Rebecca Vazquez

Rebecca is the new Director for the Office for Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance (VPVA) for Rutgers University – New Brunswick. For fifteen years, Rebecca has been a passionate advocate for survivors of interpersonal violence and trauma. Her career began at Womanspace, the lead domestic and sexual violence agency in Mercer County, New Jersey, where she served as the Bilingual Coordinator for most of her nine-year tenure. In that capacity, she served as a family court legal advocate, provided individual and group therapy in both English and Spanish, coordinated outreach to the Spanish speaking/immigrant community and trained the community on numerous issues related to trauma and culture. After her time at Womanspace, she continued to utilize her clinical work by providing trauma informed services to underserved communities and has brought that passion and skillset to Rutgers.

Rebecca earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Rider University, Master of Arts in Counselor Education from The College of New Jersey, and Doctorate in Philosophy in Counselor Education and Supervision from Regent University. She is also a recipient of the Minority Fellowship Program through the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC). Her areas of interest include the intersection of trauma, culture, and spirituality along with human trafficking and organizational wellness. Beyond her professional identity, Rebecca thoroughly enjoys food, spending time in nature with friends and family, and traveling to new places to enjoy more food.