Who We Are
Violence Prevention Network USA is a nonprofit working to stop extremist violence by intervening before harm occurs. We work directly with people at risk, the people around them, and the professionals who respond. Founded in the U.S. in 2022, we bring more than two decades of practice in Germany and around the world.
Vision
We envision safe communities free from violent extremism where people in distress receive proactive support and redirection through care, connection, and understanding.
Mission
Violence Prevention Network USA works to prevent violent extremism by helping people move away from violence and toward safer paths forward. We support individuals at risk, as well as families, practitioners, and communities who are worried about someone and do not know where to turn. Through direct support, training, and practical guidance, we help people recognize early signs of violent extremism and respond in ways that reduce the risk of escalation.
Our Story
Judy Korn co-founded Violence Prevention Network in Berlin in 2004 on the conviction that if violence is learned, it can be unlearned.
As a teenager, she had watched neo-Nazi skinheads attack her friends. Instead of pulling away or writing the attackers off, she started a youth group and invited them to join. Engaging the people at the center of violence, rather than only talking about them, became the approach she built the organization around.
Since then, Violence Prevention Network has grown into one of the largest organizations of its kind in Europe, and a core part of Germany's civic infrastructure. It has worked with thousands of radicalized individuals, built programs inside prisons and schools, trained practitioners, and helped shape prevention and reintegration efforts around the world.
We founded Violence Prevention Network USA to fill the gap between community-based prevention and law enforcement, and to adapt these proven methods for American communities. Today, we are one of the only organizations in the country that works directly with people at risk of, or already radicalized to, extremist and targeted violence.
Our Pilot in Southwestern Pennsylvania
We chose Southwestern Pennsylvania to start. Pittsburgh is a city living with the aftermath of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting. The region also has a strong network of local professionals and community leaders who are often the first to notice when something is shifting in a school, a family, a congregation, or a workplace.
In 2023 we launched the RESTORE Project, our first U.S. pilot. We trained local professionals, began building a referral network, and opened a free, confidential, non-punitive helpline for families and others worried about someone they know or love.
Over the pilot's three years, we trained more than 60 frontline professionals, grew our referral network to over 50 organizations, and certified a group of practitioners trained in Violence Prevention Network's proven methodology. We studied what worked, evaluated our results, and sharpened the model before bringing it to more of the country. Southwestern Pennsylvania remains our proof of concept and our foundation.
60+
frontline professionals trained
50+
referral network organizations
Where We Are Today
Today, Violence Prevention Network USA is building something the country is missing: a civil society response to the early signs of extremist violence.
We work in the space between broad prevention and law enforcement, the point where concern is real but the next step is unclear. We support people at risk, and we support the families, educators, counselors, social workers, and faith leaders around them. We train frontline professionals. And we connect partners across education, behavioral health, reentry, justice, and public institutions, so warning signs are less likely to slip past everyone.
What began in Pittsburgh now reaches across the country. Our helpline is national, and our network of practitioners and partners keeps growing. Pittsburgh remains our foundation as we bring the work to more communities.
Our approach is relationship-based and built on the understanding that people can change. We treat the people we work with as more than the worst thing they've done, build real trust, and use evidence-based tools to track progress until violence becomes unlikely.
