Previous education
Background and professional experience
Stacy Vaughan began her career in direct practice in the child welfare and advocacy field, but soon learned the importance of prevention where she has focused her efforts for more than twenty years. She has developed adult- and child- focused curricula and resources, managed community and agency projects related to child protection, and helped many organizations and communities establish prevention initiatives. She has educated thousands of adults and children on various child protection issues and has also held Social Work and Psychology adjunct faculty positions at several universities in North Carolina and Florida. Stacy has been in her current role as Vice President of Programs at the Monique Burr Foundation for Children (MBF) since May 2011, where she oversees all program, prevention, and outreach related activities. She led the development of MBF’s acclaimed prevention curricula, as well as additional trainings and resources. She directs the program evaluation research teams, collaborates with a multitude of strategic partners, and develops and provides professional trainings and presentations throughout the country, working to ensure every child has access to effective, comprehensive, evidence-based prevention programs to help protect them from abuse and victimization. Stacy has received several awards for her work to protect children and serves on the Community Advisory Board of the First Coast Child Protection Team and as Secretary of the National Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation.
For her Capstone Project, Stacy plans to address the need for and effectiveness of child abuse prevention education across the lifespan.
Publications/Presentations
Weeks, E. A., Whitaker, D. J., Pendarvis, S., Finkelhor, D., Neal-Rossi, C., & Rivers, D. (2021). Evaluation of the child safety matters curriculum for improving knowledge about victimization among elementary school children: A randomized trial. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/10538712.2021.1960458 (Published under former name Stacy Pendarvis)
Building a Partnership for Impactful Prevention Work. National Children’s Alliance Leadership Conference, 2021.
Understanding Research and Best Practices: How using adult-focused and child-focused prevention programs together can better protect children. Ignite National Prevention Conference. 2018. Starting or Expanding a CAC Community Prevention Initiative. 34th International Symposium on Child Abuse, 2018.
Real World Safety: How we can really protect youth online and off in today’s society. International Bullying Prevention Conference, 2017.
What’s New in Prevention? Using a collaborative, comprehensive, and evidence-informed approach to better protect children. 33rd International Symposium on Child Abuse, 2017.
