Women Making History Right Now

One Circle Foundation (OCF) has the honor of partnering with incredible women leaders who are ushering in lasting, positive change and making history in their communities from Des Moines, IA to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. 

OCF has its own history of strong, intelligent, charismatic, and deeply caring women in leadership. These women have been developing and sharing circle programs to ensure that youth and teens get the opportunity to have healthy relationships with themselves and others in safe circle spaces with adults who are properly trained and equipped to be effective facilitators. 

We celebrate these women who show up daily to walk the talk, do the work, and make history.

Beth Hossfeld, Co-Founder and Board Co-Chair
Beth is a national leader in gender-responsive group programs for youth, She is a co-developer of One Circle Foundation models and trainings, and co-author of the facilitator manuals. She has authored and edited many of the Girls Circle and The Council Facilitator Activity Guides, and most recently authored the PRIDE Activity Guide, a Unity Circle program for youth 9 - 18. Beth collaborated with multiple community and justice organizations and institutions on research projects that have established evidence for One Circle Foundation's programs and practices, and is a contributing author to the Handbook on Prevention and Intervention Programs for Adolescent Girls and Rites of Passages for Girls. Beth served as Clinical and Training Director of a school-based mental health and substance abuse prevention and early intervention program, as well as an outpatient adolescent treatment program at Bay Area Community Resources. She is a licensed marriage, family and child therapist in CA, FL, and TX.

Christina Quaranta, Board Secretary
Christina serves as an officer on the Board of Directors, as Secretary, at One Circle Foundation, and is an active member of the Board Development Committee. Christina is the Executive Director of the CT Justice Alliance (CTJA), a youth-adult partnership public policy and advocacy organization located in Bridgeport, CT. CTJA's mission is to end the criminalization of youth. Christina pushes for legal system reform that recognizes youth, families, and communities as the most important stakeholders. More broadly, she is committed to dismantling systemic racism across CT so all people can be free to realize their potential. The youth and families she works with are a constant inspiration to her. She wants their voices to be heard, respected, and incorporated into the policy discussions that will impact their lives. Christina holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Southern CT State University and a master's degree in Public Administration, with a concentration in nonprofit management from Fairfield University. 

Danielle Sutherland, MFT, Program Coordinator
Danielle has worked with families and youth as a Marriage and Family Therapist, Resource Specialist, Restorative Justice Conference Facilitator, Youth Mental Health First Aid Facilitator, One Circle Coordinator, Girls Circle Facilitator and Girls Circle Trainer. Danielle was trained as a Girls Circle facilitator in 2017 and has facilitated circle groups in elementary, middle, and high school settings. Danielle is now a Girls Circle Trainer and joined One Circle Foundation staff this year to do the work of connecting new communities to One Circle Foundation programs. 

Doreen Thompson, Director of Programs and Trainer
Doreen serves the OCF community through training, curricula development, monthly Facilitator Support Meetings, and more. She authored the Activity Guide, Mitigating Gender and Racial Bias: Intersectionality and Allyship. Doreen has been a certified Girls Circle Trainer for One Circle Foundation for over 15 years. Doreen has provided services to children who have been involved in Connecticut’s Juvenile Justice system, implementing strength-based, relational programs, gender-specific Behavioral Motivational Programs, and services for girls and young men in the Hartford area. Throughout her career, she has provided oversight and Quality Assurance to Secure Juvenile Facilities, Alternatives to Detention Programs, non-secure residential programs, recreational services, and juvenile community service. 

Dr. Valerie Ekue, Trainer
Dr. Valerie Ekue currently serves as the Director of Operations at the Hive Community Circle. In this role, she is responsible for implementing and executing the organization’s strategic and operating plans. Prior to her tenure at The Hive, Dr. Ekue served as the Director of Member Support and Community Justice at the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault for seven years. She is passionate about training and providing technical assistance to service providers, community partners and grassroots leaders on the dynamics and intersections of intimate partner violence (IPV), particularly among marginalized communities of color throughout South Carolina. Dr. Ekue believes IPV thrives in silence; therefore, having a collaborative community response that takes an intersectional approach and addresses IPV from a cultural and trauma-informed lens is vital to reducing all forms of violence across our state.

