About Our Executive Team

Kelli Owens is the Executive Director of the New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, the nation’s only executive-level agency solely dedicated to improving the state’s response to and prevention of domestic violence.  

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Jara Traina is General Counsel and the Director of the Bureau of Law and Public Safety at OPDV. Ms. Traina comes to us from the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), where she was the Director of the Bureau of Domestic Violence Prevention and Victim Support. Over the course of her 13 years at OCFS, she was also a senior attorney with the Division of Legal Affairs, providing legal services for domestic violence programs, the Commission for the Blind, Child Preventive and Protective Services, foster care, juvenile justice and adult protective services. She has also provided ethics training and guidance for OCFS employees. Prior to her work at OCFS, she was a law guardian for the Children’s Law Center in the Bronx, where she represented children in custody/visitation, child welfare, domestic violence and guardianship cases in family court and supreme court matters.

Ms. Traina graduated cum laude from Muhlenberg College and received her juris doctorate from Seton Hall University School of Law. 

Shannon Cantiello is the Deputy Executive Director of Policy and Administration for OPDV. Prior to her time at OPDV, Ms. Cantiello served in a staff role at the NYS Assembly Ways and Means Committee with a portfolio focusing on Human Services issues. She began her career as an advocate working on behalf of survivors of gender-based violence in the legal, housing, medical, and social services systems in Saratoga County.

Ms. Cantiello holds a Master’s degree in History with a concentration in Public Policy from SUNY Albany and received her Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Policy Science and Education for the College of Saint Rose.

Christine Sadowski is the Deputy Executive Director of External Affairs at OPDV. Prior to joining OPDV, Ms. Sadowski served as the executive director of YWCA Orange County, NY. During her tenure, she led a full reorganization of the agency to ensure that all operations and programs were centered on the mission of empowering women and eliminating racism. She developed and managed programs addressing women’s leadership, economic stability for single moms, racial justice, STEM, voter education, and social enterprise. She also led the statewide advocacy initiative for YWCAs of New York State, where she played a critical role in the passage of New York’s Women’s Equality Act.  

Ms. Sadowski has consulted with a variety of equity organizations including the Leadership Conference of Christians and Jews, the Anti-Defamation League, Junior Leagues International, and The National Assembly of Voluntary Health and Social Welfare Organizations, in addition to numerous corporations and school districts. She was a member of Orange County’s Human Rights Commission, is a past Chair of the local Chamber of Commerce Minority and Women Business Committee, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for a local economic development agency.

Ms. Sadowski holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from SUNY College at Oswego and studied Cultural Anthropology at CUNY’s Hunter College.

Abbey Marr is Associate Counsel and Deputy Executive Director of Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Programming at OPDV. Prior to joining OPDV, Ms. Marr served as Assistant Director of the SUNY Student Conduct Institute (SCI), where she helped college staff and faculty on compliance with Title IX and related state laws, as well as best practices related to sexual violence response in higher education. She previously served in the Office of the Counsel to the Governor of New York, where she handled legal and policy matters related to gender equality, civil rights, and reproductive health; and as a Policy Analyst at Advocates for Youth, where her work included advocacy on state and federal policy related to adolescent sexual health and healthy relationships education in public schools. Between college and law school, she was a Paralegal Specialist at the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division’s Educational Opportunities Section. 

Ms. Marr holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor's in Political Science and Women's Studies from George Washington University. 

Alicia Borns is the Director of Domestic Violence Program and Prevention at the NYS Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence (OPDV). Prior to working at OPDV, Ms. Borns worked at Equinox Domestic Violence Services in Albany, NY for fifteen years and has more than 27 years of experience in domestic violence service provision. Ms. Borns has extensive experience in individual and systems advocacy, program and policy development, program administration, and community collaboration, outreach and awareness.

Ms. Borns holds a Bachelor of Science degree from South Dakota State University in Brooking South Dakota. 

Kimberly Bobb is the Director of Finance and Administration at OPDV. Prior to coming to OPDV, Ms. Bobb served the State University of New York System Administration (SUNY), Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI) as Project Coordinator for the SUNY Hispanic Leadership Institute under the direction of the President of the University at Albany.  Additionally, she also served as the Compliance Manager for the SUNY Supplier Diversity Program and as Executive Assistant to the Chief Officer of Academic Health and Hospital Affairs. Prior to her work in government, she served as Director of Finance and Administration for Family Planning Advocates of New York State/ Planned Parenthood Advocates of New York. 

Ms. Bobb holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Affairs and a Graduate Certificate in Not-for-Profit Management from Empire State College. She is currently working towards her Master’s Degree in Social and Public Policy.