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team. Tommie attended the State University of New York at Albany obtaining her Masters of Social Work degree. She enjoys spending time with her family and is an avid fan of the New York Giants.
Taylor Foerst, Shelter Program Director
Taylor Foerst serves as the Shelter Program Director. She was previously the Family Advocate and Case Manager at the emergency shelter. Taylor is a recent graduate of Kennesaw State University with a Masters of Social Work and is a member of the National Association of Social Work (NASW). She is currently working toward receiving her licensure as a clinical social worker. Previously, she received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Georgia Southern University. She began as an intern at the CFVC emergency shelter in 2012 and found empowering women and families to be her passion. Taylor loves backpacking, hiking, and being outdoors during her free time.
Shawna Genshaw, Family Advocate
Shawna Grenshaw joined the team in March 2017 as a Family Advocate.
Lorena Jacobo, Multicultural Advocate
Lorena Jacobo is a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW). Previously, she received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Kennesaw State University. She is a current member of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). She began as an intern at CFVC Multicultural Program in 2012. Her previous experience includes counseling children and families and volunteering with non-profit organizations.
Vivian Keller, Multicultural Advocate
Vivian Keller has been an Advocate in the CFVC Multicultural Program since 2005, providing services to immigrant women in the community, the transitional housing program, and the shelter. In 2011 Vivian received partial accreditation from the Board of Immigration Appeals to assist victims of domestic violence with immigration issues. Born in the United States, Vivian grew up in Chile and Costa Rica, before returning to the U.S. where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Behavioral Sciences and participated in the Latin American Studies program at Louisiana State University. Vivian’s previous work has been with international non-profit organizations working in the fields of community development and education in Latin America.
Brooke Larson, Children’s Program Director
Brooke Larson is a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) and the Children’s Program Director for CFVC. While working on her Master of Social Work at Kennesaw State University, she completed two years of internship in the Legal and Housing departments then joined the team officially in June of 2015 as the Family Support Coordinator. In August 2016, Brooke became the Outreach Coordinator. Brooke is currently working towards being a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). She is a member of the National Association of Social Work (NASW) and was the Secretary of the 2016 Domestic Violence Task Force for Cherokee County. Brooke is passionate about serving families and children who have experienced domestic violence and hopes for a community free of violence. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with friends and family, hanging out with her cute dog, and exploring new places.
Lyndsey Little, Senior Legal Advocate
Lyndsey Little graduated from Kennesaw State University in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. Lyndsey has been affiliated with the Cherokee Family Violence Center since 2009, when she began volunteering with the Children’s Program. She was later hired as a Child Advocate and worked with adolescents and infants exposed to domestic violence. Lyndsey enjoys volunteering and has worked with the Children’s Restoration Network as a Project One-on-One Mentor, Clean-Up Cobb, and organized a school supplies donation drive for CFVC in 2012. Lyndsey is an active member for the Cherokee County Domestic Violence Task Force. Lyndsey loves the outdoors and spends her free time kayaking, hiking and fishing.
Sheila Lundquist, Family Advocate
Sheila Lundquist is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and graduate of Kennesaw State University with a Master of Social Work. Previously, she received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Kennesaw State University. She is a current member of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). Sheila began as an intern at CFVC, prior to beginning her role as a Family Advocate in 2012. Her previous experience includes child therapist for a core agency in Cherokee County, running her own child care center and volunteering with the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office as a Victim/Witness Advocate. Sheila enjoys spending time with her boys and traveling.
Norma Mendoza, Multicultural Program Director
Norma Mendoza is the Multicultural Program Director. She creates and implements supportive services for immigrant victims of domestic and oversees the Statewide Spanish Domestic Violence Hotline. Norma graduated from Law School in Mexico and has a master’s degree in European Studies from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain. Norma worked for 12 years for the Mexican Government; seven of them with Mexican immigrant victims of domestic violence, human trafficking and sexual abuse; family, criminal, immigration and civil law and matters related to Mexico or US legal systems; she developed domestic violence awareness events, programs, trainings, flyers and informational material and for five years she worked on International Public Law and Cultural Affairs. Norma wrote the article “Domestic Violence from the Hispanic Community’s Perspective” for the Georgia Family Violence Resource Newsletter (Volume 3, Issue 3, Third Quarter 2015), publication of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Program with funding from the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council.
Cathy Neville, Office Manager
Allyse Russell, Housing Advocate
Angela Salazar, Multicultural Advocate
Angela Salazar is s Multicultural Advocate and she joined the Cherokee Family Violence Center’s team in September 2016. Angela has a bachelor degree in Communications from the Autonomous University in Colombia. She has been working with underserved population for more than five years specifically immigrants. Angela has a passion for helping and empowering people. Angela enjoys spending quality time with her family, dog, traveling and serving at her church.
Charles Saul, Teen Advocate
Charles Saul is the Teen Advocate for the Children’s Program. We were excited to welcome him aboard in 2017!
Stephanie Villasenor, Outreach Coordinator
Beth Wilson has a Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of Oklahoma and worked at the Emory University Hospital and Medical School libraries before beginning her affiliation with Cherokee Family Violence Center in 2012. Beth acted as a volunteer receptionist at the CFVC Main Office for four years before she began working part-time at the Legal Office in February of 2016. Beth is excited to be a part of such a vital organization and enjoys spending time with her three children and traveling.