Our Staff | Center for Hope and Healing

Shannon Guimaraes (she/her/hers) is a firm believer in equality across the board and passionate about helping people and guiding them through the weary hoops of regaining control of their lives and empowering them. Born in California, she spent most of her youth in Brazil where her father is originally from. She has been working with human services since 1992, from juvenile incarcerated youth population to HIV counseling and testing. As a survivor of child abuse, she has had experience advocating for survivors of domestic violence and child abuse in Brazil and worked for 3 years at Casa Myrna Vasquez in Boston as a Safelink advocate. Shannon speaks Portuguese fluently and Is functionally fluent in Spanish. She loves to sing and play the guitar.
When not working Shannon spends her time with family, friends and her furry friend Willie.

Stephanie was born in Port au-Prince Haiti, she then moved to the United States when she was about twelve years old. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a Minor in Biology at St Thomas University in Miami Gardens. Upon graduating, she moved to Jacksonville Florida to pursue a master’s degree in Experimental Psychology at the University of North Florida. Stephanie later moved to Massachusetts to undertake a doctorate in Applied Prevention Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Her current research explores the lived experiences of those with stigmatized identities (sexual assault, sexual and gender identities, mental illness) and addresses racial inequities in treatment and services for women and girls of color.

While pursuing her doctorate, she began her journey at the Center for Hope and Healing as a Healing Corps volunteer in 2018, providing hotline and medical advocacy to survivors of sexual assault. She later joined the Lowell Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSEC) Taskforce as a research fellow and has since expanded her passion for working with at-risk youth and survivors of human trafficking. In her former role as an Advocate/counselor, she provided individual counseling and psycho-educational groups to young survivors and families navigating difficult life challenges at different settings. Over the years, Stephanie chaired the Lowell CSEC training sub-committee with the effort to bring awareness of sex trafficking of youth to the Lowell community, and fostered collaborative discussion to better identify barriers and challenges to serve disenfranchised youths. She was instrumental in applying and ultimately receiving the grant to serve trafficked minors in our community.

As an African American woman, an educator, and an advocate, she is dedicated to creating trauma informed and survivor centered practices that supports young people, and uplift their voices, while building/restructuring systems for youth in black and brown communities. Stephanie is thrilled to expand her work at CHH as the Lowell Ending Trafficking of Youth (LET Youth) Project Manager, building a stronger and safer foundation for healing work of youth and adolescents through spreading hope, advocacy, prevention, training and collaboration. She hopes to continue to elevate the mission and vision of CHH and raise awareness on sex trafficking as a social epidemic impacting the lives of many of our youth. On her days off, Stephanie likes a good Netflix binge, exploring different parts of the world, hiking and trying out new dishes with her husband.

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 978-452-7721 ext. 122

Staff

Isa Woldeguiorguis

Brian Conway

Shirley Profit

Shannon Guimaraes

Am Ngeth

Bisi Obafemi

Mana Kheang

Masada Jones

Nani Swaminathan

Olga Madrid

Arnold Johnson

Clarence Morse

Haleigh King

Sreynuon Neang

HELP US BUILD A WORLD FREE FROM SEXUAL VIOLENCE