Leadership and Staff

Elizabeth Santiago has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Center for Safety & Change since 2015. Under her leadership, the Center, the sole victim assistance provider in Rockland County, New York, has significantly expanded its programs and financial sustainability. Notably, the organization’s annual fiscal budget has doubled, and for the first time, it implemented a five-year strategic plan to ensure long-term services for victims and survivors and the broader community.

An activist with over two decades of experience in social justice, Elizabeth is recognized for her expertise in domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking and strategies to end gender-based violence. She is sought after nationally as an adviser and consultant, collaborating with federal, state and local agencies, businesses, policymakers and political leaders to develop legislation, service coordination and best practices. She is also a sought-after trainer and public speaker, featured in media such as PIX11 News, ABC7NY and Univision, discussing critical issues like domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking.

Elizabeth is actively engaged in shaping policy and community responses by her service on several prominent boards and councils, including:

•  New York State Domestic Violence Task Force and Council

•  New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team

•  Rockland County Citizen Advisory Council

•  Co-chair of Rockland County’s Coordinated Community Response Stop F.E.A.R. Coalition

Elizabeth has previously served on the New York State Office of Victim Services Advisory Council, the board of the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NYSCADV), the board of Rockland County CASAs (Court Appointed Special Advocates) for children and the board of the Legal Aid Society of Rockland County.

Elizabeth exemplifies leadership, innovation and community impact. From expanding her organization’s scale and securing multi-year strategic direction, to earning numerous prestigious awards—her professional story reflects a powerful combination of results-driven advocacy, respected expertise and transformative vision.

Elizabeth’s leadership has been recognized with several awards, including her induction into the NYS Women in Human Services Hall of Fame, the Rockland Bar Association’s Liberty Bell Award, the Nyack Center’s Woman of Leadership & Vision, the NYS Senate’s Woman of Distinction, the Rockland County Police Hispanic Society’s Hispanic Leader, the United Way of Rockland County’s Community Builder and Leader and most recently as an Advocate for Social Justice and Gender-Based Violence Prevention by the Nyack NAACP.

Elizabeth is a dual citizen of the Dominican Republic and United States. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Boston College and a Certificate in Non-Profit Sustainability from Cornell University. Elizabeth co-founded the Boston College Archbishop Oscar Romero Scholarship for students of Latinidad descent demonstrating a balance in academics and social justice community service. She is an alumna of Leadership Rockland’s class of 2007. She is a proud mother of three adult children.

Kristina Coleman, LCSW, MPA, has served in social services for over 14 years specializing in child welfare, family reunification, trauma treatment, mental health, program implementation, restorative practice, board development and non-profit leadership. As the CEO and founder of youRmore LLC, Kristina also provides training and consulting for engagement, mental health practices for families of color, leadership development, restorative justice/healing and more. Kristina has worked with many boards and nonprofit organizations to restructure, support executive director searches, and address issues of racial harm and board diversity.

Kristina holds a master’s degree in social work leadership from Hunter College’s Silberman School of Social Work and a Master of Public Administration from Mercy University. She has held multiple roles at both the direct service and leadership levels. Kristina is the Vice President of Child Advocacy and Mental Health Programs at Safe Horizon the nation’s largest victim service agency. As someone who values leadership, education, teamwork and community, Kristina’s mission is to inspire, develop, educate and create opportunities for people to identify their strengths and live fulfilling lives. Kristina is a board member for several organizations which include The New York State Children Alliances, Center for Safety & Change and YMCA of Rockland. She is an active member in her community, assisting and volunteering to help improve connectivity and outcomes for all.

Sandra Ortiz, MD, owns Bardonia Pediatrics, located in Nanuet, NY, a practice dedicated to providing comprehensive healthcare for children. As a local community pediatrician, she works intimately with families affected by different forms of violence. Throughout her work, she has always been passionate about addressing gender-based violence; thus, Dr. Ortiz consistently seeks to connect with like-minded individuals and organizations to amplify her platform. Her family lost a close friend and wonderful soul at the hand of her partner fueling her need to be even more involved with such issues.

Upon meeting leadership at Center for Safety & Change, Dr. Ortiz experienced their dedication and commitment to providing excellent services to those in need while implementing change and promoting education. She was moved to become part of this agency and feels that it is an honor to serve on this board both personally and professionally. Dr. Ortiz joined the board in 2019 and is currently the Vice Chair. She has been volunteering as Center for Safety & Change’s on-call doctor at the shelter for the last six years.

Paul Adler is an Attorney, veteran commercial real estate broker and creative development professional who has an outstanding reputation as an industry leader throughout the tristate area for more than four decades.

A native of Rockland County, Paul earned his BA from Pace University, Master of Public Administration from Long Island University with honors and Juris Doctorate from Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. In addition to his work in real estate, Paul Adler held prominent positions in both the private and public sectors.

Paul has also been extremely active in his community and the real estate industry over the years as a member, director, trustee and an officer of numerous governmental, public, civic, charitable and professional organizations.

