Gael B. Strack
Chief Executive Officer
National Family Justice Center Alliance
Gael B. Strack is the Chief Executive Officer of the
National Family Justice Center
Alliance which provides technical assistance to over 100 existing
and pending Family
Justice Centers across the world. In July 2009, the Alliance launched
the FJC Legal
Network which provides legal services to victims of domestic violence.
Prior to this position, Gael served as the Director of the San Diego
Family Justice Center
from October 2002 through May 2007. In that capacity, she worked
closely with 25 onsite
agencies (government and non-profit) who came together in 2002 to
provide
services to victims of domestic violence and their children from
one location. The San
Diego Family Justice Center was recognized as a model program by
President Bush in
October 2003 and was the inspiration for the President’s Family
Justice Center Initiative
which launched 15 Centers across the nation.
Prior to her work at the Family Justice Center, Gael
was a domestic violence prosecutor
for 17 years at the San Diego City Attorney’s Office. She
joined the office in 1987 and
served in many capacities including an Assistant City Attorney for
former City Attorney
Casey Gwinn and Head Deputy City Attorney responsible for the Child
Abuse and
Domestic Violence Unit. Gael has also worked as a deputy public
defender and a deputy
county counsel for the San Diego County Counsel’s office handling
juvenile dependency
matters. She graduated from Western State College of Law in December
1985.
Gael is a former board member of the California Partnership
to End Domestic Violence,
past President of the San Diego Domestic Violence Council and former
commissioner of
the ABA’s Commission on Domestic Violence. In her spare time,
Gael is an adjunct law
professor for California Western School of Law teaching “Domestic
Violence and the
Law.” Gael has been honored with numerous awards, including
San Diego Attorney of
the Year for 2006. She is an internationally recognized trainer
on domestic violence and
strangulation.
Gael has also 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. Gael has co-authored three
books with Casey
Gwinn, JD, on the Family Justice Center movement in “Hope
for Hurting Families:
Creating Family Justice Centers across America,” “Hope
for Hurting Families II: How to
Start a Family Justice Center in your Community” and “Hope
for Hurting Families: A
Guide to Co-Located Services in the Middle East.” Most recently,
she has co-authored a
book with Judi Adams, called “The Big Girls Club – Little
Girl Rules for the Big Girl
Workplace” which describes the ten rules of friendship that
can help women thrive and
succeed in the changing workplace.
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