CONFERENCE KEYNOTES
Monday, September 9, 2018
Vanessa McNeal
Sexual Violence: The Things We Can’t Ignore
Vanessa McNeal is an award winning documentary filmmaker, national speaker, and two time
TEDx speaker. She travels and speaks nationally about how to confront adversity with grace
using her personal story as a vehicle to inspire and empower others. Vanessa will share her
harrowing story of surviving sexual violence and how it led to groundbreaking film work. She will
share insight into her work within the sex trafficking industry and will discuss how best to
empower survivors through supporting and believing them.
Tuesday, September 10, 2018
Melissa Jeltsen
From Behind Closed Doors To The National Stage: The Challenges (And Opportunities)
Of Reporting On Domestic Violence
In this keynote, Melissa Jeltsen, a senior reporter at The Huffington Post, will talk about her
experience as a journalist covering domestic violence in the U.S. She will discuss how she
documented the intersection of mass shootings and domestic violence, the phenomenon of
battered women imprisoned for killing their abusers, and will revisit some of her most difficult
stories.
Wednesday, September 11, 2018
High Point, North Carolina Collaborative: Timothy Ellenberger, Teri Hyman,
Kenneth Shultz, Jennifer Wells
It’s Not Just Domestic Violence, It’s VIOLENCE. Case Study: The High Point Model -
Domestic Violence Intimate Partner Intervention.
For nearly a decade, the city of High Point, North Carolina, has been succeeding with an
inter-agency, community-based model of ending domestic violence by holding offenders
accountable while prioritizing the safety of the victims. Led by law enforcement, the model has
been shown to deliver remarkable results by nearly eliminating homicides and reducing offender
recidivism. This plenary session will include screening a documentary about the program and
an address from the Chief of Police, and a Victim Services Advocate who will discuss the
implementation of the program from its beginning. An Assistant U.S. Attorney will then speak
about the success a county in South Carolina – nearly three times the size of High Point – is having replicating the program
in what was once the worst county in the country for domestic violence.
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