Our Board
John Meza
AATN President and Board Chair
John Meza currently serves as the Inspector General for the Arizona Department of Economic Security, responsible for safeguarding Arizonans by preventing, detecting, and investigating fraud, waste, abuse, and misconduct and overseeing the physical security of all DES facilities.
John has over 30 years of experience in public safety including eleven years as a police executive and retired in 2017 as the Chief of Police of the Mesa Police Department.
As Chief of Police, John spearheaded the Community Engagement and Employee Wellness Bureau at Mesa PD to focus on the importance of community trust and partnership and the wellbeing of all department employees. Chief Meza was instrumental in the development and implementation of various innovative programs, particularly the CompStat approach to data-driven policing.
Marilyn Seymann
AATN Vice President, AATN Co-Founder
Marilyn, along with Nancy Baldwin and the late John Whiteman, is a co-founder of AATN. AATN’s prevention program, CSI was created out of Marilyn’s love and concern for our community’s most vulnerable youth – those who are often homeless and many of whom attend Children First Leadership Academy, a school established for this population.
Marilyn is respected nationally for her insightful guidance of both private and public institutions. She is Chief Executive Officer of Caring Capital, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in creating innovative solutions for community collaboration, legacy creation and the compassionate use of capital. Prior to forming Caring Capital, Marilyn was the CEO of the Bruce T. Halle Family Foundation, which emphasizes issues related to social justice and vulnerable populations and founded the Arizona Foundation for Women.
Committed to her community, Marilyn has taken leadership roles in a wide range of non-profit and charitable organizations and has received a multitude of awards for her civic engagement.
Barbara Strachan
AATN Secretary
Barb is the Senior Associate of Community Partnerships for the Girl Scouts – Arizona Cactus Pine Council. She is a graduate of Northern Arizona University with a BA in social and behavioral science and a M.Ed. in Educational Leadership. She joined the Girl Scout team in 2006 to serve girls 5 to 18 years old throughout the Valley. The Social Impact Programs focus on upholding the Girl Scout initiative of Every Girl, Everywhere. Barb delivers programs to girls of every ethnicity and in every situation including after school programs, children of incarcerated parents, refugee children, girls in detention facilities, and group homes.
Prior to working with Girl Scouts, Barb served as the Program Coordinator for Catholic Charities AZ DIGNITY Services/Diversion Programs. She has been involved with anti-human trafficking efforts in Arizona for more than 20 years. Barb believes in the powerful impact that Girl Scouting makes in the lives of girls by instilling courage, confidence, and character in their lives.
Nancy Baldwin
Co-Founder and AATN Treasurer
Nancy is a Co-Founder of AATN, along with Marilyn Seymann and the late John Whiteman. The trio saw the need to consolidate efforts around Arizona to fight human trafficking and address prevention, community involvement, male engagement, and demand. She assists the AATN Program Directors in their day-to-day efforts and provides oversight of the organization’s financial affairs.
As the Executive Director and a Trustee of the Hickey Family Foundation, Nancy is the primary liaison between HFF and all external entities. She manages and coordinates all administration, operations, and activities of the Foundation.
Nancy holds a B.S. in Business Administration, an A.A.S. in Marketing and A.A.S. in Management. In 2011, Nancy received her certification in nonprofit management from the Nonprofit Management Institute, ASU Lodestar Center for Philanthropy & Nonprofit Innovation.
Fidencio Rivera
AATN Board Member
Fidencio is currently Senior Director, Partnership Relations, with CoreCivic, leading partnership relations on the U.S. Marshals Service account at the company. Fidencio served over 26 years with the U.S. Marshals Service before retiring in June 2017 as the Chief Deputy, U.S. Marshal in the District of Arizona. Fidencio also held the position of Inspector General for the Arizona Department of Economic Security, which was responsible for fraud and employee misconduct investigations, DES internal audits, security programs, and appellate services.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Arizona, a Master’s in Management, and a Master’s in Education with an emphasis in Human Relations. Fidencio has participated in numerous leadership programs and received numerous awards and recognitions during his tenure with the U.S. Marshals Service. In addition to his service on the AATN board, he is also on the Executive Advisory Committee for the U.S. Marshals Survivor Benefit Fund. He also served as a Seton Catholic High School advisory board member.
Valentina Restrepo-Montoya
AATN Board Member
Valentina Restrepo-Montoya, Esq. is the Executive Director of Arizona Legal Women and Youth Services (ALWAYS), a non-profit law firm serving vulnerable youth and trafficking survivors in Maricopa and Pima Counties. She and her colleagues assist women and children with family law matters, criminal history repair, and immigration applications.
Prior to joining ALWAYS, Valentina was a Mental Health Attorney at The Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project. Before that, she was an Assistant Public Defender in Birmingham, Alabama. Valentina began her career at The Southern Poverty Law Center after graduating from Berkeley Law. She is a proud Colombian-American woman who is driven by her belief that all people deserve the same opportunities.
Xavier Walker
AATN Board Member
Xavier is the Vice President of Donor Relations for NPH-USA which provides home and family for 7,600 orphaned and disadvantaged children across Latin America and the Caribbean. Everyday Xavier oversees a staff team and creates strategies to raise $6,000,000 annually.
Xavier is a proud Wildcat for life, and a graduate of the NAACP NextGen Fellowship program, active in his local branch. He is also a Guest Lecturer at California Polytechnic State University.
