Meet Valerie Craig

Co-founder

Valerie graduated from MTSU in 1997 but credits her college job as the true beginning of her career. In 1995, she took a job as a camp counselor, serving adults and children with physical and mental disabilitites. This work was critical in shaping her understanding of the importance of having a voice in the face of circumstances that you have no control over. After graduating from MTSU she worked at the Knox County Head Start program providing support to the family unit of pre-school-aged children. It was here that she learned the value of empowerment. In 1999, Valerie began her victim advocacy work providing direct services to elderly victims of such crimes such as domestic violence, robbery, and rape. This position taught her the important role education plays in preventing victimization AND in providing healing. Valerie then took her skills to You Have the Power, a crime victim advocacy organization, in 2002. While there, she created, planned, implemented, and presented hundreds of forums and public presentations about crime victimization topics such as child abuse, domestic violence, acquaintance rape, child sexual abuse, internet dangers, and elder abuse. She is an expert presenter on these topics and has presented at numerous conferences. Valerie co-authored a victim impact curriculum and resource guides to raise awareness about the problems of acquaintance rape, child sexual abuse in the faith community, and Methamphetamine. In 2005, Valerie began co-facilitating weekly victim impact classes in local prisons. Throughout the years, audiences have included incarcerated men, women, and teen girls, teaching thousands of offenders about accountability and the impact they have had on the lives of their victims. She also has presented numerous “train the trainer” trainings on facilitation of victim impact programs to Corrections and Probation’s professionals. She effectively worked in collaborative settings to plan numerous statewide conferences and community projects, chairing many of the collaborative efforts.

Current Associations

  • 2001 – Present, Chair of Crime Victims’ Rights Week (CVRW)
  • 2002 – Present, Season To Remember Planning Committee (Plans annual holiday ceremony for Davidson County homicide victims)
  • 2002 – Present, Nashville Coalition Against Domestic Violence
  • 2006 – Present, Tennessee Department of Correction Re-Entry Collaborative
  • 2013 – Present, Women’s Bible Study Coordinator/Facilitator, Providence United Methodist Church, Mount Juliet, TN
  • 2016 – Present, Lay Leader, Providence United Methodist Church, Mount Juliet, TN

Past Associations

  • 2001 – 2008, Easter Seals Camp Advisory Council
  • 2002 – 2004, Chrysalis Board, Secretary
  • 2001 – 2002, You Have the Power, Steering Committee Member
  • 2004 – 2005, “Andrea Walks” logistics coordinator for walk across Tennessee
  • 2006, Executive Committee for Drug Endangered Children’s Alliance
  • 2008 – 2012, Hermitage United Methodist Church School for Little People, Board Member

Awards

  • Corrections Corporation of America Volunteer of the Year Award, 2012
  • Statewide Victim Advocate, Board of Probation and Parole, 2010
  • The Tennessean’s “Top 40 Under 40”, 2002
  • Senior Citizens, Inc.’s Staff Salute, 2001
  • Nashville Volunteer of the Week, 1997