Our Leadership & Staff
SCCADVASA’s Board of Directors and staff work to make South Carolina safer by raising awareness, advocating for effective policies, and providing extensive training and technical assistance to member organizations’ advocates and allies.
Sara Barber
Executive Director
Sara Barber, MA, is the Executive Director of SCCADVASA. Prior to joining SCCADVASA, she was the Executive Director of a batterer intervention program that offered services in seventeen South Carolina counties and has thirteen years of experience in this field.
Sara has published research on the effects of increased supervision on offender completion outcomes. Current research topics include gender differences in client evaluation tools and the parenting attitudes of participants in a batterer intervention program. She has a Master’s Degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of South Carolina.
Tricia Phaup
Director of Training
Tricia Phaup, MSW LMSW has a passion for systems work and trauma informed approaches to address Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). It is this passion that has brought her back to this field where she hopes to build synergy within communities and strengthen interdisciplinary teams to address domestic violence and sexual assault in collaboration in order to lessen its prevalence and bring healing to South Carolina.
Prior to joining SCCADVASA, Tricia served as the director of Medical Case Management for Palmetto Health USC Medical Group at the Immunology Center. In this role, she was responsible for the oversight of staff who provide medical case management for over 3000 HIV+ persons or those living with AIDS in the midlands area. She served on the South Carolina HIV Planning Council, and the SC Ryan White Part B Case Management Workgroup. Additionally, Tricia worked with a team to provide technical assistance and training through a CDC, AIHA and PEPFAR Twinning Grant in partnership with Chreso Ministries in Zambia. She also served as faculty for the HIV Interprofessional Education program through a Ryan White AETC grant.
From 1996- 2009, she served as director for Sexual Health, Violence Prevention & Research at the University of South Carolina’s Student Health Services. n this role, she was responsible for the oversight of campus-wide sexual health, STD/HIV, relationship violence, and sexual assault educational programs. Tricia received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of South Carolina and her Master’s in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania.
As a volunteer, she served on the Board of the Harriet Hancock LGBT Center and provided leadership for the Youth OUTLOUD program for LGBTQ youth ages 13-19 from 2011 – 2016. She was awarded the SC Pride Order of the Palmetto in 2012 and the Sexual Trauma Services of the Midlands Outstanding Partnership Award in 2013 for her work with the Harriet Hancock Center LGBTQ Interpersonal Violence Task Force. Tricia believes in a mindfulness approach to her personal and professional life. In her free time, she enjoys playing the guitar and singing for her spiritual community, Jubilee Circle. Drawing, gardening, kayaking and any activity outdoors keeps her grounded.
Patricia Ravenhorst
General Counsel
Prior to joining SCCADVASA, Tricia served as the Director and Attorney of the SC Victim Assistance Network’s (SCVAN) Immigrant Victim Program, where she established the organization’s specialized legal and supportive services to immigrant survivors of crime and the S.C. Statewide Immigrant Victim Coalition, which brings together professionals throughout the state working with immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse and human trafficking. She currently serves on the SC Human Trafficking Task Force and the Upstate Human Trafficking Task Force.
Tricia earned her Juris Doctor and Master of Arts in Political Science/Certification in Latin American Studies from Duke University and her Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs from Florida State University. Tricia is licensed to practice before both federal and state courts in South Carolina. She is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the National Association for Victim’s Rights Attorneys.
Prior to joining SCVAN, Tricia practiced employment and immigration law at the Wyche Law Firm in Greenville, South Carolina. Her prior work experience also includes internships with the South African Secretariat for Safety and Security in Pretoria, South Africa. In honor of her work with immigrant victims, Tricia received the Greenville County Guardian ad Litem Program’s “Ethel M. Piper Angel Award”; was named as one of Greenville’s “Best and Brightest Under 35” by the Greenville Magazine and as one of Greenville’s “Most Beautiful Women” by Greenville’s TALK Magazine; received the Riley Institute’s Diversity Leadership Award for International Diversity and the SC Lawyer’s Weekly Leadership in Law Award; and is member of the 2012 Class of the Liberty Fellowship.
Shannon Nix
Director of Member Support and Technical Assistance
Shannon Nix comes to SCCADVASA from the University of South Carolina where she served as the Associate Director of Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention & Prevention (SAVIP), the university’s confidential interpersonal violence advocacy and prevention program.
