Richard Marazo, Second vice president
Richard began his employment in 1988 with the Middlesex Department of Corrections.  He is currently employed as a Corrections Lieutenant with the Training Bureau. Lt. Marazo has been involved with providing training to various levels of law enforcement personnel, including those in attendance at the New Jersey County Jail Warden’s Association conference.  He has also represented county jails for NJACA Conference planning, arranged workshops, and manned the Warden’s Association exhibit booth a the NJACA 2005 Conference.  Rick is a member of the Middlesex County Department of Corrections Emergency Response Team, the New Jersey County Corrections Training Advisory Council, and the New Jersey County Corrections Special Operations Group commanders Council.  Finally, Lt. Marazo has become the first correction officer to return to active duty after becoming paralyzed and wheel-chair bound.

Veleria N. Lawson, MSW, LCSW, Executive Director, New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission

Honorary Board Member

Prior to joining the JJC, Ms. Lawson served as an associate member of the New Jersey State Parole Board. She was appointed to that position in January 2004 and assigned to the juvenile panel where she worked directly with the Juvenile Justice Commission and its programs to rehabilitate juvenile offenders. She also worked with government and community groups to help ensure juvenile offenders have access to programs and support designed to aid in their successful reentry into society.

A licensed clinical social worker, Lawson also has worked during her extensive career as a school social worker in Middletown and Lakewood and at the Arthur Brisbane Child Treatment Center in Wall Township. She was a school social worker for more than 19 years for the Middletown Board of Education, serving on child study teams. She had similar responsibilities as a child study team member for the Lakewood Township Board of Education for four years before working in Middletown.

Lawson started her career in New Jersey in January 1974 as a social worker at the University of Medicine and Dentistry in Newark, providing clinical services to clients with psychosocial problems.

Lawson, who lives in Manalapan, received a bachelor of arts in sociology from Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1972, and earned a masters degree in social work in 1973 from the Howard University School of Social Work in Washington, D.C.

George W. Hayman, MSW, LCSW, Commisioner

Honorary Board Member
George W. Hayman was confirmed Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Corrections on January 8, 2007, by the New Jersey Senate. He had been serving as Acting Commissioner since January 2006.

As Commissioner, Mr. Hayman oversees a department that is responsible for more than 9,500 employees, 14 institutions and a jurisdictional inmate population of approximately 27,000 housed in state facilities, county jails and community halfway houses.

Mr. Hayman, a 53-year-old resident of Willingboro, spent more than 22 years with the NJDOC until his appointment as Assistant Commissioner, Division of Operations, in June 2003. In that capacity, he supervised the overall management of all state correctional facilities, satellites and specialized units as well as creating a series of innovative programs through which objectives were set to establish quality programming for staff as well as inmates.

He joined the department in 1983 as a Social Worker. His job titles have included Principal Procedures Analyst; Director, Special Medical Unit; Hospital Administrator; Administrator, Central Medical/Transportation; and Assistant Director, Division of Operations.

A certified Mental Health Screener and Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Mr. Hayman attended Wayne County Community College (A.A., Business Law) and Rutgers University, where he earned a B.A. in social work and an M.S.W., Administrative Track.

Yolette C. Ross, Chairman, MA, New Jersey State
Parole Board

Honorary Board Member
Yolette C. Ross became Chairman of the State Parole Board on January 1, 2009, replacing Peter J. Barnes Jr. upon his retirement. Governor Corzine appointed Ms. Ross as Vice Chairman on May 23, 2007. The Chairman serves as the agency's chief executive officer.

Ms. Ross has served as a State Parole Board Member since December 29, 2005, leading initiatives including the Female Offender Reentry Group Effort (FORGE). Ms. Ross previously served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Richard J. Codey.

She is a member of the Gloucester County College Board of Trustees and the College Foundation; a founding officer of the Salem County Rape Crisis Center; and president of the Deptford Township Library Board. She previously served as an investigator for the Division of Gaming Enforcement.

