As CEO of National Victim Advocacy Alliance, Ms. Owens runs the non-profit and the fundraising efforts, events, partnerships and donor development. She also serves as the non-profit Board Chair. Her years of experience creating and managing nonprofit fundraising campaigns was instrumental in the design of NVAA. Cstephani is a W.P. Carey School of Business Alum.

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She loves being a mother, traveling and exploring with her son. Cstephani has a real love for people and experiencing different cultures. She has traveled to over a dozen countries and islands and makes friends everywhere she goes. Ms. Owens has given decades of service volunteering for causes centered around children and family. Her passions include writing, cooking, entertaining, cruising and enjoying the beaches of California.

Mitchelle McGuckin, MC is the Vice President of Programming and Development for NVAA. She is responsible for planning, organizing and directing the organization’s programs and provides leadership and management to ensure that strategic program goals are met. In previous years Mitchelle McGuckin has served on the Casa Grande Police Department’s Crisis Response Unit. She also served as a volunteer Domestic Violence Advocate for the City of Casa Grande, a Domestic Violence Advocate for Jewish Family and Children’s Services Shelter Without Walls and Lead Case Manager for Sojourner Center. Ms. McGuckin was also a Behavioral Health Specialist for Defenders of Children, and facilitated behavioral health classes and support groups for Dream Center. Mitchelle has a Masters in Professional Counseling from Grand Canyon University.

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Having been born on an island is one of the reasons she has a deep enjoyment and love of the ocean. She is passionate about spending time with her family, especially beach vacations with her children. She is an author of children’s books, loves writing and hiking.

The National Victim Advocacy Alliance’s Vice President of Operations and Programs and Interim Director of Behavioral Health is Donnalee Sarda. She is responsible for monitoring the execution of the non-profit’s plan at the department level. In addition to this position, she also currently serves as a private mental health practitioner and is on the Maricopa County Superior Court roster doing family court work for counseling, therapeutic supervision and therapeutic intervention. Donnalee has also previously served as the program director, trainer and counselor for Defenders of Children and earned her Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology from Arizona State University.

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Donnalee Sarda is a lifelong dancer that has studied tap, ballet, and even Irish and has done professional performances in jazz and flamenco. She began her collegiate education in Ohio as a business major, transferred to Barry University with a focus on Liberal Arts and finally entered as a returning graduate student at ASU to focus on her passion of being a counselor/therapist, particularly with child abuse protection. She then became a founder in 2001 of Justice For Children-AZ, the precursor to Defenders of Children, which are both nonprofit child advocacy groups.

As the Vice President of Marketing, Public Relations and Development for NVAA, Neda Barrie manages all communications, plans activities and the building of external relationships with the organization’s constituencies. In previous positions, she was a co-founder of IVC Sports Marketing, the Senior Vice President of Allison & Partners, the Chief Marketing Officer of Bianco Group and a faculty member at W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. Neda also held important marketing positions with the Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns and Mercury and the NBA. She has created three non-profits from the ground-up, worked with many more and also earned her Master’s Degree in Psychology and Human Services from Liberty University.

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Neda loves spending time with her husband and children. They enjoy spending their free time traveling and exploring together as a family. She is a big fan of sports such as basketball, football and soccer. Another passion of hers is teaching. 

As the Vice President of Public Relations and Strategic Relationships Ms. Downs works closely with the Marketing and Public Relations Department to develop and oversee fund raising campaigns, build and manage strategic relationships as well as traditional and social media relationships.  Elizabeth spent 15 years working in higher education where she led her team to successfully re-imagine the university’s scholarship department through her use of strategic relationships and creative vision increasing the University's Scholarship Department award capacity by 2000%.  She earned her Bachelor’s of Science in Justice Studies and Psychology from Arizona State University.

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Elizabeth loves her big family and holds a close, special affection for her 9 nieces and nephews. She is a big fan of all Arizona sports, loves nature and staying active.  Ms. Downs values education and is a firm believer in growth through education; so, she continues to challenge herself to learn and grow through both formal and informal education.

Melissa Lopez, Associate Director of Education and Advocacy managed advocate safety, training and support as well as organizational training and education to better serve victims and first responders. Mrs. Lopez has served as a Victim Advocate for the City of Phoenix Victim Service Division, the Phoenix Police Department and the City of Phoenix Family Advocacy Center. Melissa is an experienced and highly effective case manager with an extensive background in education and intimate partner violence for vulnerable populations. Melissa was also a long-term and well respected victim advocate case manager for Jewish Family and Children's Services Shelter Without Walls.

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Mrs. Lopez loves to travel, embrace and discover new cultures and traditions. She is passionate about volunteering in her community, she has a love of nature and exploring the great outdoors with her family.

Aura Estrada joins NVAA as an Associate Director of Education and Advocacy with over 20 years of invaluable experience and learning opportunities working with individuals and families in the domestic violence, sexual violence, education and social services fields. With a passion for empowering victims and survivors, she manages advocate safety training and support while also working to enhance service provider knowledge, skills, and confidence with organizational training and education. Her work experience includes crisis intervention, case management, and advocacy. In addition, she served as Training Coordinator for the Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence and as a Perpetrator Abuse Intervention Program (PAIP) Group Facilitator at Options, LLC in Illinois. Aura is an alum of Lindsey Wilson College where her focus of study was Education in Counseling and Human Development.

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Aura is a self-proclaimed music enthusiast. Whether she is working, studying, driving, playing, or just hanging out with family and friends, she believes everything in life should be accompanied by music.