2024 Conference Speakers

Maria Dinkel worked tirelessly with victims of domestic violence for the past 20 years and just recently retired. Maria earned her undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Kansas State University and her master’s degree in Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling from Montana State University Billings. She began her career in social work at the Carbon County Domestic and Sexual Violence Services followed by many years at Passages Assessment, Sanctions, and Revocation Center, Passages Drug and Alcohol Treatment Program, Passages Pre-release Center, and the Montana Women’s Prison. Maria worked for the Montana Department of Corrections as a Victim Liaison working with victims of felony crime for the past six years. Many of these victims were also offenders supervised by the Montana Department of Corrections and many of whom had experienced Human Trafficking. Maria spent many years working with victims through programs of the Montana Coalition Against Domestic Sexual Violence, Carbon County Domestic and Sexual Violence Services, and the Billings Area Family Violence Task Force. She chaired the Annual McGuire Memorial Conference on Family Violence for many years and has continued educating members of the community coordinating the Speaker’s Bureau for the Billings Area Family Violence Task Force.

Mark DiBona was born and raised in Boston Massachusetts. In 1985, Mark began his Law Enforcement career with the Braintree Police Department and later transferred to the Amtrak Police Department, Boston District.

In 1993, Mark moved to Florida and continued his career with the Avon Park Police Department and the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, 19 years as a Patrol Sergeant. After 25 years with S.C.S.O. and 33 years of Law Enforcement experience, Mark retired in 2019.

Throughout his Law Enforcement career, Mark has held several positions and assignments, to include Field Training Officer, Peer Support Unit, Critical Incident Stress Management Team, Public Information Officer, Police Academy and in-service training Instructor.

Mark is an advocate for First Responder suicide prevention, mental health education and wellness. During his career, Mark developed mental health issues and a suicide attempt. He is very open speaking about these issues and his wellness. He is an advocate for First Responder suicide prevention, mental health education and wellness.

Mark has appeared in several media events, podcasts, webinars, newspapers, books, documentaries, magazine interviews, radio shows, conferences, training events and in a music video.

In his free time, Mark enjoys spending time with his wife Gailyn of over 33 years. Spending time with their dogs, Romeo and Bella. He is a huge fan of Rock and Roll music, playing the guitar and keyboards.

Jodi K. Gardner’s life experiences, academic achievements, and restored courageous imagination enable her to live by her personal mission statement, “To be colorfully unique, while serving God to the best of her ability at a given moment by empowering and encouraging the brokenhearted through love, hope, advocacy, education, and counseling.”  Jodi is the survivor of parental domestic violence, sexual abuse, a mutually abusive marriage, homelessness, and a crippling disability. Through these experiences, she found herself, her true self.

She recognizes the power shame can hold over a person. Jodi delivers simple to understand examples of complicated emotions associated with shame, trauma, and loss of identity. She earned a master’s in Rehabilitation Counseling emphasizing psychiatric conditions, acquired disabilities, disability law, and creative therapies as well as undergraduate degrees in Rehabilitation Counseling and Psychology focusing on psychological testing, developmental disabilities, and Inland Northwest Native American Psychology. Jodi holds professional licenses in Mental Health, Vocational, and Addictions Counseling.  

Her unique style opens doors to non-traditional settings and hardened hearts. Her genuineness, quick wit, and word-smithing abilities make learning fun, whether counseling groups or individuals, acting as Secretary on the Board of Directors for an Independent Living Center or for a FBI awarded Human Trafficking Taskforce Community Awareness Committee, speaking before Legislators, or hanging with friends in homeless communities. She has interfaced with clients ranging from the ages of four to 94. While counseling adolescents in behavioral wilderness programs, she specialized in self-harm; students who required specialized care due to non-verbal learning disabilities, prenatal exposure to toxic substances; and trauma survivors. As an Addictions Counselor, she cultivated a fledgling program into the primary source of income and productivity for an Idaho treatment facility. She loves telling the story of failing “non-violent training” while working at a pre-release center.  She recently published her first book in a series drafted to progressively empower those living in shame, poverty, or what she calls the “victim-victor mentality.”  The combination of her character, ability to step outside “the box,” and boldness brings life and light to dark places in the human soul

Mandi Crable is a foster adoptive mom, certified Special Education Teacher, and certified EMT who has called Montana home for over half her life now. Mandi spent over a decade working with kids in Billings before hitting the streets working in EMS. Mandi is sharing her story at this year’s conference to not only share what secondary trauma can do to a person and family, but how to have hope for recovery. 

