Jonél Vilches

Title: Prevention & Cultural Education Coordinator
Email: jonel.vilches@rutgers.edu

Jonel Vilches, jonel.vilches@rutgers.edu, is the Prevention & Cultural Education Coordinator at the Office for Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance within Rutgers University’s New Brunswick Campus; his role emphasizes engaging with and supporting diverse communities to not only prevent and educate on sexual and domestic violence, but to also provide historically oppressed voices with the opportunity to express themselves without concern towards social and cultural stigmas. Jonel has been personally invested in violence prevention for several years, both in unison as an activist, and as a Prevention Coordinator within county-based non-profits in which he conducted several awareness campaigns coupled with the implementation of primary prevention strategies. Through identifying alongside and having worked with historically oppressed voices of layered identities, he seeks to ensure each and every individual is heard in order to see an end to violence, and strives for an intersectional approach in every aspect of advocacy, violence prevention, and social equity.