Project Hope: Centering Hope, Building Trust, and Fostering Wellness

Romero Davis is a director of practice excellence at Social Current. A mentor for professional development and community justice champion, Davis has worked nationally with agencies in areas such as poly-victimization; trauma in families; equity, diversity, and inclusion; juvenile justice; and domestic violence. He is a member of the technical assistance team for Child Safety Forward.

Chan M. Hellman is a professor of social work at the University of Oklahoma and Director of The Hope Research Center. He has written more than 150 scientific publications and has presented at numerous national and international conferences worldwide. Hellman also presented his work on hope with TEDx in May of 2021.  His research is focused on hope as a psychological strength helping children and adults overcome trauma and adversity.  This research informed the development of the “Hope Centered and Trauma Informed” training program. Hellman is the co-author of the award-winning book Hope Rising: How the Science of Hope Can Change Your Life with his co-author Casey Gwinn published by Morgan James.  As a result of this work, Chan was one of five invited workshops for Jane Goodall’s Activating Hope Summit held November 2021.

Angela Pharris is an assistant professor in the Anne & Henry Zarrow School of Social Work at the University of Oklahoma, director of the Center for Child Welfare Training, and senior research fellow at the Hope Research Center. Her research is focused on the application and implementation of hope-centered and trauma-informed practices that impact human service programs. Pharris’ current research is in child welfare and human service organizations and the application of the Hope-Centered and Trauma-Informed framework. This research informed the development of the “Hope Centered and Trauma Informed” training program. Hope is a psychological strength and a buffer to stress, adversity, and burnout and a hopeful mindset that improves organizational and individual outcomes.

Stephanie Freeman’s 28-year career has spanned higher education, state government, and local government.

As the Department of Adult Correction’s chief people officer, Freeman oversees the Partnerships, Engagement and Inclusion section, the Office of Staff Development and Training (OSDT), S.H.I.E.L.D. (the Department’s peer and behavioral support unit), Victim Services, and Employee Engagement. Prior to her current role, she served the department as the director of the Office of Staff Development and Training from July 2017 to October 2022.

Freeman graduated from North Carolina State University in 1995 with her bachelor’s in sociology and earned her master’s in criminal justice from SUNY Albany in 1996.

She has prior experience as a training specialist at the NC Department of Justice with both the Sheriffs’ Education & Training Standards Commission and the Criminal Justice Education & Training Standards Commission. While at DOJ, she earned her General Instructor Certification and has over 26 years of experience as an instructor, including teaching undergraduate courses at NC Wesleyan College, Fayetteville State University, and Sandhills Community College. In 2007, she came to the Department as the curriculum manager and general instructor school director at OSDT before spending three years with the North Carolina Judicial Branch as its organizational development manager.

Currently, she serves as the past president of the North Carolina Law Enforcement Training Officers’ Association. She sits on the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission and is the current chair of the Education and Training Committee. She is also a graduate of the Correctional Leadership Development Program (CLDP).