Molly C. Mastoras, MA, LPC

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Molly C. Mastoras is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Virginia and Connecticut. She has worked as an assistant program director and probation counselor for the Fairfax County Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court and as a social worker for the Fairfax County Office for Women and Arlington County Child Protective Services (CPS). Molly has worked extensively with survivors of sexual assault throughout her career, leading to the creation of Safe Night Active Bystander, a sexual assault prevention and intervention-training program. 

She developed the Proactive Alliance relationship-based approach, which teaches police and enforcement agencies to develop relationships to enhance problem-solving with the community using adapted counseling therapy concepts. She co-authored several articles, including Proactive Alliance in IACP Police Chief Magazine and Productive and Proactive in Sheriff & Deputy Magazine and Proactive Alliance: Combining Policing and Counselling Psychology in the Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being with Dr. Charlotte Gill. 

Molly has presented the Proactive Alliance concept at the American Society of Evidenced-Based Policing (ASEBP) conference, the Problem-Oriented Policing (POP) Conference, and the International Conference on Law Enforcement & Public Health (LEPH). Molly also serves on the Board of Directors for the Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP). 

Molly can be contacted at Molly@safe-night.com.

Dimitrios (Jim) Mastoras is the co-founder and executive vice president of Safe Night LLC, a global consulting firm that provides strategies to improve policing, public safety, and economic viability. Jim served as a Master Police Officer in Arlington County, Virginia, for almost twenty-four years and was named Arlington’s first nightlife liaison. Jim’s nightlife management model was recognized as a national model to reduce alcohol-related violence and harm by the U.S. DOJ COPS Office in a toolkit he authored, The Arlington Restaurant Initiative - A Nightlife Strategy to Improve Safety and Economic Viability. 

Jim is a senior Proactive Alliance relationship-based policing instructor teaching police and collateral city agencies how to establish trustful relationships with community stakeholders to shift to collaborative problem-solving. The Proactive Alliance relationship-based approach has been used to address many complex community issues across the U.S., including alcohol-related violence, homelessness, and traffic safety and engagement. He is also a nightlife safety and community engagement expert who regularly speaks at national conferences. 

Jim has authored and contributed to several publications, articles and toolkits:

• The Arlington Restaurant Initiative - A Nightlife Strategy to Improve Safety and Economic Viability - US DOJ COPS Office
• ARI Observatory Of Public Sector Innovation Case Study - Observatory Of Public Sector Innovation
• Traffic Safety Initiatives: SoberRide-Enhancing Enforcement Efforts Since 1982 - IACP Police Chief Magazine
• Solving Complex Crime Requires Community Relationships  - Policing Insight
• Safe Night Hospitality Resource Guide - Safe Night
• Productive and Proactive - NSA Sheriff & Deputy Magazine
• The Need for Relationship-Based Policing - National Policing Institute
• Safe Night Good Neighbor Initiative Case Study - Safe Night

Jim can be contacted at Jim@safe-night.com

Brandy Nannini is the Vice President of Government Affairs at Smart Start and a Board Director for Safety and Advocacy for Empowerment (SAFE). In her role, she designs legislative strategy, forms broad advocacy coalitions, and implements legislative campaigns aimed at preventing impaired driving through expanded use of ignition interlocks at the state and federal level and in Canada.

Ms. Nannini has 30 years of experience in impaired driving prevention with a career that began at the national office of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and resulted in the passage of hundreds of state laws and several federal laws. She opened MADD’s Washington, D.C. office and led the passage of the Federal .08 BAC law. She also spent 19 years at the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility (Responsibility.org) where she created and managed a 20-year public awareness program with state attorneys general, oversaw traffic safety programs, achieved passage of the Federal Multiple Substance Impaired Driving Prevention Act, spearheaded efforts to pass state laws and launched the National Alliance to Stop Impaired Driving. She also led the organization’s efforts to focus on drug and polysubstance impaired driving. 

Ms. Nannini serves as the Senior Advisor for Safe Night and also serves on the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Roadway Safety Committee, Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) board of directors and the board of directors for the substance use prevention group, Arise and Flourish. A native Texan, Ms. Nannini now lives in Arlington, Virginia and enjoys traveling, reading, writing, and raising her teenage son.

