Matthew J. Platkin - NJ Attorney General

Matthew J. Platkin was appointed by Governor Phil Murphy to serve as the state’s 62nd Attorney General on February 3, 2022, and confirmed to that role with bipartisan support by the New Jersey Senate on September 29, 2022.

As New Jersey’s chief law enforcement officer, Attorney General Platkin has prioritized the safety of New Jersey residents, focusing on combating violent crime and implementing innovative public safety strategies. He has specifically targeted gun crimes and auto thefts, resulting in significant reductions in both areas during his tenure. He has also spearheaded efforts to change how law enforcement responds to mental health emergencies by connecting individuals to resources, underscored by the innovative ARRIVE Together program.

The Attorney General leads a department that touches upon nearly every aspect of life in New Jersey. Its sweeping responsibilities include investigating and prosecuting crimes, representing the State’s interests in court, enforcing strong consumer protection and civil rights statutes, regulating important industries and overseeing over 38,000 law enforcement officers throughout the state. Attorney General Platkin believes that at the center of this work is public trust. With that goal in mind, he has made it a priority to utilize available resources and authority to root out public waste and abuse, eradicate corruption, hold regulated businesses and industries accountable, defend civil rights, end bias and discrimination, and increase transparency concerning law enforcement conduct.

Since his appointment, Attorney General Platkin has established several new offices within the Department of Law and Public Safety. These include the Statewide Affirmative Firearms Enforcement Office, the Division of Violence Intervention and Victim Assistance and specialized units within the Division of Criminal Justice dedicated to prosecuting human trafficking and complex financial crimes. He has spearheaded the creation of the Reproductive Rights Strike Force and partnered with the Governor’s Office and Legislature to protect access to reproductive healthcare.

Before becoming Attorney General, Platkin served as Chief Counsel to Governor Murphy from January 2018 to October 2020. As Chief Counsel, he oversaw an office of attorneys that advised the Governor on all legal matters, including legislation, executive orders, administrative regulations, and litigation.

In addition to his work in public service, Platkin also worked in private practice, having served as a partner at Lowenstein Sandler in the White-Collar Criminal Defense and Business Litigation practice groups.

Previously, he worked as an associate at Debevoise & Plimpton in New York City, where he focused on internal investigations and civil and criminal matters before the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the U.S. Department of Justice, the New York Department of Financial Services, and various regulatory agencies.

Prior to law school, Platkin began his career as a policy advisor at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C., working with members of Congress on job growth and economic recovery. He also served as an organizer in San Antonio, Texas.

Platkin was born and raised in New Jersey, growing up in Morris County, and graduated from Madison High School. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University, and his Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School, where he was an editor of the Stanford Law Review. He lives in Montclair with his wife, Sophia, and children, Robert and Maya.

J. Stephen Ferketic - Director, NJ Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ)

J. Stephen Ferketic is the Director of the Division of Criminal Justice. Ferketic previously served as Chief of Staff of the Drug Enforcement Administration in Washington, D.C. Prior to that, Ferketic was an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, where he handled a variety of criminal prosecutions, including health care fraud, drug trafficking, violent crime, and  money laundering cases. Ferketic clerked for the Honorable Patty Shwartz of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the Honorable Anne E. Thompson of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Ferketic began his career in public service as a high school science teacher in Roma, Texas through the Teach For America program. Ferketic received a B.S. and B.A. from the University of Connecticut, and his J.D. from Emory University School of Law, where he was a Woodruff Fellow.

Theresa L. Hilton - Assistant Attorney General (AAG) and Deputy Director of the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ)

Theresa L. Hilton is an Assistant Attorney General (AAG) and Deputy Director of the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ), Office of the Attorney General. AAG Hilton supervises the DCJ prosecution and policy portfolio regarding crimes of human trafficking, domestic violence, and sexual assault.  AAG Hilton is also responsible for developing trauma-informed strategies for the eradication of domestic violence and sexual assault across New Jersey.

