About Leiana

Program Director, Children & Youth Program, Futures Without Violence

Leiana Kinnicutt, MSW joined Futures Without Violence (FUTURES) in 2003, and is currently a Program Director in the Children & Youth Department. Leiana is a national technical assistance (TA) provider for various federal initiatives focused on improving community responses to children exposed to violence—both prevention and intervention.

Leiana is currently the director of the DHHS funded Promising Futures Capacity Building Center, which provides support to the network of domestic violence state coalitions and local community-based programs on enhancing services for children, youth and parents impacted by domestic violence. As part of the capacity building center, Leiana is the lead TA provider for the DHHS Specialized Services for Abused Parents and Children grantee program and was the lead developer of the Promising Futures Capacity Building website. Leiana is also currently working on the Children’s Bureau funded Quality Improvement Center on Domestic Violence in Child Welfare. Previously, Leiana provided TA for the U.S. DOJ’s Defending Childhood Initiative, DHHS’ Expanding Services for Children program, and OVW’s Engaging Men and Youth Program. Previously she helped to develop and implement various Public Education initiatives, including Futures Without Violence’s Coaching Boys into Men, and It’s Your Business campaigns.

Previously, she worked as a crises line counselor for LGBT survivors of violence at Community United Against Violence, in San Francisco, CA and as an AmeriCorps domestic violence legal advocate in Honolulu, Hawaii. Leiana received her B.A. in Sociology and English from Bowdoin College and her Master’s Degree in Clinical Social Work from Simmons College in May, 2011, with a focus on child and adolescent trauma. During her graduate studies she worked as an AmeriCorps community based youth-mentor, and with children in therapeutic foster care.

Futures Without Violence

For more than 30 years, FUTURES has been providing groundbreaking programs, policies, and campaigns that empower individuals and organizations working to end violence against women and children around the world. Providing leadership from offices in San Francisco, Washington D.C. and Boston, we’ve established a state-of-the-art Center for Leadership and Action in the Presidio of San Francisco to foster ongoing dialogue about gender-based violence and child abuse. Striving to reach new audiences and transform social norms, we train professionals such as doctors, nurses, judges, and athletic coaches on improving responses to violence and abuse. We also work with advocates, policy makers, and others to build sustainable community leadership and educate people everywhere about the importance of respect and healthy relationships. Our vision is a future without violence that provides education, safety, justice, and hope.