Susan Herman

Susan Herman has more than 25 years of leadership experience in government, criminal justice, and social services. She is an internationally recognized spokesperson for victims of crime and has developed a new vision of justice called Parallel Justice which involves" "a separate social obligation to repair the harm caused by crime, above and beyond the arrest and adjudication of offenders. From 1997 through 2004, Susan Herman served as the Executive Director of the National Center for...See more

Susan Herman has more than 25 years of leadership experience in government, criminal justice, and social services. She is an internationally recognized spokesperson for victims of crime and has developed a new vision of justice called Parallel Justice which involves" "a separate social obligation to repair the harm caused by crime, above and beyond the arrest and adjudication of offenders. From 1997 through 2004, Susan Herman served as the Executive Director of the National Center for Victims of Crime, the nations leading resource and advocacy organization for crime victims. Under Ms. Hermans leadership, the National Center designed and piloted innovative approaches to serving victims, in such critical areas as bringing victims into community policing; developing safe housing for intimidated victims and witnesses; and creating effective ways for communities to respond to the complex issue of stalking. During this period, the National Center also launched the Teen Victim Project to leverage the resources of national youth development agencies to help our most vulnerable victim population, teenagers, and established the National Crime Victim Bar Association, to help crime victims seek remedies through the civil justice system. Furthering the National Centers mission to forge a national commitment to help victims of crime rebuild their lives, Ms. Herman established groundbreaking partnerships with key national organizations, including the American Red Cross, the National District Attorneys Association, and the American Automotive Association (AAA).Before joining the National Center, Ms. Herman served as Director of Community Services at The Enterprise Foundation, where she directed community safety and workforce development initiatives that supported more than 1,100 housing and community development organizations in more than 400 cities across the country, including the Community Safety Project, a four-site national direct AmeriCorps public safety project. Ms. Herman also served as Director of the Domestic Violence Division of Victim Services (now Safe Horizon) in New York City, Special Counsel to the Police Commissioner of the New York City Police Department, and Director of Mediation Services at the Institute for Mediation and Conflict Resolution. She served as an attorney at the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, and as an instructor at the NYU School of Law and the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. A graduate of Bryn Mawr College and the Antioch School of Law, Ms. Herman is currently writing a book on Parallel Justice, and consulting nationally on issues related to victims of crime. See less