Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock
Senior Vice President for Moral Injury Recovery Programs
Rita Nakashima Brock, Rel. M., M.A., Ph.D., is Senior Vice President and Director of the Shay Moral Injury Center at Volunteers of America. She leads the organization’s efforts to deepen understanding about moral injury in the many populations who experience it. The center builds on Volunteers of America’s work, spanning more than a century, of helping veterans and others who live with this emotional trauma.
Kristine Chong
MPP, MDiv, Director
Kristine Chong, MPP, MDiv, is Director of the Shay Moral Injury Center. Their work focuses on education programs, partnerships, field building, and network weaving. Kristine is also a spiritual care practitioner, organizer, facilitator, and editor who is guided by the ethos of jeong, a Korean relationality of interconnectedness and kinship. They are committed to the fields of movement chaplaincy, spiritual accompaniment, and liberative movements among BIPOC, API, disabled, and reproductive justice communities. In their spare time, Kristine enjoys resting, puzzles, coffee, and the arts.
Sam McAllister
Administrative Assistant
Sam McAllister first joined Volunteers of America as a Research and Advocacy Intern for the External Affairs department before becoming Receptionist at the VOA National Office in 2016. Soon after, he began assisting Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock and the newly founded Shay Moral Injury Center with administrative tasks. Today he is the Administrative Assistant for the Shay Moral Injury Center as well as the Volunteers of America, Inc. Human Resources department. In his spare time he enjoys cooking, video games and spending time with his cats.
Jillianne Paladino Boyd
M.S., L.M.F.T, Clinician
Jillianne Paladino Boyd, M.S., L.M.F.T, is a licensed therapist in California and Program Clinician with Shay Moral Injury Center of Volunteers Of America. Jillianne began working with Volunteers of America’s Resilience Strength Time (RST) program in 2017. RST is an intensive, evidence-based and peer program that has provided a foundation for many programs with Shay Moral Injury Center. Jillianne is passionate about working with people, creating safe and sacred spaces, and promoting dialogue with empathic listening. In her spare time Jillianne likes to walk the trail near her home and observe the wildlife including some humans.
