For more than 20 years, YWCA has set aside one week in October as a Week Without Violence—one week when YWCAs across the country join with YWCAs around the world as part of a global movement to end gender-based violence. This year, Week Without Violence will take place from October 18-24, 2020. Through our work as the largest network of domestic and sexual violence services providers in the U.S., we know that not all violence is acknowledged or responded to equally, and that some victims go unrecognized altogether. Our focus on gender-based violence — which recognizes a spectrum of violence, including but not limited to, intimate partner violence, sexual assault, trafficking, and harassment — allows us to address, educate, and take action around myriad issues that impact our community.

Our Purple Tie Awards will be a featured Week Without Violence Event. We hope you will join us for this powerful series of conversations with men who are committed to ending gender based violence in our community. This virtual event is free and open to the public.
JOIN YWCA GLENDALE & THE GLENDALE COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN FOR THE 2ND ANNUAL PURPLE TIE AWARDS

Meet our Keynote Speaker and Honorees
Casey Gwinn, Esq. Casey Gwinn, Esq. serves as the President of Alliance for HOPE International. Casey has been recognized by The American Lawyer magazine as one of the top 45 public lawyers in America. He is an honors graduate of Stanford University and UCLA School of Law. Casey served for eight years as the elected City Attorney of San Diego from 1996 to 2004. His transformative work as a prosecutor changed the face of domestic violence prosecution in the United States. He is the visionary behind the Family Justice Center movement, the founder of Camp HOPE America for children impacted by domestic violence, and one of the leading thinkers in the country on the power of hope in the lives of adult and child trauma survivors as well as helping professionals. Casey has authored or co-authored ten books since 2006. Casey’s newest book, written with Dr. Chan Hellman from the Hope Research Center at the University of Oklahoma, is entitled “Hope Rising: How the Science of HOPE Can Change Your Life.” It is a roadmap to a life well lived and points the way toward the power of hope in the lives of all those who have experienced hardship or adversity.
Father Vazken Movsesian is a priest of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He has served in parishes from San Jose to Pasadena to Glendale and currently heads the department of Christian outreach and electronic ministry for the Western Diocese of North America. Many of his congregants have been exiled and displaced from their homes because of war, political upheaval and even genocide. Fr. Vazken has created communities and support systems that pass the Love of God to those hurting from these grave injustices. He has organized and led marches and rallies to bring awareness to domestic violence in the local communities. With a group of educators from USC, he has traveled to Rwanda to work with those ravaged by Genocide. Coupled with his personal experience growing up with Genocide-survivors, he founded the “In His Shoes” movement which challenges victims of horrific tragedies to move forward by extending assistance to others, by “walking in their shoes.”
Sergeant Ernesto Gaxiola began his law enforcement career with the Santa Cruz Police Department where he worked for 3 years prior to lateraling to the Glendale Police Department. He is currently the Supervisor of the Glendale PD Assaults Unit, which investigates all domestic violence/sexual assault cases in the city of Glendale. Prior to this lrole, he was a detective in the unit for six years. There he worked hundreds of domestic violence cases as well as some very high-profile investigations. Sergeant Gaxiola has trained new officers on the nuances of domestic violence investigations, sharing his knowledge on the complexity of domestic violence that he learned as a detective. On the national level, he has presented a class on domestic violence to a national audience at an Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) conference in Atlanta. Sergeant Gaxiola continues to share his knowledge in investigations with the 5 detectives he supervises. He is also a U-Visa administrator and works with victims applying for immigration relief as they cooperate in the judicial process.
Tong Cho (T.C.) Kim has over 30 years of experience in the field of Victim Advocacy. He worked as a Victim Service Coordinator with the LA City Attorney’s Office for nine years where he assisted over 10,000 victims of crime, with Crisis Counseling, Criminal Justice Advocacy, and Government Compensation. He also trained 120 Interns to work with law enforcement and to provide services to victims. At an Emergency DV Shelter, T.C. supervised over 200 volunteers and managed the shelter facility. He was also the Executive Director of Asian Pacific Women’s Center, overseeing Transitional/Permanent DV Shelter operations and programs. Besides training new police officers at LAPD on Cultural sensitivity and Victims’ Rights for 17 years, T.C. is a founding member of the Wilshire Community Police Advisory Board in 1993 and is a Board member of the Glendale Police Foundation. T.C. currently serves as the President of the Korean American Foundation of Glendale. T.C. Kim has been an instrumental board member at the YWCA of Glendale, where he serves as Co-Vice President of Governance.
Jerome French is a Senior Manager at Mann Urrutia Nelson Certified Public Accountants. He is both a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) and has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from California State University of Los Angeles and carries over 23 years of experience in this field. Jerome has been a member of the YWCA Glendale Board of Directors for over 10 years. He was President and Chairman of the Board from July 2015-June 2017 and the Board Treasurer from July 2017-June 2019. Jerome was instrumental in helping to support the YWCA Glendale Executive Leadership Team while they were searching for an Executive Director as well as a Finance Director in 2016. Jerome was influential in the recruitment and selection of the hiring of Tara Peterson, Chief Executive Officer of YWCA Glendale. During Jerome’s board tenure, the organization doubled its operating budget, crafted an ambitious 5 year strategic plan, and laid the foundation for future impact and growth. 
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Glendale, CA 91206
Phone: 1-(818) 242-4155
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