Dr. Norrine Russell, Board Member at Large
Dr. Norrine Russell is Chair of OCF’s Strategic Planning Committee, spearheading our collective efforts to increase the impact of our services with youth and communities. Dr. Russell is the founder and owner of Russell Coaching for Students, an international student coaching practice that provides support for typical and atypical students in the areas of executive functioning, social and emotional skills, academic and study skills, and other life skills. With twenty years of experience supporting healthy youth development and conducting parenting education, Dr. Russell has extensive knowledge of child and adolescent development, learning styles, special needs, and positive parenting philosophies. Headquartered in Tampa, Russell Coaching currently serves students in the US, Canada, and the UK. Prior to starting her coaching and consulting practice, Dr. Russell worked at a variety of well-known non-profit agencies, including the YWCA of the City of New York, the Tampa Y, and The Ophelia Project and Boys Initiative of Tampa Bay where she hosted Girls Circle Facilitator Trainings on multiple occasions. Dr. Russell also trained the Girls Circle model nationally. She has taught psychology and education at Sweet Briar College, University of Minnesota-Morris, University of Tampa, and a number of other colleges. She has served on numerous boards and volunteered with various organizations, most recently as the Interim CEO (full-time volunteer) at Plato Academy Schools Corporation in ‘20-’21, serving on the Board at Plato Academy, and in July of 2021, joining the Board of Directors at One Circle Foundation. She first began working with Girls' Circles in 1997. 

Dr. Vilma Caban-Vazquez, Ed.D., Board Member at Large
Dr. Caban-Vazquez has proudly served as an educator and instructional leader for 30 years. Her passion lies in addressing social and economic inequities. Vilma is a strong supporter of national and international volunteer initiatives serving historically underserved communities. As an educational liaison traveling with The People to People Ambassador Program, Dr. Caban-Vazquez presented research findings on math equity at the Royal University in Phnom Penh, Cambodia; The Teacher Professional Center in Cairo, Egypt; and The Ho Chi Minh University in Vietnam. Collaborating with Social Changers without Borders, Inc. Vilma conducted program evaluations commissioned by Equality Now, Inc. She evaluated a Kenyan girls rescue center utilizing grassroots efforts to save child brides from the dangers of female genital mutilation. Findings were shared with the United Nations Human Rights Children’s Conference in Nairobi, Kenya. As a researcher and educational consultant for various non-profit organizations, Vilma has worked to examine and support NGO founders. Her work has brought her to Rabat, Morocco and Xela, Guatemala to examine the global epidemic of street children and orphans. Ultimately, Vilma’s research has brought her full circle as she examined domestic violence in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. She just completed a documentary project titled La Casa de Maria which chronicles her story as the daughter of a battered woman fulfilling one last promise. Her creative goal is to channel her experiences to support women authors.

Giovanna Taormina, Co-Founder and former Executive Director
Giovanna is a national leader in gender-responsive circle programs for youth and teens. She is a co-developer of the One Circle Foundation models and trainings, co-author of the facilitator manuals, and has authored and edited many of the Girls Circle and The Council for Boys and Young Men activity guides. Giovanna collaborated with multiple community and justice organizations and institutions on research projects that have established evidence for One Circle Foundation's programs and practices. Giovanna was the Executive Director of One Circle Foundation for 24 years. Prior to her work at One Circle Foundation, she had a background in corporate training design, technical assistance, and program design. Giovanna is currently a coach, consultant, and trainer working to implement successful programs for purpose-driven non-profits and corporations. She specializes in developing & delivering strategies and training courses that help organizations reach their full potential. She works to empower the next generation and continues to be a strong advocate for human development and healthy relationships with one's self and others. 

Jana Hiraga, MPH, CEO & Executive Director
Jana leads our team to provide the highest quality circle facilitator trainings, curricula, consultation, resources, and support services to the growing One Circle Foundation community in order to promote healthy relationships and resiliency for all youth, families, and communities. Jana was a Co-Founder and Associate Director of a youth drop-in center called Oakland Youth Aspire in West Oakland. She worked in the human trafficking field as a trainer and consultant for over 12 years and was a dedicated advocate for girls and women for over a decade with the YWCA as their program director. Jana further dedicated her work with women and children as the director of special projects at the Women’s Daytime Drop-in Center working with homeless families. Since 2012, Jana has been a lecturer at several colleges including San Francisco State University and California State University, East Bay. Her courses specialize in social determinants of health, problem-based learning skills and career development. Jana graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and then received a Master’s degree in Public Health with a focus on community health education. 

Lauren M. Perry, Board Member at Large
Lauren contributes her time and knowledge toward strengthening One Circle Foundation's organizational processes and practices toward holistic sustainability. She is the former Executive Director of The Beautiful Foundation; a nonprofit organization that provides a safe space for adolescent girls to learn and express themselves. Lauren is a native New Orleanian. She launched her career as a production makeup artist but soon thereafter realized that she had a passion for empowering adolescent girls by providing them with the tools and resources needed to advocate for themselves. Once a former student of the organization herself, and later a mentor, Lauren fell in love with the mission of The Beautiful Foundation and has been committed to seeing its progression. Lauren is nearing completion to obtain her MSW from California Baptist University. 

