Keynote Speakers  
Shane Salter • Nora J Baladerain, Ph. D.  
Shane Salter, Executive Director, CASA
With over 20 years of senior management experience and volunteer participation, Shane Salter has been active with numerous organizations that focus efforts on improving the lives of underserved families and children. He is a nationally acclaimed speaker at conferences, universities, health and human service organizations. Along with his previously noted contributions, he has also served as Vice President of Creating Opportunities for Parent Empowerment (COPE), President of Adoptive Families of America, on the boards of The National Association of Counsel for Children and The National Court Appointed Special Advocates Association. Shane Salter is an active member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. Along with his wife Gloria, they’ve adopted four children with special needs from the District of Columbia in addition to their three birth daughters. As a trailblazer and national advocate, Shane has contributed to legislative and systemic reforms in transracial adoptions, sibling placements, and restructuring of services for youth transitioning out of foster care.

Shane Salter is the founder and Executive Director of CASA for Children of DC. He served as the Chief of Staff in the Executive office of the Mayor in Washington, DC. In this capacity, Shane Salter supported the Deputy Mayor for Children, Youth, Families and Elders in providing oversight for the following District Government Agencies: Department of Human Services, Department of Health, Department of Mental Health, Child and Family Services, Office of Aging, Department of Parks and Recreation, Office of Human Rights, The State Education Office and The Public Library System. Before that, he served as Director of Foundation Giving where he played an integral leadership role. During his tenure, Freddie Mac and the Freddie Mac Foundation reached a milestone of investing more than $100 million in nonprofit organizations serving children and families.

Prior to the Freddie Mac Foundation, Shane Salter operated in the capacity of National Director at the Marriott Foundation for People with Disabilities. He holds an undergraduate degree from Elmira College in Human Services an undergraduate degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in Health Care Management, a Masters Degree in Organizational Leadership and Management from Webster University and is a Registered Doctor of Naturopathy in the District of Columbia. Shane Salter is also the author of the critically acclaimed memoir entitled; “When a Child Becomes the 4-year old Parent…Trouble Don’t Last Always” As a source of inspiration, this book is truly a page turner and easy read for adults and youth.

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Nora J. Baladerian, Ph.D., LMFT, ACFE, AATSE

Dr. Baladerian is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Certified Sex Therapist and Board Certified Forensic Examiner. She is the Clinical Director of the Counseling Center of West Los Angeles where she maintains a private practice in a group setting and supervises interns and psychological assistants.  She also directs the Center for Healing in West L.A.

Since 1972 she has worked in the areas of  abuse of people with disabilities. She is considered an expert inconductingevaluationsof suspected sexual abuse and assessments with children and adults with developmental disabilities, as well as providing clinical intervention.  She consults with attorneys and law enforcement agencies providing expert witness consultation, and served as an expert panel member for the Los Angeles County Juvenile and Family Courts until 2005.

She provides trainingseminars for law enforcement, protective services, therapists, and other abuse-response and prevention professionals, and to disability specialists regarding abuse prevention and detection, both nationally and internationally.  Both keynote and seminar presentations are conducted that use humor in this tragic context, facilitating learning in fact-packed hours.

She is the author of a several guidebooks for professionals, parents and individuals with disabilities.  She is the author of over 50 articles related to abuse and neglect of children and adults with disabilities as well as translations to Spanish of such documents.

She is the Director of the Disability, Abuse and Personal Rights Project in Los Angeles California. She has served as a Member of the California Children’s Justice Act Task Force, representing the interests of children with disabilities since 1993. She was a Board Member of the National Committee to Prevent Elder Abuse.  She is an Advisory Board Member of the American Bar Association’s Council on Victims, and of the Research Project on Women with Physical Disabilities & Crime Victimization at Baylor, University, Tyler Texas and the national SART Toolkit Board.  She is an Associate with VERA Institute for OVW’s projects on abuse of women with disabilities. She is the author of the chapter on psychotherapy intervention for child crime victims with disabilities in the Standards of Care Guidebook developed by the California Victims Assistance Programs; the online curriculum for CATTA on “Developmental Disabilities & Mandatory Child Abuse Reporting” and the curriculum “Mandated Child Abuse Reporting for Special Education Professionals”.

As a media consultant she served as the character consultant for “Benny” on L.A. Law, and has worked with other TV shows including Doogie Hauser and 21 Jump Street as well as other film and print media activities. She hosted “Sexual Healing with Dr. Nora”, a radio talk/call-in show airing on KFNX in Phoenix, Arizona and WALE in Providence, Rhode Island for 1-1/2 years.

She is the Project Coordinator for the CAN Do! Project, Child Abuse & Neglect Disability Outreach at Arc Riverside as part of the Abuse Response Projects Division.   This is began as a grant funded program through the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to improve system response when an individual with a disability is reported for suspected abuse.  She provides training to first responders, prosecutors, investigators, sexual assault counselors and disability specialists in Best Practices to handle these cases. She headed a project to produce a law enforcement curriculum for First Responders to child abuse cases involving children with disabilities. This grew to include funding from the US Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime for various projects. She is the Executive Producer of the only training video for police officers on interviewing skills to use with crime victims who have communication and/or cognitive disabilities.

She is the founder and convener of the only ongoing national conferences on Abuse of Children and Adults with Disabilities.  She is presently planning the 11th National/4th International Conference on Abuse of Children Adults with Disabilities, and hosting the First Professional Online Conference on Abuse & Disability, (ending August 2006), both supported by funds from US Dept. of Justice, OVC.


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