Neil Irvin is Men Can Stop Rape's new Executive Director. Irvin recently served as Senior Director of Programs, a position he held since 2008, following five years as Director of Community Education. He joined Men Can Stop Rape in 2001.

Neil has grown Men Can Stop Rape’s youth development program, the Men of Strength (MOST) Club, from one school in Washington, DC to over 100 locations in ten states throughout the country. He played a critical role in Men Can Stop Rape’s $2 million partnership with the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault in 2005, which established a comprehensive social marketing campaign and programming throughout California.

In 2007, he led MCSR’s Strong Moves initiative to place the Men of Strength Club in every public high school in the District of Columbia, the largest city-wide effort of its kind in the country. That same year, Liz Claiborne, Inc. and the Ford Foundation funded the Strong Boroughs initiative to place locations in every New York City borough. Now in its tenth year, the Club’s middle school and high school curriculum are in schools throughout California, District of Columbia, Florida, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, New York City, North Carolina, Ohio, and South Carolina.

Well known throughout the country in the field of gender-based violence prevention, Irvin has served as a consultant to The White House Commission on Violence Against Women and Girls, the Department of Justice Office of Violence Against Women, Boys and Girls Club, Ford Foundation, and Liz Claiborne Foundation. He serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Health and has been a regular lecturer at American University, George Washington University, and Howard University.  Prior to joining MCSR, he worked for the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene at the Regional Institute for Children and Adolescents.


YOUTH PROGRAMS

KEDRICK GRIFFIN
SENIOR DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS
202.534.1838
kgriffin@mencanstoprape.org

Since 1996, Kedrick has helped improve the lives of children and their families through his non-profit work in Washington, DC, Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, Fairfax County, and Baltimore County. His prior experience includes working for such organizations as The Choice Program, The Choice Middle Schools Program, Maya Angelou Public Charter School, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of the National Capital Area where he served as the Executive Director of Fairfax Programs. He was responsible for coordinating services to parents, children, and volunteers for the agency’s community-based mentoring program and school-based mentoring program. Kedrick also represented the agency at various community events and promoted the organization through local media.

After returning to Men Can Stop Rape in November 2008, Kedrick served as Director of Community Education. In May 2010, he was appointed Senior Director of Programs. He is responsible for overseeing the development of the middle and high school Men of Strength (MOST) Club nationally. Kedrick was part of the team that developed the MOST Club Curriculum and Training Manual. He conducts MOST Club facilitator trainings locally and nationally, is an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland College Park in the Department of Family Science, is a co-producer of MOST TV, represents Men Can Stop Rape at community events, facilitates conference workshops nationally, and has been a guest lecturer at Harvard University, University of Maryland College Park, George Washington University, Duke University, Vanderbilt University, The University of Maine, and Valparaiso University.


JASON PAGE
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY EDUCATION
202.534.1839
jpage@mencanstoprape.org

Jason has most recently held a position at the University of Maryland University College as a Graduate Student Advisor. While at the UMUC he advised incoming students on course selection in their selected graduate programs. In addition to advising, Jason also was involved with coordinating outreach for prospective graduate students for enrollment.

Since the winter of 2008, Jason also has served as a mentor in the Athletic Department for the University of Maryland; College Park’s Intensive Learning Program (ILP) for the Football Team. He has provided academic support for student athletes by facilitating study groups and helping students identify their particular learning strategy. Jason held a position as a Youth Counselor at the Wesley College Boy’s & Girl’s Club while pursuing his Bachelors Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing at Wesley College in Dover, DE. During his time there he helped develop social programs that focused on drug and alcohol prevention and planned community outreach activities that promoted a safe environment for the youth and their families in Dover, DE.

Jason is responsible for conducting Men of Strength (MOST) Club facilitator trainings locally and nationally, providing monthly follow-up to facilitators, facilitating MOST CLUB sessions weekly at DCPS middle and high schools, facilitating workshops at community events, and co-producing episodes of MOST TV.


TRAINING & TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

JOSEPH VESS
DIRECTOR OF TRAINING & TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
202.534.1836
jvess@mencanstoprape.org

Joseph Vess is Men Can Stop Rape’s Director of Training and Technical Assistance. In this role he conducts dozens of trainings, workshops and presentations around the world every year, building the skills of professionals to engage men and boys and guiding MCSR’s Men Creating Change (MCC) program.

Now in its third full year, Men Creating Change Chapters on campuses nationwide provide a venue for college and university men to challenge violence against women on their campuses and promote and encourage healthier versions of masculinity. Men Creating Change members have presented at national conferences, lobbied on Capitol Hill, and conducted dozens of community and campus educational and service projects around the nation. The MCC curriculum also incorporates MCSR’s “Gut Check” Bystander Intervention training to prepare college men to prevent men’s violence wherever they see it, ranging from the the personal and relationship levels up through their broader community and society.

MCSR’s professional trainings utilizing system-wide approaches that seek to ensure consistent messaging and support sustainable change and growth by working at all levels throughout a community to engage men in the places they live, play and work. The department trains and collaborates with a variety of agencies, coalitions and community organizations, ranging from local rape crisis centers to the US Department of Defense. Trainings range from a half-day to MCSR’s most comprehensive training, “From Theory to Practice,” which prepares men and women alike to sustainably engage men and boys in across a wide variety of programs.

Before joining MCSR, Joe was a community organizer and educator at the DC Rape Crisis Center, where he worked with young adults and college students, LGBTQ populations, and communities East of the Anacostia River to explore grassroots, community-based solutions to sexual violence. He recently completed his master’s degree in international peace and conflict resolution from American University, where his research focused on sexual violence in armed conflict in Central Africa.


