BOARD OF DIRECTORS STAFF INTERNS & VOLUNTEERS ADVISORS & FRIENDS

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Board - Bea

Bea Cote', LCSW - Founder & Executive Director

After many years of working with children and families as a social worker, and managing a program for domestic violence abusers, Bea had a vision- to provide abusive men- fathers and partners- every opportunity to change, and therefore reduce and even eliminate harm of all kinds to their partners and families. With this goal, Bea started the IMPACT program in 2007 with nothing but the offer from friends of meeting space, a fax machine and a copier.

When participants, excited about the changes they were making, wanted to help other group members pay their fees, an idea bloomed- why not start a nonprofit, so that those who do want to help can make tax deductible donations?

The nonprofit, now called IMPACT+, began offering need-based fee reductions. IMPACT is now the flagship program, with Bea at the helm. She does however hope to at least semi-retire before she gets incredibly old and decrepit, and invites those who are curious or interested in this incredibly gratifying work to come visit. She promises you won’t be disappointed!

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Catherine M. Fuentes, PhD - Chair

Dr. Fuentes is a teaching professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She has over 20 years of hands-on work with and research with victims of domestic violence, resulting in dozens of peer-reviewed publications and presentations at professional conferences across the country.

Her most current work has focused on the role of domestic violence in the lives of women incarcerated in a large, urban county jail in North Carolina.

Jennifer L. Hartman, PhD

Jennifer Hartman earned her PhD. from the University of Cincinnati and works as an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at the University of North Carolina Charlotte.

In general, she is interested in researching and teaching on crimes of domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault and prostitution. In particular, she is interested in exploring a “best practices” approach to how police and courts can effectively deal with these crimes.

She is also a Master trainer and Fellow within the University of Cincinnati Corrections Institute (UCCI) where she works with correctional agencies to implement evidence-based practices.

Dr. Hartman has served as a consultant to many correctional programs throughout the United States by providing training and technical assistance in offender risk/ need instruments and effective practices in risk reduction and techniques for changing offending behavior.

Cindy Adcock, JD

Cindy Adcock is a post-conviction lawyer, restorative justice and racial justice advocate, and writer. She has represented inmates on death row in North Carolina for thirty years, first full-time and then part-time upon moving into law teaching. Cindy left law teaching in 2019.

When she is not taking care of her family and home, she volunteers with her church and with select non-profits. Cindy earned a BA from Carson-Newman University, an MDiv from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a JD and a MPP from Duke University.

Melissa Lundgren, MBA

Melissa Lundgren is a small business owner with a background in HR and executive coaching. She earned a Bachelor of Visual Arts and later an MBA from Brigham Young University. She then worked in corporate HR for 7 years for companies like GE, Bank of America and Red Ventures.

She now cares for her daughter full-time while helping tech start-up companies build strategic HR functions. In her free time she enjoys creating art, traveling and volunteering in her community and church.

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STAFF

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Kelly Williams, LCSWA - Program Director

Kelly, our Program Director, has been with IMPACT since 2008. Kelly supervises all staff and interns, and currently manages Cleveland, Lincoln and Union Counties.

Kelly also facilitates groups in Cleveland and Lincoln county, as well as handling case management for all five counties. She works one on one with anger management clients and CBI clients. Her other experiences include Child Protective Services.

Kailey Kelly, LCSWA - Group Facilitator

Kailey is a licensed Master of Social Work with over a decade of experience, deeply dedicated to supporting survivors of trauma and addressing the root causes of violence—both in serving survivors and perpetrators.

In her role as Operations Manager for a counter-human trafficking organization, she leads efforts to combat modern-day slavery and empower survivors. Additionally, as the facilitator of the Impact batterer intervention program, she works tirelessly to break the cycle of violence and promote healthy relationships.

Her passion for social justice fuels her commitment to creating safer communities and fostering healing and resilience in those she serves.

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INTERNS & VOLUNTEERS

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IMPACT Interns

In addition to facilitators, we are assisted by interns from Queens University and Charlotte, UNCC, CPCC, Belmont Abbey College, Wingate University and Gaston College. We expect to soon be working with interns from Winthrop University. These interns are the backbone of the program; they not only assist in the planning and running of groups and representing the agency in court, they also help put a face to the agency at community awareness events. They take information back to their schools, where they often become involved with on-campus awareness events about dating and sexual violence.

IMPACT VOLUNTEERS

IMPACT is also fortunate to have volunteers. These young people work in much the same way as interns, but they do so for no credit or compensation. They are dedicated, reliable, helpful and all around wonderful people!