Annual Conference 2025

Dr. Stephanie S. Covington is an internationally recognized clinician, author, organizational consultant, and lecturer.

She is a pioneer in the fields of addiction, trauma, and recovery. She has developed an innovative, gender-responsive, and trauma-informed approach that results in effective services in public, private, and institutional settings. Her presentations, staff-development seminars, and technical assistance focus on systems change and the development of caring, compassionate, and empowering therapeutic environments. They provide professionals an opportunity to learn new skills for dealing with personal, institutional, and societal changes and are always in demand, both nationally and internationally.

 

Dr. Covington was a workshop chair for the women’s treatment improvement protocol (TIP) published by The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and served on the Advisory Council for Women’s Services for SAMHSA. She also is a former chair of the Women's Committee of the International Council on Alcoholism and Addiction. Her clients include the Betty Ford Treatment Center, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment in Washington, D.C., and numerous others. She has conducted seminars for behavioral health professionals, community organizations, criminal justice professionals, and recovery groups in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Europe, Africa, Iceland, Brazil, and New Zealand.

 

For twenty-five years, she also has provided training and consulting to help institutions and programs in the criminal justice system develop effective gender-responsive and trauma-informed services. These include the Federal Bureau of Prisons; the National Institute of Corrections; the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; many other state and local jurisdictions; the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime; the Ministries of Justice in England, Scotland, and Switzerland; and the Correctional Service of Canada. She was the featured consultant and therapist on the Oprah Winfrey Network docu-reality show entitled Breaking Down the Bars. She also is the co-author of a three-year research project, Gender-Responsive Strategies: Research, Practice, and Guiding Principles for Women Offenders, for the National Institute of Corrections. This publication received the University of Cincinnati Award for its outstanding contribution to the field of corrections in the U.S. and Canada. Based in La Jolla, California, Dr. Covington is co-director of the Institute for Relational Development and the Center for Gender & Justice, which seeks to expand gender-responsive policies and practices for individuals under criminal justice supervision.

 

Educated at Columbia University and the Union Institute, Dr. Covington has served on the faculties of the University of Southern California, San Diego State University, and the California School of Professional Psychology. She is a board-certified Diplomate of the National Association of Social Workers and the American Board of Sexology and is a member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy and the American Psychological Association.

 

Among the many articles and books written by Dr. Covington is the best-selling recovery book, A Woman's Way through the Twelve Steps. She also has published trauma-focused training materials for staff development and organizational change as well as ten gender-responsive and trauma-informed programs that include curriculum manuals for facilitators and complementary materials for participants.

Professor Judith Resnik is the Arthur Liman Professor of Law at Yale Law School, where she teaches courses on federalism, procedure, courts, prisons, equality, and citizenship. Her scholarship focuses on the relationship between democratic values of egalitarianism and the functions of government including its provision of services; the role of collective redress and class actions; contemporary conflicts over privatization; the relationships of states to citizens and noncitizens; the interaction among federal, state, and tribal courts; practices of punishment and the history of incarceration; and equality and gender. Resnik is the founding director of Yale’s Arthur Liman Center for Public Interest Law which, since 1997, has awarded year-long fellowships to more than 200 Yale Law School graduates and sponsors undergraduate programs at several universities and colleges. The Liman Center research projects include monographs on solitary confinement, a website, Seeing Solitary, and more.  Resnik received a two-year Andrew Carnegie Fellowship for research on her book, Impermissible Punishments: How Prison Became a Problem for Democracy, available in the summer of 2025 from the University of Chicago Press. The book explores the trans-Atlantic development and infrastructure of a profession of “corrections;” the shaping of  standards for the “treatment of prisoners;” the impact of World War II, the Holocaust, and the U.S. the civil rights revolution in enabling prisoners some success in gaining recognition of limits on the kinds of punishments government can, in a polity claiming to be committed to the equal status of its members, impose on individuals convicted of crimes; and the challenges of materializing that status in the face of security and community needs.  Other books and articles include  Representing Justice: Invention, Controversy and Rights in City-States and Democratic Courtrooms (Yale Press, 2011, reissued as an e-book 2022); the co-edited Federal Courts Stories (2009), and The Capital of and the Investments in Courts, State and Federal  (NYU L. Rev, 2024).  Resnik is also an occasional litigator, including in the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2018, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from University College of London; she has recently been reappointed as an honorary visiting professor there. Resnik has chaired the Association of American Law Schools’ Sections on Federal Courts, Procedure, and Women in Legal Education. She is a member of the American Philosophical Society, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Managerial Trustee of the International Association of Women Judges.

