LaVonne is a Senior Trainer at Alteristic. She earned her MSW from the University of Pennsylvania, and BA in Criminal Justice from the University of Maryland. Most recently, prior to joining the Alteristic team, she worked in higher education, instructing peer educators and educating the campus on power-based violence. LaVonne is particularly passionate about connecting prevention efforts to wellness and identifying how we can best support the overall well-being of ourselves and others.  LaVonne grew up a military brat, but she claims the DC-Maryland-Virgina (DMV) area as home.

Every day I strive to be unapologetically comfortable with my authentic self. I remind myself that everyone has a purpose, and I tell myself that I am purposed to surround myself with people who will help me change the world.  I do this work because whether they know it or not, everyone I know has been impacted by power-based personal violence.  Change is hard, uncomfortable, and sometimes ugly, but we’re moving in the right direction. This is an active journey; we cannot get there passively. I am proud to contribute to the work that will make this world safer and more inclusive for everyone.

I have fully embraced being Type A, adorkable and sassy. I’m terrible at small talk and missed the boat for online dating so writing about my likes and dislikes is a skillset I’m missing. Luckily, I’m really good at rambling so to know me is to know: Anxiety (this is my baseline, it’s not you, it’s me), Virgo (see Type A), Loud 90s Music (“adulting” is living for the throwback Thursday Spotify), Harry Potter (7 books of life lessons), & beach days fix most things. I love to end the day talking to my partner and look forward to when I can re-write this to say my partner…and my puppy.