Her public service career began in 1980, as Salem County's first African-American probation officer. She graduated from William Patterson College in 1979, and earned a Master of Arts in Public Relations from Rowan University in 1999.

Kristen M. Zgoba, Ph.D.
Kristen M. Zgoba received her doctoral degree from Rutgers University, School of Criminal Justice in May 2004. Dr. Kristen Zgoba is employed by the New Jersey Department of Corrections, Office of Policy and Planning, in the position of Supervisor of Research and Evaluation, and is also Co-Chairperson for the Department’s Research and Review Board and is on the Board of Directors at the American Correctional Association. Additionally, she is the Internship Coordinator between Rutgers University and the NJDOC. Her research interests include sexual offender treatment, legislation, recidivism and childhood abductions. The NJDOC’s Research and Evaluation Unit is currently working on empirical studies with homicide offenders, sex offenders and geographic analyses. Dr. Kristen Zgoba also holds a position on Governor Jon Corzine’s Re-entry Board for the Governor’s Crime Plan. Furthermore, Dr. Zgoba received two National Institute of Justice grants, 1) to be the first state to test the effectiveness of New Jersey’s Megan’s Law and 2) to examine the utility of the SORNA guidelines. Dr. Zgoba serves on the Rutgers University Institutional Review Board and teaches Criminal Justice Research Methods, Statistics, Prisons and Prisoners and Sex Offender Management classes at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. Additionally, she is on the Editorial Board for Victims & Offenders, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency and Criminal Justice Abstracts. Her recent publications appear in Victims & Offenders, Criminal Justice Policy Review, Criminal Justice Studies: A Critical Journal of Law and Society, The Journal of Family Violence, Aggression and Violent Behavior: A Review Journal, The Sex Offender Law Report and Criminal Justice and Behavior: An International Journal. Additionally manuscripts are to be published this year in Justice Quarterly, Criminal Justice and Behavior: An International Journal and the International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology.

Charley B. Flint, Ph.D.
An activist and scholar, Charley is a Professor of Sociology at William Paterson University where she is also coordinator of the Criminal Justice Program. She is an active scholar in her field, having published in scholarly journals, given papers at professional meetings and other conference, been interviewed on various television and radio programs as well as by several newspapers, and is involved in many professional and community organizations. She is currently president of the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey Association on Corrections and past treasurer of the New Jersey Association of Criminal Justice Educators.

Ralph Fretz, Ph.D.
Ralph Fretz is a Licensed Psychologist who is employed as the Corporate Director of Assessment and Research for Community Education Centers. Dr. Fretz earned a Ph.D. from Seton Hall School of Professional Psychology.

Dr. Fretz's professional experience includes State Hospitals, Mental Health Clinics, Child Study Teams, and Correctional Treatment Services. Dr. Fretz is a national and international presenter. His publications include outcome research articles with the most recent publication listed in the March/April 2008 edition of Corrections Compendium. Dr. Fretz has attained the level of Master trainer for the Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) and the LS/CMI.

Sheriff Kim Guadagno, J.D.
Sheriff Kim Guadagno is the Chief Executive of a 695 member, $65 million agency encompassing a law enforcement division, a 1,328 bed maximum security correctional facility, a youth detention center and a police communications/ 9-1-1 emergency dispatch center. The Monmouth County Sheriff's Office achieved the unprecedented, "Grand Slam" achievement of national accreditation in four major areas of operation. It is the only agency of 3,088 across the United States to earn this distinction.

Sheriff Kim Guadagno was a former Assistant United States Attorney and Assistant Attorney General. As Deputy Director of the Division of Criminal Justice, Kim supervised a staff of approximately 300 prosecutors and investigators. As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Kim was the Deputy Chief of the Corruption Unit and was twice honored with the U.S. Department Of Justice's highest award for Superior Performance.

Gary J. Hilton
Gary J. Hilton's distinguished career in Corrections has spanned over 37 years. He is a proven leader, with strong operations and executive management skills. Mr. Hilton has served as an expert witness, trainer, lecturer and consultant to a wide range of public, judicial and private entities, both nationally and abroad. He has also provided technical consultation and training services on behalf of the National Institute of Corrections.

