MEET THE MOVEMENT

Changing the world is never a solitary act.

 

 
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Pete Singer, MSW, LICSW

Executive Director

Pete Singer joined GRACE as the Executive Director on January 1, 2021. He has 30 years’ experience working with trauma, abuse, and mental health in a variety of settings. He has been a foster parent, school social worker, therapist, youth group leader, consultant, Executive Director, and more. He has worked extensively with families, teens, and children who have experienced trauma, including maltreatment, medical trauma, assault, violent loss, and captivity. His work has focused on helping children recover, facilitating parent growth and learning, and community engagement to end child maltreatment. He started a nonprofit in 2005 to equip the faith community to better recognize, prevent, and respond to child maltreatment. This work served to introduce him to a number of people at GRACE and the work they do. 

Pete completed his Master’s in Social Work from the University of Minnesota, where he also received a Certificate in Trauma-Effective Leadership. He speaks nationally on trauma, trauma-informed practice, resilience, strengthening the parent-child relationship, and the role of the faith community in responding to child maltreatment. He is a Registered Circle of Security – Parent Educator, Board-Approved Supervisor, and has completed extensive training in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. He has served on several workgroups, including the Cultural Provider’s Network, Ramsey County Ending Racial Disparities Workgroup, Youth in Transition Workgroup, and more. He designed an innovative support and education program for staff in trauma-saturated fields across disciplines. He has published and contributed to a number of articles and book chapters, including Coordinating Pastoral Care of Survivors with Mental Health Providers; Mental Health and Healthcare System Responses to Adolescent Maltreatment; and Wounded Souls: The Need for Child Protection Professionals and Faith Leaders to Recognize and Respond to the Spiritual Impact of Child Abuse, with Victor Vieth.

Pete is married, the father of three children, two of whom are grown, and has one grandchild.

 

 
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Mike Sloan, MDiv

Director of Safeguarding

Mike Sloan is the Director of Safeguarding at GRACE. For the last thirteen years, Mike has trained churches, schools, and other Christian ministries across the United States and abroad in abuse prevention and response best practices. Mike worked with GRACE board member Victor Vieth to develop the GRACE Seminary Curriculum, the first three-credit hour seminary course on child maltreatment, which was piloted at Biblical Seminary in 2017. Mike has served as a local pastor in congregations in Atlanta, Georgia, and Columbus, Ohio.

 

 

Robert Peters, JD

Director of Institutional Response

Prior to GRACE, Robert Peters developed and delivered training, tools, and technical assistance to child abuse prosecutors and allied professionals across the United States through work with Zero Abuse Project and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C). He is the creator of the STARK (Stopping Technology-Facilitated Abuse of Rural Kids) Prosecutor Symposium, and lead the development of NOVA (Nexus for Open-Source Virtual Assistance), an open-source intelligence tool for law enforcement. For nearly a decade, Robert assisted GRACE by designing comprehensive child protection policies and serving as a civil investigator of abuse in the context of faith communities.

Mr. Peters served as Assistant Prosecuting Attorney and Special Prosecutor in multiple West Virginia jurisdictions, where he specialized in the prosecution of sexual offenses, civil child abuse and neglect, and online child exploitation. In addition to authoring practical publications for child abuse prosecutors, he is published in peer-reviewed works such as the Handbook on Interpersonal Violence Across the Lifespan, Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, Florida Journal of International Law, Child Welfare League of America, Mitchell Hamline Law Review, and Christian Ethics Today. Robert is the lead author of “Child Statement and Forensic Interview Admissibility,” a treatise developed in partnership with the National District Attorneys Association and National Children’s Alliance. While in law school, Peters clerked at the United States Attorney’s Office, Western District of Virginia.

Mr. Peters is the founder of Coursing Justice, an LLC that delivers state-of-the-art training and practical content to criminal justice professionals. While a prosecutor, he founded SHIELD Task Force, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that partners with Child Advocacy Centers and local stakeholders to encourage reporting of sexual abuse and online safety. This initiative has brought age-appropriate abuse prevention education to thousands of school-aged children and numerous civic and community groups. Mr. Peters also serves on the WV Child Advocacy Network (WVCAN) Board of Directors. In 2019, Robert received the WV State Police Center for Children’s Justice Extra Mile Award for demonstrating professional leadership and personal commitment in going the Extra Mile on behalf of children and families.

