Board Members

Susan Esquilin is a licensed psychologist with a diplomate in clinical psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology.  She has worked in the mental health field for over fifty years, as a therapist, as a forensic evaluator, as a supervisor and administrator in clinics providing mental health services to children, and as a faculty member at  Montclair State, Rutgers, and University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ.  She has presented at both state and national conferences and is the author of many articles regarding child abuse and trauma, the significance of race and culture on psychological issues and treatment, and the role of mental health professionals in the child welfare system.  The NJ Psychological Association named Dr. Esquilin New Jersey Psychologist of the Year for 2017 and awarded her the NJPA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.

Lorene S. Wilkerson is Chair of the NJ Child Placement Advisory Council (NJ CPAC) having served in this capacity since June 2013.  In this position she has guided NJ CPAC through the completion of a new training program for Child Placement Review (CPR) board volunteers and increased strategic engagement with larger audiences and expanded partnerships with child advocacy organizations throughout New Jersey. She is on the Middlesex County Child Placement Review Board.  She was instrumental in amending the Child Placement Review Act to change the timeframe for the initial review of children in placement from 45 days to 60 days; and increasing the membership of the NJ Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect to include NJ CPAC.  She is a member of the Children in Court Improvement Committee and its Race Equity Subcommittee; and a member of the NJ Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect and its Protection Subcommittee.  She had a 34 year career with what is now known as the Division of Child Protection and Permanency (formerly the Division of Youth and Family Services) where she held positions as caseworker, adoption supervisor, policy writer, disciplinary hearing officer and employee relations coordinator.  She holds a B.A. in psychology from Adelphi University, New York; a Human Resource Certificate; and various certificates in child welfare and substance abuse.  

Dr. Monique Swift is actively involved in racial social justice efforts and initiatives. Her extensive volunteer work typically benefits the Black community specifically, and oppressed and under-served populations, in general. Her volunteer activity often involves grassroots and civic organizing, personal and community empowerment building, and addressing issues of racial inequality, and racial trauma.

Dr. Picciano (she, her, hers) has worked in the mental health field for over 30 years.  She obtained her doctorate in clinical psychology from the Graduate School of Applied & Professional Psychology at Rutgers in 2000.  Her career has included community mental health in sexual abuse prevention and provision of direct services in a trauma outpatient program (Newark, NJ), an adolescent day school (Piscataway, NJ), and a college counseling service (Rutgers- New Brunswick).  She has also been a field supervisor for Psy.D. students in the Rutgers-GSAPP Psychological Clinic.  Dr. Picciano is currently in private practice in Highland Park, New Jersey, providing individual and family therapy with older children, adolescents and adults, with a specialty in the treatment of trauma.  She has a growing specialty working with transgender and non-binary youth and young adults and provides training and consultation in this area.  Although she has made cultural humility and cultural competence a priority throughout her training and career, Dr. Picciano’s completion of PISAB’s Undoing Racism training in 2018 and her participation in monthly meetings of the Anti-Racist Alliance of NJ since 2020 have transformed her understanding of systemic racism and her commitment to seeing and addressing racism in herself and in mental health theory and services. 

Phyllis Bolling is a licensed psychologist in New Jersey.  She has been providing services in a university counseling center for more than 25 years and has been an administrator in college counseling for over 10 years.   Dr. Bolling has a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology, and an M.S. in Rehabilitation Counseling from State University of New York at Albany and a B. S. in Biology from Syracuse University.  Dr. Bolling’s interests include: campus mental health, cultural competence and multicultural/cross-cultural counseling and psychotherapy, working with persons with disabilities, mood disorders, and trauma and she is passionate about her work around issues related to mental health and equity, racial inequities, and mental health and diverse populations.

Executive Director of Parents Engaging Parents (PEPNJ), overcame a troubled past to become an influential organizer and advocate. After serving a 13-year prison sentence, he earned his GED, pursued higher education, and received a full pardon. Motivated by his experiences, Altorice founded PEPNJ, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering parents and strengthening communities. He is a respected board member of KIPPNJ and co-founder of
Parents Engaging Parents Inc., a 501c3 organization promoting civic awareness and community action. Altorice's story is a testament to the resilience and the transformative power of second chances.

