Joni Bernbaum is currently the Assistant Director of the USF Center for Victim Advocacy and Violence Prevention. She has over 15 years of professional experience in the field of victim services, helping clients overcome the trauma of their victimization by advocating for safety, healing, justice and restitution. Bernbaum holds a Master's Degree in Counseling and a Bachelor's Degree in Criminology, both from USF. She is a Certified Domestic Violence Counselor from the National Board of Forensic Counselors, a Certified Instructor for Rape Aggression Defense (R.A.D.) Systems and a Designated Victim Services Practitioner by the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Florida. Bernbaum serves as the Vice-Chair of the Hillsborough County Domestic Violence Taskforce, and is a member of the local fatality review team and sexual violence taskforce. She is also an instructor at USF, teaching classes in Victimology, Social Justice Leadership, and Values and Choices and has served as the keynote speaker at the 2012 International Association of Human Trafficking Investigators Conference. Bernbaum has coordinated nationally recognized and award winning events at USF, including Walk a Mile in Her Shoes and Take Back the Night. She received a lifetime honorary membership to the Golden Key International Honour Society, and in 2009 was nominated by students and awarded the "Inspire by Example" USF Outstanding Faculty/Staff Leadership Award.