Before joining DCJ, AAG Hilton spent seven years as an assistant prosecutor with the Union County Prosecutor’s Office, most recently serving as supervisor of the Domestic Violence Unit.  In this role, AAG Hilton oversaw a ten-person team of prosecutors, detectives, and advocates working to hold offenders accountable and support victims and their families.  AAG Hilton began her career as an active duty assistant staff judge advocate of the United States Air Force, where she was involved in the investigation and prosecution of multiple sexual assault allegations, among other responsibilities.

AAG Hilton received her B.A. in Mathematics from Hamilton College, New York, in 2003 and her J.D. from the University of California, College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly University of California Hastings College of the Law) in 2007.

Donna Sabella, M.Ed., MSN, PhD, PMHNP-BC

Dr. Sabella is the former Executive Director of Delaware’s Anti-Trafficking Action Council (DATAC) as well as a board-certified psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioner. She holds a BA from Indiana University in Portuguese, a BSN from Thomas Jefferson University, an M.Ed. from Temple University in ESL, an MSN from Widener University, a post master’s certificate from Penn’s School of Nursing, and a PhD from Penn’s Graduate School of Education. She speaks Portuguese, lived in Brazil, and has travelled abroad to a number of countries for work.

She is the founder and served as the contributing editor for the American Journal of Nursing’s Mental Health Matters column and is also the co-founder and an associate editor for the Journal of Human Trafficking. A former Program Director and a founding member of Dawn’s Place, a residential recovery program for trafficked and prostituted women in Philadelphia, she also counseled women incarcerated in the Philadelphia Prison System for prostitution through her Project Phoenix Program where she worked collaboratively with the Defender Association of Philadelphia. She is the former Seedworks Endowed Associate Professor of Nursing and Social Justice at UMass Amherst's College of Nursing, where she presently teaches in the graduate Psych NP program there. She is also the former Director of Global Studies at Drexel’s College of Nursing and Health Professions where she served as the Director of the Office of Human Trafficking. She served as Professor and track director for the graduate psych NP program at the Pennsylvania College of Health Science from 2019-2022, after which she taught at UPenn’s SON as a practice professor.

She has decades of teaching experience both in and out of nursing– including teaching Spanish, linguistics, Latin, world literature and composition- as well as experience working in crisis intervention, substance abuse, domestic violence, and forensic nursing. She has numerous publications and presentations related to human trafficking as well as mental health. Published  this September  was  Springer’s Human Trafficking: A Global Emergency  – for which she was co-editor and has a chapter on systemic violence against women and girls. Another chapter-  Working with survivors of modern-day slavery: Cross cultural competence and considerations for mental health service providers- is scheduled for publication in Palgrave’s Handbook on Modern Slavery this December.

She is a member of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA), the American Correctional Association (ACA), and a founding and executive member of the Global Association of Human Trafficking Scholars (GAHTS).

Steven Campos - Director, Office of Violence Intervention and Prevention

Steven Campos is the Director of the Office of Violence Intervention and Prevention, an office within the Division of Violence Intervention and Victim Assistance under the Attorney General’s Office. Prior to his position Steven was the Community Resource Director with the Hudson Partnership CMO where he served the families of Hudson County for over 18 years. Through his position Steven worked closely with families with children who had behavioral, mental health needs, exposure to trauma, developmental disabilities and youth with juvenile justice involvement in Hudson County. Throughout his years with the CMO Steven led program development efforts that created impactful experiences for hundreds of children and their families. Steven also served as chair of the Hudson County Children’s Inter Agency Coordinating Council for 13 years , is the current Vice President of the Community Networking Association of New Jersey, and served as a member of the Youth Services Commission of Hudson County. Steven’s dedication to addressing the needs of families and uplifting communities has led to innovative programming that has touched the lives of many in Hudson County and across the state. Now, as the Director of OVIP he oversees the coordination of three major violence prevention programs, which are:  Hospital Based Violence Intervention, Community Based Violence Intervention and Trauma Recovery Centers.