She specializes in training on the neurobiology of trauma and intimate partner violence and has a background in utilizing evidence-based therapies to treat trauma survivors.
Having been involved in the fields of college mental health and interpersonal violence advocacy, prevention, and awareness work for over 20 years, Shannon believes in approaching this work from an anti-oppression, trauma-informed, evidence-informed, and survivor-centered lens.
In addition to her work at the University of South Carolina, Shannon has a small private practice.
She holds a B.S. in Psychology from the University of South Carolina-Aiken and an M.S. in Clinical Psychology from Augusta State University; she is also a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Victim Service Provider, both in SC.
Kelly Premo
Director of Prevention & Specialized Advocacy
Kelly Premo comes to SCCADVASA with over 15 years of experience in Prevention and Outreach, with a focus on process improvement and program design/management. Her blended public service, community service, and corporate experience gives her a unique ability to build relationships and bring different communities together towards a collective and unifying goal.
Prior to joining SCCADVASA, Kelly served as Director of Prevention at the Julie Valentine Center, a member organization. At the Julie Valentine Center, Kelly expanded both programming and partnerships with the Greenville County School District, city and county recreation departments, faith-based organizations, and community partners.
Kelly started her career as a Patrol Officer with the Athens-Clarke County Police Department in Athens, Georgia. This experience led her to the SC Department of Social Services where she served as an CPS investigator with a focus on families with domestic violence in the home. She earned two Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Georgia in Sociology and Criminal Justice. She also holds a Master’s Degree in Public Health, with a focus in Social and Behavioral Sciences, from Kent State University.
Charity Collier
Program Director of Systems Advocacy and Office Administration
Charity Collier has an extensive background in multiagency collaborations with intersecting systems and volunteer work with a domestic violence and sexual assault program in Boston.
Before joining SCCADVASA, she was the project coordinator for Chatham County’s Breaking the Cycle (Stepping Up) initiative through the Savannah, GA Chatham County Sheriff’s Office which strove to ‘break the cycle’ for people with mental illness in the criminal justice system.
Charity has a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Physiology and a Certificate in Addiction Counseling from the University of Massachusetts-Boston. She is a substance abuse counselor and began her advocacy work on behalf of those struggling with mental illness at St. Francis House, Boston, MA’s largest homeless day shelter.
In 2017, Charity received a Master of Arts in Mindfulness Studies. She practices and teaches meditation and mindfulness and is passionate about bringing this practice to her peers working in the human service field.
She is a proud Bostonian who has made South Carolina her home.
Stephanie Campbell
Community Health Coordinator
Stephanie Campbell, MA serves as the Community Health Coordinator for SCCADVASA. She gained valuable experience in public health during her time with the CDC Foundation amidst the Coronavirus pandemic. It’s here that she expanded her knowledge of public health’s strategies to prevent interpersonal violence and sexual assault. Constantly striving to learn about health equity, Stephanie firmly believes that addressing the social determinants of health for all individuals strengthens South Carolina’s communities as a whole.
Stephanie’s primary area of expertise lies within criminal justice. She obtained advanced degrees in criminal justice and criminology in 2019 and has since dedicated her efforts towards preventing sexual assault. Survivors serve as her primary motivation for this work. Stephanie began her career in criminal justice by working for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. She firmly believes in the importance of collaboration between all systems and advocates for adopting a health in all policies approach.
Outside of work, Stephanie enjoys spending quality time with her family, which includes rescue dogs and cats. She finds relaxation in activities such as baking and reading a good book, as well as immersing herself in nature. Stephanie is passionate about trying new things and understanding other people’s perspectives. Her ultimate goal is to make the world a better place by improving the lives of others.
Ana Castellanos
Program Coordinator for Training & Technology
Ana Castellanos serves as the Program Coordinator for Training & Technology. Prior to joining SCCADVASA, Ana worked as the Bilingual Outreach Coordinator at Safe Harbor, a SCCADVASA member organization, for 3 years where she raised awareness about the dynamics of domestic violence in the Upstate of South Carolina. She has also done freelance work for Nuestro Estado, a Spanish-language newsroom for the state of South Carolina since March 2021.
