Meet the Staff

Linda Atkinson
Executive Director
Linda has been active in DWI prevention since she began as a volunteer in 1987. She is the co-founder and the Executive Director of the DWI Resource Center and Victims Rights Project. As one of the foremost experts on the DWI issues in New Mexico, she has held two Governor-appointed positions and published a community guide on DWI prevention. In 1994 she conducted and subsequently published a study (the Metro Court Project) on DWI dismissals and missing disposition information. Ms. Atkinson is involved in public policy and legislative advocacy, victim advocacy training court monitors, and also serves as a technical consultant to local businesses regarding workplace DWI, alcohol and drug abuse prevention.

Melissa Stephenson
General Counsel
Melissa comes to the Center after more than a decade of public service developing and championing employment programs for people with severe disabilities. She was a management analyst for the President's Committee for Employment of People With Severe Disabilities, then left the federal government to work for NISH, a national non-profit agency. Melissa graduated from the University of New Mexico School of Law Magna Cum Laude in May 2000. She is the co-author of Wharton's Criminal Procedure (Vol. 1), and has taught law classes at both the University of New Mexico school of law and the PLSI American Indian Law Center. In addition to her legal practice, Melissa is also an accomplished pianist, winning the National Music Guild Award for Piano Excellence for 10 consecutive years.

Valerie Arbogast
Office Manager/Bookeeper
Valerie received her B.A. from the University of New Mexico and has worked as an office manager/bookkeeper for the last 10 years. While furthering her education at TVI she volunteered for the DWI Resource Center's service learning program as a court monitor. A few months later she became one of the Center's newest staff members.

Shannon Johnston
Project Manager
Shannon graduated from the University of Washington with a B.A. in Communications. Before joining the DWI Resource Center, she spent nearly a decade working in international communications and strategic marketing for Internet security companies. Outside the office, her personal interests include biology, herbal medicine, and permaculture, and she is a licensed massage therapist and natural theraputics specialist.

Thomas Beretich
Data Analyst & DWI Outreach Coordinator
Thomas received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from NCSU, and holds an MBA from Tulane. He comes to the Center with a broad background in international marketing and data analysis, specializing in data-modeling and GIS mapping. Prior to joining the Center, Thomas worked in Italy and Croatia before returning to the United States and serving as a Vice-President of Strategic Marketing at the Hartford Insurance Company in Conneticut. He is fluent in Italian, French, Croatian and English.

Darlene Reid Jojola
Victim Advocate, NM Victims Rights Project
Darlene has been specializing in domestic violence issues and victim advocacy for more than twenty years. She is the former Executive Director of the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women (CSVAW), and was a tribal court victim advocate for the White Mountain Apache Tribe (WMAT) prosecution department in Whiteriver, AZ. In 1998, she was instrumental in the passasge of the WMAT Domestic Violence Criminal Codes, and served as executive assistant to WMAT Tribal Chairmas Dallas Massey, and co-chairman for the WMAT Domestic Violence Task Force. Darlene's creditials include a B.A. in Criminal Justice and English, an A.A. in Communications, an A.S. in Legal Studies, and national certification as a paralegal. She is a member of the Comanche and Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma. Presently Darlene is serving on a number of community organizations dedicated to addressing domestic violence, including the Board of Directors for Morning Star House, Inc., the statewide Network Steering Committee, the NM Intimate Partner Violence Death Review Team.

Sub-Contractors

Keith Smith
Data & Statistical Analysis, March 2003
Keith Smith has been involved in DWI and traffic crash research for more than 20 years. He served as editor of the New Mexico Traffic Safety Bureau's Driving While Impaired annual publication for several years and is a charter member of The Association of Transportation Safety Information Professionals.

Volunteers

The Center utilizes volunteers and student interns. The Center is a service learning agency for the Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute (TVI). All programs and services are provided by the Center's Staff (listed above) and volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering for the DWI Resource Center or the New Mexico Victims' Rights Project, please email us at info@dwiresourcecenter.org.