Saundra Robinson Green - Founder and CEO of The Connected V.I.N.E.

Saundra presently functions as the founder and CEO of The Connected V.I.N.E. (Victors in Need of Each other) LLC - Mentoring Support Organization. Through life’s Journey, Saundra has found that focusing on Community-Centered Love, Hugs, and Nurturing are the key ingredients to sowing Cycles of Hope & Healing into future generations. Being the Phenomenal Woman that she is, her grave “passion” in Mentoring youth, lending a venting ear to their parents, and Molding Leadership into teenagers is Exemplary while serving Communities of over 100 young Kings & Queens who are all destined for Greatness.  Her #1 Goal & Prayer is that she Inspires youth and families “everywhere” she goes as an investment in their time, skills, purpose and ultimately, their self-worth so that they too will touch the lives of many throughout their journey. Saundra’s welcoming SPIRIT, POISE and overall LOVE for Community is something that those of you who’ve experienced her can fully attest to.  Saundra’s motto is…. “As long as you “Stay Connected” to the V.I.N.E. and she “Stays Connected to GOD, TOGETHER WE WILL WIN!!!

Elaine Hewins, CSW, DVS - Community Intervention Manager – Hospital Violence Intervention Program 

Elaine Hewins is a Certified Social Worker and NJ Domestic Violence Specialist who began working in the field of domestic violence in 1989. She provided leadership for RWJ’s Domestic Violence Education & Awareness Program from 2012 until 2020.

Elaine transitioned to the Community Intervention Manager position for RWJUH’s Hospital Violence Intervention Program in September 2020. In this capacity, Elaine strives to create a network of community partners that will expand resources and referral options, building a safety net for program participants.  She is responsible for facilitating the WAVE Community Consortium and serves as the liaison to our community –based program partner, PRAB. Elaine co-leads the RWJUH HVIP team to serve crime victim patients, build and grow the program, organize trainings, and provide administration and oversight of the grant.

Nathan Earl - Survivor Advocate, Internationally Recognized Researcher, Advocate, and Public Health Consultant

Nathan Earl is a distinguished researcher, advocate, and public health consultant dedicated to fostering resilient communities impervious to exploitation. Operating under the giantslayer. brand, Nathan draws upon over two decades of personal and professional expertise to empower organizations and communities in the prevention of violence against boys, men, and 2SLGBTQ+ young individuals.

With a primary focus on research, Nathan's work delves into critical areas such as drug-facilitated commercial sexual exploitation, mental health challenges within trafficking survivors, and the intersection of male victimization with substance dependency, PTSD, and HIV.

In 2014, Nathan spearheaded the operationalization of one of the pioneering outreach and housing initiatives tailored for male youth survivors of human trafficking grappling with substance dependency. Presently, he holds the esteemed position of Chair at the VITAE program at Yale School of Public Health. In addition, he serves as a Consultant for various esteemed organizations, including Call to Freedom, University of Southern Mississippi's Human Trafficking Resource Center, The National Center on Child Trafficking, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Equity and Human Trafficking Technical Assistance Centers.

Nathan is a distinguished co-founder of the U.S. Council on Violence against Men and Boys and serves as a Board Director at Love 146. As the co-founding chair of Yale School of Public Health's VITAE student group, he plays a pivotal role in fostering a culture of violence intervention training, advocacy, and education. Moreover, Nathan contributes his expertise to Yale's addiction medicine collaborative.

A Fellow of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Human Trafficking Leadership Academy, Nathan possesses a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from the University of South Florida. He is currently pursuing a Master of Public Health at Yale University and holds additional Certificates in Leadership and in Human Subjects Research.