Ana graduated from Winthrop University in 2018 with a BA in Political Science and a BA in Modern Language with a concentration in Spanish. She completed an internship at an immigration law office, Cano Law LLC, after college prior to joining Safe Harbor. Ana is currently pursuing a MS in Digital Media Management at Arkansas State University.
Marie Sazehn
Staff Attorney, Legal Assistance to Victims Program
Prior to joining SCCADVASA, Marie worked at Pathways to Healing, a rape crisis center in the Midlands region of SC – and member organization of SCCADVASA. She was the Director of Advocacy and led efforts to provide legal and personal advocacy services to survivors of sexual assault.
Marie received her undergraduate degree from Columbia College in political science and history in 2007 and her law degree from Elon University School of Law in May of 2013. She was licensed to practice law in South Carolina in November of 2013. She started with the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office that same year with the responsibilities of creating and developing a new human trafficking program and managing the statewide South Carolina Human Trafficking Task Force. Marie spoke and trained on human trafficking at over 150 events throughout the state and collaborated with the task force to write and release the South Carolina State Plan to Address Human Trafficking in 2014.
She prosecuted domestic violence, criminal sexual conduct, and human trafficking cases during this time as well, and was a part of the team that secured the first state-level human trafficking convictions under the new law. She also directed the domestic violence program at the Attorney General’s Office, assisting in planning events like the annual Silent Witness ceremony.
Marie was involved with the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) division starting in 2016, working alongside the ICAC task force and prosecuting child exploitation and illicit file sharing cases. In 2017, she started with the 11th Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office as an Assistant Solicitor handling juvenile cases in family court, and eventually moved to prosecuting General Sessions level cases to include stalking, child physical abuse, and criminal sexual conduct matters.
Kelly Walling
Program Coordinator for Prevention and Specialized Advocacy
Prior to joining SCCADVASA, Kelly was the Violence Prevention Support Specialist at Pathways to Healing, a SCCADVASA member organization working to provide quality data for improvement of prevention efforts.
Kelly has an extensive background working for non-profit organizations, specifically non-profits working with and for individuals with disabilities. She has worked with vulnerable populations since 2018, providing advocacy, training, and assistance for those populations she served across the state.
Kelly graduated from the University of South Carolina with her degree in Social Work. South Carolina is her home and is grateful for the opportunity to create a better South Carolina for all.
Peggy Chavis
Program & Administrative Assistant
Peggy Chavis is first to answer the phones and assists with the day-to-day management of the SCCADVASA office. She is the glue that holds the team together. Born and raised in Orangeburg County, Peggy relocated to Lexington County in 2001. She has over 25 years of Administrative Assistance experience. Peggy received an Associate Degree in Secretarial Science in 1987 and went back to school in 2015 to study Paralegal Studies, in which she received an Associate Degree in 2017. Prior to joining SCCADVASA, Peggy worked for a year and a half as a Victim Advocate/Paralegal and while doing this, she began to feel the passion of wanting to help victims and hopefully make a difference. Peggy’s hope is to be able to assist victims and help to make a better life for those that have been victimized.
Amy Connor
Communications Coordinator
A graduate of the College of Charleston, Amy holds over two decades of marketing, public relations, and event planning experience and most recently served as the Director of Public Affairs, Marketing and Advocacy for an Upstate community health center.
In her current role as Communications Coordinator, she oversees SCCADVASA’s marketing communications efforts including social media and website content development, media relations, and public awareness campaigns. Amy is grateful for the opportunity to help spark the change to end domestic and sexual violence in South Carolina.
SCCADVASA’s 2024 Board of Directors
Beth Young
Chair
Jason Bradley
Vice Chair
Scott Ballew
Treasurer
Amanda McDougald Scott
Secretary
Nadia Aziz
Sarah Bonnoitt
Eleanor “Cole” Boyle
Michelle Brandt
John Giles
Rachel Hair
Dr. Seulghee Lee
Shay May
Membership Representatives
Leah Wicevic
Member-at-Large
Sistercare, Inc.
Lindy Studds
SA Interest Group Chair
Rape Crisis Center
Cleyardis (Cley) Amaker
DV Interest Group Chair
YWCA of the Upper Lowlands, Inc.
