Senior Consultants

Staff Bios

Angie Herrick Bordeaux, Research Analyst • • 207-780-5822
As a Research Analyst with NRCOI, Angie Bordeaux is responsible for coordinating and managing research activities and provides programmatic support to NRCOI staff and consultants. Angie manages the development and production of NRCOI's communication tools and strategies. Before working with NRCOI, she worked on the Child Care and Children with Special Needs project examining the child care and work issues of low income families of children with special needs. Angie also worked on the Improving Coordination between Child Welfare Caseworkers and the Education System project which was funded by Colorado Department of Human Services to research, develop, deliver, and disseminate a curriculum for Colorado child welfare caseworkers which will enable them to address the educational needs of their clients.

David Lambert, Evaluator • • 207-780-4502
Bio coming soon!

Sameer Mahimkar, Data Manager and Research Analyst • • 207-228-8340
Sameer Mahimkar is a Data Manager and Research Analyst at the Cutler Institute for Health and Social Policy. With the NRCOI he works on the development of TATIS and the project's website. He also works on the VAWA Measuring Effectiveness Initiative, a national project that is assisting the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) in identifying uniform outcomes and data collection instruments. He has developed databases which are used nationally to report program effectiveness. He has also designed a website for this project and assists in data analysis and writing reports. Mr. Mahimkar’s technical, quantitative data collection and analysis skills have been utilized in a variety of other State and national projects.

Mary O'Brien, Consultant • • 207-721-8907
Mary O'Brien's consulting work with the NRCOI focuses on gathering and disseminating information on innovative organizational improvement strategies through publications, newsletters, and teleconferences. She played a key role in producing practice-oriented publications on interagency financing, quality assurance, strategic planning, and disaster planning. She has edited the NRCOI's newsletter, Child Welfare Matters, on a wide range of organizational improvement strategies since 1997, and organizes teleconference and webinar training programs. Prior to her work as a consultant, she was employed as a program analyst with the federal Health Care Financing Administration.

Steven Preister, Associate Director • • 202-723-0320 (v), 202-723-0320 (fax, call first)
As an Associate Director, Steve provides T/TA to States and Tribes in the following areas: strategic planning, planning for the Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) in all its stages, stakeholder involvement, community partnerships, interagency collaboration, systems of care, the service array in child welfare, supervision, and workforce development. Previously, he served for five years as the director of training and technical assistance for the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice. Former positions include serving as the executive director of the National Association for Family-based Services, the deputy executive director of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, teaching graduate social work at The Catholic University of America, and directing a family service agency, a university family research center, and a family policy and education foundation.

Tammy Richards, Evaluator • • 207-780-5859
Tammy Richards, M.Ed., is a Research Associate at the Cutler Institute for Health and Social Policy at the Muskie School of Public Service. Tammy serves as an evaluator for the NRCOI, assisting the project in gathering feedback on NRCOI activities to help fine tune the delivery of training and technical assistance. Tammy's past work has included evaluating State court processes in child welfare cases (including several CIP Reassessment Projects) as well as conducting program evaluations of state, local and national projects that provide supportive services to children and families. Tammy is currently an evaluator for the Northeast and Caribbean Child Welfare Implementation Center project (NCIC); her work at the NCIC focuses on evaluating project activities as well as assisting states and tribes in developing evaluation plans for implementation initiatives designed to increase child safety, permanency and well being. Tammy is trained as a counselor and formerly provided mental health services to abused and neglected adolescents as well as parents of children exposed to domestic violence.

Melody Roe, Associate Director • • 303-424-4954
As an Associate Director, Melody has the lead for providing T/TA for States and Tribes in the area of strategic planning. This work includes helping agencies integrate and/or coordinate their various plans (i.e., PIPs, CFSP, APSRs, etc.) and state-wide initiatives in order to support their overall vision and to achieve their desired service goals for children and families. In addition, Melody provides consultation and assistance related to planning for the Child and Family Services Review (CFSR); developing Program Improvement Plans (PIP); maximizing stakeholder involvement; building community partnerships and interagency collaborations; and improving organizational systems such as supervision, training and service array. Prior to joining the NRC, Melody served as the director of training and technical assistance for The Collaboration to AdoptUsKids and focused her efforts on helping States and Tribes to improve the recruitment and retention of adoptive and foster families as well as their interjurisdictional placement policies and practices for foster children. In addition, she has served as the Vice President of the Education Center at The Adoption Exchange, a private non-profit dedicated to meeting the permanency needs of children in foster care; as the Program Director of Adoption Options, a private child placing agency; and as the Director of Family Life Enrichment for the NS&A Training Institute.