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” -- Viktor Frankl

Patricia Teffenhart - Executive Director, Division of Violence Intervention and Victim Assistance, Department of Law and Public Safety

Patricia Teffenhart (she/her/hers) was appointed by Attorney General Platkin to serve as the inaugural Executive Director of the new Division of Violence Intervention and Victim Assistance (VIVA) in the Department of Law and Public Safety (the Department) in September 2022. VIVA ensures that a trauma-informed, survivor-centered focus is centered in all work of the Department.

Prior to serving in her current capacity, Patricia was the Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, for the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce where she led initiatives to support and expand the business community’s commitment to, and advancement of, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Prior to joining the Chamber, Patricia served as Executive Director of the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NJCASA) from 2013-2021. Under her leadership, NJCASA had a record of policy-making success, including expansion of the sexual assault forensic evidence timeline; successfully advocating for the passing of the Sexual Assault Survivors Protection Act of 2015; creating and Co-Chairing the Governor’s appointed Campus Sexual Assault Task Force; mandating regular training for law enforcement and prosecutors; closing loopholes in the hiring practices of school employees to protect children from sexual predators; expanding New Jersey’s civil statute of limitations for sexual assault; creating a restorative justice pilot project; and increasing appropriations for sexual violence services in the New Jersey State Budget from $900K to $12.6M.

Patricia is a proud graduate of Douglass College and holds a Master’s in Public Administration from the Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration. She has dedicated her career to the promotion and advancement of women and girls, having worked for county-wide, statewide, and national feminist organizations. Patricia was a Fellow in the Leadership New Jersey Class of 2009 and is a 2014 recipient of the Alice Paul Equality Award. In 2015, under her leadership, NJCASA received the President Ronald W. Reagan Award from the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General in recognition of NJCASA’s systems advocacy on behalf of survivors. In 2016, NJBIZ recognized her as being one of New Jersey’s top Forty Under 40 professionals. For the last seven years, Patricia was included in the Senate Majority Leader’s New Jersey Women’s Power List and in 2018, she was included in the Insider NJ Power 100 List. She was an appointed member of Governor Murphy’s Transition Team. The Star Ledger included Patricia as one of the “Top 25 People to Watch in 2018” and in 2019, she was recognized by the Zero Abuse Project for her leadership in support of child sexual abuse survivors. She recently served as the elected Co-Chair of the Governor’s Advisory Council Against Sexual Violence and in 2020 she was asked by the New Jersey Senate Majority Leader, Loretta Weinberg, to be a member of the Workgroup on Harassment, Assault, & Misogyny in New Jersey Politics.

Rolidel Czekajlo, LSW

Rolidel Czekajlo, LSW is the Senior Director of Services at Covenant House New Jersey (CHNJ), where she has worked for the last 20 years. For over 14 of those years, she supervised the emergency shelter in Newark, New Jersey where youth experiencing homelessness receive both residential and supportive services.  Since October 2020, she has led the CHNJ Statewide Human Trafficking Victim Services Program, a program funded through the Office of the Attorney General, to provide services to victims of all ages regardless of housing status. Since the inception of the program, close to 400 individuals have received services.   In her current role, she also supervises the statewide kitchen services, covering both the Newark and Atlantic City sites, the Street Outreach program, and Statewide Volunteer services that which includes the sites in Asbury Park, Atlantic City, Elizabeth, Montclair and Newark.  She serves as a Consultant for NHTTTAC (National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Center) and other organizations on screening tools, service provision for survivors of human trafficking, and trauma informed care.  Her screening tool training puts an emphasis on, QYIT (Quick Youth Indicators for Trafficking) the first scientifically validated screening tool for both labor and sex trafficking, which was validated by CHNJ in 2017.  She is a recent graduate of the Human Trafficking Leadership Academy, which is a fellowship that was funded by the Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) and the Office on Women’s Health (OWH) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Prior to working at Covenant House New Jersey, she worked as a Child Protection Service Worker, for Monroe County Youth and Children Services in Pennsylvania.  She graduated from SUNY (State University of New York) Albany in 1995, and received her Master’s in Social Work from Rutgers University in 2009.

