Leadership

Executive Staff

  • Felicia Ako, CEO

    Felicia joins Courthouse Dogs Foundation (CDF), after spending 20+ years leading people, strategy, operations, and program delivery across a diverse slate of companies including AT&T Wireless, T-Mobile, Expedia, Starbucks, and BECU credit union. She’s a human-first, empathetic people leader focused on building a strong organizational structure, a secure financial foundation, and a focused vision and strategic plan to deliver on the imperative CDF mission.

    Having grown up with dogs and having them in her life since childhood, she saw the incredible value professionally trained courthouse dogs could play in alleviating trauma and stress in adults and children navigating the judicial process.

    Felicia enjoys traveling to experience different cultures as well as exploring the Pacific Northwest and making local family memories with her wife and two children.

  • Celeste Walsen DVM, Co-founder and Program Director

    Celeste works with criminal justice facilities to teach staff members the practicalities of using highly trained dogs in victim/witness support programs.  As Executive Director of Courthouse Dogs, Dr. Walsen is currently working to develop nationally recognized guidelines that will equip victim advocates, forensic interviewers, prosecuting attorneys, and other legal professionals to effectively employ dogs to provide support for vulnerable people of all ages. Dr. Walsen holds a BA in Psychology from the University of California Berkeley and a DVM from Louisiana State University.

  • Ellen O’Neill-Stephens JD, Founder Emeritus

    Ellen served as a deputy prosecuting attorney in Seattle, Washington for 26 years, retiring in November of 2011; she is a pioneer in the use of dogs to provide emotional support in the criminal justice system and the founder of Courthouse Dogs.  Since 2003, she has promoted the use of highly trained assistance dogs to provide comfort to children and adults who are victims or witnesses of crimes and support juveniles and adults in mental health and drug courts. Ellen’s son, Sean, and his service dog, Jeeter, were the inspiration for the Courthouse Dogs Foundation.  Ellen received her bachelor’s degree in Sociology, and was a juvenile probation officer before entering law school.

Board of Directors

  • Tamara Martin, President

    Tamara Martin has spent over 40 years in the criminal justice system, having worked with both offenders and victims.  Tamara earned her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Auburn University at Montgomery. Tamara spent her first nine years of her professional career counseling and advocating for domestic violence and sexual assault victims. Starting in 1992 and continuing for 21 years, Tamara worked as a federal probation officer with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.  Following her retirement in 2013, Tamara began working on starting the first Courthouse Facility Dog program in Alabama. In May 2014, facility dog Willow was placed with Tamara to serve victims and witnesses in the Alabama court system. Tamara and Willow went on to start the first statewide facility dog program in the United States.  Tamara is employed by the Office of Prosecution Services in Montgomery, Alabama, and Facility Dog Handler for the HERO program. Tamara serves on the International Board of Directors for the Courthouse Dogs Foundation, and is the National Coordinator for Justice Facility Dog, US. After Willow’s retirement in May 2021, Tamara was matched with facility dog Yahini. Willow and Yahini were bred and raised by Canine Companions, a service dog organization accredited by Assistance Dogs International.

  • Andy DeVivo, Treasurer

    Andy DeVivo joins the Courthouse Dogs Foundation Board of Directors with a wealth of experience and expertise in the IT industry. He has over 15 years of experience, specializing in Agile methodologies and Scrum. Andy holds an MBA from Lehigh University, complemented by a Bachelor’s degree in Information Science & Technology from The Pennsylvania State University. His professional credentials include certifications as a Certified Scrum Professional, Product Owner, as well as being a Project Management Professional. Andy also volunteers with the Seafair Charitable Foundation. At the Courthouse Dogs Foundation, Andy's blend of technical acumen, strategic insight, and community engagement will be instrumental in furthering the foundation's mission.

  • Tracey Fitzgerald, Secretary

    Tracey Fitzgerald is a strategic communications leader with a passion for storytelling and building trusted brands. With more than 20 years of experience in corporate communications, she has helped organizations navigate growth, change, and reputation management across industries like financial services, healthcare, and technology.

    As Vice President of Communications at BECU, Tracey shaped executive messaging, crisis response, and employee engagement strategies. Her career also includes leadership roles at A Place for Mom, T-Mobile, and Text 100/Archetype, where she managed high-impact public relations campaigns for Fortune 500 technology brands.

    Tracey believes in the power of clear, authentic communication to bring people together and drive meaningful change. She holds a degree in English with a concentration in Creative Writing from SUNY Fredonia. She enjoys exploring Pacific Northwest parks and trails and is often accompanied by her extended furry family of Labradors and Bernedoodles.