In April of 1998, Mr. Hilton concluded a 33-year career with the New Jersey Department of Corrections, having served as Warden of the State's maximum-security prison, Superintendent of the adult prison for women, and for over 17 years as Assistant Commissioner for Operations, Chief of Staff and Acting Commissioner.

Prior to his retirement from public service in July 2002, Mr. Hilton was Director of Corrections and Youth Services for Monmouth County, New Jersey. During his tenure, he spearheaded the successful national accreditation of the central facility. Mr. Hilton is a charter member of the New Jersey Chapter of the American Correctional Association and currently serves as the organization's First Vice President. He has overseen more than $850 million in facility construction and renovations. He has also been the recipient of numerous awards and commendations from various professional and governmental organizations. Currently, Mr. Hilton is founder and president of Paige Plus LLC, a comprehensive correctional service and consulting company.

Roger Lichtman, AIA
Roger Lichtman, a registered architect, is no stranger to the criminal justice design process. Prior to establishing The Lichtman Associates, P.C. in Princeton, New Jersey in 1992, Mr. Lichtman was associated with three nationally known design firms. His professional experience, in over twenty-five years of dedication to the criminal justice design field, encompasses all aspects of correctional facility planning and design, on both new construction and renovation/rehabilitation projects.

Mr. Lichtman has presented over thirty lectures and has authored numerous articles on secure design and construction. In addition to working throughout the country, most recently, Mr. Lichtman directed a team that worked on Saipan, CNMI to assist in the development of a criminal justice system. This included the planning, design and construction of a jail, prison, juvenile facility and immigration facility as well as police holding facilities on several outlying islands.

Patti Loukides, MSW, LCSW
Patti Loukides is beginning her second year as a NJACA Board Member. Mrs. Loukides was recently appointed to the National ACA’s Women Working in Corrections Committee. She has worked in both Adult and Juvenile Corrections. A native Virginian, Mrs. Loukides began a Social Work career in 1974 after graduating from Lynchburg College. She was employed as a Psychiatric Social Worker in a secure Unit in one of the East Coast’s largest Psychiatric Hospitals located in Lynchburg, Virginia. She received a Master’s in Social Work Degree in 1993 from Virginia Commonwealth University. Mrs. Loukides worked as a Mental Health Therapist and Substance Abuse Counselor and coordinated treatment and counseling services in two adult corrections facilities in Northern Virginia for ten years prior to moving to New Jersey. Mrs. Loukides was employed as a Social Worker at the NJ Department of Corrections’ Community Programs Division in January 1998 and in 2001 accepted a promotional opportunity and became the Principal Community Programs Specialist at the NJ Juvenile Justice Commission. She accepted a promotional opportunity in 2007 to Chief, Contract Administration with the NJ State Parole Board’s Community Programs Division. In August 2008, Governor Corzine appointed Mrs. Loukides to her first of 2 terms as Temporary State Parole Board Panel Member. Since ending her second term earlier this year Mrs. Loukides has coordinated the implementation of a pilot program that introduces the nationally recognized Structured Assessment of Violent Risk in Youth (SAVRY) to assist the Juvenile Panel members during parole reviews. Mrs. Loukides provides assistance in grant writing, contract management and is currently coordinating the staff development training series for Board Members and other civilian staff. Mrs. Loukides is an instructor at the Officer’s Training Academy and teaches part time in the Masters of Administrative Science Program at Fairleigh Dickinson University. She has a private practice in Trenton. She is married and has five adult children. In her free time she is a marathon coach with the Leukemia Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training.

