Who We Are

Judy Korn co-founded Violence Prevention Network in Berlin in 2004 to do what almost no one else was willing to do: work directly with people involved in violent extremism — not to punish them, but to help them change.

As a teenager, she had watched neo-Nazi skinheads attack her friends in a small town in former East Germany. That experience shaped her conviction that ignoring extremism only allows it to grow — and that even people who have caused harm can find a different path.

Since then, Violence Prevention Network has grown into one of the largest and most experienced organizations in Europe working on deradicalization and extremism prevention. We have worked with over 5,000 individuals across all forms of extremism — from the far right to Islamist extremism — in prisons, communities, and schools across Germany and internationally.

We founded Violence Prevention Network USA to fill the gap in the American response to violent extremism. While threat awareness has grown, the United States still lacks a coordinated, evidence-based infrastructure for helping people leave extremist movements or preventing them from joining in the first place.

Our Pilot in Southwestern Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh was the site of one of the deadliest antisemitic attacks in U.S. history. In 2018, a gunman motivated by white supremacist ideology killed eleven people at the Tree of Life synagogue. That tragedy underscored a painful truth: the country had almost no infrastructure for intervening before someone reaches the point of violence.

In response, we launched the RESTORE Project — our first U.S. pilot program, based in southwestern Pennsylvania. RESTORE brought together local organizations, law enforcement, social workers, educators, and community leaders to build a prevention and intervention ecosystem from the ground up.

The pilot demonstrated that the VPN model — developed over two decades in Germany — translates effectively to the American context. We trained frontline professionals, established referral pathways, and began direct casework with individuals at risk of radicalization.

60+

frontline professionals trained

50+

referral network organizations

Violence Prevention Network USA is now building on the success of the RESTORE pilot to establish a national presence.

We are developing training programs for professionals who encounter radicalization in their work — including law enforcement officers, school counselors, social workers, probation officers, and community leaders.

We are expanding our direct intervention and support services, including case management for individuals at risk and a support network for concerned families.

And we are building the referral infrastructure and partnerships needed to ensure that when someone needs help, there is a clear path to get it — before it is too late.