    A champion of purpose-driven work, Tracey is proud to support Courthouse Dogs Foundation in its mission to promote justice with compassion.

  • Beth Gillia, JD, MA, Director

    Beth Gillia has always worked with and for children and families–as a teen teaching infants to swim, developing a network of family-based child care centers, as a tribal court judge, as a Guardian ad Litem in abuse and neglect cases, representing survivors of domestic violence, as Director of the Institute of Public Law (including its Corinne Wolfe Center for Child and Family Justice and Judicial Education Center), as Deputy Cabinet Secretary at the NM Children, Youth and Families Department, and currently as Executive Director of the NM Office of Family Representation and Advocacy. Beth is deeply committed to improving systems so that children and families flourish.

    Beth has a BA in Women’s Studies from Hampshire College, an MA in American Studies from UNM, and a JD from UNM School of Law. When not working, Beth raises alpacas, goats, and chickens, enjoys whitewater rafting and all things outdoors, reads like a fiend, and keeps her hands busy and heart full with a variety of fiber arts.

  • Eric Thompson, Director

    Eric Thompson brings 25 years of business development, marketing and client facing leadership to Courthouse Dogs. Eric has worked in numerous marketing and business development roles at companies including Intel, Adobe and Microsoft’s MSN and Xbox Divisions as well as his own business development agency, IndieBD.

    His work with Courthouse Dogs continues his lifelong commitment to service, having formerly served as President, Community Advisory Board for the American Diabetes Association and as a volunteer/fundraiser for Microsoft’s Day of Giving and King County United Way. He holds a B.A. in English/Communications and an MBA in Technology Marketing.

    His greatest loves in life are his children, Ben and Claire, and his dogs, Oreo and Rosie. Like peanut butter and chocolate, they go together - and make everything better.

Advisory Board

  • James Ha, PhD, CAAB

    James has been extensively trained in the social behavior of mammals and birds, with a special focus on highly social species like domestic dogs. He received a Ph.D. in Zoology with a specialization in animal behavior from Colorado State University, and a professional credential as a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist. For 25 years, Jim worked as a Research Professor in the Animal Behavior Program at the University of Washington. He currently continues to do what he enjoys most: teaching in his online UW Certificate in Applied Animal Behavior program and conducting research on complex social behavior and cognition of several animal species. He recently retired from his business in performing in-home evaluations and treatments of behavior issues in pets, but continues as a Consulting Behaviorist in advising on many such cases each year as well as consulting on behavior and welfare issues in the legal system. He currently consults on these issues with groups such as the Courthouse Dogs Foundation, Seattle Animal Shelter, the Seattle Parks Department, and Homeward Pets Adoption Shelter, as well as multiple private pet industry companies.

  • David Crenshaw, PhD, ABPP, RPT-S

    David is Clinical Director of the Children's Home of Poughkeepsie, New York, and adjunct visiting assistant professor in the graduate clinical psychology program at Teachers College, Columbia University.  He is a Board Certified Clinical Psychologist by the American Board of Professional Psychology, Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA), and Fellow of APA's Division of Child and Adolescent Psychology. He is also a Registered-Play Therapist-Supervisor (RPT-S) by the Association for Play Therapy. Dr. Crenshaw is a Past President of the New York Association for Play Therapy, and also the Hudson Valley Psychological Association, which honored him with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. He has written or edited 12 books on child aggression, trauma, grief, resilience, and over 50 book chapters and journal articles. His latest books are Play Therapy Interventions to Enhance Resilience co-edited with Robert Brooks and Sam Goldstein and Termination Challenges in Child Psychotherapy co-written with Eliana Gil.

  • Al Killen-Harvey,LCSW

    Al is the co-founder of The Harvey Institute, a training and consultation company whose mission is improving health care outcomes through integrating sexual health. For the past 21 years he has worked at the Chadwick Center for Children and Families at Rady Children’s Hospital, where he currently serves as the Lead Trainer under two federally funded grants designed to improve Trauma Informed care in Child Welfare and Mental Health systems across the United States. A Licensed Clinical Social Worker, he has worked for several decades in the field of trauma treatment. He serves as an adjunct faculty member at California State University, Long Beach as well as a faculty member of the San Diego Public Child Welfare Training Academy. He has served on the board of CAPSAC (California Professional Society on the Abuse of Children) and is a consultant and trainer for UCLA’s Rape Treatment Center in Santa Monica, California. He is currently the co-chairperson of the Cultural Consortium for the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

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