Celebrating a Quarter Century

February 23, 2015

This year marks NNEDV’s 25th anniversary. The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) was the ambitious idea of a small but mighty group of state domestic violence coalition leaders* who identified the need for a national, unified voice for survivors of domestic violence and their advocates. These inspiring, courageous women spent their own money and devoted countless hours to make this vision a reality by founding the Domestic Violence Coalition on Public Policy (“DVCOPP”).

With the help of allies and champions like then-Senator Joe Biden, Senator Orrin Hatch, and the late Senator Paul Wellstone, DVCOPP played a major role in drafting and passing the original Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994. After the passage of VAWA, DVCOPP was renamed the National Network to End Domestic Violence, signifying our place as a major national force for social change.

NNEDV continues to impact and improve the lives of survivors, their children, and the advocates who serve them. We are a strong voice at the federal level, advocating for better legislation in Congress and ensuring that the voices of survivors are heard within key government agencies, including the Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Education, and Labor.

Through our specialized projects – like Safety Net, WomensLaw, Economic Justice, and Positively Safe – NNEDV offers specialized training to victim advocates and allied professionals across the United States, U.S. territories, and around the world. NNEDV is a trailblazer in helping to increase the capacity of the 56 U.S. state and territory domestic violence coalitions. We also enhance the capacity of local domestic violence services through our Transitional Housing Technical Assistance project.

Through our private-public partnerships we work with major companies – such as Allstate, Facebook, Google, Verizon, Avon, and MAC – to bridge the connection between corporate social responsibility and social justice.

For the past 25 years, we have helped to shape the way the United States responds to domestic violence. We continue to make domestic violence a national priority for policymakers, high profile businesses, and the general public. Yet, despite all that we have achieved, there is still much more that needs to be done.

As we look ahead, we recognize the incredible achievements of our founders and allies that paved the way for the work we do today. We believe that one day violence against women will no longer exist.

Join us as we re-imagine the future: give today to help us end domestic violence.

*A special thanks to all of the women who have been there since the beginning, including: Colleen Coble, U.S. Representative Donna Edwards, Susan Kelly-Dreiss, Anne Menard, Vickie Smith, Debby Tucker and countless others. Thank you for your vision, passion, and motivation to make a difference.