Prevent Child Abuse Arizona Board of Directors

Every nonprofit agency with a critical mission exists because a number of talented and committed volunteers serve as members of the board of directors.

Our Board of Directors includes:

Rick Griffin – President

Rick Griffin is the Director of Training and Curriculum Development with Community Resilience Initiative (CRI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a citizenry conversant in trauma and resilience. Rick has committed his life to the education of others. After completing his master’s degree in education, Rick became a founding member and executive director of Jubilee Leadership Academy, a therapeutic boarding school for struggling teens. Under Rick’s leadership, Jubilee was World Magazine’s 2014 winner of the Hope Award for Effective Compassion.

Rick enjoys speaking to thousands of individuals from around the globe and is widely recognized for his work in trauma-informed care. Rick’s vision to educate the masses about the impact of trauma inspired him to establish a national trauma and resilience conference that is held annually in Washington state. He is currently working on his latest passion, Purpose Driven Play, a series of games designed to equip individuals with the skills to overcome adversity. Amid all this, Rick still finds the time for his highest priorities: his faith, his family, and his friends.

Trevor Umphress – Vice President

Trevor Umphress is a native of Yuma, Arizona, where he resides with his wife and their four children. He studied International Business and minored in Spanish at Northern Arizona University. His career began in the corporate world of construction and restorations; after seven years of success as a project manager and estimator, he put away his hard-hat to begin a new quest into the nonprofit world.

Trevor partnered with Amberly’s Place, a family advocacy center, to assist the organization with financial sustainability. When that dream was achieved, Trevor was excited for a new journey as the executive director of the Arizona Child & Family Advocacy Network. In this role, Trevor’s accomplishments have included getting defining legislation passed, and the creation of a fund that supports all family advocacy centers throughout the state.

It brings Trevor great joy to know he plays an active role in the thousands of lives that begin their journey from victim to survivor. “I believe that protecting children is everybody’s business,” he says. “I invite you to take a stand against abuse and be a voice for those in need. Together we can stop the cycle; together we can end abuse.”

Roy Teramoto, MD – Treasurer

Roy Teramoto is a board-certified pediatrician who has worked for the Indian Health Service for more than 34 years.  During his career, he served on the Child Protection Teams of the Phoenix Indian Medical Center and the Phoenix Area Office.  He has also previously served on the Arizona Child Fatality Committee.  He is currently a member of the Triple P Arizona Community Advisory Committee.

Ashely Dickerson – Board Secretary

Ashely Dickerson serves as a Senior Program Manager with the National Center for Youth Law under the FosterEd Arizona Compassionate Systems initiative. Improving educational outcomes, civic engagement and advocacy are at the core of her efforts. She is passionate about creating an equitable and just education system in Arizona, which has led her to serve four terms with AmeriCorps as a Public Ally, a City Year corps member, a VISTA, and a national service member.

Ashely is a proud Wildcat alumna of the University of Arizona, where she earned a degree in Social, Behavioral & Human Understanding with an emphasis on Adolescents, Community Development, and Education Policy. She is committed to helping children and teens, and has extensive experience serving as an elementary school teacher, mentor, coach, community leader, and change agent. She has a deep commitment to her community, all students, and their families.

Ashely is also dedicated to creating and sustaining a pipeline of elected women of color leaders to local school boards. She has served as a campaign manager, candidate coach, and political consultant. Every year, Ashely invests in the next generation of elected officials by facilitating a series of trainings and workshops that help servant leaders gain clarity about the role they could play in revitalizing our democracy.

Stephanie Chavez – Board Member

Stephanie Chavez, a native Tucsonan, loves working with CASA volunteers who represent and advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children during a dependency case. Stephanie received her Master of Arts in organizational management from the University of Phoenix and her Bachelor of Arts & Sciences in communications from the University of Arizona. She serves on Board of Directors for Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona as well as Father’s Day Council Tucson.