Patricia McKernan, MSW, LSW
Pat McKernan serves as a Chief Operating Officer for Volunteers of America Delaware Valley. Pat came to Volunteers of America as a Facility Director of a residential program for men in 1996. She was promoted through the agency and her duties include the supervision of Corrections Services and the Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Divisions as well as the Administrative Divisions supporting agency operations. Founded in 1896, Volunteers of America is one of the largest and most diversified faith based not-for-profit human service agencies in the country. The Delaware Valley branch of Volunteers of America provides a wide variety of services and interventions for persons experiencing homelessness, seeking permanent housing, struggling with addictive behavior, chronic mental illness, as well as persons returning to society from the criminal justice system. Volunteers of America currently operates 43 programs in the Delaware Valley and serves more than 13,000 people per year. The mission of the Corrections Services Division is to provide evidence-based interventions to offenders in an effort to reduce their risk of recidivism and promote public safety.

Pat McKernan has been a social worker in Camden City since 1990. She is currently the Vice President of the Coalition of Community Corrections Providers of New Jersey. Pat was President of the Coalition for the Community Corrections Providers of New Jersey from 2005 to 2009 after serving as Treasurer for four years. She is a Regional Vice President of the International Community Corrections Association and a 2006 Leadership New Jersey Graduate. She has promoted the professional development of corrections practitioners through her efforts in coordinating the 2005 ICCA conference in Atlantic City NJ, the International Association of Re-entry’s Second Working Summit in 2007 in Baltimore MD, and the Coalition of Community Corrections Providers of NJ’s Re-entry Conference in 2007. Pat has presented to US Senate staffers regarding the importance of the Second Chance Act in 2005 and plays an active role in the NJ’s Second Chance Campaign. She has been a certified Field Instructor for Rutgers University School of Social Work since 1998 and a certified trainer for Reasoning and Rehabilitation Cognitive Skills Training Program for Offenders since 1999. Pat is a licensed Social Worker who received her Bachelor of Arts from Trenton State College in Psychology and Sociology and her Masters in Social Work from Rutgers University.

Robert F. Murray
Robert Murray currently holds the dual position of Administrator/Division Chief of Hudson County's Department of Corrections and Director of the County's Juvenile Detention Center. His career in corrections began 24 years ago as a correction officer at the Middlesex County Correction Center, then moving to the rank of Sergeant and Provisional Training Lieutenant. In 1990 he accepted a position as a transition coordinator for the Hudson County Department of Public Safety, Jail Division. In 1991 he was appointed Assistant Warden of the "New Hudson County Correction Center" until his promotion in 1995 as Director of the County Juvenile Center.

Under Bob's administration the Hudson County Juvenile Detention Center has received accreditation by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care and holds the distinct honor of being the first Juvenile Detention Center in New Jersey to receive accreditation from the American Correctional Association. Bob has served as a consultant for the National Institute of Corrections, the National Academy of Corrections, and the US Department of Justice as a Master Trainer in interpersonal communications. Bob has also consulted on jail and detention construction projects across the country.

In June of 2005, Bob was elected President of the New Jersey Juvenile Detention Association. He was the former Vice President of the NJJDA for two years. He is an active member of the American Correctional Association, New Jersey Chapter, Executive Board Member; New Jersey Jail Warden’s Association, National Juvenile Detention Association and the American Jail Association.

Michael Ostermann, Ph.D.
Michael Ostermann is currently a Research Scientist in the Office of Policy and Planning at the New Jersey State Parole Board. He began working at the Board in 2005. Michael leads the Board's research efforts and acts as the Board's data and evaluation coordinator for both the Governor's Another Chance Initiative under the Safe Streets and Neighborhoods Anti-Crime Plan as well as the Government Efficiency and Reform Committee. Dr. Ostermann recently completed an evaluation of the efficacy of the State Parole Board's Day Reporting and Halfway Back Programs, the fruits of which have been published in a peer-reviewed academic journal.

Mark A. O'Sullivan, MS, LPC
With over 20 years of experience as a forensic mental health professional, Mark's experience spans the criminal justice (courts, corrections, and parole) and community mental health (children and families) arenas. His focus has been on offender evaluation and treatment; sex offender risk assessment; law enforcement officer evaluation (pre-employment, firearms recertification); staff development and training; program, practice, and policy development and evaluation; RFP development and proposal evaluation; quality control; and contract compliance.

