Staff

People Dedicated to You

Heather Bellino
Chief Executive Officer
 

Heather Bellino is the Chief Executive Officer at Texas Advocacy Project (TAP). Since 2005 she has been involved in efforts to help survivors of violence find safety and hope for themselves and their families. Texas Advocacy Project's mission is to end dating and domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking in Texas. Texas Advocacy Project empowers survivors through free legal services and access to the justice system and advances prevention through public outreach and education. Bellino oversees the agency's operations, funding, and service delivery. Prior to joining TAP, she had an extensive background in sales and marketing.

Bellino participates on a number of committees, such as Texas Council on Family Violence’s Public Policy Committee which addresses the response to family violence in our state and provides guidance on measures that will be presented to the Texas Legislature. She was also a member of the PROJECT SAFE Expert Panel born from Senate Bill 434 Task Force charged with addressing the relationship between domestic violence and child abuse and neglect. In 2021, Bellino was appointed as a representative of Texas Advocacy Project on the Office of the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force.

She co-authored “INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE- An Epidemic Family Physicians Can Address” in the Texas Academy of Family Physicians Journal, Vol. 69 No. 4 2018, and recently contributed to the blog, “What PPE is Needed for Domestic Violence” in the Texas Medical Association Journal. Bellino has also been a mentor for the University of Texas at Austin’s Executive Master in Public Leadership Program. The program is designed for successful professionals who want to expand their impact, broaden their career horizons and cultivate leadership capacity. In addition to mentoring, she has also been a guest lecturer at a masters level Public Management class at the University of Texas at Austin LBJ School of Public Affairs.

Bellino has been highlighted in Austin Monthly, was nominated for Austin Business Journal's 2016 Profiles in Power Award, and was featured as a finalist and is one of four of KXAN’s Texas’ Remarkable Women for 2021.
 

 

Denise Margo Moy
Chief Operating Officer
 

Denise Margo Moy has devoted her entire legal career to making justice accessible to survivors of power-based abuse. Since her start at Texas Advocacy Project (TAP) in 2000, she has held multiple positions including Director of Legal Lines, Legal Director, Deputy Executive Director, and now Chief Operating Officer. In all capacities Moy has worked directly with survivors, shelters, rape crisis centers, law enforcement agencies, and courts across Texas to deliver effective legal services such as advice and counsel through our legal lines and video conference equipment, assistance with protective orders including MOEP's, assistance in pro se matters, and as a supervisor, has participated in impact litigation and, as justice demands, direct representation.

Now as Chief Operating Officer, she fulfills a vital role of grant compliance and oversight on all cases at time of closing and of all staff in order to ensure clients have received the highest level of care. Moy is also responsible for human resources at TAP and is certified in nonprofit HR and as an HR Generalist. Prior to law school, Moy worked in the Texas House of Representatives. She has served as a mentor to 1L students at UT Law and is an active volunteer with Girl Scouts of Central Texas. In 2020, Moy was awarded the Noble Award by the Poverty Law Section of the State Bar of Texas. The Noble Award honors a Texas attorney for a lifetime of public service in promoting poverty law as a noble profession and significant lifetime professional accomplishments in expanding the provision of high-quality legal services to people of modest means or protecting clients’ legal rights. She was also awarded the Unsung Hero Award for her support of the Texas Academy of Family Physicians during the 2019-2020 year. Moy is a member of the Texas Bar College and currently serves as Secretary on the Council of the Poverty Law Section of the State Bar of Texas.

  

Staff

Texas Advocacy Project employs 46 staff, 39 full-time and 7 part-time, the majority of whom are attorneys experienced in providing legal assistance to survivors of power-based abuse.