Family Peace Fellows
Krista Varney, M.S.W.
Krista Varney is a Licensed Master Social Worker and a dedicated, trauma-informed advocate for survivors of gender-based violence based in Dallas, Texas. She currently serves in a statewide policy role focused on advancing survivor-centered systems. Previously, she spent nearly 12 years working in agencies across the continuum of care, from direct client services to senior leadership roles in residential and non-residential programs, community engagement, prevention, and organizational leadership. Krista holds a master’s degree in social work and a bachelor’s degree in theology from the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, IN. She is an expert witness in domestic violence cases and actively engages in coalition leadership and policy advocacy. She has partnered with the Catholic Diocese of Dallas since 2020 to provide training on domestic violence to church staff. Her career spans direct advocacy, community education, coordinated community response efforts, and public policy. When not championing survivors’ rights, Krista is a recently certified Texas Master Naturalist and can often be found walking her dog, pointing out birds, and adding to her ever-growing plant collection.
Krista Varney is a Licensed Master Social Worker and a dedicated, trauma-informed advocate for survivors of gender-based violence based in Dallas, Texas. She currently serves in a statewide policy role focused on advancing survivor-centered systems. Previously, she spent nearly 12 years working in agencies across the continuum of care, from direct client services to senior leadership roles in residential and non-residential programs, community engagement, prevention, and organizational leadership. Krista holds a master’s degree in social work and a bachelor’s degree in theology from the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, IN. She is an expert witness in domestic violence cases and actively engages in coalition leadership and policy advocacy. She has partnered with the Catholic Diocese of Dallas since 2020 to provide training on domestic violence to church staff. Her career spans direct advocacy, community education, coordinated community response efforts, and public policy. When not championing survivors’ rights, Krista is a recently certified Texas Master Naturalist and can often be found walking her dog, pointing out birds, and adding to her ever-growing plant collection.
Kathy Wells, M.P.A.
Kathy Wells has spent 46 years supporting victims of domestic violence, serving as Executive Director at Crisis Services of North Alabama and SafeHouse of Shelby County in Alabama. Her experience includes Public Policy Director for the Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ACADV) and Program Manager at the National Children’s Advocacy Center. After retiring in 2013, she returned to social services as Human Resources Coordinator and Grant Writer before retiring again in 2025. Ms. Wells has served as an expert witness and delivered presentations on domestic violence and related issues nationwide. She holds a BA in Communication Arts from the University of Alabama in Huntsville and an MPA with a concentration in Gender-Based Violence from the University of Colorado Denver. As a founding member of HOPE Place and the ACADV, her board service spans both the Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Alabama Coalition Against Rape. Currently, she is serving on the ACADV board of directors and is Co-Chair of the ACADV Legislative Committee. A cradle Catholic, she is active at St. Paul Catholic Church in Athens, Alabama.
Maxine Davis, M.S.W., M.B.A., Ph.D.
Maxine Davis (PhD, Washington University in St. Louis) is an Assistant Professor at The University of Texas at Arlington in the School of Social Work. Dr. Davis' research focuses on people who act abusively within intimate relationships and interventions that are designed to help them change. A related track of her research also examines how religion is misused to perpetrate intimate partner violence/abuse (IPV/A) and the contributing factors of religious-related IPV/A. With specific attention on Black-American and Latinx populations, her research is guided by former work in Batterer/Partner Abuse Intervention Programs (BIPs/PAIPs).
Dr. Davis is enthusiastic about evaluating promising and innovative BIPs/PAIPs with rigorous research designs. Ultimately, she is committed to promoting effective programs both inside and outside of the criminal justice system through community collaboration, sound research practice, and social policy advocacy.
Maxine Davis (PhD, Washington University in St. Louis) is an Assistant Professor at The University of Texas at Arlington in the School of Social Work. Dr. Davis' research focuses on people who act abusively within intimate relationships and interventions that are designed to help them change. A related track of her research also examines how religion is misused to perpetrate intimate partner violence/abuse (IPV/A) and the contributing factors of religious-related IPV/A. With specific attention on Black-American and Latinx populations, her research is guided by former work in Batterer/Partner Abuse Intervention Programs (BIPs/PAIPs).
Dr. Davis is enthusiastic about evaluating promising and innovative BIPs/PAIPs with rigorous research designs. Ultimately, she is committed to promoting effective programs both inside and outside of the criminal justice system through community collaboration, sound research practice, and social policy advocacy.
Rose Folsom Virtue Connection
Rose Folsom founded Virtue Connection in 2014 to help Catholics be more Christ-like through the virtues. She believes that family peace is best achieved by growth in virtue. A Catholic convert, she began her own education in the virtues by attending a Summa Theologica study group led by the late Fr. Norman Fenton, OP, a philosophy professor at the Dominican House of Studies. The group met for five years, studying one volume of the Summa each year.
