40th Profiles Archives - NYC Anti-Violence Project

40 Change Makers: Mohamed Amin

March 8, 2023

Mohamed Amin originally came to AVP as a client in 2013 and quickly became an organizer to raise awareness about hate crimes and create community for queer Caribbean voices in NYC. Mohamed launched his own nonprofit, the Caribbean Equality Project (CEP), in 2015 and has continued to uplift, connect, and serve others all while telling his story. After Pulse, Mohamed advocated for queer Muslim voices and organized conferences, historical retrospect[...]

40 Change Makers: Darlene Torres

Our current Director of Client Services, Darlene Torres, has been with AVP for almost two decades. Darlene has demonstrated a powerful ability to create a welcoming community for all. AVP recently caught up with Darlene and discussed sustainability, the hotline, and spiritual violence. How did you first learn about AVP and how did you first get connected? I learned about AVP back in 1999. I was working at a reproductive health orga[...]

40 Change Makers: Carla Smith

February 22, 2023

Carla Smith has spent over twenty-five years working on ending violence. Currently, Carla is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Urban Resource Institute (URI), the largest provider of domestic violence shelter services in the United States. During her time at AVP, she worked initially managing grants and then after her first year as Director of Finance and Administration until 2015. We spoke about trauma-informed care, consulting work, [...]

40 Change Makers: Indira Santana

November 10, 2022

Indira Santana first got involved with AVP while starting to get out of an intimate partner violence situation in 2018. Since then, she has participated in a variety of AVP’s programs for empowerment including an art therapy group that allowed her to open up. “It was like, just imagine that you're a kid in kindergarten and you're just having fun with colors, shapes, and that's it. Basically, you just have fun with it.” We talked about art [...]

40 Change Makers: Anne Patterson

October 20, 2022

Anne Patterson has dedicated her life to ending gender-based violence, from working in shelters to her work as the Vice President of STEPS to End Family Violence from 2014 to 2022. Anne’s passion is infectious and her approach to abolition and organizing shine in our discussion below. As someone who worked closely with AVP in a variety of positions, Anne has seen the organization from many different perspectives. We talked about carceral femin[...]

40 Change Makers: Joo-Hyun Kang

September 12, 2022

Joo-Hyun Kang is a longtime organizer in LGBTQ and social justice communities in New York City and a mentor to many. She was a program director at Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice and the first staff member and director of the Audre Lorde Project, an organizing center for LGBTST (lesbian, gay, bisexual, Two Spirit, and transgender) and gender-nonconforming communities of color. Until recently Joo-Hyun Kang was the director of Communi[...]

40 Change Makers: Kathy Flores

August 10, 2022

Kathy Flores has always been one to take initiative. “Diverse & Resilient basically gave me this program and said, ‘Here, if you can build it, build it.’” From training domestic violence shelters on working with gender non-conforming people to decentering whiteness in professional environments, Kathy has tackled a variety of issues. “Anti-violence advocates are a special kind of geek,” she said. Kathy has served for many ye[...]

40 Change Makers: Clarence Patton

Clarence Patton worked with AVP from 1996 to 2008. From his work as Development Director to his time as Executive Director, Clarence worked to advance the real-life change AVP was a part of. "I was there for 12 years," said Clarence. "When I became Executive Director, the staff teased me." Clarence said staff told him that now that you’ve had all the jobs, you’ll have to leave after this. "I think that it could definitely be overwhelming at t[...]

40 Change Makers: Andrea Ritchie

July 28, 2022

This interview has been shortened and condensed for clarity. One of the first things Andrea Ritchie remembers saying was, “It's not fair.” She would stomp her feet and enact her first form of protest which would later inform her work as an organizer. Her book Invisible No More documents the history of state violence against women of color. Andrea has collaborated on essential texts like Queer (In)justice — a study on the criminalizat[...]

40 Change Makers: justin adkins

July 20, 2022

This interview has been shortened and condensed for clarity. After his arrest during Occupy Wall Street in 2011, justin adkins found AVP to help with his lawsuit against the City in an effort to combat transphobia. Teaming up with AVP gave justin a chance to take on unjust practices within the criminal legal system. “I'm a white trans guy, and I'm very aware of those privileges…. I pursued because I had the privilege to do so. And th[...]

40 Change Makers: Judy and Dennis Shepard

July 11, 2022

This interview has been shortened and condensed for clarity. Judy and Dennis Shepard have dedicated their lives to the work of ending hatred-based violence, by turning their own grief into action. The work to end violence is a long road. The Shepards joked about continuing to put off retirement due to the continued need for vigilance. After losing their son, Matthew Shepard, to anti-gay hate violence, the Shepards found numerous organizati[...]

40 Change Makers: Jasmine Bowden

June 21, 2022

This interview has been shortened and condensed for clarity. Jasmine’s enthusiasm and passion for educating and organizing marginalized people is infectious. To hear her talk about her work, you can’t help but want to get involved. “I'm not an introvert. I love engaging people,” Jasmine said. “There's not a stranger I haven't met. You know?” Jasmine used her ability to engage others as an organizer, canvasser, ed[...]