close Exit Site If you are in crisis, please contact the U.S. National Domestic Violence Hotline via phone (1-800-799-SAFE), chat (TheHotline.org), or text (START to 88788), or contact 911 if it is safe to do so. Click EXIT SITE to leave this website immediately. If your device is monitored, consider clearing your browser history after visiting this website.
Donate Now Exit Site
Photograph of 2014 DREAM Award recipient Kristi VanAudenhov
Action Alert

The Crime Victims Fund (CVF) is the main source of federal funding for victim services, bu [Read More]

Take Action

NNEDV Accepting 2015 DREAM Award Nominees

July 2, 2015

The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) is now accepting nominations for the annual Diane Reese Excellence in Advocacy in the Movement (DREAM) Award. This award seeks to recognize an individual who encapsulates and perpetuates Diane Reese’s profound and transcendent legacy, which continues to shape and inform a collective vision of a world where violence against women no longer exists.

Diane Reese was a founding member of the West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence and an integral champion in the passage of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and its subsequent reauthorizations. She was a renowned educator and an ardent national activist with many accomplishments.

Perhaps her most extraordinary contribution to the movement to end violence, and the reason NNEDV created this award in her memory, was that which emanated from her very essence. True advocacy is more than activism, duty, or responsibility. True advocacy was a way of life for Diane Reese. It was intrinsic to her very nature and apparent in her every action. Diane possessed the incredible capacity to instill that advocacy spirit in others, to inspire camaraderie, and to turn a movement into a community.

The DREAM Award, therefore, honors an individual who incorporates and demonstrates the spirit and promise of true advocacy in all aspects of life – one who emulates Ms. Reese’s commitment to clear and ethical communication, her eagerness to collaborate in the spirit of true partnership, and her deep respect for the dignity, worth, and humanity in each one of us.

NNEDV is currently soliciting nominations to honor an individual who exemplifies the outstanding commitment to human dignity, social justice, and advocacy for survivors of domestic violence, which Diane Reese displayed throughout her life. Anyone in the movement is eligible to be nominated.

The DREAM Award will be presented at the 2015 NNEDV Coalition Roundtable Conference in Chicago, Illinois. The recipient will be selected based on the following criteria:

  1. Commitment: A demonstrated commitment to advocacy on behalf of survivors and their children
  2. Leadership: Personal qualities that reflect Diane’s vigor and virtue in stimulating ethical, peaceful, and effective work with others
  3. Innovation and Impetus: Experience that demonstrates a broad commitment to social justice, through a variety of issues, and creativity in building and perpetuating the domestic violence movement within a social change framework

To submit a nomination, please complete the nomination survey. Nominations will be accepted until Friday, August 14, 2015.