Chelsea Dorsey McGonigle

In her role at Change the Conversation, Chelsea McGonigle leads school-based partnerships through the implementation of Turn the Talk and other professional development trainings. Chelsea is a Family Life Educator with roughly 15 years of experience working directly with youth and their families through program and curriculum development, ongoing case management and crisis intervention, professional development training, and psychoeducational group facilitation to strengthen individuals and families impacted by trauma. After much success with both intervention and prevention-based program development, Chelsea started CDM Education & Prevention Consultants to assist schools and community-based agencies engage adolescents and young adults in relevant and transparent conversations around other common Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), specifically child sexual abuse and foster care/systemic involvement. Chelsea is also a certified Darkness to Light Group Facilitator and Youth Mental Health First Aid Instructor.

Chelsea has several years of experience in the intervention realm, specifically with individuals who have previously used abusive behaviors in their relationships. She believes physical and emotional safety in relationships is a basic human right of every child, but we can no longer assume that all children have access to information that helps to define what safety looks like and feels like. Meeting children where they are through the lens of prevention versus intervention, quite literally, makes eliminating child sexual abuse possible.

Chelsea obtained her Bachelor of Science in Family Studies with a concentration in Services to Children and Youth and is pursuing her Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction. Chelsea also has extensive volunteer experience at Johns Hopkins Believe in Tomorrow Children’s Foundation, The Alzheimer’s Association, U.S. Dream Academy, various summer camps, and her church. Chelsea resides in the Baltimore area with her husband and daughters.