Replay – October Impact Collaborative: Domestic Violence- What’s making it more deadly? What services really work?

Ivon Mesa was born in Cuba on December 9^th, 1968. In 1983, she moved to Spain where she lived for approximately nine years. In 1989, she moved to the United States, Miami where she permanently resides. She has a Master Degree in Public Administration from Nova Southeastern University and a Bachelor Degree in Criminal Justice from Florida International University. Ms. Mesa was hired as the Director of the Domestic Violence Intake Unit in 1993. Ms. Mesa began working in the Unit as an intern from Florida International University in 1992.  The Unit was in the midst of its creation and as the only Spanish speaking counselor; Ms. Mesa was responsible for interviewing all those non-English speaking clients.  Her commitment and her desire to help made her the perfect candidate to fill the position of intake counselor.  At the end of her internship, she was immediately hired and later promoted to Director of the Intake Unit.  Ms. Mesa was responsible for the creation and implementation of policies and procedures.  She translated all forms and reading material into Spanish to help the Hispanic community better understand domestic violence issues.  In 1993, she instituted a series of logs and tallies designed to keep statistical reports on the nationality of the population that the unit serves.  In 1994, Ms. Mesa submitted a budget proposal to the local battered women’s shelter requesting that funds would be allocated to directly assist victims of domestic violence who seek court protection.  The request was granted, and subsequently, Ms. Mesa implemented a procedure for victims of domestic violence to be transported to the court locations and for providing victims with a free meal while waiting for their injunction paperwork to be completed.  Also in 1994, Ms. Mesa was invited by the government of Venezuela as a guest speaker in the “Fourth International Family Congress”.  Ms. Mesa spoke about domestic violence issues to an audience from all South American countries and some European countries.  In 1995, she was invited by Dade County Commissioner, Natacha Millan to go to Uruguay to speak about domestic violence, in conjunction with a team of four professionals.  Ms. Mesa was responsible for translating the entire presentation into Spanish.  Ms. Mesa was also asked by the Alliance Against Domestic Violence to host the “Zero Tolerance” television series in Spanish.  In 1996, Ms. Mesa was selected as one of the two hundred participants in the Leadership Miami 1996-97 Program.  The participants represented the next generation of leaders for Greater Miami.  Also in 1996, Ms. Mesa was asked by City of Miami Commission on the Status of Women to be the Co-Producer and Host of eighteen television series which were aired every Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.  This live production on channel 17 was in both English and Spanish.  Also in 1996, Ms. Mesa requested that the Administrative Office of the Courts would implement a system change based on an analysis that she conducted which suggested to computerize the intake process.  The change involved personnel becoming Public Notaries and some other drastic innovations. The implementation of the new re-engineering process was implemented throughout Dade County.  It is estimated that this implementation will save the Administrative Office of the Courts a great deal of time, but most importantly, it will allow a victim to obtain an injunction in three hours as opposed to five as it was prior to the re-engineering.  In January, 1998, the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence together with the Hispanic Women Alliance Against Domestic Violence coordinated what would be the first State-wide conference on domestic violence offered in Spanish in the state of Florida. Ms. Mesa was the person responsible for the coordination and planning of this event in addition to being the Master of Ceremony and a panelist as well. In April 1998, Ms. Mesa had the opportunity to work with one of the Dade County Public School Board Members, Mr. Renier De La Portilla to try to implement curricula on domestic violence in the school system. This effort was a success and a committee was created to materialize this pioneer initiative. In 1999, Ms. Mesa approached Miami-Dade County Commissioner Millan with regard to creating a County Ordinance that would address Domestic Violence & the Workplace. Soon after, an ordinance was created and implemented thanks to Ms. Mesa’s efforts and vision. This ordinance is the first document of this nature in the country. Ms. Mesa has conducted various training sessions on Domestic Violence & the Workplace, the National Conference of Metropolitan Courts in Arizona being the most recent. Ms. Mesa is also the Founder and current Chair of the Latino Alliance Against Domestic Violence.

Ivon Mesa has also been the recipient of many awards and honors.  In 1992, she was the recipient of the Dial Corp. Minority Scholarship in recognition of her academic achievements.  Ms. Mesa was selected by the Chief Judge and the Court Administrator of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit as the 1994 Employee of the Year.  In 1996, Ms. Mesa was appointed by the City of Miami Commissioner Plummer to the City of Miami Commission on the Status of Women.  In 1997, she was appointed by Governor Lawton Chiles to the Human Rights Advocacy Committee.  Furthermore, in May 1997, Ms. Mesa was appointed by Dade County Commissioner Souto to serve as a member of the Domestic Violence Oversight Board, and in October, 1997, Ms. Mesa was the recipient of the National Association of Public Administrators Community Service Award for being the  Hispanic Public Administrator who served her community the most. Also in March, 2000, Ivon Ms. Mesa was awarded the Woman of the Next Century Award which was presented by the Miami-Dade County Women’s Association. In addition to her career in Criminal Justice, she has also worked as a teacher for Dade County Public schools on a part-time basis for approximately five years. In January, 2000, she was hired as an Adjunct Professor by Florida International University in the Sociology Department to teach a class entitled “Intimate Violence”. In 2004, Ms. Mesa was the recipient of the Governor’s Peace at Home Award in two separate categories, the Criminal Justice and the Overall. Ms. Mesa has now dedicated eighteen years of her life and professional career to eliminate domestic violence and as a the Director of the Domestic Violence Intake Unit since 1993 her accomplishments are many.

In 2008, Ivon Mesa was promoted to the Director of the Coordinated Victims Assistance Center (CVAC) and was charged with the task of formulating and implementing the policies and procedures of the Center, so that it could become a functional one stop center for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Ivon is responsible for the daily operations of the Center along with the other three outreach Domestic Violence Outreach Units and 1- million dollar federal grant. Ms. Mesa was the intellectual author and developer of the Center which received the Council on Accreditation 2014 International Innovative Practices Award.

In 2013, Ivon Mesa was promoted to the Director of the Violence Prevention and Intervention Division of the Community Action and Human Services Department of Miami-Dade County. In this position, Ms. Mesa is responsible for all the programs addressing violence of the department which include the Coordinated Victims Assistance Center, a one stop center for victims; Safespace North and South, a shelter for battered women; Inn Transition North and South, a housing program for victims of domestic violence and the Domestic Violence Outreach Units, a court based advocacy program for victims of domestic violence and human trafficking. During this phase of Ms. Mesa’s career, she was the intellectual author and developer of an award winning anti-violence educational curriculum called; “Transforming Our Youth (TOY)”, which received the 2016 Achievement Award by the National Association of Counties. 

In 2016, Ivon Mesa was promoted to Chief of the Targeted Services Bureau of the Miami-Dade County Community Action and Human Services Department. In that position, Ms. Mesa is responsible for the oversight of the Violence Prevention and Intervention Division which includes the operations of an emergency shelter for victims, a transitional housing program, a Family Justice Center with 39 onsite partners, a court based advocacy program as well as for the Family and Community Division which encompasses the operations of 13 Neighborhood Community Centers where assistance is provided to Miami-Dade County citizens.