Currently employed by the State Parole Board, prior appointments include the Professional Counselor Examiners Committee (Department of Law and Public Safety); the Governor’s Task Force on Mental Health (Parole Board Liaison); the Mental Health and Corrections Project Advisory Committee (Greater Trenton Behavioral HealthCare); and the Best Practices Committee for Sexually Violent Predators (Department of Human Services).

Mark earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, a Master of Science in Counseling Psychology, and has completed doctoral coursework in Psychology and Organizational Systems. He is licensed as a Professional Counselor in New Jersey and as a Psychologist in Pennsylvania.

John W. Piercy, III
John began his career in Corrections in 2000 as a Jail Officer at the Riverside Regional Jail in Hopewell, VA. There, he was promoted to Work Release Coordinator, and then promoted to the Training and Accreditation Department. During his time at RRJ, he received eleven commendations, was a well respected Officer, and was a member of the RRJ Jail Industries Committee, the RRJ Expansion Committee, and the RRJ Accreditation Team. John earned national accreditation in 2002 with the American Correctional Association, becoming the first nationally Certified Corrections Professional (Officer) in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

In 2006, John moved to the State of New Jersey, where he obtained employment with the New Jersey Department of Corrections as a Social Worker 2 at Garden State Youth Correctional Facility in Yardville, NJ. In doing this, he became the first nationally Certified Corrections Professional (Officer) in the State of New Jersey. Thirteen months later, he was promoted to Assistant Social Work Supervisor within the Department’s Office of Transitional Services, in charge of the Successful Transition and Reentry Series (S.T.A.R.S.) Program, which received the Governor’s Best of the Best Award in May of 2009. He still holds this position.

He is a graduate of Virginia State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and currently pursuing a Masters in Criminal Justice from Ashworth University. He is also a member of the American Correctional Association, American Jail Association, Virginia Correctional Association, the New Jersey Chapter of the American Correctional Association (Board member), Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., and the Willingboro Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #38.

William F. Plantier
William Plantier began his career as a Social Worker in 1973 at the then Rahway State Prison. After running the Outpatient Department at Menlo Park Diagnostic, he left to take a position at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center when it opened in 1976. He rose through the ranks there, making Assistant Superintendent in 1984 and Administrator in 1990, a position he held for ten yeas. In 2000, he was appointed to his current position as Director in the Division of Operations for the N.J. Department of Corrections.

Matthew J. Sheridan, Ed.D.
Matt Sheridan has over 37 years of progressively responsible experience in the criminal justice field. Core areas of expertise include administration in Juvenile Justice, corrections, correctional education, the courts, parole and probation. Management experience includes institutions, community residential and day treatment, and private providers. He has designed training curriculum that prepares staff for tasks related to direct service and that respond to identified need when improvement is warranted. He has shown expertise in improving operational efficiency by brining systems into compliance with state and federal standards. matt emphasizes staff continuing education for personal growth and better job performance and utilizing evidence based research on risk assessment to improve correctional effectiveness and successful reentry.

Christine Simone-Dill, MS
Christine Simone-Dill currently holds the position of Executive Assistant/Supervisor of the Litigation Unit, Department of Corrections. She has served as a member of the Board of Directors of NJACA for over 18 years. Ms. Dill has been involved in numerous NJACA activities including the Annual Conference and the Annual Forum. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Middle Atlantic States Correctional Association and the Mercer County College Criminal Justice Advisory Board. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in criminal justice from the College of New Jersey and a Master of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from Jersey City State College.

Steve Troyanovich, MS
Steve Troyanovich is currently the Education Youth Advocate for the New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission's new Division of Juvenile Parole and Transitional Services. He has also served as the Juvenile Justice Commission's Director of Education. Steve has a varied correctional background given his 29 + years of experience within the New Jersey criminal justice system. He is presently a member of the NJACA Board of Directors and is also the editor of the New Jersey Corrections Quarterly. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and a Master's Degree in Corrections. In addition to current NJACA duties, he has worked on ACA accreditation standards and literacy projects. He remains committed to making the NJACA an organization of vigorous divergent viewpoints in service to both the individual and the community.