Advisory Board

The mission of the NCTSN Advisory Board is to raise the national visibility of the issue of child traumatic stress and enhance the capacity of the Network to identify its priorities for action. Advisory Board members are appointed from diverse sectors of the community, including representatives from parent and consumer groups, national associations, state and local government, and leaders from the broader scientific community.

Mitru Ciarlante

Mitru Ciarlante is the Senior Director of Youth Safety and Well-Being at Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) and is a lifelong children's advocate. Mitru started her career by creating a child and teen program model for domestic violence and sexual assault centers, then led the Youth Initiative at the National Center for Victims of Crime in Washington, D.C. Before joining BBBSA in 2023, Mitru led the response to critical safety incidents for Boys & Girls Clubs of America for ten years.

Michele Gay

Michele Gay is a mother, educator, and Co-founder of Safe and Sound Schools who lost her daughter Josephine Grace on December 14, 2012. Since that time, Gay has channeled her personal experiences, the lessons she has learned, and her work as an advocate to improve safety and security in schools and communities across our country. Michele continues to build Safe and Sound Schools as a national hub of school safety education, technical assistance, expert content, and best practices. 

Teresa Huizar

Teresa Huizar is the Executive Director of National Children’s Alliance (NCA) in Washington, DC. NCA is the national association and accrediting body for more than 800 Children’s Advocacy Centers in the US. These centers provide comprehensive services to child victims of abuse including forensic interviews, victim advocacy, medical evaluations, and mental health treatment. She provides consultation internationally on effective child abuse intervention and the development of children’s advocacy centers.

Tammy Piazza Hurley

Tammy Piazza Hurley is the Director of Child Welfare, Trauma and Resilience Initiatives at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and has over 27 years of experience addressing the issues of child abuse and neglect and trauma. Tammy is the director of a current CDC-funded grant project aimed to build the capacity of pediatricians and pediatric healthcare providers to provide pediatric trauma-informed care. Tammy also has experience addressing the prevention of child abuse and neglect, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and supporting children and women experiencing violence. She oversees the work of the AAP National Council on Child Abuse and Neglect (COCAN) and Council on Foster Care, Adoption and Kinship Care.

Te Jay McGrath

Te Jay brings over 8 years of professional and lived experience to the Youth MOVE National team. Not only has he directly served and supported youth and young adults in Systems of Care, especially those experiencing homelessness, he has worked on policy changes related to LGBTQ+ initiatives, anti-bullying efforts, and public health inequities. 

Brian J. Michel

Brian is the Associate Vice President of Foundations and Government Relations at Mental Health America (MHA). Brian joined MHA in 2024 after working for their statewide affiliate Mental Health America of Wisconsin, where he helped the coordination of the state suicide prevention strategy, expanded peer programs for veterans and LGBTQIA+ youth, and served as project director for the Garrett Lee Smith State/Tribal Youth Suicide Prevention Program. Brian is a survivor of child trauma and works to uplift the voice of lived experience in research, evaluation, and project development.

Susie [수지] Reynolds Reece

Susie [수지] Reynolds Reece is the Director of Lived Experience Initiatives for the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC). Susie [수지]  leads the development of multi-organizational inclusion practices, acts as a liaison and authority for national lived experience experts, and builds international guidance to center lived experience across any field. Reece also bolsters lived experience engagement by elevating experts from diverse experiential backgrounds and perspectives. Susie [수지] has been a recognized leader and suicide prevention strategist for nearly a decade. She leads from her lived experience which includes all three direct forms of suicide-centered lived experience. Her lived experience ensures she continually centers the needs of those most affected by suicide.

Barry Sarvet

Dr. Sarvet is the Harold Grinspoon Endowed Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Baystate Health, and Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at University of Massachusetts Medical School-Baystate. He is Treasurer of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and serves on the Children’s Behavioral Health Advisory Council for the MA Department of Mental Health. Dr. Sarvet is also the Statewide Medical Director of the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project (MCPAP), an innovative public system for improving access to care for children with mental health needs throughout the state of MA. He focuses on improving access to care for children with psychiatric disorders, through collaboration between pediatric mental health professionals, primary care providers, educators, and community health workers, as well as the dissemination and adaptation of evidence-based practices in trauma-informed mental health treatment. 

Linda S. Spears

Linda S. Spears was appointed President and C.E.O. of the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) in October 2023. She is a veteran social worker and policy expert who returned to CWLA after serving as the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families Commissioner for over eight years. Linda is currently leading a comprehensive strategic planning initiative that will chart a new course for CWLA focused on improving child welfare practice and policies, and addressing inequities that compromise the well-being of children, families and communities.

Marilyn J. Zimmerman

Dr. Zimmerman (Nakota, Dakota, Ojibway, Newe)  is a consultant and owner of Healing Ourselves/Healing Our Relatives. She is also the retired founding Director of the National Native Children’s Trauma Center (NNCTC), at the University of Montana. Dr. Zimmerman has expertise in trauma-informed systems-change, provides training and technical assistance in all service systems serving AI/AN children and families, and has participated in cultural adaptation of evidence-based and best practices. Dr. Zimmerman understands the relationship and community-based principles for the development of trauma-informed best practices for tribes.