Aida Ismael-Lennon is a psychologist fluent in Spanish, serving the urban community throughout the metropolitan area for over 20 years. In addition to providing assessment, consultation and counseling in a variety of settings including urban school districts, psychiatric treatment facilities and pediatric clinic settings. She also maintains a private practice where she
provides consultation to the division of child protection and permanency, the office of the public defender and conducts immigration evaluations. She has served as an expert witness in
family court and has presented at state and national conferences on trauma-informed practices.

Donald O. Egbuchulam, brother, husband and father, is a graduate of Tulane Law School and served as Judicial Clerk for the Honorable Renee J. Weeks, Family Part, Superior Court of New Jersey, Union County.  He joined the law firm of Podvey, Sachs, Meanor, Catenacci, Hildner, Cocoziello, P.C., Newark, as an associate in 1991, and from 1993-2018, he managed a full-service solo practice in Maplewood and East Orange, New Jersey. 

Currently, he serves as an Assistant Deputy Public Defender with New Jersey’s Office of the Public Defender, in Newark, representing mostly minority and indigent parents whose families are involved in Children in Court litigation. Also, he serves on Essex County New Jersey Superior Court’s Model Court Subcommittees on Equity and Fairness, and Policy & Procedure. He is a member of the Association of Nigerian Lawyers in the Americas (ANLA). 

Christopher Jackson is a native of Orange, NJ. He attended Morgan State University and has degrees from DeVry Institute of Technology, Barry University, and the University of Florida Levin College of Law. He has served honorably in the U.S.

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Air Force, as a public defender serving children in abuse and neglect cases, as a municipal mediator of small claims, and as a staff attorney in the Office of the Child Advocate in New Jersey. While serving as a public defender, Mr. Jackson spent several years as the chairperson of the Equity and Fairness Subcommittee of the Essex Co. Children's Model Court. Mr. Jackson also served on Orange's citizen's budget advisory committee and zoning and planning boards, and was elected to its municipal council. He is currently serving as a commissioner and treasurer for the City of Orange Housing Authority.

Dr. Laura Leigh Smith is a licensed professional counselor who received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Seton Hall University.  She has been providing mental health services to mother/babies, preschoolers, children, adolescents, and adults for over thirty years. Dr. Smith has provided individual, group, couples, and family psychotherapy in various settings, including residential treatment centers, therapeutic preschools and elementary schools, outpatient, intensive outpatient (IOP) hospital-based settings, Early Head Start/Head Start programs, and private practice. Dr. Smith has experience treating attachment, affective, and behavioral disorders. Most of the youth and families she has worked with have experienced trauma and abuse.

Dr. Smith has extensive experience providing mental health training and clinical consultation to NJ’s child welfare agency and to NJ's Children’s System of Care. She is also a Resource Trainer for the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond (PISAB). She is involved in grassroots antiracist organizing within her community and is passionate about raising awareness of the impact of systemic racism in both her professional and personal life 

Denise P Davis, MHS, is Senior Training & Consultation Specialist with Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, University Behavioral Health Care, Behavioral Research & Training Institute, NJ Children’s System of Care Training & Technical Assistance Program.  

Denise has 25+ years of experience in consultation, training, coaching, administrative and treatment experience in the field of mental health, crisis management, substance abuse and criminal justice across the life span. As a former director of NJ Children’s System of Care, Children’s Mobile Response and Stabilization Services in six counties, she utilizes her expertise in the implementation of MRSS programs nationally. She employs a relational and attitudinal approach with an emphasis on culture to support, educate, and empower professional within the system of care through workforce development, technical assistance, and coaching. Denise is an advocate for youth/family voice and empowerment. She has years of experience as a national and state conference presenter and life-long learner. Areas of certification include CANS train the trainer, Competent Trauma Professional, Healing Centered Engagement and Nurtured Heart Approach advanced trainer.  She received her Master in Human Services from Lincoln University.
 

Kristin Miller is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 20 years of experience providing social work services to children, adolescents, and adults in a variety of settings including in home therapy, community mental health centers, juvenile detention centers, social service organizations, and private practice. She is a workshop facilitator, speaker, clinical supervisor, founder of Mosaic Counseling & Consulting, and a professor in the Social Work Department at Seton Hall University. She is committed to promoting social justice and addressing racism and racial trauma via therapy, mentoring, supervision, workshops, training, consulting, and teaching.