









Dr. Courtney N. Baker is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Tulane University. Dr. Baker is a licensed clinical psychologist with a specialty in child clinical psychology. She received her doctorate from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2010 and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in 2012. Dr. Baker’s research program, Project DIRECT, aims to diminish disparities in mental health and academic achievement by improving the delivery of high-quality evidence-based prevention and intervention programs. In addition to her active research program, Dr. Baker also directs the APA-Accredited School Psychology doctoral program, co-directs the Tulane University Psychology Clinic for Children and Adolescents, directs the Project DIRECT Early Childhood Consultation Service, and serves as the Faculty in Residence in Greenbaum Residence Hall.
Dr. James Dabney serves as the executive director of New Orleans Youth Alliance (NOYA). NOYA is a healing-centered youth development intermediary that works to cultivate a system of high-quality, well-resourced youth development organizations that center youth leadership, racial equity and intersectional equity in their work with young people.
He holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Policy & Leadership from The Ohio State University, a Master of Science in Higher Education from Florida State University, and a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education from Southern University and A&M College. Dr. Dabney also holds a Certificate in Non-Profit Leadership and Exponential Fundraising from the Harvard Kennedy School.
A seasoned professional, Dr. Dabney comes with a wealth of experience in and passion for the field of youth development and higher education, his career spans over 25 years working as a K-12 educator, student affairs practitioner, an adjunct professor of education, as an administrator and senior executive leader in educational nonprofits focusing on college access, success, leadership development, policy and advocacy, and organizational effectiveness.
Dr. Dabney is a proud native of New Orleans and an alum of its public school system. Giving back to the Greater New Orleans area, he is a board member of InspireNOLA Charter Schools and served as an ambassador for New Orleans Chamber of Commerce, a steering committee member of the 2025 New Orleans New Year’s Tragedy Fund, and an advisory board member for Tulane University Undergraduate Admissions.
Laura Danna, LCSW-BACS is the Project Director of Project Fleur-de-lis (PFDL), an intermediate and long-term school-based mental health service model which now serves over 60 New Orleans area schools. Laura provides professional development in schools to administrators, teachers, and staff as well as to local and national mental health professionals. She is a certified trainer in school crisis prevention and responds to crises at PFDL schools when needed. She is also a certified trainer in Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS) and has conducted trainings in this evidence-based intervention both at the local and regional levels. In addition, Laura provides ongoing consultation to the Project Fleur-de-lis team of interns, externs and school based clinicians who are implementing CBITS in schools. Laura is also the Principal Investigator for an ongoing CBITS research study.
Dr. Kelli Jordan is the Chief School Support and Improvement Officer and oversees the School Support Team and the Office of Student Support and Attendance. She serves as the liaison for engagement and communication with our charter school leaders and leads the district’s school support in a variety of areas such as system-wide programming, school improvement and school partnerships. Prior to joining NOLA Public Schools, Dr. Jordan served in various capacities in school leadership and support roles for diverse learners. Dr. Jordan is published in peer-reviewed journals and presents on a variety of topics related to special education, trauma-informed practices and mental health at national conferences and local leadership training programs. She is a graduate of Hampton University (B.A. Psychology) and the University of Tennessee (M.S. Applied Educational Psychology and Ph.D. School Psychology).
Travers Kurr, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, is the Manager of Behavioral Health Programs at the New Orleans Health Department. The Behavioral Health Unit oversees community-based programs supported by federal and local funding which include: the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) Initiative, the New Orleans Mobile Crisis Intervention Unit (MCIU), a Sobering Center, and Opioid Settlement Funds. Travers began with the Health Department in 2017 as the LEAD Program Coordinator tasked with implementing and overseeing the operations of the pre-booking diversion program which allows NOPD to divert non-violent, low-level crimes related to underlying and unmet behavioral health needs to intensive case management rather than making an arrest.
From 2009 to 2015, Travers worked for UNITY of Greater New Orleans, the lead agency of the continuum of care for homeless services in Orleans and Jefferson Parish. In 2011, he joined their abandoned building outreach team with the goal of finding permanent housing solutions for people squatting in buildings left vacant from Hurricane Katrina. In 2016, he received a Master’s in Social Work from Tulane University and a Master’s in Public Health from Tulane University the following year.
Tashia Moore came to New Orleans in 2006 to attend Tulane University School of Social Work. In her time in New Orleans, she has worked with the New Orleans Children’s Advocacy Center, Family Services of Greater New Orleans, and for the last 14 years she has been in Orleans Parish schools working as a School Social Worker. Ms. Moore is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker that has specialized training in working with those who have experienced complex trauma. She has recently moved from the school building to the district as the new Director of Behavioral Health for New Orleans Public Schools. It is her hope that her years of working with families can be used to assist in making systemic change in New Orleans Public Schools.
Dr. Stacy Overstreet is a Professor of Psychology at Tulane University. Over the course of her career her research has focused on how sociological, cultural, familial, psychological, developmental, and biological processes influence and interact with one another over time to shape child adaptation to trauma. Over the past ten years, she has translated that research to inform the implementation and evaluation of trauma-informed schools. She has published several empirical and conceptual papers related to these areas and she was co-editor of a 2016 special issue on trauma-informed schools in the journal, *School Mental Health*. Dr. Overstreet is a founding member of the New Orleans Trauma-Informed Schools Learning Collaborative. Her work through the Collaborative includes a grant from the National Institute of Justice to determine whether a multi-component implementation strategy for trauma-informed schools improves school safety as well as a grant from the Department of Justice to develop and evaluate a Train the Trainer model for the implementation of trauma-informed schools.
Morgan Shannon is the Executive Director of the New Orleans Children and Youth Planning Board (NOLACYPB). Morgan’s passion has allowed her to build connections amongst various stakeholders, including youth, advocates, organizers, and philanthropy. She has over a decade of experience in youth advocacy, program development, resource strategy, and nonprofit leadership.
Previously, Morgan served as Deputy Director for the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, and as Program Manager at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, where she worked with the Mississippi, New Orleans, and Boys and Men of Color portfolios. She also served as Program Associate at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), where she supported the Health and Climate Justice programs. Morgan is deeply committed to youth development and racial equity, having worked in both and as frontline staff for CommonHealth Action and Pittsburgh Community Improvement Association in South West section of Atlanta, GA.
Kathleen Whalen M.Ed., MSW is the principal/owner of Strategies for Youth Development, LLC, which provides consulting to youth-serving organizations and professionals who work with youth. Previously, Kathleen was the Director of Professional/Program Development of Partnership for Youth Development. Kathleen has worked in many roles with New Orleans Public Schools (NOPS), including elementary school teacher, school social worker, lead team member in a day treatment center, and school representative in juvenile court. In addition to her 30-year tenure with NOPS, Kathleen was the Psychosocial Program Director with Save the Children in New Orleans, through which she supervised a staff of school-based social workers who worked to build resilience and coping skills addressing stress and trauma associated with Hurricane Katrina. She has also co-authored a social emotional learning curriculum for New Orleans youth called *Journey of Hope*.
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