Welcome to Part 2 of our October 2026 Inspirational Interview with Catherine H. Johnson, LMFT, President & CEO of Alliance for HOPE International in the USA.
Catherine H. Johnson is a nationally recognised leader in collaborative, survivor-centred responses to family violence. She previously served for more than a decade as the founding director of the Guilford County Family Justice Center in North Carolina. Drawing on her experience as a clinician, system leader, and survivor, Catherine works to create communities where adults, children, and families can find safety, healing, justice, and lasting hope.
Part one of Catherine’s interview will be published 4 October, 2026.
All photos are courtesy of Alliance for HOPE International.
6. DomesticShelters.org provides a crucial service for domestic violence victims in the U.S. by enabling them to search for domestic violence shelters and other victim services in their area. Could you tell us about Alliance For HOPE International plans to further develop it in the future?
DomesticShelters.org is often a vital first doorway to help. It enables survivors to privately search for shelters and programs while also providing trustworthy information about safety, abuse, healing, and life after violence. Since merging with the Alliance in 2023, it has become an essential part of our larger continuum connecting digital access with local, coordinated services.
Our future plans include making the platform even more accessible, responsive, and useful to survivors with different needs and circumstances. We are also exploring Hope Chat, a carefully designed digital support tool that can help participating programs answer questions and connect survivors with services more quickly. As we develop these resources, safety, privacy, accessibility, survivor feedback, and direct connection to trained professionals must remain central. Technology should expand human support, never replace it.
7. One of the keys to eradicating VAW is to get men and boys on board efforts to do so. What do you think are the most effective ways of galvanising men and boys to help to end VAW?
Men and boys must be engaged early, consistently, and through trusted relationships. As violence against women and its impact increase, early intervention is urgent. Programs such as Camp HOPE America help boys affected by family violence understand their experiences, build emotional literacy, and develop relationship skills. Long-term mentoring provides positive models of masculinity, empathy, respect, and responsibility. Accountability must remain central. Men should challenge harmful attitudes and behaviour in themselves and others, while those who use violence must be held responsible. Engaging men as partners in prevention, while reinforcing accountability across families, schools, workplaces, and communities, can create lasting change.
8. Tell us about Alliance For HOPE International’s plans for the future. What campaigns, programmes, or projects do you have coming up in the next 5 years?
Over the next five years, we will strengthen and expand the Family Justice Center movement while helping existing centres improve quality, collaboration, sustainability, and measurable impact. We want Family Justice Centers to serve survivors across the lifespan and respond more effectively to the intersections among domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, elder abuse, human trafficking, financial exploitation, and harm to animals. We will grow Camp HOPE America and year-round mentoring, including programming designed for teens. We also plan to expand advanced strangulation training, hidden-homicide work, survivor leadership through VOICES, and digital access through DomesticShelters.org and Hope Chat. Across every program, our focus will be building a stronger evidence base, developing the next generation of leaders, and creating sustainable public-private partnerships. Our vision is ambitious but simple: communities where every survivor can find safety, healing, justice, and hope.
9. How can The Pixel Project’s supporters engage with and support the efforts of Alliance For HOPE International to stop VAW?
The Pixel Project’s supporters can help by learning about the signs of abuse, sharing trusted resources, and making sure survivors know they are not alone. They can direct people in the United States and Canada to DomesticShelters.org, learn whether a Family Justice Center exists in their community, and encourage local agencies and community leaders to work together when services remain fragmented.
Supporters can also attend or share our trainings, subscribe to our updates, amplify survivor-informed messages, and advocate for strong, coordinated responses in their workplaces and communities. Financial contributions help us train professionals, develop Family Justice Centers, support children through Camp HOPE America, improve strangulation responses, and connect survivors with lifesaving resources. Every person can be a hopegiver by believing survivors, responding without judgment, and helping turn awareness into meaningful action.
10. In your considered opinion, how can we end VAW for good?
We will end violence against women when we recognise it as the pervasive problem it is. It reaches into every system of care and cannot be treated as a private issue. Survivors need safety, community, and opportunities for long-term healing. They need systems that work together instead of pulling their lives apart. Those who cause harm must be held accountable, while communities also pursue restorative practices that build healing and hope. Prevention must begin in childhood. Through programmes like Camp HOPE America, children impacted by family violence can change the trajectory of their lives, move beyond cycles of victimisation or incarceration, and become thriving adults who change the world for good. We must also recognise the intersections with child abuse, elder abuse, human trafficking, financial exploitation, and harm to animals. This is not a “them” issue. It is a “we” issue—and lasting change requires a “we” response.