Nicola “Dr. Nikki” Smith-Kea, PhD defines herself as a boundary spanner and scholar-practitioner with deep experience in policing, community engagement, policy, research, and analysis at the international, national, and local levels. She is the founder and principal of Smith-Kea Consulting, focused on exploring strategies that improve outcomes, drive transformative solutions and policy change, and cultivate trust between communities and police. She has expertise in gender equity in policing; policing at the intersection of mental health, substance use, and homelessness; community policing; violent crime reduction; and policing reform. 

Dr. Nikki most recently, served as a Stoneleigh Fellow and Executive in Residence with the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) where she worked towards promoting and developing internal accountability, officer safety and wellness practices, and focused on healthy police-community engagement. In this position she was embedded on the PPD Executive Team and worked on developing/implementing a number of reform efforts including an Early Intervention System (EIS), Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement (ABLE), Place Network Investigation (PNI), 30x30 Initiative, a Racial Equity Plan, and more.

She also served as the Criminal Justice Manager on the Policing team at Arnold Ventures, overseeing a diverse portfolio and managing a variety of stakeholders including law enforcement practitioners, policymakers, research institutes, national membership organizations, and advocates. Previously, she served as a project manager and senior policy analyst and technical assistance manager at the Council of State Governments Justice Center, where she worked closely with a broad spectrum of law enforcement agencies across the U.S, helping to promote healthy police/mental health collaborations. 

Dr. Nikki holds a bachelor's degree in psychology and sociology, and a master’s degree in sociology from the University of the West Indies, a master’s degree in criminology and criminal justice from the University of Maryland, and a master’s and PhD in leadership and change from Antioch University.

Dustin is a Master Peace Officer with the Austin Police Department in Austin, Texas. For almost two decades of service there, he was assigned to patrol in the south side of Austin as a Field Training Officer and Mental Health Officer, providing a critical service to people in crisis. Seeing this service as a calling, Dustin became a member of Austin’s Hostage Negotiation Team (HNT) in 2006 and currently serves as a Team Leader. In addition, he is the HNT Training Cadre Lead Instructor who develops, coordinates, and provides training for Austin’s 25-member team of Negotiators and training officers to become new Negotiators. Dustin has also conducted training for several other departments, including teaching in the FBI Hostage Negotiation School in Texas. 

From 2016 to the present, Dustin has been a Senior Instructor in Austin Police Department’s Advanced Education Unit. He is responsible for training officers in various topics such as verbal communications, de-escalation, leadership, and implicit bias. 

Dustin is a U.S. Navy Veteran who served from 1992-2002 and was deployed twice while onboard the USS Anchorage between 1992 and 1998 (Somalia and the Persian Gulf / Kuwait). In 1998, he transitioned to shore duty as a Military Police Officer, where his love of law enforcement started. Dustin was a Watch Commander during the morning of Sept 11, 2001, and recalls the feeling of duty that drew him back to his home in Central Texas to join the ranks of the Austin Police Department. 

Dustin and his wife enjoy the country life, living among the oaks outside of Lockhart, the BBQ Capital of Texas. They have two adult children who both currently serve as well. Their son is a Weatherman in the Texas Air National Guard, and their daughter is a Mass Communications Specialist in the U.S. Navy. 

Dustin can be contacted at Dlowe@safe-night.com

A native of Rhode Island, Samantha (Sam) Brien moved to Northern Virginia to pursue her career in 2016. She began working at Katz, Marshal & Banks, LLP as a Legal Assistant. Sam wanted to further her career and joined the Arlington County Police Department (ACPD) as a Management Intern in 2018. She received a full-time position as a Management Specialist then was promoted to Restaurant and Nightlife Liaison in January 2021. 

Sam leads the Arlington Restaurant Initiative, a national model for managing nightlife and the first accreditation program in the US to improve safety standards. In 2021, Sam was inducted into the exclusive group of night mayors and has taken a leadership role in many strategies that have over the past two years, including, “Ask for Angela”, the #BizStongArlVA campaign, and several outreach events. 

She is a graduate of Westfield State University with a B.A. in History and a concentration in Political Science. Sam also earned a Master's degree in Public Administration with a concentration in Administration of Justice from George Mason University in May 2020. She has been awarded the Faithful Servant’s Award for Civilian Employee of the Year for 2018 and the Principles of Government Service Award for Teamwork.

Sam can be contacted at, SMcnamara@safe-night.com