With a passion for prevention, Jen Grove '97 has worked in the anti-violence field her entire career. Recently promoted to the position of prevention director at the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) in Enola, PA., she first learned about victim advocacy and prevention as at Messiah. Messiah alumna promoted to prevention director of NSVRC "Professors invited local service providers as speakers for our classes, which was a great way for us as students to see what career possibilities were out there," said Grove. "One was from a domestic violence and sexual assault counseling center. What she shared about that work sparked my interest. Being a student at Messiah opened my eyes to a whole new world." A family studies graduate, she worked as an advocate and preventionist at local rape crisis programs before joining the NSVRC as the online resource coordinator and, later, the prevention outeach coordinator. "I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to spend so many years working directly with victims and survivors," said Grove, "because it's given me a solid foundation and an understanding of the issue that enables me to do this important work now at the national level." In her new role, she conducts prevention trainings around the U.S. and partners with the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. She also serves on national public health and prevention panels as an expert on the subject of sexual violence prevention. After almost 20 years of advocating for victims, Grove continues the tough but necessary work that first sparked her interest as a student. Visit nsvrc.org —Rose Talbot ’16