|
Greenwood is best known for bringing the Family Justice Center model to Connecticut. During more than 18 years leading The Center for Family Justice, formerly The Center for Women and Families, she led the opening of the state’s first Family Justice Center and launched Camp HOPE America–Bridgeport. Both celebrated their 10th anniversaries this year.
“What I love most about Deb Greenwood is that she never stopped asking, ‘How can we best serve those who need us most?’ Then she brought people together to turn the answer into action,” said Alliance Co-Founder Gael Strack. “Thanks to her tireless advocacy and groundbreaking programs, she has saved and improved the lives of survivors and children across Connecticut. She is a collaborative leader with a supersize heart and an inspiration to all of us in this movement.”
Greenwood became President and CEO in July 2007, leading an organization founded as the Bridgeport YWCA in 1895. Determined to find the best way to serve survivors in Greater Bridgeport, she led a years-long assessment of community needs that guided the Center’s transformation into a Family Justice Center in 2016, bringing coordinated services together under one roof.
A persistent advocate at the state Capitol, Greenwood helped secure dedicated state funding for Family Justice Centers in Connecticut and mobilized public and private support to expand services for survivors and their children. She also led the campaign to build Patti’s Place, originally known as Empower House, a state-of-the-art domestic violence safe house designed to accommodate survivors with disabilities and welcome survivors’ pets.
Presented at the International Family Justice Center Conference, Alliance for HOPE International’s Lifetime Achievement Award honors leaders whose life’s work has transformed how communities respond to domestic violence and sexual assault. Greenwood joins a distinguished list of past recipients, including Kristina Rose, former Director of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime (2025); Ruth Glenn of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (2023); Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell of Johns Hopkins University, creator of the Danger Assessment (2014); and Esta Soler, founder of Futures Without Violence (2008).
| 