A Lay Dominican for over 25 years, she blogs at VirtueConnection.com. She has given talks and workshops at the Family Peace Symposium, the Archdiocese of Washington Women’s Conference, and to men’s and women’s groups such as Knights of Columbus and Greensboro NC Council of Catholic Women. She was also the Keynote Speaker at the 2018 Conference of the Harrisburg Diocese Council of Catholic Women. Ms. Folsom is current President and former Vice President of her Immaculate Conception Chapter of Lay Dominicans, Vice President and Leadership Commission Chair of the Washington Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women, and a member of the Board of Advisors of the Future With Hope Catholic Women's Conference. Ms. Folsom and Fred Folsom, her husband of 35 years, are parishioners of St. Andrew Apostle Parish in Silver Spring, MD.
Rose Folsom founded Virtue Connection in 2014 to help Catholics be more Christ-like through the virtues. She believes that family peace is best achieved by growth in virtue. A Catholic convert, she began her own education in the virtues by attending a Summa Theologica study group led by the late Fr. Norman Fenton, OP, a philosophy professor at the Dominican House of Studies. The group met for five years, studying one volume of the Summa each year.
A Lay Dominican for over 25 years, she blogs at VirtueConnection.com. She has given talks and workshops at the Family Peace Symposium, the Archdiocese of Washington Women’s Conference, and to men’s and women’s groups such as Knights of Columbus and Greensboro NC Council of Catholic Women. She was also the Keynote Speaker at the 2018 Conference of the Harrisburg Diocese Council of Catholic Women. Ms. Folsom is current President and former Vice President of her Immaculate Conception Chapter of Lay Dominicans, Vice President and Leadership Commission Chair of the Washington Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women, and a member of the Board of Advisors of the Future With Hope Catholic Women's Conference. Ms. Folsom and Fred Folsom, her husband of 35 years, are parishioners of St. Andrew Apostle Parish in Silver Spring, MD.
Bushra Sabri, Ph.D., M.S.W.
Bushra Sabri is an Assistant Professor in the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. Dr. Sabri received her PhD from the University of Iowa, with pre-doctoral research support by NIMH (T32MH16089) and SAMHSA (T06SMO58565-03) and completed her NICHD funded interdisciplinary post-doctoral fellowship (T32HDO64428) at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing.
Dr. Sabri’s work is currently supported by NICHD K-Award (K99HD082350; Sabri: PI). Currently, she is co-leading an NICHD funded research project (R01HD081179-01A1; Campbell: PI) on developing and testing culturally-tailored risk assessment and safety planning intervention for immigrant and indigenous women. She has been involved in several funded research projects focusing on interpersonal violence across the lifespan (i.e., childhood, adolescence and adulthood), and risk factors/health outcomes of violence.
Dr. Sabri has a demonstrated record of accomplished and productive research projects, collaboration with other researchers, producing peer-reviewed publications from each project and presenting study findings in national conferences. Her recent work has focused on intimate partner violence (physical, psychological and sexual) among minority and immigrant women and research on campus sexual assault.
Dr. Sabri’s research agenda includes: risk/protective factors and outcomes of violence (mental, physiological and behavioral); and development of culturally responsive risk assessment and interventions for at-risk women from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. Her goal is to contribute to addressing social and health disparities in vulnerable and underserved populations. Here is the link to her key publications:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/1LazcuZ05llA5/bibliography/47853221/public/?sort=date&direction= descending
Dr. Sabri’s work is currently supported by NICHD K-Award (K99HD082350; Sabri: PI). Currently, she is co-leading an NICHD funded research project (R01HD081179-01A1; Campbell: PI) on developing and testing culturally-tailored risk assessment and safety planning intervention for immigrant and indigenous women. She has been involved in several funded research projects focusing on interpersonal violence across the lifespan (i.e., childhood, adolescence and adulthood), and risk factors/health outcomes of violence.
Dr. Sabri has a demonstrated record of accomplished and productive research projects, collaboration with other researchers, producing peer-reviewed publications from each project and presenting study findings in national conferences. Her recent work has focused on intimate partner violence (physical, psychological and sexual) among minority and immigrant women and research on campus sexual assault.
Dr. Sabri’s research agenda includes: risk/protective factors and outcomes of violence (mental, physiological and behavioral); and development of culturally responsive risk assessment and interventions for at-risk women from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. Her goal is to contribute to addressing social and health disparities in vulnerable and underserved populations. Here is the link to her key publications:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/1LazcuZ05llA5/bibliography/47853221/public/?sort=date&direction= descending
Martha Shuping, M.D., M.A.
Specialty: Intimate Partner Violence and Pregnancy
Dr. Martha Shuping, M.D., M.A., is a psychiatrist in private practice in Winston-Salem, NC. A 1984 graduate of Wake Forest University School of Medicine, she completed residency training in psychiatry at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in 1988. Dr. Shuping earned an MA in Pastoral Ministry from University of Dayton in 1992, and is a 2014 graduate of Harvard Medical School’s Global Clinical Scholars Research Training Program.
