Concord, NH – Kathryn "Kitty" Kiefer has been chosen to receive the national 2022 Visionary Voice Award from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, recognizing Kitty as a Leader in Sexual Violence Prevention.

Kiefer serves as College Consortium Coordinator at the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office. The Consortium is a statewide organization with the mission of providing a forum where post-secondary institutions can discuss, develop, and implement strategies to end violence against women on their respective campuses: nhcampusconsortium.org.

"Congratulations to Kitty on this national recognition of her 'outstanding work toward ending sexual harassment, misconduct and abuse,' as well as for her commitment to 'supporting survivors and preventing sexual violence' by bringing people together to bring about meaningful change in New Hampshire," said Attorney General John Formella.

Kiefer was nominated by The New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence (NHCADSV) which will be recognizing her today at a 3pm ceremony at NH DOJ.

"We're grateful to Kitty for her commitment to ending sexual violence in New Hampshire," said the NHCADSV. "Interpersonal violence prevention and response at New Hampshire institutions of higher education has been—and continues to be—wholly transformed by her contributions, leadership, and expertise."

Kiefer became the state's first College Consortium Coordinator in 2015. The role was added to New Hampshire's Sexual Assault Resource Team (SART) to focus on working with college campuses to improve system response to victims and promote accountability, ensuring victim-centered, trauma-informed services.

Some of Kitty's accomplishments include: helping to create the 'uSafeUS' smartphone app, which connects students impacted by sexual assault with resources and information about their options, as well as tools to keep students safe; working to help generate a campus climate survey used by all NH institutions of higher education; and, providing technical assistance, training and resources to support community partners navigating changes to the legal landscape of campus response, including the new 2020 Title IX regulations and New Hampshire's new Sexual Misconduct at Institutions of Higher Education law.

Kitty came to NH DOJ after 9 years of work at a NH crisis center, where she provided support to survivors of domestic and sexual violence as well as stalking, including court advocacy, hospital accompaniment, assisting shelter guests, and facilitating support groups. She also did education and outreach work, designing, planning and facilitating awareness and prevention programs for schools (grades K-college) and community groups.