Liz Morris, MS, Trainer
Liz is a trainer of the Mother-Daughter Circle Facilitator Training. With an undying passion for helping young people succeed, Morris joined Clemson University’s Youth Learning Institute (YLI) in 2006. As a Regional Youth Advocate, Morris is responsible for developing partnerships with organizations around the state to create and support programs that respond to the needs of children, families, and communities. She recently returned to the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice as the Manager for the Career Readiness Center. Her career path has included positions with the South Carolina Department of Corrections working with youthful offenders as a probation/parole officer and later as the Director of Community Programs for Aiken County. For 10 years, she also worked for South Carolina Mentor as a recruiter/supervisor blessing the lives of children by finding homes and good parents to care for them. Mrs. Morris is currently active with the Aiken County Branch of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) as an Executive member, the Advisor for South Carolina NAACP Youth and College Division, and the Youth Advisor for Aiken Youth Council. Mrs. Morris is on the Board of Directors with Area Churches Together Serving (ACTS) United Way of Aiken County, and the Matthews Foundation.

Moorea Dickason, Director of Outreach and Engagement
Moorea first engaged with One Circle Foundation as an adolescent participant in a Girls Circle group with the former Executive Director, Giovanna Taormina. The positive impact was so strong that she pursued working for the organization shortly after college and has been in service of its mission ever since. She currently connects with partner agencies around the US and Internationally to provide One Circle Foundation training. She also engages in outreach, marketing, advertising, and staff support. Moorea has been a Girls Circle facilitator and trainer and is trained and certified in all OCF models. She has a background in music, event planning, marketing, advertising, education and instruction, studio recording, live performance, and other creative mediums. 

Nancy Roldán Johnson, Board Co-Chair
Nancy Roldán-Johnson serves as Co-Chair and as a member of the Board Development Committee, and Strategic Planning Committee, and helped launch the organization's Finance Committee in 2021. Nancy is the Co-Founder of Together For Latinas, Inc. With a personal understanding of the challenges facing minority women, Nancy co-founded Together For Latinas, Inc. in 2008 to help Latina girls proudly travel the bicultural bridge, while keeping a connection to their roots. Nancy is the author of La Mariposa (the butterfly): A Personal Empowerment Program for Adolescent Latinas, a 12-session curriculum for girls ages 12-18 which is now one of the Girls Circle Activity Guides collection. For her work with Together for Latinas, she has been honored as a Woman of Distinction by the Connecticut Girl Scouts of the USA; featured in O, the Oprah Magazine as a winner of their Women Rule! leadership contest; and recognized with a “Woman Making a Difference” award by Soroptimist International New England Region. She is a fellow of the William Graustein Memorial Fund’s Community Leadership Program and the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Elm City Fellowship.

Pat Greenwell, Director of Customer Relations
Pat’s background includes working in public schools, clinical residential settings, and media production. Pat has a long history with One Circle Foundation dating back to the 1990’s when two of her daughters were participants in a Girls Circle with Co-Founder, Giovanna Taormina. Pat has a passion for people and empowering caring adults to bring circles to their communities. She honors all people who work to better the lives of youth and teens, and shows deep care when providing support to all who she engages through One Circle Foundation. 

Vanessa Caveney, Director of Design and Technology
Vanessa has 2 decades of experience working with girl and women-focused nonprofits in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her background is in design and web development and she has employed both since the inception of the organization as the daughter of former Executive Director, Giovanna Taormina. Vanessa knows first-hand the power and impact of circle models, having participated in them from age 13, and can attest to their effectiveness in fostering belonging, empathy, and self-worth. 

Victoria Mahand, MSW, Lead Trainer 
Victoria served as One Circle Foundation’s National Training and Development Manager for five years and remains an active Lead Trainer and Trainer Coach for the organization. She is a graduate of Rutgers University in New Jersey and holds a master’s degree in social work. Prior to working with One Circle Foundation, she was a Program Director for the Center for Family Services where she facilitated and supervised the Girls Circle program in addition to supervising the implementation of modalities including Structural Family Therapy, Multi-Systemic Therapy, and sex offender treatment. She also worked with the New Jersey Superior Court, probation, and schools to implement prevention and intervention services for children and their families.