Immediate Past President, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Association (“NCJFCJ”), nationwide supervising Judicial Faculty Director, Member of the National Advisory Committee, ABA Homeless Youth Legal Network and the Stewards of Change Institute National Board, Juvenile Court Judge since 2004. He has always been a strong advocate for youth on issues such as shackling, disproportionate miority contact, drug and mental health treatment. He has overseen the growth of Treatment Court, the implementation of Family Mental Health and Juvenile Mental Health Court. Among many other important juvenile justice reform initiatives, he led the initiative to create Evening Reporting Centers, and implemented the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative (JDAI.Nationally, he has authored several articles and lectures at state, national and international conferences focusing on judicial leadership, on effective data and information sharing/exchange, the roles and responsibilities of guardians, juveniles’ rights in delinquency court, abuse, neglect, dependency, racial and ethnic disparity.

Petra Guder
MA Social Work 1983, FH Bielefeld/MA Business Administration 2004, VWA OWL/ MA Criminology 2007, University of Hamburg, Germany, followed by additional law studies., Founding member, International Committee, National Council of Juvenile & Family Court Judges, Reno, NV (USA)

Profound practical experience in Child Welfare, Family Court, Guardianship Court and Juvenile Justice Matters, including Juvenile Probation. Works international since 1995, established the international school program with the Glen Mills Schools, USA, leading to monthly visits to the US for 22 years. Wide range of international research and practice contacts regarding evidence based programming, designed vocational integration and wrap around programs and coachings for troubled youth and children in need. Conceptualiziation and organisation of many socio-cultural projects with international artists. Many international representations, General Committee Member for the US, International Association of Youth and Family Court Judges and Magistrates (IAYFJM), active member of the America Center Hamburg and the German American Chamber of Commerce, Philadelphia, PA. Developed the concept of transatlantic dialoge between the US and Europe, resulting in many international field trips and the foundation of the Juvenile Justice Reform Forum 2014, since then regular part of the annual German Prevention Conferences. Published various articles about Juvenile and Child Friendly Justice from an international perspective.

Prof. (em) Dr. Bernd-Rüdeger Sonnen, University of Hamburg, Faculty of Law
Past president, German National Juvenile Court Judges Association (DVJJ)1998-2010, numerous Juvenile Justice expert opinions for the German Federal Government, Member of The German Parliaments (Deutscher Bundestag) Expert Group regarding maltreatment and abuse in Youth Residential Institutions from the 1950ies - 70ies.

Many international appearances as an international presenter, such as
-IAYFJM World Conference in Melbourne/Australia 2002
-European Society of Criminology Annual Conference in Tuebingen/Germany 2010
-Annual Tri-State (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) Conference of Kriminologische Gesellschaft, Fribourg/Switzerland, 2014
-Annual Tri-State (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) Conference of Kriminologische Gesellschaft, Köln 2015
-Experts Opinion at Swiss Conference on Juvenile Justice, Zuerich 2015
-Experts Opinion at International Experts Hearing on Juvenile Justice Reform Issues in Ankara/Turkey,. 2012, together with Petra Guder

His scholarly work and research appears in various edited books and journals.