Paul currently serves on the Montefiore-Nyack Hospital Board of Trustees, is Board Chair of Montefiore-Nyack Hospital Foundation, and serves on the Holocaust Museum & Center for Tolerance and Education Board of Trustees. He is also the Board of Directors of the following: Westchester County Association-Executive Committee, Center for Safety & Change, Justice Brandeis Law Society-9th JD-Executive Committee, Rockland Community Foundation Board of Directors, Nyack Branch of the NAACP-Executive Board-Chair, Civic Engagement Committee, Rockland Clergy for Social Justice-Executive Committee, NY Democratic Lawyer Council-Steering Committee, Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation Alt. Board Member and Past President and Founding Board Member of JCC of Rockland.

In 2024, Paul was a United Negro Scholarship Fund Honoree.

In 2023, Paul received the following recognition: Humanitarian Award from Operation Santa Claus, JCC of Rockland Founder Visionnaire and New York State Commercial Association of Realtors Economic Development Award. Paul also completed Getting to the Root, a two-day intensive training on racial justice.

In 2022, Paul received the SIOR designation from The Society of Industrial and Office Realtors.

In 2019, Paul was proudly inducted into the Rockland County Civil Rights Hall of Fame.

In 2017, Center for Safety & Change bestowed the first Carolyn Fish Human Rights Award to Paul.

In 2015, Paul earned the coveted Spirit of the Company Award from Rand Realty, Rand Commercial & Hudson United. A Special Commendation Award was bestowed on Paul on behalf of the East Ramapo Students and their Families for his social justice advocacy.

In 2014, People2 People (Rockland’s Food Pantry) honored Paul and his wife, Mary, with its prestigious Friend of People2People Award. In addition, Paul was also awarded the Lifetime of Friendship and Service Award from Venture Together.

In 2013, Paul and Mary Adler received the Prime Ministers Award–State of Israel Bonds. Paul completed the Undoing Racism Course given by the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond-VCS that same year.

Paul Adler was named Philanthropist of the Year by the Rockland Development Council 2011 and received the prestigious Pinnacle Award for Outstanding Services to the Rockland Business Association in 2012.

Paul is married to Mary Adler, and they have five children, four grandchildren and live in Nyack, NY.

Mary Ann Bartels is Sanctuary Wealth’s Chief Investment Strategist, responsible for providing market perspective and investment guidance to the firm’s more than 120 Partner Firms and the Sanctuary Asset Management Investment Council. In this role, Mary Ann provides Sanctuary’s Partner Firms with investment strategy and market analysis through her regular commentary, presentations, media appearances and speaking engagements, which incorporate her more than four decades of experience at financial institutions. As a member of Sanctuary’s Investment Council, she also identifies themes and determines market asset allocation, working closely with the firm’s Capital Markets, Alternative Investments and Sanctuary Asset Management Investment Solutions teams.

Widely recognized for her investment guidance and research, Mary Ann was the recipient of the 2024 Wealth Management Industry Award Wealthie for RIA Thought Leader of the Year, was featured in Business Insider’s “Oracles of Wall Street” as one of 2024’s top trendsetters and was also named one of the Top Platform Investment Solutions Platform Leaders by the 2024 Wealth Solutions Report. She spent more than 40 years on Wall Street analyzing and communicating trends in the economy as well as in equities, bonds, commodities and ETFs, and served in various executive capacities during her illustrious career at Merrill Lynch and Bank of America. For many years, Mary Ann was responsible for contributing to the thought leadership for investment guidance and portfolio solutions for Merrill Lynch advisors and clients. Her name became synonymous with high-quality portfolio strategy and research, earning her the respect of clients and industry peers alike. Previously, she held portfolio manager roles at Zweig-Avatar in New York and at Batterymarch in Boston.

She was an Institutional Investor All-American Research-ranked analyst for six consecutive years for her work in technical analysis. She was also highly regarded for developing proprietary models for equity pairs trading and for her stock, sector and industry selections, as well as her extensive work on hedge funds. More recently, Mary Ann pivoted her career to focusing on the innovative technology underpinning decentralized finance (DeFi), cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse. Mary Ann has appeared on CNBC, Bloomberg and FOX Business, and has often been quoted in various publications including The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and Barron’s.

Mary Ann earned a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Arts in Business and Economics from Fordham University. She is a graduate of the London Real DeFi Academy Accelerator program. She serves on several advisory boards including her alma mater Fordham University and We4C. Mary Ann was invited into Marquis Who’s Who in 1998 as a Global Portfolio Manager and in 2019 as an Investment Strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. She is also a member of the London Real DeFi Academy Investment Club.

Linie has been the Chair of the Board of Directors for Center for Safety & Change since 2020 and has been a member of the board since 2016.

Linie is a North Carolina native who came to New York after graduating from Duke University in 1993. Living in Manhattan, she worked as a manager for Anderson Consulting (later Accenture) and several other consulting firms throughout the 1990s. She was also active in her community, volunteering for the NY Asian Women’s Center (now Womankind), which serves Asian survivors of gender-based violence. For many years, she was also on the board of Asian Professional Extension (now Apex for Youth), a nonprofit dedicated to empowering underserved Asian and immigrant youth from low-income families in New York City.

