Laura Williams started the first Sexual Violence Justice Institute (SVJI). The SVJI model is now a widely used model to address the justice sector response to violence against women and girls. As a founder and former program manager of the Sexual Violence Justice Institute, she has written, consulted, and trained extensively on the multi-agency, multi-disciplinary response to sexual assault. She draws upon her direct experience with survivors, individual responders and sexual assault response teams to inform her work. She has over 25 years of experience working within and across organizations to improve community response to individuals who have experienced trauma.