Prof. Dr. Ioan Durnescu is a professor at the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, where he engages in the teaching and research of probation, prison reform, and deradicalization. His academic interests are deeply rooted in the comparative study of probation systems, the reintegration of formerly incarcerated individuals, and the development of effective interventions with justice-involved persons.

 

Throughout his career, he has had the opportunity to conduct training sessions on core correctional skills across various countries, including Slovenia, Jordan, Moldova, Spain, Croatia, Armenia and Kosovo. These sessions have not only allowed him to impart his knowledge but also to learn from the unique challenges and solutions found in different cultural contexts. 

 

In his role as one of the editors for the European Journal of Probation, Prof. Dr. Durnescu contributes to the critical examination and dissemination of research that informs best practices in probation. He also pioneered the creation of ReHub, an innovative app designed to translate scientific research into practical tools for those working in prisons and probation services.
 

Terry Hackett is the Head of the People Deprived of Liberty Unit at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva, a role he has held since February 2022. Prior to joining the ICRC in 2018 as a Prison System Adviser, Terry had a distinguished 22-year career with the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), culminating in his position as Assistant Deputy Commissioner of Correctional Operations (Pacific). Throughout his career, he has worked with detaining authorities in over 25 countries focusing on improving the treatment of detainees and conditions of detention in line with international standards. Terry holds a Master of Arts in Human Security and Peacebuilding from Royal Roads University, a Master of Advanced Studies in International Law in Armed Conflict from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Trinity Western University. He has contributed to various academic publications and served as the keynote speaker for various international events including the International Corrections and Prisons Association Conference in 2022 and the African Correctional Services Association Conference (2023 & 2025). 

Judge Raja Abinader is, since 2012, in charge of the Prisons Directorate within the Lebanese Ministry of Justice, focusing on prison reform in Lebanon. Prior to this, he was head of the Judicial Commission for Early Release, a position he held for nearly five years.

 

Holder of a Master's in Criminal Law, Raja has been a dedicated and driven professional with a demonstrated history of working in the law practice industry for the past 15 years. He is a legal consultant and trainer in fields such as combatting torture, promoting Human Rights, management of violent extremist prisoners, and a lecturer in Human Rights and detention.

 

He is highly experienced in criminal justice, prison inspection and monitoring, detention management, alternatives to detention, international human rights and humanitarian law, training and development, and justice and security reform.

 

He is a member of Parliamentary subcommittees on criminal law reform, governmental committees on counter terrorism, overcrowding and detention. He is also a founding member of "Nouveaux Droits de l'Homme" - ALEF “Act for Human Rights” Non-Governmental Organization in Lebanon since the year 2000, and a “John Smith Memorial Trust” fellow since 2011.

Yenus Mulu joined the Ethiopian Federal Prison Commission (EFPC) in March 2024 after serving Ethiopian Defense Force at different functions and command stints for 33 years.

 

In 2008 graduated his a BA degree in Management and received a Scholarship for MA Degree to study Military Science in the Specialty of National Security Strategy. And he was awarded MA from the National Defense University of China in 2017.

 

Yenus Mulu during his career in Ethiopian National Defense Force attended different diploma and certificate course such as, advanced Diploma in Defense and Strategic Studies from China National Defense University, Diploma on International Intelligence Fellows program Course from USA National Defense Intelligence College in Washington D.C, Certificate in Peacekeeping English course Level 3 from British Council-Addis Ababa , Certificate in Defense and Management in a Wider Security Sector 2015 from Cranfield University-Addis Ababa, Defense Attaches Course Module from Geneva Center for Security Policy  (GCSP), in  Addis Ababa. 

 

In addition, he attended many international and continental conferences and meetings in different countries, to name some of them in South Africa, China, USA, Turkey, Republic of Sudan, Kenya, Djibouti, South Korea, Qatar, Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda, Saudi Arabia, France and Singapore.

 

Yenus Mulu key appointments in the Ethiopian National Defense Force include, Bilateral Cooperation Affairs Directorate Director, Deputy Defense Attaché in Somalia and Puntland, ETH-USA joint Project head, and has been awarded AMISOM Medal and Ribbon with certificate and a 30-Year Military Service Medal and Ribbon.

criminal justice. His work focuses on strengthening cooperation with international partners to enhance the institutional capacity of Ukraine’s penitentiary system and ensure implementation of international standards.

 

Before assuming his current role, Mr. Nikonishyn held the position of Deputy Director at the Department of International Relations within the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. Prior to that, he led the Department for European Integration and International Cooperation of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, where he played a key role in fostering international partnerships.

 

Mr. Nikonishyn has extensive experience in both public as well as private sectors, including roles in international economics, intellectual property, foreign economic activity, security organizations and regulatory oversight.

He holds two Master's degrees: one in Philology from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, and another in International Economics from Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman.