Julie Ann MSW (she/her) is a national leader within the field of the prevention and intervention of gender-based violence (GBV). She is Executive Director of The Army of Survivors (TAOS), whose mission is to bring awareness, accountability, and transparency to sexual violence against athletes at all levels. Over 20 years ago, Julie Ann began her career in the movement to end GBV by providing direct services and advocacy for survivors at Alternatives for Battered Women (now the Willow Center) of Rochester, NY. Prior to TAOS, Rivers-Cochran worked for the National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma and Mental Health and as President and Founder for Blackbird Consulting for Nonprofits, a consultancy committed to helping nonprofit organizations carry out their mission while best serving their constituency. As a survivor of childhood trauma, Rivers-Cochran is a fierce advocate, whose personal experience with the impact of sexual assault and domestic violence has translated into a lifelong goal of listening to, then advocating for survivors while holding perpetrators and the systems that support them accountable. Julie Ann holds a master’s degree in Social Work from Florida State University, a bachelor’s degree in Communications/Journalism from St. John Fisher College, and an Executive Certificate in Transformational Nonprofit Leadership from the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.
