Lynn M. Davis has served as president and CEO of DCAC since 2005 and strives to improve the lives of children who have been abused. He leads the executive team, sets the vision and direction of the Center, and manages the organization through change. 

Under Lynn's leadership, DCAC has undergone expansive growth, including an $11 million Capital Campaign in 2012. DCAC currently has nearly 100 employees and serves over 6,000 victims and their non-offending family members, educates over 5,000 professionals and raises over $10 million each year. In 2018 DCAC was named a "Best Place to Work" by Dallas Business Journal. 

Lynn is a highly sought-after speaker and often trains on effective nonprofit management and on the Children's Advocacy Center model. He has trained in both the UK and Australia. He has also taught as an adjunct professor at both The University of Texas at Arlington and The University of North Texas. In 2013 Lynn received the Nonprofit CEO of the Year Award from the Center for Nonprofit Management and in 2018 he was voted by peers as the recipient of the inaugural CAC TX Most Valuable Director of the Year Award.

Prior to joining DCAC, Lynn was the president and CEO of Dallas Challenge, a nonprofit substance abuse organization, where for 16 years he coordinated the growth and expansion and directed the overall operations.

Lynn holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Dallas, an MS from the University of North Texas and a BA from the University of Pittsburgh.

A lifelong volunteer, Lynn has served on the board of Children's Advocacy Centers of Texas, the executive committee of the Mesquite ISD Education Foundation, the board of Sunnyvale ISD Education Foundation, and the Executive Committee of the Statewide Association of Substance Abuse Programs.

Please click here to contact Lynn.

Sarah Burns serves as chief marketing officer where she leads and directs marketing, public relations, advocacy efforts and manages event production to illuminate the truth about child abuse and elevate DCAC’s role within the community.

Sarah joined the team after serving as senior communications director at Dallas Women’s Foundation, now Texas Women's Foundation. During her tenure there she elevated the Foundation’s brand and awareness to surpass fundraising and grantmaking goals. Prior to that she worked in service line marketing and internal communications at Children’s Health and in marketing at Genesis Women’s Shelter.

Sarah has worked in nonprofit marketing her entire career. She attended Oklahoma State University and graduated from the Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism with a focus on Public Relations and a double minor of Marketing and Management.

Sarah is a 2018 recipient of Dallas Business Journal's 40 Under 40 and in her spare time she volunteers with the Junior League of Dallas, where she has held numerous leadership roles, including serving on the 95th Anniversary Board of Directors. She currently serves on the Advisory Board for the Corporate Communication and Public Affairs Division in the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University. Her other volunteer commitments include New Friends New Life, Genesis Women’s Shelter, the Women’s Auxiliary to Children’s Medical Center and Preston Hollow Presbyterian School. Sarah is married to Jon, an educator, and they have one son.

Please click here to contact Sarah .

Matt Gilbert serves as chief partner relations officer where he oversees High-Risk Victims, Mulitidisciplinary Team Enhancement Program (MEP) and Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) Services. Prior to joining DCAC, Matt served as the Region 3 East Director for the Child Protective Investigations division of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Region 3 East includes Dallas, Collin, Grayson, Fannin, Hunt, Rockwall, Kaufman, Navarro, and Ellis Counties. During his twelve years with DFPS, Matt was a caseworker, investigator, supervisor, and held multiple regional management positions.

Matt graduated from Baylor University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Forensic Science and from the University of Texas at Arlington with a Master of Science degree in Healthcare Administration. Matt has also worked as a crime scene investigator and emergency medical technician. He is a happy (yet mostly unlucky) fisherman and an Eagle Scout.

Please click here to contact Matt.

Heather Ormand serves as Chief Operations Officer where she oversees finance, IT, education and the Crimes Against Children Conference. She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the state of Texas and has over 12 years of experience in public accounting.

Prior to joining DCAC, she was a Director with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and specialized in providing assurance and business advisory services for Fortune 500 companies. Her clients were primarily SEC registered pharmaceutical and life sciences companies, as well as several non-public hedge funds and private equity partnerships.

Heather holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a double concentration in Accounting and Marketing from the University of Richmond.

Heather has a passion for community service and improving the lives of children. She has actively volunteered in the Dallas Community with organizations such as the Family Place, Austin Street Center and DCAC.

Heather is married to Jason, and they have a one daughter.

Please click here to contact Heather.

Carrie Paschall serves as chief investigative and support services officer where she oversees the management and operations of the Forensic Interview and Family Support Services teams. Previously she served as director of forensic interview services at DCAC.

Carrie has conducted over 5,450 video recorded child forensic interviews and has over 1,100 hours of training in the field of child abuse and child abuse dynamics, with just over 400 of those hours specifically focused on conducting child forensic interviews. A sought-after speaker, Carrie has over 900 hours of presentation experience and trains other professionals in the field about how interviews of children are conducted in child abuse investigations. She also presents on other topics such as grooming, recantation, and disclosure dynamics.

Carrie is often called upon by prosecutors to testify as an expert witness in forensic interviews of children in both civil and criminal cases and has testified in numerous criminal and civil trials in both juvenile and district court in Texas, Georgia, and Louisiana.

Prior to coming to DCAC in 2014 she was with the Tarrant County District Attorney’s office as the child forensic interviewer for the Crimes Against Children Unit for 14 years. As an interviewer, Carrie assisted local, state and federal law enforcement officials by conducting video recorded forensic interviews of children in cases where the child is alleged to have been the victim of, or witness to, child abuse and other violent crimes.

Prior to working for the Tarrant County District Attorney’s office Carrie was an investigator for Child Protective Services where she was the primary investigator in over 500 child abuse investigations.

Carrie has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with an emphasis in Public Law and a minor in Criminal Justice from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Please click here to contact Carrie.

Murphey Sears is the chief development officer and leads the development team to raise critical funds to provide services at DCAC. She provides strategic direction and initiatives for donor cultivation, grants, corporate engagement, and volunteers to raise over $4 million a year.

Murphey has worked in the nonprofit sector for 10 years and most recently was the annual giving director at Dallas Women’s Foundation (now Texas Women's Foundation), managing a donor portfolio of $2 million per year. Prior to her role at the Foundation, she worked at Genesis Women’s Shelter as the director of outreach and at the Perot Museum running the membership program.

Murphey received her Bachelor of Arts in English and French from Vanderbilt University and is a native of Houston. A lifelong volunteer, she has held leadership roles in the Junior League of Dallas, Junior Garden Club of Dallas, MS Society, and HPUMC Day School. At home, she is surrounded by boys including her husband and three sons.

Please click here to contact Murphey.

Kelly Slaven, LCSW, serves as chief clinical officer where she leads a team of over 25 clinicians and students and supervises over 15,000 clinical hours. The clinicians at DCAC provide evidence-based treatment for the worst child abuse cases in the Dallas area. 

Kelly has been a social worker in the field of family violence for over 15 years. Most recently, Kelly was director of clinical services at DCAC and prior to that was director of clinical and professional services at Genesis Women’s Shelter and Support. Kelly worked at Genesis for 12 years as a therapist, assistant clinical director and clinical director. 

Kelly is trained in Dr. Bruce Perry's Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics; is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Certified; and is certified in Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Treatment. Kelly frequently provides expert testimony in civil and criminal matters.

Kelly graduated from The University of Kansas with a Bachelor’s in English and California State University, Long Beach, with a Master’s in Social Work.

Please click here to contact Kelly.