Executive Director Kelli Nicholas Owens
Jara Traina
Jara Traina (she/her) is the General Counsel at OPDV. In this capacity, she advises the Executive Director on all legal matters affecting the agency. As part of her portfolio, she oversees the work of the New York State Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team. Ms. Traina brings over 20 years of legal, strategic policy, and management experience in human services, and has developed and implemented innovative solutions to address complex challenges facing vulnerable populations.
Ms. Traina previously worked at 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 also provided ethics training and guidance for OCFS employees. Prior to her work at OCFS, she was an Attorney for the Child at 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. She is admitted to the New York and New Jersey Bars.
Kathryn Gordon
Kathryn Gordon (she/her) is the Deputy Executive Director for External Affairs at OPDV. A seasoned Government affairs specialist, Ms. Gordon brings with her more than twenty years of experience working in and around state government, including the New York State Legislature and non-profit organizations.
Prior to joining OPDV, Ms. Gordon worked within not-for-profit administration and advocacy, including roles as the Director of Research and Legislation for the Healthcare Association of New York State and the Director of Government Relations for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists District II.
Prior to that she served as the legislative director for two state senators. Her experience includes leading advocacy and public awareness campaigns and negotiating legislative and regulatory changes for women, physicians, hospitals, nursing homes, older adults, and people with disabilities.
Throughout her career, her passion for advocacy and supporting others has been witnessed in her volunteer activity with multiple task forces and nonprofits, including the Food as Medicine Coalition, Hudson Mohawk Area Health Education Center, the American Diabetes Association, and Breakthrough T1F (formerly JDRF).
Kathryn earned a master’s degree in public administration at Rockefeller College at SUNY Albany. She resides in New York’s Capital Region with her son and their family of feline and canine beasts.
Elizabeth Bliss
Elizabeth Bliss (she/her) is the Deputy Executive Director of Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Programming at OPDV. Ms. Bliss comes to OPDV with 25 years of experience working to improve the response to domestic violence and sexual assault. This experience ranges from working as a front-line advocate partnered with police officers to management-level leadership positions attending to program operations. With a focus on improving the systems that victims of domestic violence and sexual assault must navigate, Ms. Bliss worked on a statewide level addressing legislative policy and providing technical assistance to local programs seeking to align their services with best practices. Ms. Bliss has also worked on a national level providing training to multi-disciplinary law enforcement teams regarding the safe supervision of domestic violence offenders who are on probation or parole.
Elizabeth obtained her master’s degree in social welfare from University at Albany and she was a dual major in criminal justice and psychology at the University of Maryland, College Park where she obtained her bachelor’s degree. In addition to her victim advocacy work, Elizabeth has worked as a psychotherapist working with people from children to older adults with a wide range of lived experiences and behavioral health needs.
Stevie Hunter
Stevie Hunter (she/her) is the Chief of Staff at OPDV. Stevie first joined the OPDV team as an Excelsior Fellow and had an integral role in the creation of the Power Down Speak Up Campaign to help protect New Yorkers from technology-facilitated abuse. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies from the University of Vermont (UVM) and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) with concentrations in Local Government and Policy Analytic Methods from the University at Albany SUNY.
April Maas
April Maas is the Director of Policy, Innovation and Professional Education in the Bureau of External Affairs at OPDV. Ms. Maas comes to us from OPWDD Investigations and Internal Affairs where she created a new investigator training program. Prior to OPWDD, much of her career had been spent in the field of child welfare. After 9 years with Chautauqua County Health and Human Services, she was a trainer for child welfare workers and supervisors throughout NYS, working with both CDHS and OCFS. While obtaining her Bachelor’s degree, Ms. Maas worked at Alice Paul House, a domestic violence shelter and rape crisis center in Indiana, PA where she held multiple titles, sparking a lifelong passion for ending gender-based violence. Both her personal and professional goals align with the vision of OPDV to promote gender equality and eradicate social injustice.
Michael Whiteley
Michael Whiteley is the Deputy Executive Director of OPDV’s Bureau of Law Enforcement and Public Safety Services. The Bureau of Law Enforcement and Public Safety is responsible for providing training and technical assistance to law enforcement, probation, parole, college public safety, courts and EMS providers in New York State.
Prior to joining OPDV, Michael served 22 years with the Town of Bethlehem Police Department. and is a highly decorated veteran within the department. Starting as a Patrol Officer, he was soon assigned to the Family Services Unit where he worked for many years. He went on to become a D.A.R.E. Officer and then Detective assigned to the Bethlehem Middle School as a School Resource Officer. Given his extensive experience with juvenile, domestic and special victim investigations, Michael was a sought-after presenter, facilitating trainings on many public safety topics to various agencies throughout New York. He is especially known for his work with the State of New York Police Juvenile Officers Association, bringing Raise the Age legislation trainings to officers across the state. Michael returned to the patrol division as Road Sergeant, obtaining the rank of Master Sergeant prior to his retirement in 2023.
Michael is a graduate of SUNY Brockport with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. He has a paramedic certification from Hudson Valley Community College and obtained his police officer certification at the Zone 5 Regional Law Enforcement Training Center, Session 32.
Kimberly Bobb
Kimberly Bobb is the Director of 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 served as Executive Assistant to the Chief Officer of Academic Health and Hospital Affairs. Prior to her work in government, she was the Director of Finance and Administration for Family Planning Advocates of New York State/Planned Parenthood Advocates of New York.
Ms. Bobb holds a Master of Arts Degree in Social and Public Policy, a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Affairs, and a Graduate Certificate in Not-for-Profit Management from SUNY Empire State University.
Jacquie Slater
Jacquie Slater is the Director of Public Information. Ms. Slater comes to OPDV after an award-winning career as a broadcast news anchor and reporter, most recently having spent 5 years working for local television news stations in the Capital Region. Originally from Connecticut, Ms. Slater also worked for stations in her home state, Florida, Rhode Island, and Alaska. During her time in news, she excelled at sharing difficult and emotional stories and was well-known for her ability to connect with members of the community. A graduate of the Connecticut School of Broadcasting, Ms. Slater is excited to put her skill set to use in raising awareness about OPDV’s work related to domestic and gender-based violence.
Kelly Weiss
Kelly Weiss (she/her) is the Director of Gender-Based Violence Response. Ms. Weiss started at OPDV as a Project Coordinator, working in collaboration with the NYS Council on Developmental Disabilities, to increase accessibility of domestic and sexual violence services for survivors with developmental disabilities. Prior to joining OPDV, Ms. Weiss worked in the disability services field for 20 years. In her most recent position, while overseeing the academic component of a college program for students with disabilities, Ms. Weiss became heavily involved in sexuality education and violence prevention programming. Ms. Weiss has also taught bachelor’s level college courses, including Disability and Literature and Expository Writing. Ms. Weiss centers her work on issues of social justice by addressing systemic barriers that contribute to oppression, and whenever possible, working to dismantle those barriers.
Ms. Weiss holds a Master’s Degree in English from the College of Saint Rose and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology and English from SUNY Albany.