Executive Staff | Center for Safety and Change

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Leadership and Staff

Center for Safety & Change staff brings a wealth of expertise and experience to the development and implementation of highly effective programs for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. Center for Safety & Change employs approximately 50 full and part-time staff, including eight Program Directors who supervise direct care staff, consisting primarily of counselors and advocates, several of whom are bilingual and/or bicultural. Center for Safety & Change direct care staff also includes coordinators from and for the African-American, Haitian, Hispanic, Asian, Orthodox Jewish, and LGBTQ (Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/ Transgender/Queer/Questioning) communities. Two full-time attorneys and a part-time paralegal provide client legal assistance through the Mary Weingard Domestic Violence Law Project (DVLP).

MICHAEL MANDEL, Executive Director
Michael Mandel is a lifelong resident of Rockland County and has been involved with the Center for Safety & Change since 1998. Mr. Mandel served on the Board of Directors of the Center from 2003 to 2013, including two terms as President from 2008 to 2012. In January of 2014, Mr. Mandel became Executive Director of the Center for the transition period during which the Center seeks a permanent replacement for Executive Director Emerita, Carolyn Fish.

Mr. Mandel is a graduate of Hobart College and St. John’s University School of Law. After graduating from St. John’s in 1988, Mr. Mandel worked as an attorney at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in both the Litigation and Corporate Departments. In 1993, Mr. Mandel left Paul, Weiss and founded the firm that ultimately has become Mandel, Katz & Brosnan (“MKB”). As Managing Partner of MKB, Mr. Mandel developed the firm into the leading law firm in the world in the high-yield “distressed” debt arena. Mr. Mandel opened offices in New York, London and Singapore, and the firm’s client list included, among others, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase, Credit Suisse and UBS.

In addition to running MKB, in 1999 Mr. Mandel founded ClearPar, LLC, the world’s first widely used electronic settlement platform for the purchase and sale of corporate loans. Mr. Mandel oversaw the operations and growth of ClearPar until 2005, when the company was sold to Fidelity Information Services. Simultaneously with that sale, Mr. Mandel sold his interest in MKB to his partners and retired from the active practice of law.

Today, in addition to his work at the Center, Mr. Mandel remains an active investor in the real estate, municipal bond and high-yield bond markets and is on the Board of Directors of Linq3 Technologies, LLC, a company whose technology allows users to play state lottery games electronically anywhere that a debit or credit card may be swiped, including at gas pumps and on ATMs.

ELIZABETH SANTIAGO, Deputy Executive Director of Administration
Elizabeth has been an activist in the domestic violence/ sexual assault movement for over 16 years. Elizabeth has been worked at the Center For Safety and Change since 2000 and is currently the Deputy Executive Director of Administration. Prior to joining Center for Safety & Change, Elizabeth worked as the Domestic Violence Response Team Specialist/Trainer for Passaic County in the State of New Jersey, as Coordinator for Safe Horizons at the Bronx Criminal Court and as the Project Coordinator/Shelter Counselor at the Passaic County Women’s Center, a division of the New Jersey Association on Correction.

Elizabeth serves on numerous local and statewide coalitions and boards such as the New York State Office of Victim Services Advisory Council, the New York State Fatality Review Team, the New York State Downstate Coalition, the Legal Aid Society of Rockland County Board of Directors, the local board of the Emergency Food and Shelter Program, and the Lower Hudson Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Elizabeth also served on the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NYSCADV) Board of Directors from 2007-2012. Elizabeth is also an alumna of Leadership Rockland class of 2007.

Elizabeth was the co-founder of the Boston College Archbishop Oscar Romero Scholarship for students who demonstrate a balance in academics and community service and serves on the Boston College Organization of Latin American Affairs (OLAA) Advisory Committee. Elizabeth graduated from Boston College with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and has a Certificate in Non-Profit Sustainability from Cornel University.

KIERA POLLOCK, Deputy Executive Director of Programs and Clinical Services
Kiera is the Deputy Executive Director of Programs and Clinical Services at the Center for Safety & Change, a private, non-profit organization serving victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse and other violent crimes in Rockland County. Kiera has been employed at the Center for Safety & Change for over 10 years, providing counseling, advocacy and criminal justice system direct services to survivors of sexual and domestic violence. Kiera provides technical assistance and educational presentations of the effects of sexual violence, criminal justice responses, victimization and other topics at a variety of professional settings. Kiera serves on numerous local coalitions including the Sex Offender Management Task Force, Child Advocacy Center Steering Committee, and the Stop F.E.A.R. Coalition DELTA Project. Kiera also served on the New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NYSCASA) board of directors from 2003–2006. She is a member of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and holds a Master’s Degree in Clinical Social Work from Fordham University.

VIVIAN ENGLAND, Deputy Executive Director of Human Resources and Non-Residential Domestic Violence Services
During her tenure with Center for Safety & Change which began in [1998], Vivian England has been integral to the organization’s commitment to anti-oppression work and social justice initiatives. Vivian helps to develop, implement, and monitor policies and procedures that guide and govern Center for Safety & Change’s staff and clients. In addition to her role as Deputy Executive Director of Human Resources and Non-Residential Domestic Violence Services, Vivian is the Vice-Chair of the Rockland County Commission on Human Rights and the Vice-Chair of the Board of Leadership Rockland. She also serves on the board of the Cornell Cooperative Extension and is a member of Rockland Economic Development Corporation’s 40 under 40 selection committee. Vivian’s professional and personal contributions to social justice were recognized by the NAACP of Spring Valley in 2010 when she was awarded their “Unsung Hero Award”.

Vivian holds a Masters in Public Administration from Bernard Baruch College and is a Certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR).

CAROLYN FISH, Executive Director Emerita
Carolyn Fish has served as the Executive Director of Center for Safety & Change (formerly Rockland Family Shelter) for more than 30 years and was a founding member of CSC. Under her leadership the agency has grown from a 24-hour hotline and an emergency shelter for battered women and their children to be an award winning multi-service agency with non-residential domestic violence support and advocacy services, sexual trauma services, comprehensive crime victim services, children’s programs, a legal department, and educational and technical assistance programs.

Ms. Fish has been a keynote speaker and workshop facilitator at numerous local, state, national and international conferences. She was a member of the New York State Crime Victims Board (OVS) Advisory Council and is an Advisory Board member of the Justice Task Force. She has served as co-President of the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence and is included in the anthology: “Feminists Who Changed America, 1963 – 1975”.

Both Carolyn Fish and Center for Safety & Change/CSC have been recognized locally, statewide and nationally for their work. Carolyn herself has been honored for her work by numerous organizations including the Rockland County District Attorney’s office, the New York State Crime Victims Board, The Rockland County Bar Association, Mental Health Association of Rockland County, The Girl Scouts of Rockland County, The Police Chief’s Association of Rockland County and the New York State and Rockland County Legislatures and was one of New York State Senate’s Distinguished Women of the Year.

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Leadership and Staff