Linie moved to Nyack in 2009 where she immediately got involved in her local communities––serving on multiple nonprofit boards and volunteering her time to numerous charitable and philanthropic ventures, including the Nyack Parks Conservancy, Sunday Supper in Nyack and United Hospice of Rockland. In 2016, she joined the Center for Safety & Change Board as a passionate believer in the Center’s mission to help Rockland’s survivors of gender-based violence.  As Chair of the Development Committee, Linie drove the revitalization of the Center’s annual Night for Change and was the Co-Chair of the Center’s 40th Anniversary Celebration and the creation of the Rockland Women Leaders Hall of Fame, the most successful fundraising effort in the history of the Center. In 2020, Linie became Chair of the Center’s Board, and as Chair guided the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic to financial stability.

Linie lives in Nyack with her husband, Joe Rand—who currently serves as the Mayor of the Village—their children Jake and Aurelia and their many dogs. She remains deeply committed to the deserving people of Rockland, and to the steadfast mission of Center for Safety & Change.

Dr. Helen Hostin is a board-certified doctor of obstetrics and gynecology in Rockland County, New York. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in biology from Johns Hopkins University before receiving her medical degree from New York University School of Medicine. She completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at New York Medical College, dividing her time between Metropolitan Hospital Center and Westchester Medical Center. Dr. Hostin has practiced medicine in New York since 1997. Before joining Crystal Run Healthcare in West Nyack, NY, in 2015, she practiced at Comprehensive OB/GYN in Pomona, NY, from 2001 to 2015. She is a member of several professional organizations including the National Medical Association and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Dr. Hostin’s love for medicine stems from her childhood aspiration to become a physician inspired by her parents, both physicians themselves, who taught her the importance of working hard as well as being of service to others. Today, she views her practice style as patient centered. Dr. Hostin is deeply committed to the well-being of her patients as well as those in her community and abroad. She has volunteered her time and expertise in Haiti, Ghana, Niger and Argentina for various international and community organizations. She is a member of the Greater Hudson Valley (NY) Chapter of The Links, Inc., and an associate member of the Rockland Orange Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc., both organizations that focus on positively impacting their communities and beyond.

Outside of her time caring for her patients and her volunteer work, Dr. Hostin enjoys spending her free time with her son, Dyoe, spoiling her dog, Luna, as well as staying active, traveling and attending the theatre and other cultural events.

Almost a lifelong Rockland resident, Jon grew up in Orangeburg and attended Tappan Zee High School. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Education from SUNY Albany and later completed his Master’s in Business with a concentration in Marketing.

Jon has spent his entire 45-year career with Nice-Pak and its spinoff “sister” company, PDI. Over the years, he has held positions of increasing responsibility, gaining experience across nearly every aspect of the enterprise—including Manufacturing, Planning, Inventory Control, Sales, Marketing, Division Management, International Operations and Senior Leadership. In his current role as Executive Vice President, he oversees facilities and capacity expansion to meet the growing needs of the business.

For more than 20 years, Jon has been an active volunteer and leader in Rockland County’s nonprofit community. He has served on the boards of VCS, United Way and REDC, and on the business advisory councils for ARC and Bridges. His contributions have been recognized with the Outstanding Corporate Leadership Award from the Rockland Development Council and the Simona and Jerry Chazen Business Leadership Award.

Jon and his wife, Nancy, have been married for 45 years. They live in New City and are the proud parents of three grown children and grandparents to five.

Louise Newsome was born in Liverpool, England and came to the U.S. in 1987, first to Los Angeles and then made Nyack, New York, her permanent home in 1993. Louise has been an entrepreneur most of her professional life, with a several-year period where she was the VP of Programming at a national professional women’s networking organization. Louise left that position about seven years ago to focus her efforts on two personal projects: The family business, Coopers Daughter Spirits, in Claverack, NY and Trade and Prosper, an association supporting artisanal business owners through marketing, events and professional development. Trade and Prosper has been her sole focus since 2021.

Susan Ramos-Chatzky is a dedicated advocate for social justice and community well-being. She has served on the boards of Planned Parenthood and the Rockland Pride Center, bringing her passion for equity and access to essential services. As a volunteer rape crisis counselor, Susan provides critical support to survivors, ensuring they receive the care and resources they need. In addition to her advocacy work, she fosters pets, offering animals a safe and loving home while they await adoption. Susan lives in Briarcliff Manor with her husband, Peter Chatzky, the Deputy Mayor of Briarcliff Manor, where they remain deeply engaged in their community.

Born and raised in Staten Island, New York, Lisa Sapia has been a proud resident of Nyack since 2001. With a Bachelor of Science in Statistics from St. John’s University, Lisa currently serves as Vice President of Sales Operations & Communications at Benjamin Moore & Co., where she will celebrate her 20-year anniversary in March 2025.

A dedicated community leader, Lisa is an active board member of both Center for Safety & Change and the Nyack Field Club, where she serves as Vice President of Social. Her commitment to service also includes previous board membership with Habitat for Humanity of Rockland.