2010-2011 Lessons from the Field
More than just mean girls: A Series on Relational Aggression
February 8, 2011
Presenter/Panelist Bios
David Nelson is an Associate Professor in the School of Family Life at Brigham Young University. He
graduated from Brigham Young University with a B.S. degree in Human Development and a minor in
Russian. During his Ph.D. studies with Nicki Crick at the University of Minnesota, he worked a
research assistant. Part of his work included Project KIDS, a 5-year longitudinal study investigating
familial linkages to types of childhood aggression. His research and scholarly interests include a
social developmental focus that cover themes such as relational aggression in family relationships,
media influences on personal relationships and social behavior, contributions of humor to social
status, and cross-cultural similarities and differences in family environment and children’s social
development. Some of his recent publications appear in the Handbook of Cross-cultural
Developmental Science, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, and Journal of Experimental Social
Psychology. Dr. Nelson is also certified as a Positive Discipline Parent Educator.
Mary Jo Avendaño is a bilingual, bicultural Psychology Doctor, Licensed Marriage and Family
Therapist, Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Social Worker. Presently she works as
clinical consultant for the Children’s Mental Health Division at the Department of Human Services,
State of Minnesota. She is a consultant for Ambit Network formally Clinical Supervisor for the Child
Development Policing Program (CDPP) with the M.C.R.C. (Minnesota Child Response Center) at the
Department of Family Social Science and Institute for Child Development at the U of MN, since 2004,
as well a consultant for the St. Paul head start programs. Since 2007 she has been an Adjunct
Professor at St. Mary’s University of Minnesota. Her training includes evidence based treatments and
many years of experience treating immigrant families with a clinical focus on trauma.
Her dedication serving the Hispanic community leads her professional practice.
Deborah Cavitt is a project coordinator for Minnesota Association for Children's Mental Health, a
non-profit statewide organization providing education and advocacy for parents and
professionals. Deborah works with schools, children, parents, and professionals to educate and
advocate in order to increase understanding and reduce stigma related to children’s mental health
disorders. Deborah has a master's degree in human services and a Minnesota Teaching
Certification. She was a teacher for more than 20 years working mostly on the White Earth Indian
Reservation in Northern Minnesota. She has also worked as a substance abuse prevention specialist
in Iowa. She formed and coordinated the Washington County Safe Coalition in Washington, Iowa
through SAMHSA’s Drug Free Communities Support Program Grant.
Freddie Davis-English is a member of the Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee and DMC
Subcommittee Chair. In 2007, she retired as a division director with the Hennepin County
Department of Community Corrections after 26 years as a juvenile corrections unit supervisor for
Hennepin County in its Home School and Probation and Parole Division, and division manager and
superintendent in its Juvenile Detention Division. Davis-English’s community activities include
serving as a member and recent past chair of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines Affordable
Housing Board of Directors, a charter member and former chair of the Juvenile Female Advisory
Committee, and a member of the of the Female Offender Task Force, Minnesota Supreme Court Race
Bias Implementation Committee, and African American Family Services. Davis-English, who has been
a member of JJAC since 2007, has been reappointed to a four-year term that expires on January 7,
2013.