Shane Bancroft was born and raised in Northern New Jersey but has called Montana home for more than 25 years. He served with the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office from 1998 until his retirement in 2021. Throughout his career Shane served as a Patrol Officer, Crisis Negotiator, Coroner, an Undercover Officer and Case Agent with the Rocky Mountain HIDTA Task Force and as Major Case Detective with the Sheriff’s Office. His casework focused on Narcotics conspiracy cases as well as Homicide, Suicide, Officer Involved Shootings, and other violent crimes. He is a graduate of the National Forensic Academy at the University of Tennessee, known as “The Body Farm”.  He has certified as a Crime Scene Investigator, as well as in Shooting Reconstruction and Blood Stain Pattern analysis. 

Today, Shane works with the State of Montana’s-Cannabis Control Division, consults on Criminal Cases for Law Enforcement, and is the President of Alleged Investigation, a Private Investigation firm

Lynelle Amen is a Montana Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) focused on trauma therapy services for all ages & specializing in the care of child sexual abuse victims. In addition to 20 years of law & justice experience, she has received extensive training in trauma informed care & forensic interviewing practices, particularly those related to sexual crimes involving children & youth. As a result of her background, Lynelle is regularly called upon to provide expert legal testimony in jurisdictions throughout the state. Most recently she became a nationally certified emergency responder & public safety certified clinician to support law enforcement & first responders with work-related trauma. 

Lynelle earned her Bachelor of Science in Human Services & a Master of Science in Rehabilitation & Mental Health Counseling. She became a LCPC in 2016 and began her private practice in 2019. She is currently a member of the American Mental Health Counselor’s Association, Professional Counselor’s of Montana Association, Children’s Justice Taskforce, & Yellowstone Valley Children’s Advocacy Center Advisory Council. In addition to her work as a therapist & these organizations, Lynelle also provides professional trainings related to child sexual abuse & mandatory reporting. 

Maja Archer has been a Dispatcher with the City of Billings since September 2009. Maja was born here in Billings and graduated from the University of Montana in 2004 with a degree in Political Science with a minor in History and an education certificate.  Prior to dispatch, Maja worked in group home settings with at-risk youth between the ages of 12-18 years of age. 

During her time at the 911 center, Maja has been involved on the dispatch side during multiple officer-involved shootings, various domestic violence-related calls, and other incidents that can result in secondary trauma.  Some calls are standard, such as non-injury accidents, and other calls can leave a lasting effect when someone is hurt or a victim of a violent crime. 

Andrew Campbell is an expert on family violence and the associated risks of harm for adults, children, and pets residing in homes where this violence occurs. Andrew obtained his master’s degree in public health from Purdue University and has presented at over 175 professional conferences and trainings since 2019. His many publications over the last several years include papers cited by the FBI, CDC, United Nations, and in over 1,200 international academic papers and research studies. In addition to being an author, researcher, and educator, Andrew also speaks as a survivor of family violence in childhood.

My name is Faith Anne Tallwhiteman, MSW, LAC, SWLC. I’m an enrolled member of the Fort Peck Tribe. My mother was a full-blood Assiniboine, and my father was Caucasian. I grew up in the Wolf Point area which is in the Northeast corner of the Fort Peck Reservation. I was raised on my mother’s allotted Indian land (Daws Act) which my father turned into an agricultural area. I graduated with my high school diploma in 1986
from Wolf Point High School and was a member of the National Honor Society throughout school. I enrolled at Haskell Indian Jr. College which was in Lawrence Kansas. I met my husband and soulmate, Thomas Tallwhiteman, an enrolled member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe. Tom and I have three biological children, Thomas Jr., Layton, and Tiffany. Tom and I were married for 17 years and due to his undiagnosed depression, Tom committed suicide, on March 13th, 2002, the night before our oldest son’s 13th birthday due to a self-inflicted gunshot to the head.

