Patricia Teffenhart

Patricia Teffenhart is the Executive Director of Division of Violence Intervention and Victim Assistance at the Department of Law and Public Safety/New Jersey Office of the Attorney General.

Previously, Patricia was the Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce.

She was also Executive Director of the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NJCASA). NJCASA elevates the voice of sexual violence survivors and service providers by advocating for survivor-centered legislation, training allied professionals, and supporting statewide prevention strategies that work to address and defy the sociocultural norms that permit and promote rape culture.

Under her leadership, NJCASA had a record of success, including expansion of the sexual assault forensic evidence timeline; successfully advocating for the passing of the Sexual Assault Survivors Protection Act of 2015, which increased access to protective orders for survivors of sexual violence; creating and Co-Chairing the Governor's appointed Campus Sexual Assault Task Force; mandating regular training for law enforcement; closing loopholes in the hiring practices of school employees to protect our children from sexual predators; and increasing appropriations for sexual violence services in the New Jersey State Budget by over 510%.

Patricia is a proud graduate of Douglass College and holds a Masters in Public Administration from the Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration. She has dedicated her career to the promotion and advancement of women and girls, having worked for county-wide, statewide, and national feminist organizations.

Patricia was a Fellow in the Leadership New Jersey Class of 2009 and is a 2014 recipient of the Alice Paul Equality Award. In 2015, under her leadership, NJCASA received the President Ronald W. Reagan Award from the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General in recognition of NJCASA's systems advocacy on behalf of survivors. In 2016, NJBIZ recognized her as being one of New Jersey's top Forty Under 40 professionals. In 2017, she was a recipient of Senator Menendez's Evangelina Menendez Trailblazer Award. For the last five years, Patricia was included in the Senate Majority Leader's New Jersey Women's Power List and in 2018, she was included in the Insider NJ Power 100 List. She was an appointed member of Governor Murphy's Transition Team, and at the height of the #MeToo movement, attended the 2018 State of the Union as the guest of United States Senator Menendez. The Star Ledger included Patricia as one of the "Top 25 People to Watch in 2018" and was elected Co-Chair of the Governor's Advisory Council Against Sexual Violence in 2019.

Patricia lives in Holmdel, New Jersey with her husband, son, and rescue dog and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Women's Political Caucus of New Jersey, and the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence. In her free time, she cheers for the New York Yankees, her son's 11u baseball team, and is proud to have coached an undefeated 3 v 3 youth ice hockey team in the New Jersey Spitfire Tournament in March 2019.