Active Listening: Understanding and Responding to Domestic Violence – Contemporary Challenges in the Field

Join FYLI fireside for a discussion with leading domestic violence advocates addressing some of the most pertinent issues facing survivors today. Our Guests include panelists Sarah Hayes, Deputy Director of Economic Empowerment Programs at Sanctuary for Families, Dr. Mariama Diallo, Program Director, African Initiative, Sanctuary for Families, Dr. Jennifer McQuaid, Assistant Clinical Professor for Asylum Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, moderator by Dr. Sarah Tarshis, Postdoctoral Fellow at Carleton University, School of Social Work. The conversation will center around resilience and empowerment, immigration, gender-based violence, trauma-informed practice, the impact of COVID-19, among other important domestic violence topics.

In June 2020, Fyli launched a monthly event series called Active Listening that Leads to Understanding to address social injustice, amplify diverse voices, and support under-served and marginalized communities. This event will be free and open to the public. Attendees can register here on Eventbrite which will also have an option for donations to be made to selected non-profits.

MEET OUR GUESTS:
Sarah Tarshis:
Dr. Tarshis is a Postdoctoral Fellow with the SIM Social Work Research Lab at Carleton University’s School of Social Work. Dr Tarshis’s program of research focuses on understanding and responding to intimate partner violence (IPV) and trauma, including reducing inequities in access to social services. Dr. Tarshis received her PhD from the University of Toronto and has over 15 years of social work practice experience working for community-based organizations in Montreal, New York, and Toronto.

Sarah E. Hayes:
Sarah E. Hayes joined Sanctuary for Families and the Economic Empowerment Program in 2012. As Deputy Director, Sarah supports clients by working to strengthen their economic and personal self-sufficiency through management of comprehensive workforce development programming. Driven by a passion to support clients in helping themselves, she works exclusively on workforce development with survivors of domestic violence and gender-based violence. Before joining Sanctuary, Sarah worked as a counselor at Barrier Free Living’s domestic violence Tier I shelter where she provided crisis intervention, case management, and other supportive services for her clients. Sarah is a NY State licensed social worker and holds a Masters in Social Work (MSW) from the Silberman School of Social Work (CUNY).

Mariama Diallo:
Co Program Director, Non Residential Services, Mariama Diallo is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) in New York. Her primary role as Director at Sanctuary for families is to provide clinical supervision to counselors, provide trauma informed individual and group therapy to survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, and other types of gender violence included female genital mutilation (FGM), and forced marriage.

Jennifer McQuaid, PhD:
Jennifer McQuaid, PhD, is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the Yale Center for Asylum Medicine, and a Research Associate at Williams College. As a clinical psychologist, she works at the intersection of maternal and child health, gender-based violence, and traumatic stress – translating research into best practices for at-risk adults, children and families, refugees and asylum seekers. Through her work at Sanctuary for Families, NYC, Dr. McQuaid witnessed the impact of individual displacement and interpersonal violence on women’s mental health, capacity to parent, and capacity to earn a living, as well as the deep potential of therapeutic interventions placed in non-traditional settings. Dr. McQuaid frequently serves as an expert witness and consultant for legal teams representing individuals seeking immigration relief in the United States (Asylum, U-Visas, Trafficking Visas, Parent-Child Separation cases).