Christine Cesa - Survivor Advocate, Consultant with the Office for Victims of Crime and the State Department

Christine Cesa is a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary with a Masters in Intercultural Studies with Children at Risk and a Bachelor of Science in Education from Ashland University. Christine has served as the Services Coordinator with the Avery Center. Additionally, she has served as the Survivor Advocate with CAST LA and Dignity Health responding to survivors of human trafficking in the healthcare system, providing emergency services and advocacy to patients. Christine is a subject matter expert with specific expertise in familial trafficking. Furthermore, she currently serves as a consultant with the Office for Victims of Crime and the State Department. In addition, she serves on the Board of Ride My Road and the Resilience Fund with Polaris Project. Highlights included being published author on TIP report in 2021, Navigating the Unique Challenges In Familial Trafficking, 2023 TIP report, Equity In Survivor Leadership, and one of the co-authors in an anthology, “Medical Perspectives in Human Trafficking In Adolescents”. Christine has trained numerous healthcare systems and spoken at conferences such as National Conference on Ending Sexual Exploitation, GRIT, Crimes Against Women, JUST, Build Beyond, and other similar presentations.

Marti MacGibbon, CADC-II, ACRPS, CAPMS, Survivor Advocate, Certified Addiction Treatment Professional, Award-winning Author, Human Trafficking Expert Consultant to the US Dept. of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Expert Consultant to the US Office for Victims of Crime

Marti MacGibbon, CADC-II, ACRPS, CAPMS, is an internationally known author and an expert on trauma resolution and addiction. She’s a humorous inspirational speaker, and a mental health professional who holds five professional certifications in addiction treatment. Marti is a Human Trafficking Expert Consultant to the US Dept. of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, and is an Expert Consultant to the US Office for Victims of Crime. She is co-author of the widely cited article published in the American Medical Association Journal of Ethics, Human Trafficking, Mental Illness, and Addiction: Avoiding Diagnostic Overshadowing (2017), and is a contributing author of the Springer Nature 2020 textbook, Medical Perspectives on Human Trafficking in Adolescents: A Case-Based Guide. 

Few speakers have a personal comeback story as riveting and inspirational as Marti’s.  She has recovered from and triumphed over nightmare experiences such as being trafficked to Tokyo and held prisoner by Japanese organized crime, homelessness, domestic violence, childhood sexual assault/abuse, severe PTSD and hard-core drug addiction. Marti employed simple, effective strategies to transform her life, and shares them to motivate, encourage, and energize listeners to create positive changes in every area of their lives.

In addition to speaking to businesses, medical professionals and mental health professionals on overcoming adversity, empowerment, addiction recovery, and inspiration, Marti speaks on human trafficking, domestic violence, and other violence against women, and trains service providers. She has spoken at The 2023 United Nations World Day Against Trafficking, and at The 2021 United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, The Museum of Tolerance, The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, at colleges and universities, and even from the center of an MMA octagon at, “Fight Traffick,” an anti-human trafficking cage-fighting event. She’s been interviewed in Investor’s Business Daily, Entrepreneur, and Glamour, on ABC-TV, CBS-TV, FOX-TV and numerous radio stations, and articles she wrote have appeared in over 150 corporate and trade magazines.

As a member of a team of survivors, in the wake of her work on passing the historic Human Trafficking Survivor Empowerment Act in 2015,  Marti spoke at the White House, the State Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Office for Victims of Crime, on mental health and policy advocacy. From 2012-2017, Ms. MacGibbon served on the Indiana Attorney General’s state-wide anti-trafficking task force IPATH, Indiana Protection for Abused and Trafficked Humans. From 2013-2017, she developed curriculum for and taught a life skills class for women with trauma history in Marion County Jail. In 2014, she spoke to California State Legislature in support of new and successful legislation aimed at eradicating child sex trafficking.