I was a Postmaster at Ashland Post Office and decided that I needed to make a change to understand why. I enrolled in college where I received a degree in Allied Health at Chief Dull Knife College. I transferred to Salish Kootenai College to pursue my degree in Nursing. After two years of clinical rotation including internships working at Vern E Gibbs Indian Health Clinic Poplar Mt. and Lame Deer Indian Health Services, I began to see the devastating effects that untreated mental health had on the Native American populations. In the summer of 2010, I received an internship to attend Yale School of Medicine on Childhood Developmental Disorders. I completed working with Dr. Volkmor at the Children’s Psychiatric Unit and Barbara Nordhaus, Yale Social Worker Director and decided that I would pursue my higher education in the mental health field. I graduated from Salish Kootenai College, in June 2012 with my Bachelor of Social Work, minoring in Chemical Dependency and Psychology. I then went to work for The Bureau of Indian Affairs as a Methamphetamine Social Worker and decided that I needed to pursue a master’s in social work. I was accepted into the accelerated MSW program at Walla Walla University and in August 2016 I graduated with honors. I then went to work for the Northern Cheyenne Recovery Center, Lame Deer Mt. as a Chemical Dependency Counselor and worked my way up to Clinical Supervision of the Northern Cheyenne Recovery Center. I continued working in this field and again had firsthand experience with the devastating effects that childhood trauma, family dysfunction, and addictions had on Native American people.

During this time. I was blessed with four of my deceased brother’s biological grandchildren, Rockie, now age 14, and Dakota 12, and a set of fraternal twins, Rozalynn and Rory age 8. This has been challenging to say the least as these children have severe SEDs including in utero drug exposure and attachment difficulties. I believe everything in our life has a purpose, reason, and a plan. I then decided I needed to pursue a profession where I felt I could make positive behavioral changes with children and accepted a Comprehensive School and Community Treatment (CSCT) Therapist position on the Flathead Reservation. I worked for four years diagnosing and treating children with Serious Emotional Disturbances (SED) in school-based services.

In 2021 after the pandemic, I accepted a job with the Indian Urban Health Center, Billings Mt. as their Clinical Supervisor for the Chemical Dependency Department. I worked for BUIHWC as the clinical director overseeing 15 employees, including Peer Support Specialists, Addiction Counselors, and intake professionals but longed to work with children and adolescents. I am currently the Lead Outpatient Therapist where I continue using my skills, knowledge, and expertise to help families reach their full potential by understanding the effects of Childhood Trauma, Substance Abuse, and Mental Health Issues.

Dr. Brenda Roche has 30 years of experience working with families experiencing substance abuse, trauma, the foster care system, and criminal justice system, 19 years of experience working with drug courts (juvenile, family, and adult), over 12 years of experience working with children on the Autism Spectrum and their families and 17 years working with individuals with traumatic brain injuries.  I am a licensed psychologist in Montana with certification in Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy and am also trained as a neuropsychologist.  I provide individual therapy for children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families; neuropsychological evaluations for all ages – infants through adults; and parent/child interaction evaluations.  I work at Billings Clinic Behavioral Health as a neuropsychologist.   

Melanie Schwarz is the current CEO of UpStream Strategy Partners, a collaborative company designed to educate communities around mental health and substance use disorders in the workplace.  She designed a curriculum for businesses titled Mind Wellness University. Mind Wellness University is a workplace membership designed to support employee mental health through online and in-person learning opportunities customized for the unique needs of each workplace.

Melanie is also an advocate for families in the midst of their loved one’s substance use disorder. Having lived this herself, Melanie is very familiar with the journey people are on and the need to try and navigate this disease from a support or parent role.

Melanie previously worked as the Chief Growth and Innovation Officer at a regional substance use and mental health treatment center in Montana, and before that was the Director of Business Development for the local economic development organization.  

Melanie is a published author.  Her book LifeJackets, A Mother’s Journey through her Childs Addiction, has helped hundreds of families with their experience of substance use disorder in their family. LifeJackets is Melanie’s first book, and has launched her dream of traveling the country and talking to other families experiencing addiction.

 Melanie is currently building an online community titled “The LifeJacket Club” for people all over the country to have access to resources and peers sharing a similar experience. She spends her time strategizing and finding new and innovative ways to assist people supporting someone with a substance use disorder.

Melanie lives in Billings, Montana. She has had a 25+ year career in marketing, public relations and development and healthcare; and is a graduate of Montana State University.