Same Challenges, Different Countries: A Live International Exchange on Leadership, Practice, and the Future of Community Supervision

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Antoinetta (Tonie) DeAngelis is Statewide Manager of Probation Mental Health and Treatment Services (Specialty Courts) at the Massachusetts Probation Service, where she champions implementation of evidence-based practices across more than 60 Recovery, Mental Health, and Veterans Treatment Courts statewide. With 28 years of experience in transformational leadership and change management, she brings deep expertise in behavioral health supervision, cross-agency collaboration, training and curriculum design, and performance improvement. Earlier in her career, she served as Chief Probation Officer at Greenfield District Court, where she helped launch the Collaborative Treatment Court and led initiatives that meaningfully improved outcomes for court users and their families. Tonie is a co-founder of the Global Co-Learning Network, which emerged from the 2025 APPA Summer Institute and has since produced structured exchanges with probation leaders across multiple countries. She is committed to translating research into practice and advancing justice-informed, community-centered supervision that produces lasting change.

Carmen Z. Gomez, PhD, is Deputy Commissioner for Pretrial Services at the Massachusetts Probation Service, bringing 28 years of judicial system experience and a doctorate in Philosophy with a concentration in Law, Policy, and Society. She is a co-founder of the Global Co-Learning Network, which emerged from the 2025 APPA Summer Institute and has since produced structured exchanges with probation services in other countries. Carmen serves as an APPA Leadership Institute Coordinator, Vice President of NECCD, and board member of the National Association of Probation Executives. She co-chairs the APPA Women's Symposium and the Trial Court's Equity Subcommittee on Specialty Courts, and founded the Massachusetts Trial Court's annual Women's History Month Ceremony and Conference. She is the 2024 recipient of APPA's Carmen Rodriguez Member of the Year Award. A nationally and internationally sought speaker on racial justice, women's rights, leadership, and wellness, Carmen has devoted her career to building systems that are fair, inclusive, and transformative.

Steve Pitts is a founder and driving force behind the international co-learning collaborations which have built on the 2025 APPA Summer Institute and since produced structured exchanges between several countries. He has spent decades in international roles, including as Ambassador of the Confederation of European Probation (CEP), building the international linkages that make this kind of cross-border co-learning possible. Steve began his career as a probation officer in London. National roles included lead for probation partnerships, prisoner reintegration, social inclusion, and the strategy to reduce reoffending. He subsequently established the England and Wales Prisons and Probation International Team, leading European research projects and justice assistance work in Europe and globally. He has since worked independently including with the United Nations and Council of Europe on community-based justice reform in most regions of the world. He helped establish the World Congress on Probation and Parole and believes strongly in the opportunities afforded by international collaboration!