Harrisburg, PA, July 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Delilah Rumburg, Chief Executive Officer of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, announced today that she will retire after 23 years at the helm of the longest-standing anti-sexual assault coalition in the country.  

An experienced leader, strategist and innovator, Rumburg guided PCAR and NSVRC to tremendous growth at the national, state and local levels throughout her tenure, beginning with her appointment as CEO of PCAR in 1995.    

“Delilah is a passionate and inspirational leader who furthered our mission and espoused the movement to achieve real and lasting change,” said Denise Johnson, President of PCAR’s Board of Directors. “We are incredibly proud of her accomplishments and leadership, from setting a vision of a world where sexual violence is no longer tolerated to advocating every day for justice and rights for survivors. We wish her well in her retirement.” 

Notable achievements throughout Rumburg’s tenure include: 

• Chartering NSVRC through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2000. NSVRC is the leading nonprofit in providing information and tools to prevent and respond to sexual violence. NSVRC leads the nationally observed Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) each April, and maintains the world’s largest specialized library collection on sexual violence.
• Developing a partnership with the National Football League to launch Raliance, an unprecedented collaboration with the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault and the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence dedicated to ending sexual violence in one generation. Since its launch in June 2016, Raliance has distributed 41 grants totaling nearly $1.8 million for sexual violence prevention and response.
• Supporting the development of Aequitas: The Prosecutor’s Resource on Violence Against Women from 2009 through 2015, when Aequitas became an independent 501(c)(3). 
• Championing numerous federal and state legislative triumphs, including the first reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 1999 which established a funding stream to create a national resource center on sexual violence (later becoming NSVRC), and subsequent reauthorizations in 2005 and 2011; allowing child victims and witnesses testify via videotape or closed-circuit television in court proceedings in Pennsylvania; extending Pennsylvania’s criminal and civil statutes of limitations for child sexual abuse in 2002; and passing state legislation allowing expert witness testimony to explain victim behavior in sexual assault cases in 2012.   

Rumburg also helped shape national policy on violence against women. She delivered expert testimony at key Congressional briefings on the issue and provided guidance and leadership to two Department of Defense Task Forces on Sexual Assault. Rumburg also served on the National Advisory Committee on Violence Against Women under Presidents Clinton and Bush. She traveled to military bases throughout the United States, Europe, South Korea, Iraq and Kuwait to help develop recommendations on how the military can improve services to victims of sexual assault and enhance prevention programming in the armed forces. She also participated in the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Women in South Africa in 2011.  

At home, Rumburg serves on the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency and in 2012 earned an appointment to the Pennsylvania Task Force for Child Protection from Gov. Tom Corbett. Prior to PCAR and NSVRC, Rumburg was Executive Director at Access York, a former shelter for battered women, and Director of Major Gifts and Planned Giving at the American Heart Association. 

A date for her retirement will be announced after a successor is appointed. NSVRC/PCAR’s Board of Directors has formed a committee to oversee a national search beginning in mid-July to identify the organization’s next chief executive officer. More information can be found at www.pcar.org. 

ABOUT THE PENNSYLVANIA COALITION AGAINST RAPE:

Founded in 1975, PCAR works to end sexual violence and advocates for the rights and needs of sexual assault victims. PCAR partners with a network of rape crisis programs to bring help, hope and healing around issues of sexual violence in all 67 counties of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  

ABOUT THE NATIONAL SEXUAL VIOLENCE RESOURCE CENTER:

NSVRC is the leading nonprofit in providing information and tools to prevent and respond to sexual violence. NSVRC translates research and trends into best practices that help individuals, communities and service providers achieve real and lasting change. The center also works with the media to promote informed reporting. Every April, NSVRC leads Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), a campaign to educate and engage the public in addressing this widespread issue. NSVRC is also one of the three founding organizations of Raliance, a national, collaborative initiative dedicated to ending sexual violence in one generation.  

Laura Palumbo
National Sexual Violence Resource Center
877-739-3895, ext. 128
lpalumbo@nsvrc.org

Adam Kulikowski
Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape
717-728-9740 ext. 154
akulikowski@pcar.org

Denise Johnson
PCAR Board President
814-333-5436
djohnson@mmchs.org