Ivon Mesa

Ivon Mesa was born in Cuba on December 9th, 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.