Dr. Lawanda Ravoira
Director, National Council on Crime and Delinquency’s Center for Girls and Young Women
Wednesday, February 24

Dr. Ravoira will present a one-day intensive training workshop entitled Girl Matters: Girls Can’t Wait. Dr. Ravoira is a national expert, researcher, published author and trainer on issues specific to justice - involved girls and systemic reform. She is the director of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency’s Center for Girls and Young Women and serves as a consultant with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Health and Human Services Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs (OAPP), Washington, DC and numerous state and local jurisdictions and youth servicing agencies throughout the country. Her work includes the provision of training and consultation services in numerous states including California, Illinois, Iowa, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Texas.

Dr. Ravoira serves as the Vice Chair of the State of Florida Blueprint Commission convened by Governor Charlie Crist and Secretary Walt McNeil and she was appointed to co-chair the State of Florida’s Girls Advisory Council. She serves as the project director for Children's Campaign, Inc. Justice for Girls statewide advocacy initiative and authored the soon to be released: Justice for Girls: A Blueprint for Action. Funded by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, she co-authored and served as one of the primary researchers for the National Council on Crime and Delinquency recently released research report entitled, A Rallying Cry for Change: Charting a New Direction in the State of Florida’s Response to Girls in the Juvenile Justice System. Additionally, she authored, Social Bonds and Teen Pregnancy, Greenwood Publishing that includes her original research on homeless and runaway pregnant and parenting teenage girls.

Dr. Ravoira wrote and worked for the passage of HB1989 which amended the State of Florida’s juvenile justice statutes to mandate gender specific services. Florida became the second state in the nation to pass this groundbreaking legislation. For over 13 years, Dr. Ravoira served as the President and CEO of PACE Center for Girls, Inc., a state-wide not-for-profit organization that provides gender responsive, comprehensive educational, therapeutic and transitional support services to 4,500 at risk girls annually. Prior to her tenure at PACE, she was the Director of Program Services for the National Network of Runaway and Youth Services in Washington, DC and she served as an administrator with Covenant House/Florida, Ft. Lauderdale, an international child-caring agency that provides residential and non-residential services to homeless and runaway youth. Previous experience includes working as a social worker with inner city youth in New York City with Catholic Guardian Society.

Additional information about the Post Conference can be downloaded here.