Gracie has been with First Witness since January 2024, in various roles, and is currently the Prevention Education Coordinator, a Family Advocate & Trainer, and Child Abuse Prevention Coalition (CAPC) Facilitator. As the Prevention Education Coordinator, Gracie works with school staff to provide classroom sexual abuse prevention education for children, caregivers, and teachers. Additionally, within her role as the Child Abuse Prevention Coalition Facilitator, Gracie works with a team of local youth and family-serving organizations to educate our community on the prevalence of child abuse, as well as strengthen our response to it.
Gracie holds a degree in Biochemistry and a degree in Criminology from the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Before working at First Witness, Gracie worked within a local residential addiction treatment facility, where she gained a passion for advocating for marginalized individuals who had experienced traumas in their lives. She also worked in local after-school programming in the area for several years, and spent her summers outside at camp, teaching kids how to paddle, climb, bike, and hike. These positions, combined with her education, fostered her love for working with children and families and strengthened her knowledge of how trauma affects children, adolescents, and adults.
In her free time, Gracie enjoys paddling up the North Shore, trying new coffee shops, going on long hikes, and watching even longer movies.