CJJA Staff
& Board Officers

Mike is CJJA’s Executive Director. He previously served as Executive Director of the Indiana Department of Corrections, Division of Youth Services from 2009 to 2015. He began his work with the Indiana Department of Corrections as Superintendent of the Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility in June 2006.

Prior to moving to Indiana, he served as the Superintendent of the Kansas Juvenile Correctional Complex for approximately two and a half years. He began his career in corrections with the Missouri Department of Corrections, starting as a Corrections Officer at the Missouri State Penitentiary in 1985. Since that time, Mike has held positions as a Correctional Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain and Major. He has also held positions as Correctional Training Officer, Internal Affairs Investigator, Assistant Superintendent and Associate Superintendent.

He has extensive experience with CJJA and Performance-based Standards (PbS). He has been a member of the CJJA Board of Directors for four years and served for two years (2012-14) as president. Mike was an active member of CJJA while he was director of Indiana DYS.

Mike holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Administration and Criminal Justice and has been actively involved with the American Correctional Association as a member and certified auditor. He mostly served as the President/COO of Youth Opportunity Investments and brings a unique experience and perspective in both the public and private sectors in the juvenile justice field.

Mike follows the first Executive Director Edward J. Loughran for CJJA, who founded the national organization of youth correction chief executive officers in 1994.

Prior to joining the Council of Juvenile Justice Administrators, Wendi served as Deputy Director of the Division of Facility Support for the Ohio Department of Youth Services. She was responsible for security, classification, operations, unit management, treatment and programming within the DYS facilities. The division also included Medical Services and the Buckeye United School District.

Before this role, she served as the Bureau Chief of the Office of Quality Assurance and Improvement for the Ohio Department of Youth Services. She was responsible for agency quality assurance efforts to include policy, research, auditing, and process improvement.

In addition to this considerable responsibility, Wendi also had oversight of the agency’s Office of Information Technology Services which involved networking, telecommunications, desktop computing, application development, project management services, and unified communications such as email and calendaring. Serving as a trusted advisor, Wendi serves as a mentor to those who work under her leadership.

With over 23 years of experience in criminal and juvenile justice, Wendi has served on numerous national and statewide policy committees and councils. During her career, she has presented to various audiences on a wide range of criminal justice and juvenile justice topics. Her breadth and scope of the criminal justice and juvenile justice fields, specifically correctional administration, makes her not only a leader but also a subject matter expert.

Wendi received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration and a Master of Business Administration with a Leadership concentration from Franklin University.

Prior to joining CJJA, Natalie spent over 20 years with the Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC). Natalie started her career with IDOC as a correctional officer. The last four years of her tenure was spent serving as Assistant Director for IDOC Division of Youth Services. In that role, she aided in overseeing operations, treatment and re-entry at Indiana DYS facilities. Natalie oversaw the implementation of evidence-based programming, monitored compliance with Division’s policies, and provided support to facility and agency heads. During her career, Natalie participated as a panelist for presentations regarding juvenile justice practices.

Natalie has experience with Performance-based Standards (PbS) as a Site Coordinator and State Coordinator. Indiana PbS sites consists of DYS facilities, three detention centers and one community-based program. Natalie supported the sites with the PbS cycle of data collection, reviewing reports and development of facility improvement plans.

Natalie holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from DePauw University, Indiana.

Katie’s passion for working with youth and families who are system involved began nearly three decades ago when she participated in a service-learning internship matching university students in mentoring relationships with youth on parole. This opportunity allowed her to work alongside youth, families, and system stakeholders and to understand the many challenges youth faced as they reentered their home communities. Since that pivotal experience, she has served in a variety of capacities from providing direct services to coordinating training and technical assistance. Common threads throughout her career include assisting youth in transitioning from secure care to the community and engaging in interagency collaboration to reduce duplication and maximize outcomes.

In her previous role at the American Institutes for Research, Katie worked as part of several national training and technical assistance centers supported by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the U.S. Department of Education. She served as Project Director for the Age of Criminal Responsibility Research Training and Technical Assistance Center, Deputy Director for the Center for Coordinated Assistance to States, and as a State Liaison for the National Technical Assistance Center for the Education of Neglected or Delinquent Children and Youth. Across all projects she supported, Katie connected stakeholders with the research, information, and resources they needed to make informed decisions about the justice and educational related policies and practices.

Katie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, a Master of Arts in Special Education with an Emphasis on Youth in the Juvenile Justice System, and an Interdisciplinary PhD within Special Education with a Concentration on Education, Disability and Juvenile Justice from Arizona State University.

Kevin recently retired from the Ohio Department of Youth Services where he spent nearly 28 years serving in a variety of positions. He has worked for more than 30 years in the juvenile justice arena.

Most recently, Kevin served as the Bureau Chief of Unit Management where he oversaw nearly all interaction on the living units to include programming, youth incentives, youth discipline, visitation, recreation, property, sanitation, etc. Kevin previously served as the Deputy Director of Release, Parole, and Reentry, having responsibility for the Release Authority, Bureau of Parole, Office of Reentry, and Office of Victim Services. As the Chief of Parole, he was instrumental in reshaping the bureau to partner with other child-serving agencies and to function as an empirically driven, family-friendly entity.

Kevin has presented on numerous juvenile justice issues at national, state, and local levels. He has a tremendous passion to create, improve, and streamline juvenile justice efforts to do everything possible to ensure youth leave the system at a far better level than when they entered.

Kevin received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kent State University, with a minor in Sociology.

Diane is CJJA’s controller and handles all areas of the organization’s financial operations. Diane has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Newbury College and has worked in non-profit organizations for over 20 years.

Richelle is responsible for assisting with program management, fiscal matters, marketing and development. Richelle boasts a strong professional background in the legal field. Throughout her career, she has been providing unwavering support to attorneys in every aspect of their practice, ranging from scrutinizing medical records, ensuring claim legitimacy, to assisting with estate and probate matters. However, her true passion lies in supporting the children in her community, and she has been actively involved in organizing events for them since 2018, including Halloween and pool parties, school supply giveaways, and bicycle giveaways for the less fortunate during the holidays. In 2021, Richelle took the lead as the President of Merri Mac Park Miracle, a community-involved group that organized several successful fundraisers, raising over $30,000 and donating more than $15,000 to the city of London to offset the cost of playground equipment that was desperately needed for the south side of London park.