Ms. MacGibbon is an engaged leader who served for two years on the Board of Directors at HEAL Trafficking, Inc. She currently serves as President of MENTARI Human Trafficking Survivor Empowerment Program in NY, NY, and on the Advisory Board at Justice At Last in San Francisco. Marti is a Speaker Trainer Consultant at the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Center.

From 2011 to 2019, Marti was founder, producer, and emcee of Laff-Aholics Standup Comedy Benefit for Recovery, an annual charity fundraiser in Indianapolis that features nationally headlining comedians. One hundred percent of the profits from the show went to transitional housing facilities in Indy that provide access to addiction treatment and mental health services for the recovery community’s most vulnerable.

The Indiana Addictions Issues Coalition (IAIC) honored Marti with the 2015 Indiana Lifetime Recovery Advocate Award, and the 2014 Recovery Advocate of the Year Award, for outstanding accomplishments in support of recovery, and her work in breaking away the stigma surrounding addiction, mental illness, and human trafficking.

Marti has performed at the world-famous Hollywood Improv and at the Comedy Store in Hollywood, and has traveled the U.S. as a professional standup comic. She is a member of the National Speakers Association, the Behavioral Health Association of Providers, the California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals (CCAPP), and the Indiana Counselor’s Association on Alcohol and Drug Abuse.

Marti MacGibbon is author of two award-winning and critically acclaimed memoirs, Never Give in to Fear: Laughing All the Way Up from Rock Bottom and, Fierce, Funny, and Female. Fierce, Funny, and Female, Marti’s recent memoir, is winner of the Beverly Hills International Book Award, in Women’s Issues, and winner of the National Indie Excellence Awards, in Women’s Health. It is winner of the 2018 Independent Press Award, in Humor and Women’s Studies. In June 2018, the book was announced winner of the Foreword Book of the Year Awards, in both Humor and Women’s Studies.

Al-Tariq Best -  CEO and Founder – FP YOUTHOUTCRY Foundation, Inc. d/b/a The HUBB

Al-Tariq “Mr. HUBB” Best is a childhood trauma survivor turned Certified Victim Advocate with over 25-years of supervisory, operations management and multi-media technical experience. Best also has 30+ years in the music industry as a performer, writer, and producer. Born and raised in the city of Newark, through healing from his traumatic experiences and victimization, he would discover his “calling” to become a voice and change-agent for today’s youth and their families, through his work as a community leader, activist, motivational speaker and mentor.

The HUBB ATC, a Mayor-appointed Center of Hope, is located in Newark, NJ with a mission to increase opportunities for success by providing healing programs, services, and events for underserved youth and their families through experiences that Entertain, Educate and Empower!  For the past seventeen (17) years, Mr. Best has responded to the numerous cries for help from Newark youth and their families. The HUBB ATC is a safe haven that exists to assist through community-based violence intervention, victim services, mentoring through arts therapy, trauma recovery, clinical and therapeutic services.

Mr. Best’s success in assisting Essex County, mostly Newark youth, has led to an expansion of his services to the creation of The HUBB HELP (Healing and Empowering Life Purpose) Trauma Recovery Center for Youth and Families.  The first Youth-focused Trauma Recovery Center of its kind on the Eastern Coastline, The HUBB HELP TRC will allow participants to transform from trauma victims to triumphant survivors.  Via trauma informed care services, victim services and art therapy, The HUBB HELP TRC meet participants where they are in their healing journey.

Mr. Best is committed to providing Education on trauma and its effect on youth and their families; Entertaining their spirits and hearts through artistic therapeutic interventions and to Empower their families to heal through their trauma in order to be triumphant over their victimization.

Best and the foundation have received numerous awards, among them: The Russ Berrie “Making A Difference” Award, The Spirit of Newark by Newark Now and former Mayor now US Senator Cory A Booker; Citizen of the Year from Omega Psi Phi Fraternity; Community Service Award from NAACP; and Excellence in Community Service Award” by Odyssey International Productions. He continues to live true to The HUBB ATC mission to Entertain, Educate and Empower!