Training Institute
House of Ruth Maryland’s Training Institute provides community education, training, consultation and technical assistance to professionals and the community at large on intimate partner violence (IPV) and issues related to intimate partner violence.
Community Education and Training Services
House of Ruth Maryland offers highly interactive learning experiences that are tailored to fit the needs of the participants and are conducted by experts and advocates currently working in the field. Our content covers all aspects of intimate partner violence and teen dating violence as well as professional development courses for service providers and educators.
Submit Form Below to Request Training

Intimate Partner Violence
Learn the history of intimate partner violence, forms of abuse, characteristics of individuals who exercise power and control over victims and rape and sexual assault in the context of intimate partner violence, the impact of intimate partner violence on victims and their families.

Prevention & Intervention
Gain insight into what healthy, unhealthy, and abusive teen relationships look like and the barriers teens face in abusive relationships. Learn about effective strategies to engage abusive partners in a change process.

Professional Development
Expand your knowledge and skillset with professional development training courses designed for service providers. Learn how to create teaching tools that meet the needs of your organization and community.
Upcoming Trainings
Maryland Abuse Intervention Programs: Change Starts Here
March 27-30, 2023 | 9:00 AM-5:00 PM EST
During this training for Maryland abuse intervention staff, participants will learn the history and evaluation of abuse intervention work, what guidelines Maryland has for abuse intervention programs across the state, and best practices for engaging individuals who have used abusive behavior in a change process.
House of Ruth Maryland Non-Profit Leadership Series
The House of Ruth Maryland Non-Profit Leadership Series breaks down the best practices of recruiting and retaining top talent, holding productive internal meetings and staff supervisions, providing constructive performance evaluations and ongoing supervisor feedback, and successful ways to encourage team building, motivate staff and build resilience among teams.
Request Training
House of Ruth Maryland’s Training Institute will work with you and your organization to customize a training based on your needs. Once you submit this request form, you’ll be contacted by a member of our Training Institute to discuss presentation topics and details.
In order to support our continued work, we ask that you consider your ability to provide an honorarium. We recognize this may be a challenge for some and we will still do our best to meet your training needs.

Storytellers Project
Designed by survivors, for survivors. HRM Storytellers, House of Ruth Maryland’s storytelling project, equips and empowers survivors of intimate partner violence to construct and share their stories, increasing their sense of meaning, purpose, and control over their experiences while providing opportunities for personal and professional growth and skill-building.
Learn more about the HRM Storytellers Project, become an HRM Storyteller or request an HRM Storyteller to speak at one of your upcoming events.

House of Ruth Maryland Training Institute Team
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.
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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.
View Full Bio
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.
Stephanie Romano
Training Institute Project Coordinator
Stephanie has been working the violence against women field for approximately eight years and has been with House of Ruth Maryland since 2017. As part of the House of Ruth Maryland’s Training Institute, Stephanie provides trainings on intimate partner violence, with a focus on prevention and intervention. Stephanie has also worked for Hopeworks of Howard County and the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault. She is passionate about working to end violence against women and holds a Master’s Degree in Women’s & Gender Studies from Towson University.
Jocelyn Broadwick
Training Institute Project Coordinator
Jocelyn Broadwick is a Project Coordinator with House of Ruth Maryland’s Training Institute specializing in survivor-centered projects. She has 10+ years combined experience in communications, education, and nonprofits as a co-founder, communications director, social media manager, photojournalist, and college professor. Previously, Jocelyn ghostwrote the survivor stories of victims of abuse, trafficking, and gender-based violence for Hagar International. In addition, she ran the Writing Center at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Jocelyn is trained in culturally responsive teaching and learning and frequently integrates contemplative practices into her work. She loves to travel and has done so extensively throughout Latin America, East Africa, and Southeast Asia. Jocelyn earned her MFA in Nonfiction Writing from Goucher College and regularly performs in Baltimore’s Highlandtown Arts District, where she lives with her partner, cat, and puppy.