 

 

Zane Hart, MBA, MDiv

Director of Development & Operations

Zane Hart is a dedicated nonprofit development and fundraising professional. He is passionate about seeing lasting change take root in the church around the issues of abuse. He is a graduate of James Madison University, Covenant Theological Seminary, and the University of Lynchburg. Zane has been with GRACE since 2018. Before GRACE, Zane served in various ministry settings developing programs, kickstarting and managing ministry initiatives, organizing educational environments, fundraising, training new leaders, and fostering partnerships and collaborations around common goals.

Zane currently lives in the southern United States with his wife and two children. Zane enjoys running, hiking, playing basketball, coaching youth soccer, golfing, and biking with his family.

 

 

Emily Petrie, JD

Lead Institutional Response Specialist

Emily Petrie is a graduate of Liberty University School of Law and has worked for GRACE as an independently contracted investigator since 2019. During law school, Emily received training on responding to abuse in a trauma-informed way. After graduating from law school in May of 2021, Emily worked for a law firm specializing in family law and various areas of civil litigation. Emily was raised in a Christian home in Baltimore, Maryland, and has a heart to help survivors of abuse in Christian environments.

Emily currently lives near Richmond, Virginia with her husband and two cats. Emily now serves full-time as a Lead Institutional Response Specialist for GRACE.

 

 

Maureen Garcia, MLS

Lead Safeguarding Specialist

Maureen Garcia is fiercely devoted to helping Christians create safe spaces and communities for the vulnerable, where predators will not feel safe to abuse. Maureen has an MLS focused on research skills and instruction. As a communication expert, Maureen is a writer, speaker, and instructor. Her writings about abuse dynamics have been featured online in magazines and blogs including Christianity Today, CT’s Leadership Journal, Converge Media, Christ and Pop Culture, and The Institute for Collective Trauma and Growth. She has spoken about abuse for years in a variety of venues, including the radio show The Ride Home with John and Kathy, the OneVoice podcast, and Courage 365 Conversations. Maureen’s instruction includes over a decade of teaching research, writing, and critical thinking skills to students at a Christian college.  


Maureen became interested in researching abuse dynamics over twenty years ago after a relative, a child, disclosed that Maureen’s then-husband had been sexually abusing her for years. Her relationships with abusers like her ex-husband, combined with her decades of research provide Maureen with a unique perspective on predators and how they are not monsters out there, but loved ones, deceptive and dangerous, within our churches, communities, and homes. She is excited to be part of the GRACE team and to help equip Christians to prevent and respond to abuse.

 

 

Jessa Potvin, BA

Resource and Operations Manager

Jessa has been with GRACE since 2021 and served as a research intern and investigations assistant before taking up her current role. She studied philosophy and classical languages at Wheaton College (IL) and is currently pursuing a focused MTS at Duke University, where she will complete a project that examines rebuke, discipline, and church governance practices in the Christian tradition. She has spoken professionally before religious and child-protection-worker audiences on abusive uses of Scripture and the positive role Scripture can play in abuse prevention in faith communities. She lives in the Carolinas. 

 

 

Jacquelynn M. Dyer, MPNA

Executive Assistant

Jacquelynn Dyer is a graduate of Metro State University (MN) where she earned her Master’s of Public and Nonprofit Administration. She has over 10 years of experience working as an administrative assistant in nonprofits and higher education. Jacque has been working for GRACE since 2021.

Jacque is a Minnesota native but currently resides in Arizona with her husband and four children.

 

 

Meredith Craigo, BA

Administrative Assistant for Institutional Response

Meredith Craigo received her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (Marketing) from Marshall University in 2006.   Meredith has worked in children's ministry for 10 years and currently serves in her church as the Children’s Ministry Coordinator.  She has previously worked as a victim advocate with the Prosecuting Attorney’s office in West Virginia.  With her knowledge and experience, she is a great addition to the Institutional Response team as Administrative Assistant.   She is excited to be part of the GRACE team.  

Meredith lives in West Virginia with her husband and three children.  She loves to volunteer her time helping her community, church, and children’s schools.  Meredith truly has a heart for children and loves working with them.

 

 

Suzie Wellin, M.Ed.

Administrative Assistant for Safeguarding

Suzie Wellin earned her Master’s of Education from the University of Lynchburg and comes to GRACE with a passion to create a positive impact in organizations and in people’s lives. She has administrative experience working directly with multiple levels of institutional leadership and administration and through her work has become passionate about supporting leadership in process development and implementation, strategic planning, and fostering organizational wellness. Suzie applies her skills and knowledge to provide direct and impactful support to GRACE's Safeguarding Initiative team.

Suzie lives in Virginia with her husband and two dogs.