Since the 1980’s, Dr. Shuping has been helping women and men to recover from the effects of abortion, through individual therapy and through faith-based abortion recovery ministries. Dr. Shuping has served as a consultant, trainer and speaker for non-profit organizations involved in post-abortion ministry in North America, South America, Europe and Asia.
Becoming aware of the association between intimate partner violence (IPV) and abortion, Dr. Shuping presented on this topic at the United Nations during the 2016 meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women. Dr. Shuping has conducted workshops at international conferences to teach nurses how to screen patients for intimate partner violence, especially nurses who provide pre-natal care. Dr. Shuping is co-author of a paper on violence against women and abortion (link below). Her current research interests include the emotional and spiritual effects of abortion, the efficacy of faith based abortion recovery programs, and IPV - especially during pregnancy.
Several of Dr. Shuping’s publications can be found here:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Martha+Shuping
Dr. Shuping authored three chapters in the book Peace Psychology Perspectives on Abortion, edited by Rachel MacNair: https://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Perspectives-Abortion-Rachel-MacNair/dp/1530838266/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488754625&sr=8-1&keywords=Peace+Psychology%2C+MacNair
Since the 1980’s, Dr. Shuping has been helping women and men to recover from the effects of abortion, through individual therapy and through faith-based abortion recovery ministries. Dr. Shuping has served as a consultant, trainer and speaker for non-profit organizations involved in post-abortion ministry in North America, South America, Europe and Asia.
Becoming aware of the association between intimate partner violence (IPV) and abortion, Dr. Shuping presented on this topic at the United Nations during the 2016 meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women. Dr. Shuping has conducted workshops at international conferences to teach nurses how to screen patients for intimate partner violence, especially nurses who provide pre-natal care. Dr. Shuping is co-author of a paper on violence against women and abortion (link below). Her current research interests include the emotional and spiritual effects of abortion, the efficacy of faith based abortion recovery programs, and IPV - especially during pregnancy.
Several of Dr. Shuping’s publications can be found here:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Martha+Shuping
Dr. Shuping authored three chapters in the book Peace Psychology Perspectives on Abortion, edited by Rachel MacNair: https://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Perspectives-Abortion-Rachel-MacNair/dp/1530838266/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488754625&sr=8-1&keywords=Peace+Psychology%2C+MacNair
Laura Yeomans
Laura Yeomans is the Education and Outreach Specialist for Shining Light in Darkness, a Durham, NC, domestic violence program assisting underserved communities. With the Durham County Department of Social Services Protection Department Laura assists Spanish speaking families suffering intimate partner violence. She is the former Coordinator of the Catholic Charities Domestic Violence Outreach Team which did domestic violence awareness training for pastors and lay leaders and healthy relationship training for teens and young adults. She is the editor of Listen with Love: A Guide for Parishes on Domestic Violence Outreach and creator of the Catholic Charities Family Peace resource rich webpage: www.catholiccharitiesdc.org/familypeace. For many years she managed Catholic Charities Parish Partners Program’s emergency response team providing assistance to families referred by parishes.
Yeomans served on the Montgomery County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council Education and Outreach Committee which had a coalition goal of reaching at least 10,000 teenagers each year with healthy relationship training. As part of that coalition effort Yeomans was a presenter for the Montgomery County Family Justice Center: Expect Respect: Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Program. She worked as the director of one domestic violence shelter and as a family advocate in emergency and transitional shelters. She served as Pastoral Associate for St. Joseph Catholic Church, Columbus Diocese, where she developed a domestic violence ministry funded by the Sisters of Charity.
Yeomans was a panelist at the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops Joy of the Gospel 2017 workshop on abuse. She was a workshop leader on parish domestic violence ministry at the 2018 USCCB Catholic Social Ministry Gathering. She was a presenter on intimate partner violence for the 2025 Ladies of Charity USA Assembly.
Yeomans served on the Montgomery County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council Education and Outreach Committee which had a coalition goal of reaching at least 10,000 teenagers each year with healthy relationship training. As part of that coalition effort Yeomans was a presenter for the Montgomery County Family Justice Center: Expect Respect: Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Program. She worked as the director of one domestic violence shelter and as a family advocate in emergency and transitional shelters. She served as Pastoral Associate for St. Joseph Catholic Church, Columbus Diocese, where she developed a domestic violence ministry funded by the Sisters of Charity.
Yeomans was a panelist at the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops Joy of the Gospel 2017 workshop on abuse. She was a workshop leader on parish domestic violence ministry at the 2018 USCCB Catholic Social Ministry Gathering. She was a presenter on intimate partner violence for the 2025 Ladies of Charity USA Assembly.