Gael Strack

Gael Strack is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Alliance for HOPE International, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating systemic reforms and social change. This includes a number of critical programs: National Family Justice Center Alliance, Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention, Camp HOPE America, Justice Legal Network, and VOICES Survivor Network.

Prior to launching the Alliance for Hope, Ms. Strack served as the Founding Director of the San Diego Family Justice Center. In that capacity, she worked closely with 25 on-site agencies (government and non-profit) that came together to provide services for victims of domestic violence and their children – all from one location. The San Diego Family Justice Center was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show in January 2003, and it was recognized as a model program by President Bush. It was also the inspiration for the President’s Family Justice Center Initiative launched in October 2003.

Before her work with the Family Justice Center, Ms. Strack was a prosecutor in the San Diego City Attorney’s Office. She joined the office in 1987 and served in many capacities, including Head Deputy City Attorney responsible for the Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Unit. Ms. Strack also previously worked as a deputy public defender and a deputy county counsel for the San Diego County Counsel’s Office, where she handled juvenile dependency matters.

Ms. Strack is a former board member of the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, Past President of the San Diego Domestic Violence Council, and a former commissioner of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Domestic Violence. She is also an adjunct law professor for California Western School of Law, where she teaches Domestic Violence and the Law.

Ms. Strack has been honored with numerous awards, including San Diego Attorney of the Year for 2006. Most recently, she was recognized by United States Attorney General Eric Holder as the 2010 Recipient of the National Crime Victim Service Award for Professional Innovation in Victim Services.

Ms. Strack co-authored a series of strangulation articles in the Journal of Emergency Medicine, the National College of District Attorney’s Practical Prosecutor, and the Journal of the California Dental Association. She has also co-authored five books with Casey Gwinn on the Family Justice Center movement, including a Guide to Co-Located Service in the Middle East and in Mexico..