Jennifer Thomas has worked to empower survivors of abuse since she began her social services career, as a child advocate in 2004 in rural Georgia. She is well recognized as a subject matter expert and positive leader in the domestic violence movement and regularly provides training and technical assistance on the state and national levels. Jennifer is currently the Director of Strategic Partnerships for the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC). In this role, Jennifer partners with local and state stakeholders to provide support and technical assistance to programs receiving funding from CJCC’s Victim Assistance Division. Before joining CJCC, Jennifer was the Executive Director of the Georgia Commission on Family Violence (GCFV), a state agency charged with ending family violence in Georgia. Jennifer has had the opportunity to support the success of several family violence initiatives including the interdisciplinary review of domestic violence fatalities, the certification of Family Violence Intervention Programs for offenders, the collaboration and coordination of Family Violence Task Forces and other community-based alliances, and the provision of education to the public. Jennifer is a Board Member for the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project located in Duluth, Minnesota, and was awarded the 2013 Gender Justice Award from the Georgia Commission on Family Violence for her work with incarcerated female victims of intimate partner violence. Jennifer holds bachelor’s degrees in Sociology and Psychology from Piedmont College and a Master’s in Social Work from the University of Georgia. In addition, Jennifer earned her Certified Public Manager Certification from the Carl Vinson Institute of Government in 2018.