JOSEPH SAMALIN
COORDINATOR OF TRAINING & TECH ASSISTANCE
914.450.3118
jsamalin@mencanstoprape.org

Currently based in New York City, Joseph Samalin is the Coordinator of Training & Technical Assistance for Men Can Stop Rape. Joe Samalin has been working on issues of gender-based violence for over 15 years.

Joe most recently held the postion of trainer with the Anti-Stalking Program at Safe Horizon where he developed curricula and conducted trainings on stalking for mental health professionals, service providers, law enforcement and an extensive range of victim service professionals. He also focused on training around the issue of stalking as it affects high school and college-aged youth.

As an undergraduate student at SUNY New Paltz, he founded a student men’s group to confront men’s violence against women on campus. Later, he also co-coordinated Columbia Men Against Violence, Columbia University’s men’s group, as a graduate student pursuing a degree in East Asian studies.  From 2002 to 2004 there, Joe studied contemporary gender issues in Japan, conducting research with legislators, educators, activists, leaders in both the women and the men’s movements and others. His master’s thesis was on rape culture and rape myths in Japan. He has lived in Japan for over four years, and is fluent in Japanese.  From 2003 – 2006, he was the Peer Leadership Coordinator at Day One, where he recruited and trained hundreds of students on college campuses throughout New York City to become the next generation of leaders in the movement to end domestic violence.

Joe was invited to give expert testimony at a New York City Council hearing on sexual assault prevention in the New York City public school system, speaking to gender specific prevention work with boys and young men. He also worked with the New York City Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence to create and pilot a curriculum for teen dating violence prevention amongst runaway homeless youth in New York.


COMMUNICATIONS

PAT W. MCGANN, PH.D.
DIRECTOR OF STRATEGY & PLANNING
202.534.1834
pmcgann@mencanstoprape.org

Pat McGann has been involved with Men Can Stop Rape since the organization’s inception in 1997. Pat oversees the licensing of Strength Mediaworks - Men Can Stop Rape's groundbreaking media initiative - which is widely recognized as the nation's best-designed and most effective public service advertising campaign of its kind. The U.S. Department of Defense currently has a licensing agreement for Strength Mediaworks. Pat coordinates outreach initiatives, including most recently our first national conference “Men and Women as Allies” and the Men of Strength Awards. This DC-based gala offers men and women the opportunity to support the prevention of gender-based violence and the valuation of alternative visions of male strength. Pat’s responsibilities also include participating in sexual assault and masculinity coalitions and networks, conducting informative workshops, and marketing Men Can Stop Rape to the public. He has conducted hundreds of workshops and trainings in Washington, DC and across the country.

Pat received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago in Language, Literacy, and Rhetoric, and his dissertation focuses on the connections between male socialization and academic discourse. Many of his publications address the politics of masculinity in the composition classroom and in written language.


NICOLE D. PLAYER
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR
202.534.1835
nplayer@mencanstoprape.org

Nicole Player joined MCSR in 2005 as a part-time Administrative Assistant; since then has expanded her role in both the organization and the communications department. Her responsibilities include developing and implementing online marketing and social media strategy, conducting media outreach, promoting events, assisting with the production of creative materials, and managing the organization's website and newsletter. Nicole transitioned to full-time status in January 2009 to assist with the event logistics, marketing, and PR for MCSR’s first national conference. Her work resulted in local and national media coverage from C-SPAN, Univision, CBS, and various other outlets. Prior to joining Men Can Stop Rape, Nicole held a wide range of marketing and PR internships in the music industry, the non-profit sector, and strategic communications.


DEVELOPMENT

RACHEL FRIEDMAN
DIRECTOR OF FOUNDATION & GOVERNMENT GRANTS
202.534.1833
rfriedman@mencanstoprape.org

Rachel Friedman has contributed immensely to the Development team since joining Men Can Stop Rape in 2008. She writes grants, seeks out new funding sources, and conducts outreach to funders and donors. Rachel graduated from the University of Massachusetts – Boston with a B.A. in Women’s Studies and a focus in sexual assault issues. Prior to working at Men Can Stop Rape, she held internships with a variety of women’s organizations such as the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, the Mass Alliance on Teen Pregnancy, and the White House Project. In 2008, she helped plan the fifth annual speak out for the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault. She has also performed in the Vagina Monologues twice. From 2003-2007, Rachel worked as a research analyst for the Department of Labor – OSHA. Rachel currently interns at the Yoga District and does freelance writing and editing on the side. 


ADMINISTRATIVE

ERIN MCCARLEY
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE
202.534.1831
emccarley@mencanstoprape.org

Erin McCarley supervises the finances, budget, payroll, and human relations components of Men Can Stop Rape. Since earning her B.A. at Evergreen State College, Erin has focused on youth development and non-profit work, ranging from direct service to development. Erin recently illustrated a comic titled “Hey Girl!” which was funded by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Also a musician, she composed a soundtrack for the comic, and she has toured nationally with her former bands. Erin is a silkscreen artist and has designed and screened posters for a number of events in the DC area.

CALLIE PORTER-BORDEN
OFFICE ADMINSTRATOR
202.534.1829
cporter-borden@mencanstoprape.org

Callie Porter-Borden joined Men Can Stop Rape as a Communications intern in October 2008 and quickly became an invaluable asset to the organization. In March 2009, Callie was hired as a full-time staff member. She provides administrative and program support, does graphic design, and is responsible for an assortment of other as-needed tasks. After pursuing a degree in media and women’s studies at New York University, Callie traveled and taught in Asia and West Africa and worked as a graphic designer and sales associate for Finewine.com. She has volunteered for a range of organizations including providing public relations for the New York Civil Liberties Union and editing for off our backs feminist newsjournal.