Xavier lives to give, and he began his career at the YMCA of Southern Arizona. He has served numerous nonprofit organizations as a board member or programmatic volunteer, including the American Cancer Society, Diaper Bank of Southern Arizona, Susan G. Komen Arizona, Tucson Urban League and TUSD-Legacy of Excellence. He also currently serves on the board of the Educational Enrichment Foundation, and the Tucson Unified School District Foundation. He is also the Executive Director of the Walker Family Fund which distributes charitable contributions to non-profit organizations that better the quality of life for children and other marginalized populations across the United States and around the World.
Stacey Sutherland
Program Director, TRUST and Board Member
Stacey is the Program Director of Training and Resources United to Stop Trafficking (TRUST), AATN’s premier program that provides training, resources, and collaborative engagement to engaged community members, companies and organizations fighting human trafficking. Stacey has dedicated almost a decade of her life to battling modern-day slavery by training thousands of first responders, victim-facing agency staff members, and medical personnel to respond and help victims.
She has dedicated much of her career to working with rural communities to build local capacity to serve victims of human trafficking. Stacey began her work in the anti-trafficking field by building a rural regional human trafficking program for the Pinal County Attorney’s Office which focused on collaboration between survivors, stakeholders, and community members. In her spare time, she focuses on being the best mom possible to her three kids.
Chris Glover
AATN Board Member
Chris is the Program Director of SAFE (Saving All From Exploitation), an Arizona-based, collaborative effort to train travel, tourism, and hospitality industry professionals at all levels to identify, report, and prevent human trafficking. Chris’s professional background has allowed him to serve in various leadership roles in public and nonprofit sectors. At the age of 23, he became the youngest person ever elected to the City Council in Mesa, Arizona. For eight years as a member of the Mesa City Council, he helped lead strategic plans for the City and worked with over 4,000 employees of the City of Mesa to implement the strategies. He serves on or has served on numerous committees and Boards of Directors of nonprofits providing vast experience in various relevant areas. He has represented Arizona on local, regional, state, and national boards.
Chris is a proud Double Devil. He completed his Master of Science in Management from the W.P. Carey School of Business and a B.S. in Political Science, both from Arizona State University. He also holds certificates in Latin American Studies and International Studies. Chris currently teaches courses at Arizona State University and Mesa Community College.
Nick Lembo
Program Director, Just.Men.Arizona and Board Member
Nick is the Program Director of Just.Men.Arizona, an important AATN effort to engage men in conversations to understand the inherent harms sex buying causes individuals and communities. As the Just.Men.Arizona statewide Director, he helps disrupt demand by recruiting men as volunteers to engage buyers during their attempts to arrange dates and engage them in these important discussions about human rights and dignity.
Since 2012, Nick has been involved in standing against Human Trafficking with various organizations. He is an Emeritus Board Member of Shared Hope International and also founding Board Member of the Rebecca Bender Initiative. Nick has become networked across the nation with anti-trafficking organizations, speaking to advocates at national conferences sponsored by Shared Hope International, and presenting in state and regional meetings.
Michelle Rucker
Program Director, CEASE Arizona and Board Member
Michelle is the Director of CEASE Arizona (Cities Empowered Against Sexual Exploitation), a program of the Arizona Anti-Trafficking Network. Prior to her current role, she worked at the Arizona Attorney General’s Office on anti-trafficking initiatives for over seven years. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in public administration with a concentration in gender-based violence.
Michelle is an experienced trainer on the issue of sex trafficking and has played an integral role in the launch of several programs statewide geared toward ending sexual exploitation.
In her free time she enjoys travel, hiking, and adventuring with her husband and children.
Nate Boulter
AATN Program Officer and Board Member
Nate joined the AATN team in July 2022. Nate retired after over 22 years as a law enforcement professional, having reached the rank of Sergeant with the Mesa Police Department. During his career, Nate has worked in plain clothes and undercover assignments and has been involved in all levels of investigations in Gangs, Street Crimes, Drug Interdiction, Special Investigations, and Human Trafficking. He was an AZPOST Instructor, having amassed several thousands of hours of specialized instruction, and is a qualified and certified subject expert in the Arizona Court System in Drug Trafficking, Prostitution and Sex Trafficking Investigations.
As the Mesa HEaT (Human Exploitation and Trafficking) Sergeant, Nate successfully planned, carried out, and assisted in numerous major operations in Mesa and across the Valley to combat sex trafficking. He created and hosted training for undercover decoys across several Valley law enforcement agencies, and established a partnership with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office to better prosecute sex trafficking cases. He has worked to influence the revision of state statutes and city codes to better respond to the very real victimization of people in The Life.
Nate received numerous awards, citations, and commendations during his tenure at Mesa PD for his work keeping the community safe and “smashing bad guys!”
Shannon Tiffany
Program Director, Community Schools Initiative and AATN Board Member
Shannon Tiffany has been working with Marilyn Seymann and CSI for the past 4-years along with being the TRUST Coordinator for AATN. Shannon has a Bachelors’ Degree in Marketing and Communications. She also has a Masters of Arts in Organizational Management.
Prior to working for AATN, Shannon worked for Saint Francis Xavier School as a Script Manager handling the fundraising program for the school. She also worked for the Arizona-Mexico Commission for the State of Arizona. There, she was the liaison between the coordinators in Arizona and Sonora and coordinated Plenary Sessions between the two States on behalf of the Governor of Arizona.
Shannon also worked as a Special Projects Manager for the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. There, she coordinated all special events, maintained budgets, marketing and logistical details for the events. She also worked for American Express as a Human Resources/Organizational Development Team Assistant. Shannon has been involved and has supported various non-profit organizations including Youth At Risk, Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center, Foundation for Blind Children, Free Arts for Abused Children and Home Fur Good.
