TriVersity Talk! is a weekly web series with featured guests discussing their lives, activism and pressing issues in the LGBTQ Community. With TriVersity Talk!, the goal is to laugh and learn.
TriVersity Talk! Is part of TriVersity’s ICARE Initiative. ICARE stands for Increasing Community Awareness through Relevant Education. ICARE Programs are generously funded by The Greater Pike Community Foundation.
Laura Dunn is a nationally recognized civil and victim rights attorney running for Congress in New York’s 12th District. Her work has appeared in national media over 300 times, including features in Forbes, National Law Journal, People Magazine, BuzzFeed, and more.
While in law school, Laura Dunn helped draft and pass Section 304 of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA). She was later nominated to serve as a primary negotiator for the U.S. Department of Education’s VAWA Rulemaking committee to develop implementing regulation for this federal legislation. Laura Dunn went on to advise the Obama Administration’s White House Task Force to Protect Students against Sexual Assault, working directly with then-Vice President Joe Biden.
For her national advocacy, Senator Patrick Leahy recognized Laura Dunn on the Senate floor. She subsequently joined his team while he chaired the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. While working on the Hill, she worked to end human trafficking, address military sexual assault, and create a pathway to citizenship, all while vetting federal court judge appointees.
Laura Dunn has received numerous honors for her work, including a 2015 Echoing Green Global Fellowship, the 2016 Senator Benjamin Cardin Public Service Award, the 2017 U.S. Department of Justice Special Courage Award, the 2017 AAUW Eleanor Roosevelt Fund Award, and a 2018 TED Fellowship, among others.
A barred attorney in New York, Maryland, Virginia, and D.C., Laura Dunn is also admitted to practice before several federal courts, including the Southern District of New York and the U.S. Supreme Court. As a lawyer, she has litigated several high profile cases, including ones featured in The New Yorker and on the Netflix documentary “Victim/Suspect.” She also served on SUNY’s Sexual Violence Prevention Workgroup.
As a nationally recognized Title IX expert, Laura Dunn has worked on several major cases, including a high-profile lawsuit against Penn State related to the Jerry Sandusky’s child sexual abuse scandal. She has also trained attorneys and advocates through the New York State Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the National Association of Women Judges, the Texas Municipal Police Association, the Democratic Attorneys General Association, the College Republican National Committee, Harvard Law, Stanford University, the Wisconsin Department of Justice, and the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics, among many others.
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