Training Institute

Lisa Nitsch, MSW

Director of Training & Education

Lisa is responsible for House of Ruth Maryland’s intervention services for abusive partners and the Training Institute, which coordinates professional development for staff, external community education, and professional technical assistance. She has been with House of Ruth Maryland since 1998 and has advanced through a variety of positions, including overseeing the agency’s Clinical Services for survivors and their children, the Teen Initiative, and the Developmental Childcare Center.

Lisa is an appointed member of the Maryland Governor’s Family Violence Council and is on the Board of the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence.  She served as Vice President of the national organization, Women in Fatherhood, and as Co-Chair of Maryland’s Abuse Intervention Collaborative. She has been on training teams for notable organizations such as Futures Without Violence, Battered Women’s Justice Project, Women of Color Network, Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community, and the National District Attorneys Association. She has served as an advisor to the United States White House, the National Institutes of Health, the United States Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women, and the United States Department of Health & Human Services’ Administration for Children & Families.

Lisa is most proud of being recognized as a field leader in Ed Gondolf’s 2015 book, “Gender-Based Perspectives on Batterer Programs”, her 2013 award from the Center for Urban Families for her “years of dedication in serving Baltimore City’s most vulnerable citizens”, and the Special Day of Honor designated for her by Mayor Nagin in 2007, for “promoting positive outcomes and providing support to the fathers of New Orleans” following the devastation of hurricane Katrina.

Her current, but ever-changing, interests include developing programs for abusive partners within disinvested communities that address the dual experience of both holding privilege and being oppressed, increasing access to learning tools for service providers globally, and exploring community-based accountability models for abusive partners beyond the criminal legal system.

Lisa’s roots run deep in her hometown of Baltimore City, Maryland, where she proudly works and lives with her remarkably patient husband, incredible nieces, and gentle pit bull.

Angélique Black McKoy, LGPC, NCC, CTP

Training Institute Manager

Angélique McKoy is the Training Institute Manager at the House of Ruth Maryland (HRM). In this role she oversees the efforts of the Training Institute team and ensures the quality of its services with efforts to best meet the educational needs of the community. She is also responsible for creating professional development opportunities that are responsive to HRM’s staff and develop a package of technical assistance products that highlight field best practices and serve as a social enterprise for the organization.

Angélique is a seasoned trainer and facilitator a well as a Licensed Professional Counselor and National Certified Counselor (NCC). She has notable counseling experience with a myriad of populations including children and families (child-serving organizations/OMHC), child welfare (treatment foster care), marriage and singles (pastoral ministry).  She is also licensed minister, public speaker, pastoral counselor, and recorded singer.

Angélique is a native New Yorker, transplanted to Maryland, and holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Phoenix, a CACREP-accredited master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and is clinically licensed in the state of Maryland, along with Trauma and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace certifications.

As a fierce advocate for special needs children and families, her philanthropic work includes serving as Co-Chairperson of the Harford County Special Education Citizens Advisory Committee (SECAC) and a Board Member of Not-Another Child, Inc. in New York City, whose mission is to provide wholeness, healing, and advocacy to communities and families of gun violence and other traumatic events.