The physical injuries she sustained left her in danger of paralysis, with neurological damage, extreme back and neck pain, debilitating migraine headaches, and a permanent scar from a bite that ripped through the muscle of her arm. Helga mobilized quickly after the attack, responding as an impassioned activist. Her story and message were heard on national programs, including Larry King Live, Prime Time Live and Good Morning America.

Helga has more than 15 years of communications and marketing experience, garnering numerous awards for her work and starting up Mission Works Communications, a public relations firm serving a variety of public interest and nonprofit organizations. Prior to working with Mission Works, Helga worked with numerous public relations firms, serving dozens of national nonprofit organizations as a strategic management and communications expert. Prior to that, she was a television news producer.

Helga holds an M.A. in international business from the University of Maryland and a B.S. in marketing from American University. She is also a certified private investigator and has earned certification in women's self defense.

Helena has trained clinicians, case managers, and Head Start personnel in trauma-informed care and also worked with local emergency service and law enforcement personnel in critical incident stress management and debriefing. As an employee assistance professional, Helena spent much of her time providing crisis intervention, risk management, and critical incident stress management for several Fortune 500 companies.

Finally, as a licensed clinician, Helena has maintained a part-time private practice where she primarily works with clients who have PTSD and DID. Helena has transcended the impacts of severe childhood trauma and has used her personal experience to offer support, healing, and hope to other trauma survivors.

She has applied her capabilities in the U.S. and abroad (e.g., Albania, Egypt, Ecuador, Ethiopia, India, Morocco, Philippines, Tunisia, Turkey, Yemen, Zaire, and Zambia) and speaks both Arabic and French. She has worked with organizations such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Care Financing Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the World Bank, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Population, and Peace Corps, as well as private companies like Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, The Futures Group International, and SRA.

A driven leader, Pamela is the founder and CEO of Stop the Silence, an international non-profit organization that focuses on the prevention and treatment of child sexual abuse (nationally) and orphans and other vulnerable children (internationally).

Pat Risser
Consultant/Advocate
Pat Risser is a trainer, facilitator, presenter, author and consultant. He has been a human rights activist and mental health advocate for over twenty-five years. His lived experience includes working as an Intensive Case Manager, work as a therapist on a locked, acute inpatient unit, over ten years as a "mental patient," developing self-help groups, building and directing a statewide consumer network and directing a patients' rights/advocacy/self-help program. His special expertise is training on trauma issues, recovery, self-determination and on employing consumers as part of the mental health workforce.

Pat is a member of the state Community Support Planning Council in Ohio and previously served on the state Mental Health Advisory Boards in Colorado, California and Oregon. He is a member of the Mental Health and Recovery Board for Ashland County and has served in a similar capacity in counties in Colorado, California and Oregon as well as several other working and advisory boards and committees. He is a member of the PAIMI Council in Ohio and is a former member of and the former chair of the PAIMI (Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness) Councils in Colorado, California and Oregon. He has been an active member of state and local Consumer/Survivor organizations in Colorado, California and Oregon prior to becoming involved in Ohio. Pat also serves on the Boards of Directors of NACM (National Association of Case Management) and NARPA (National Association for Rights, Protection and Advocacy) and is a Past President of that organization. He was one of six consumer/survivors whose role was to advise the federal government (SAMHSA and CMHS [Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and Center for Mental Health Services] on mental health consumer/survivor issues as a member of SOCSI (Subcommittee On Consumer/Survivor Issues) (2003-2007).

Marcia also worked for the Points of Light Foundation and prior to moving to Washington DC, she headed the media relations effort for the March of Dimes at its national headquarters outside of New York City, and was associate director of communications for CBS News in New York, supervising the daily publicity for all CBS News broadcasts and personnel.

A native of Newark, NJ, Marcia is a graduate (cum laude) of Boston University, College of Communications.

With an educational background in anthropology, he trained as an archaeologist and has worked in cultural resources management in the context of environmental impact assessments. His focus is in applied anthropology, with special interests including cultural and physical anthropology. He holds an MA in Applied Anthropology from the University of Maryland and a BA in Anthropology from Clarion University in Pennsylvania.

Previously, Maria served as Executive Director of the Montague Catholic Social Ministries' Turners Falls Women's Resource Center, which grew out of the Women and Co-occurring Disorder and Violence Study. Prior to that, she was the Program Specialist for Save the Children’s Southeast Programs where Maria witnessed the profound discrimination that impacts the health, education, quality of life, and hope of children and families throughout the United States. As the Assistant to the Director of Global Missions for the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., Maria understood the importance of working side by side with those in need in over 80 countries around the world. Serving as the National Program Administrator for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, she worked with health professionals, researchers, social workers, families, local providers, and business organizations to raise over four million dollars for basic, clinical, and translational research, seeking to find the cause and cure of childhood brain tumors.

Maria strongly believes in working for and with trauma survivors, promoting the need and importance of trauma-informed practice in all systems (health, social, educational, correctional and others).

Maria holds a B.A. in Elementary Education from the University of Florida and an M.A. in Service, Leadership and Management from the School of International Training. She immigrated from Cuba in 1968 and is fluent in Spanish.

Sandra created and advocates for the Sanctuary Model, a trauma treatment model, and worked on numerous grant programs to implement the model for the benefit and healing of children and adolescents. She also developed the Sanctuary Leadership Development Institute at Andrus Children's Center in 2005.

Dr. Bloom graduated from Temple University School of Medicine. She currently serves as Adjunct Professor of Health Management and Policy at the School of Public Health of Drexel University. She is the author of Creating Sanctuary: Toward the Evolution of Sane Societies, and co-author of Bearing Witness: Violence and Collective Responsibility. Sandra speaks internationally about the impact of traumatic experience on individuals, families, organizations, and cultures.

Sharon has a diverse background in child development and early childhood education, as well as a wealth of experience in working with special populations, including survivors of domestic violence, criminal justice involved clients, and those affected by HIV and AIDS.

David received his MSW in social work from Syracuse University and his undergraduate degree from Springfield College. David held professional and board affiliations with dozens of organizations and has been recognized as an award-winning leader. He is licensed as a social worker, certified in Kingian Nonviolence, and qualified in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

In 2001, Cynthia reconnected with her friend and former colleague, Helga Luest. Helga was seeking the support of America's Most Wanted host John Walsh in an effort to thwart the attempts of her accused perpetrator from avoiding his prison sentence on a technicality. In the meantime, Cynthia shared with Helga that she too had become a victim of a crime just a year before, and she was able to relate her personal fear and pain with someone who had been affected in much the same way. When Helga expressed her desire to launch Witness Justice, Cynthia became just as excited and committed. Her mission in serving as a member of the board of directors is to be tenacious in making Witness Justice thrive, expand and become the beacon for victim rights, healing and justice.

A graduate from Temple University with a bachelor's degree in radio/television/film and theater, she began her career in the early 1970s. In 1980, Cynthia joined a handful of other television specialists to build a new television station for Howard University, which represented the first black-owned and -operated television station in the nation.

In addition to being an invaluable leader and visionary for Witness Justice, Cynthia has also served as the Chair for various professional and community committees and boards.