Kris Sahonchik, Director of Strategy and Coordination • • 207-780-5856
As the Director of Strategy and Coordination for the Resource Center, Kris Sahonchik is responsible for developing a national training and technical assistance strategy and coordinating the national training and technical assistance network. This work involves evaluating systems and programs, developing strategies for system improvements and assisting with implementation and further evaluation.

In her former role as NRCOI Director, Kris facilitated the development and implementation of plans for children's services in over a dozen states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. She has worked with States and Tribes on developing integrated service systems. She has also worked with court systems in over a dozen jurisdictions and in collaboration with the American Bar Association to develop assessment and planning tools for state court improvement projects.

Kris is also the Director of the Cutler Institute for Child and Family Policy at the Muskie School. The Institute enjoys a national reputation for policy research, program evaluation, technical assistance and training in the areas of child welfare, domestic violence and early care and education.

Marion “Marti” Snyder, Administrative Assistant • • 207-780-5878
Marti Snyder provides administrative support to NRCOI staff and consultants.  She responds to general requests from child welfare staff, helps individuals interested in our publications, and assists our staff and consultants with their logistical needs. Before joining the NRCOI, Marti worked in the fields of hospitality, aviation, and at other universities; organizing projects, working on newsletters, researching information, as well as general administrative work.  In her personal life, Marti has assisted elderly and people with disabilities, and volunteers with various organizations including animal shelters. She also does pet sitting and dog walking.  Marti also uses her own photography—specializing in nature, animals, and abstract images— to create prints, note-cards, and calendars. 

Peter Watson, Director • • 207-228-8330
Peter Watson is the Director of the NRCOI. He has provided training and technical assistance to numerous States, Tribes and agencies focused on developing and implementing quality improvement systems and improving outcomes for children and families. Peter believes the Resource Center’s best information comes from the States themselves, and he always includes examples from other States in his presentations and technical assistance. Before working at the NRCOI, Peter served as the Director of Quality Assurance at the Massachusetts Department of Social Services (DSS). He managed DSS’s research, training, policy and foster care review units, and served as the project manager for DSS’s SACWIS development and implementation.

Laura Woods, Research Assistant • • 207-228-8343
Laura Woods is a Research Assistant for the NRCOI. In this capacity, she supports lead staff in their work to provide training and technical assistance to states. She also assists with the coordination of the NRCOI’s Peer Networks, involving work on teleconferences, websites, and listservs. Laura also works on the Violence Against Women Act Measuring Effectiveness Initiative, assisting in the collection and analysis of data on grants administered by the Office on Violence Against Women.

Senior Consultant Bios

Anna Stone , Senior Consultant • • 816-348-7642
Anna Stone, MSW has over 35 years of experience working in child welfare. She served in a variety of capacities in Missouri’s public child welfare agency, spending the first 20 years of her career in various county offices as a caseworker, supervisor and program manager. As an administrator for the state she was involved in the development of the state’s child welfare policy and practices, including Missouri’s alternative response system, family preservation and quality assurance programs. Ms. Stone was also active in development of legislation and public/private partnerships. During four years as President/CEO of a not-for-profit agency Ms. Stone continued working with children and their families involved with child welfare program through both campus based and community-based services.

Ms. Stone received a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Missouri. In 2005 she was honored as Missouri’s Child Advocate of the Year and she continues to work with various community groups for positive results for children and families in her hometown of Kansas City.

Ms. Webster is most familiar with evaluating systems and looking for opportunities to enhance systems. She believes all systems have positives to offer and seeks to build upon those positives. She works with NRCOI on system reviews, CFSR-related work, and disaster planning.