Scarlett Lewis
Scarlett is the founder of The Jesse Lewis Choose Love Foundation and author of Nurturing Healing Love. Inspired by a simple message her son wrote on their kitchen chalkboard the day he died, Scarlett has embarked on a journey of forgiveness and a mission to change thoughts of anger into love.
The foundation was created in honor of her son Jesse, who died in the Sandy Hook school shooting, and works to promote social and emotional education in our schools and society and share the importance of compassion in action to our children and out into our communities.
Scarlett is the recipient of the International Forgiveness Award, the Live Your Legacy Award and the Common Ground Award for her advocacy work for peace and forgiveness. Scarlett graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in Communications in 1990. She has worked in the finance industry as a bond trader and investment banker and real estate. When she became a parent for the first time, Scarlett wrote and published a children's book, Rose's Foal. Scarlett is an artist and avid horsewoman; she lives on a small horse farm in Connecticut with her son, JT and animals.
Mario De La Rosa
Mario De La Rosa has devoted his entire career to law enforcement, safety and security management, and education.
After a long and decorated career as a U.S. federal agent, Mr. De La Rosa began teaching law enforcement classes in Mission ISD and Round Rock ISD, where he eventually became the Security Director. While working as a federal agent, Mr. De La Rosa served assignments in New York, Miami, and throughout Latin America. He managed security at several consulates in South America for the U.S. government.
His career has also involved working closely with U.S. Customs and the Department of Homeland Security. Mario De La Rosa is currently the Executive Director of Safety & Security at Comal ISD with over 31,400 students.
Frederick Lane
Frederick Lane is a nationally-recognized expert on cybersafety, privacy, and the impact of emerging technologies on society. He is an author, attorney, educational consultant, and lecturer who has spoken to colleges, universities, and school districts around the country on a variety of issues, including student safety, digital misconduct, and personal privacy in the Internet era. He chronicles his ongoing research in his blog, "The Cybertraps Blog."
Lane has written eight books, including most recently "Cybertraps for Educators," "Cybertraps for the Young," and "American Privacy: The 400-Year History of Our Most Contested Right." During the course of his writing career, he has appeared as a guest on a variety of national media programs, including: Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart"; ABC's "Nightline" and "Good Morning America Weekend"; CBS's "60 Minutes" and "Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood"; NBC's "Today Show" and "Weekend Today"; as well as numerous local and national radio programs.
Before moving to Brooklyn, NY in 2013 with his wife, Dr. Amy Werbel, Lane lived for 23 years in Burlington, VT, where he served for 10 years as a member of the Burlington School Board (including two years as Chair). He graduated from Amherst College in 1985 with a degree in Classics and American Studies, and from Boston College Law School in 1988.
Joanne L. Harpel, MPhil, JD
Joanne L. Harpel, MPhil, JD, is the President of Coping After Suicide, a nationwide practice providing guidance to families, school communities, and professionals.
A former attorney, Joanne was recruited in 2001 by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (the world's largest nonprofit dedicated to the issue), where she created the most well-respected, far-reaching array of postvention resources in the field, including After a Suicide: A Toolkit for Schools and a primer on explaining suicide to children. She regularly consults with and presents to school communities across the country.
The founding co-lead of a SAMHSA National Action Alliance on Suicide Prevention Task Force, she also serves on the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline's Consumer-Survivor Subcommittee and won the American Association of Suicidology's Survivor of the Year Award. She is a seasoned guest lecturer, including at the United Nations, on Capitol Hill, and for the American Psychiatric Association, American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, and New York State School Boards Association.
Richard Mark Blank, Esq.
Mr. Blank is a retired United States patent attorney, and advisor for Anonymous Alerts®.
Mr. Blank worked with clients nationally and internationally in a variety of practice areas. From general civil, transactional, and contract law to specialties in patent, intellectual property, entertainment, film, music, copyrights, trademarks to clients ranging from individual brand owners, celebrities, athletes, inventors, artists, and designers to major international corporations.
As a pioneer of the licensing industry since 1976, Mr. Blank personally offers unsurpassed knowledge and experience in practical aspects of intellectual property, licensing, and entertainment law. Having worked with leading companies in entertainment, technology, children’s products, toys and games, home décor, and more, our licensing and intellectual property experience draws on decades of success.
Mr. Blank has in-depth practical experience offering litigation services in the fields of patents, trademarks, copyrights, intellectual property, and a variety of other fields. Mr. Blank was admitted to practice in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
Marquenta Sands Hall
Marquenta Sands Hall, Ph.D., brings more than 25 years of law enforcement expertise to creating safe schools and learning spaces for children. Dr. Hall served as executive director of the Office of Safety and Security for Atlanta Public Schools and before that, was the director of security and chief of police for the district, where she led the department of over 300 people, oversaw a $9.6 million operating budget, and served as law enforcement liaison with city, county, state and federal authorities. Dr. Hall also worked for the Fulton County Schools Police Department for 13 years and served as Deputy Chief of Police for six years.
A seasoned practitioner and visionary leader, Dr. Hall was with Atlanta Public Schools from 2004-2018. In addition to having served as director of security and chief of police, Dr. Hall developed curriculum, taught training courses, directed school safety focus groups, and designed tabletop and drill exercises to test emergency preparedness to respond to crisis and emergency situations.
Among numerous certifications, Dr. Hall currently holds an L7 certification in Administration & Supervision and an S-5 in school social work. She received her doctorate degree in public safety leadership, with a specialization in criminal justice, from Capella University.