Haley Dietzman – Board Member

Haley Dietzman is an Arizona native and board-certified family nurse practitioner with the Child Protection Team at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. She received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Seattle University and a Master of Science, Family Nurse Practitioner, from Georgetown University. Haley is a certified pediatric sexual assault nurse examiner and participates in the Maricopa County Child Fatality Review Board. In her career, Haley has seen the devastating and lasting effects of child abuse and is passionate about working on prevention efforts. She enjoys helping high-risk populations and educating colleagues about child maltreatment and how to prevent poor outcomes.

Byron Jackson – Board Member

Byron Jackson leads Jackson Youth and Family Services, founded on the idea that all children deserve an equal opportunity at life. The program offers youth mentoring and family support. Affectionately known as Jackson to his friends, he is a native Phoenician with years of service to the community on his list of achievements.

Born and raised by a single mother, Jackson endured homelessness and transition in and out of more than 20 different schools before he finally graduated from Phoenix’s Trevor Brown High School. Jackson received an athletic scholarship to play basketball at South Mountain Community College, where he showcased his work ethic and leadership skills by leading the nation in rebounds. 

Holding steadfast to a promise he made to his mother, Jackson graduated from college at Northwest Missouri State University with a degree in Corporate Recreation. During his college basketball career, he was honored with the league’s 6th Man of Year Award, which foreshadowed his future as a servant leader.

Jackson returned to Phoenix after college and began his commitment to young people at a local YMCA.  It is there that Jackson turned his personal pain into his purpose when he created Kid Fit, a program to help minority kids struggling with obesity.  As he transformed the bodies of youths, he witnessed first-hand obesity’s link to mental health. In response to his growing passion for youth well-being, Jackson teamed up with two partners to start Pathways Youth and Family Services. 

True to his perseverant character, Jackson overcame a global pandemic to launch his own trauma-informed behavioral health services organization in 2020. As founder and owner of Jackson Youth and Family Services, Byron Jackson continues to provide minority youth with adulation, education, and inspiration.

Michael Powell – Board Member

Michael Powell is a Deputy County Attorney with the Cochise County Attorney’s Office (CCAO).  He has been a prosecutor since 2011 and has spent the past several years handling complex cases at the CCAO involving child abuse, child neglect, child sexual abuse, and homicide.  Michael frequently represents the CCAO at monthly Cochise Multi-Disciplinary Team meetings, and he enjoys working with partner agencies to ensure better outcomes for child victims. Michael is passionate about working to prevent child abuse – too often he sees the result of families being insufficiently connected with prevention resources. 

Michael has a young son with his wife, who is a social worker in the child welfare field. The experiences Michael and his wife share while working on the front lines of combating child abuse drive his desire to serve with Prevent Child Abuse Arizona.

When he is not working, Michael enjoys playing with his son and four dogs, as well as taking his family on off-road adventures in his Jeep.

Dorene Washington – Board Member

Dorene Washington, an Arizona native, is the senior program coordinator for Northern Arizona University’s School of Nursing. Previously, she was the associate director of transfer initiatives at Columbia College, Chicago.

Dorene is currently in the process of securing her LLC to serve the homeless communities in Flagstaff. She is a certified first responder and is working on her CPR teaching certification. Dorene’s passion is to help the underserved, abused, and the forgotten in society. Dorene has seen first-hand the devastating results of child abuse and is determined to educate the high-risk populations to end the vicious cycle.

Dorene also has a podcast on which she reads bedtime stories for toddlers, and also volunteers with Sun Sound radio, providing audio access to print information to people who cannot read or hold print material due to a disability.

Hon. Richard Weiss (ret.) – Board Member

Richard Weiss, an Arizona resident for over 50 years, is a graduate of both Northern Arizona University and Arizona State University. Now retired, he served as a Superior Court Judge in Mohave County for more than 20 years, much of that time as a Juvenile Court Judge. He was an original member of the Commission on Victims in the Court, serving until 2019. Currently, he devotes time to advocating for social justice in daily life for all people, as well as projects helping young children in the areas of early education and health. Otherwise, most time is spent enjoying the backyard surroundings of the Kaibab National Forest near Williams, Arizona, with his wife, dogs and cats. In addition, many soccer games are watched.