Elevando a la próxima generación de líderes juveniles

The Victim Advocacy Corps is a pilot program led by the National Organization for Victim Advocacy (NOVA) with funding from the Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) that aims to elevate the next generation of youth leaders in victim services. Developed in partnership with student survivors, researchers, and college campuses, the Victim Advocacy Corps aims to heighten diversity and foster youth engagement in victim advocacy. Student fellows from pilot campus sites throughout the U.S. will receive specialized victim advocacy training, credentialing, mentorship, and a paid field-placement in a local victim service agency.

The Victim Advocacy Corps aims to uplift and celebrate the voices of historically marginalized youth and/or college students within victim services. By working with researchers, college campuses, and youth survivor advocates, we strive to ensure the Victim Advocacy Corps represents the needs of underserved communities and offers youth the opportunity to get engaged in both victim advocacy and community service. 

This service corps program seeks to recruit young college students from historically marginalized communities. These student fellows—the Victim Advocacy Corps itself—aim to serve todo víctimas del delito.

Our inaugural cohort of Student Fellows was selected and recruited in Spring 2024 and placed in community agencies throughout the country starting in Fall 2025. You can keep up with the VAC by following NOVA’s social media platforms or subscribing to our mailing list. If you’re interested in learning how you can support our VAC program, please reach out to us via email at [email protected].

Defining ‘youth’ can be complex. In the case of the Victim Advocacy Corps and its Student Fellows, we have focused on supporting college and graduate students, including non-traditional students, ranging from the age of 18 – 35+.

Puede dirigir todas las preguntas y consultas de los medios a [email protected].

While many victim advocates bring their own personal experience, or survivorship, to their work, lived experience is not a requirement for our student fellows to participate in the Victim Advocacy Corps. Likewise, interested youth do not need to have a background in victim services. We invite all interested youth and/or students to apply if they are interested in supporting survivors and their community.