Staff

Katie Pedigo

Executive Director

Katie has a passion for philanthropy and service. With 15+ years of experience in management, strategic planning, and result-driven operations, she has a proven ability to develop a vision, achieve consensus, and deliver results in a wide variety of corporate and nonprofit settings. Katie possesses strong interpersonal communication skills and the leadership skills to spearhead change and execute innovative initiatives.

Katie graduated from Texas A&M University in 1995 with a Bachelor’s degree in business management. She received her law degree from Southern Methodist University in 1998. She began working in the home care industry in 1998 in human resources, business operations and government compliance. She served as general counsel for a home care company beginning in 2003. In 2007, Katie’s passion moved to the non-profit sector. She was named the founding executive director of Encompass Cares, which raises funds and distributes grants for medical missions, community assistance and employee emergency hardships. Her philosophy is that being a good corporate citizen is not only the right thing to do, but it also builds the company’s reputation, community support, employee loyalty, and consumer trust. Katie has served many nonprofit organizations including the Christ Clinic in Dallas, Park Cities YMCA, Christian Works for Children and Prestoncrest Church of Christ. In 2009, Katie was named a “Hero for Children” by the Texas Education Commission. She has a passion for empowering and equipping women and children to realize their potentials through the love of Jesus Christ.

Reach Katie at kpedigo@newfriendsnewlife.org

Felecia Burns

Executive Assistant

Felecia Sansom Burns came to New Friends New Life in 2010.  As administrative assistant, Felecia is the first contact most people have with the organization.  She values the opportunity to help each woman she talks with find the resources needed to make a life change.  Her responsibilities include telephone greetings, scheduling of appointments, managing the recording and acknowledgement of donations, office management and support of staff.

In addition to her role with NFNL, Felecia is the youth minister at Victory Temple Christian Life Center and co-founder of the Keep It Real Ministry of Victory, a format for discussing issues that are important to young adults in today’s society—teenage sex, pregnancy, addiction, exploitation of women in media outlets, such as music and pornography. Her ability to engage the community and local organizations has afforded her the opportunity to publicly speak about our greatest asset—our young people.

Reach Felicia at fburns@newfriendsnewlife.org

Stephanie Clanton

Protégé Counselor

Stephanie joined New Friends New Life in 2008 as an intern while pursuing a Master’s degree in counseling. Before coming to NFNL, Stephanie participated in another internship in Mumbai, India, with Project Rescue. There she lived with freed sex trafficking victims where she led Bible studies, counseled, and built relationships with the women. Her work included play therapy with children relinquished by their mothers to the organization to prevent susceptibility to being sexually trafficked.

As a licensed professional counselor intern at New Friends New Life, Stephanie provides counseling services – individual counseling, group therapy, and familial therapy for the protégés and their children. Therapy serves as an avenue for the women to process through their past and present experiences while equipping them with the skills and confidence to move forward and accomplish their personal goals. Stephanie is has a B.S. in family science with a concentration in family and child studies from Louisiana Tech University and an M.A. in Biblical counseling from Dallas Theological Seminary.

Reach Stephanie at sclanton@newfriendsnewlife.org

Kelly Cruse

Advancement Director

Kelly is a highly motivated Community Relations and Marketing professional with expertise in communicating to a variety of audiences. From 2007-2010 Kelly worked as the Assistant Director of Development for The Family Place, where she co-managed an annual $2.5 million development fund. In this role, she administered public awareness ad campaigns that received national attention, lead fundraisers and special events, managed development of two auxiliary boards of directors and increased financial and community involvement by cultivating and maintaining relationships within the community. At NFNL, Kelly helps implement NFNL’s strategies for civic and corporate giving.

Additionally, Kelly brings unique skills to develop Second Chance Job Programs around our city for the women we serve. Before Kelly changed to a career in non-profit, she worked as a recruiter and outplacement representative, owned a small business, was a lobbyist for Southwest Airlines, and worked in marketing, sales and events. Kelly earned her Bachelor’s of Arts in Psychology in 2004 from Southern Methodist University.

Reach Kelly at kcruse@newfriendsnewlife.org

Lauri Lanier

Protégé Advocate

Lauri Lanier is a former NFNL Board member and long-time volunteer. She resigned her position as the director of children’s ministries of Willow Bend Church, one of our supporting churches, to join the NFNL staff in 2005. Lauri brings a unique perspective to the organization, sharing a similar background with the women we serve.

Lauri’s role is to walk alongside assigned protégés to provide encouragement, guidance and accountability, helping them set and achieve goals and navigate the new life they’ve chosen. Lauri plays a key role in facilitating Wednesday night meetings and Bible study. She is a licensed minister with years of successful recovery experience and is currently pursuing a Certificate of Graduate Studies with a focus in Biblical counseling at Dallas Theological Seminary.

Reach Lauri at llanier@newfriendsnewlife.org

Irie Session

Protégé/Community Advocate

Irie has more than 25 years of experience working with children and families in high-risk situations. She has been a senior parole officer for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, an investigator for Child Protective Services, and the adolescent coordinator for Bryan’s House, serving youth and families impacted by HIV/AIDS.

Irie holds a Masters of Divinity from Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry in trasformative leadership with a concentration in prophetic preaching from Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School in New York. She also serves as the associate minister of North Texas Area of the Christian Church in the Southwest.

Reach Irie at iriesession@newfriendsnewlife.org

Lalla Shackelford

Program and Operations Director

Lalla is the program and operations director for NFNL, responsible for programs, resources, volunteers and for providing guidance and supervision to the protégé advocates and the children’s advocate. Since 1985, Lalla has worked in the Dallas nonprofit world in education and direct client services as well as managing staff and programs. Her career has focused on programs to help disadvantaged women access resources, build support networks, connect with mentors and better their education and employment status.

Lalla joined NFNL in November 2006. She holds a Master of Public Health Degree in community education from Loma Linda University.

Reach Lalla at lshackelford@newfriendsnewlife.org

Michelle Torres

Protégé Advocate

Communication Specialist

Michelle Spurgeon Torres began working at NFNL as a protégé advocate in August 2008 and additionally began managing NFNL’s communication efforts as the Communication Specialist in 2010. Michelle spent a year in Auckland, New Zealand, as part of a ministry team reaching out to men and women working the streets as prostitutes. She also spent time at a shelter for teenage girls involved in or at high risk of involvement in commercial sexual activity. Both of these experiences created a desire within Michelle to become better equipped to offer emotional, psychological and spiritual support needed to empower individuals who want to change their lives. Michelle is a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) educated at the University of Texas at Arlington and has a B.A. in Communication from McMurry University.

Reach Michelle at mtorres@newfriendsnewlife.org

Roxanne Wright

Children’s Advocate

Roxanne Joiner Wright is a licensed professional counselor and has more than 15 years’ experience as teacher and school counselor in the Plano and Garland Independent School Districts. She received her Master’s degree in education with emphasis in counseling from the University of North Texas. Her role is to plan and implement programming for the children of the protégés who accompany their mothers to weekly meetings. Her goal is to assure that the children are provided the same comprehensive services that we provide for the women as well as promote valuable parenting resources and education to build stronger families.

Reach Roxanne Wright at rwright@newfriendsnewlife.org