Eli Pascal, MSW Director

Eli Pascal, MSW
Eli Pascal, MSW
Director
pascale@uci.edu

Pronouns: they/them/theirs

Eli drove cross country in 4.5 days and joined the CARE Office as Assistant Director in July 2015. Born and raised in Staten Island, NY, Eli brings with them more than 15 years of experience in the fields of advocacy, organizing for social change, student affairs, organizational consulting, development, and non-profit administration. They received both their B.A. and Master of Social Work degrees at Marywood University in Scranton, PA. In 1997, Eli established the first ALLY program at a Catholic university in the United States which included developing the curriculum and conducting the trainings. Their current focus is on driving the sustainable growth of the CARE Office’s Holistic Healing programs while concurrently supporting its current programs and services.

Outside of work, Eli enjoys exploring their new stomping grounds in Southern California with their dog and partner in crime, Benjamin, enthusiastically (okay, rabidly) supporting the New York Mets, photographing historic/abandoned places, and listening to/writing music.

Joan Rich, MPH Assistant Director

Joan Rich, MPH
Joan Rich, MPH
Assistant Director
joanbr@uci.edu

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Joan is excited to join UCI CARE as the Assistant Director.  She began engaging in violence prevention work as a teenager and was one of the first peer educators for UC Merced’s CARE Office.  She worked at a dual domestic violence and rape crisis center as a prevention specialist, where she implemented a program providing prevention education and advocacy services for a community college district.  She was also the agency’s volunteer coordinator and trained new advocates.  Prior to joining UCI CARE, Joan worked at UC Merced in the Title IX office overseeing case management and sexual harassment prevention training and education activities.

Nicole Leon, ACSW CARE Advocate

Nicole Leon, ACSW
Nicole Leon, ACSW
CARE Advocate

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Nicole has been an advocate with the UCI CARE Office since 2018 and has worked with survivors of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault since 2010. Before joining CARE, Nicole was an advocate at the Family Violence Law Center in Oakland, CA and was also an advocate with Waymakers as part of their Sexual Assault Victim Services team. Throughout her career, she has co-facilitated support groups, created workshops, and helped to develop and implement programming for survivors. Nicole is a first-generation student who attended Orange Coast College before transferring to UC Santa Cruz. There, she earned a BA in Psychology and later a Master of Social Work at the University of Southern California. Nicole is drawn to supporting those healing from power-based personal violence and trauma and is pursuing licensure to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.

Nicole enjoys exploring eateries and outdoor spaces, cooking, reading, yoga, and spending time with her cat.

Other languages spoken: Spanish

Elleni Conley CARE Advocate

Elleni Conley
Elleni Conley
CARE Advocate

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Elleni graduated from California State University, Fullerton where she received her B.A. in Sociology with a concentration in the Sociology of Crime and Deviance. During her studies, she developed a passion for intersectional and accessible advocacy services for survivors. Prior to joining CARE, Elleni worked as an advocate in the community serving survivors of relationship abuse, elder abuse, and human trafficking. She also has experience advocating for survivors of sexual assault and providing case management services for people experiencing chronic homelessness. Elleni is in grad school working toward earning her Master of Social Work.

In her free time, Elleni enjoys reading, watching dramatic soap operas and telenovelas, cooking, Greek dancing, and talking loudly with her friends and family.

Other languages spoken: Spanish

Rasta Bagheri, MSW CARE Advocate

Rasta Bagheri, MSW
Rasta Bagheri, MSW
CARE Advocate

Pronouns: they/she

Rasta received her B.A in Psychology with a Minor in Social Work from San Diego State University and her Master's in Social Work from Boston College. She has been working with survivors of interpersonal violence since 2009. Her experience includes working with survivors of human trafficking with an emphasis on domestic sex trafficking and with survivors of intimate partner violence. She has supported survivors in community-based settings as well as through the criminal legal system. She has a passion for working alongside people who have experienced trauma, and is particularly interested in how restorative justice and transformative justice practices might be applied to addressing sexual and domestic violence. 

In her free time Rasta can be found baking from scratch, spending time with family and friends, hanging out by a body of water, and laughing too much at everything. 

Other languages spoken: Farsi

 

Tiffany Chiem CARE Advocate

Tiffany Chiem
Tiffany Chiem
CARE Advocate

Pronouns: she/they

Tiffany is a University of California, Irvine alumni with a degree in Criminology, Law and Society, and a minor in Psychology & Social Behavior. Before joining CARE, Tiffany was an advocate with USC’s Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention & Services (RSVP) team, and was also a residential counselor with the Center for the Pacific Asian Family (CPAF) as part of their emergency shelter program.

In her free time, she enjoys nature walks and exploring new experiences and trying new foods.

Sallie Pappas, MPH Project Analyst

Sallie Pappas, MPH
Sallie Pappas, MPH
Project Analyst
sjpappas@uci.edu

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Sallie Pappas is the Project Analyst for the CARE department, managing campus-wide committees, providing programming support, and managing multiple funding sources and programs for the department, including the Survivor Support Fund, YOGA as Healing program, GET SAFE self-defense classes, Holistic Healing programming and the Coordinated Community Review Team (CCRT) for the campus. Ms. Pappas received her Master's Degree in Public Health (M.P.H.) and her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles. She has over 35 years of experience working in social services and public health, including the areas of reproductive health, child abuse prevention, hunger and homeless prevention, and sexual assault prevention and education.

Douglas Leon Marketing and Communications Specialist

Douglas Leon
Douglas Leon
Marketing and Communications Specialist
dougll5@uci.edu

Pronouns: he/him/his

Douglas graduated from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, with a degree in Graphic Design and a minor in Marketing. He has acclimated well to UCI CARE and has devoted his time to promoting the resources available to the UCI Community and playing his part in ending power-based personal violence.

He’s an Orange County native who loves spending time with his family and friends. He particularly enjoys hiking, reading, eating, and beer tasting.

Dean Wong Administrative Assistant III

Dean Wong
Dean Wong
Administrative Assistant III

Pronouns: he/him/his

Dean graduated from the University of California, Irvine, with a degree in Psychology & Social Behavior and a minor in Medical Humanities. As one of the new members of UCI CARE, he is eager to devote his time to promoting the resources available to the UCI Community and playing his part in ending power-based personal violence.

In his free time, Dean enjoys road trips, getaways to the beach/ocean, exploring haunted sites and volunteering.

Winnie Tse OVW Grant Project Manager

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Winnie manages and implements all components of UCI CARE's Department of Justice/Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) 2021 campus grant. Before becoming the grant project manager, Winnie oversaw all administrative functions of the CARE office for 14 years.