My Nonprofit Reviews

I was matched to WATCH MN through a board search firm. I had received at least 3 other non profit's profiles that matched my profile, but WATCH is the one that caught my eye on paper. It was the only non profit with the unique value proposition of monitoring the judicial system with a focus on domestic abuse. WATCH clearly had a systems approach to change that involved bringing everyone in the judicial system together to make data driven decisions. Data is the second thing that caught my eye. WATCH is not an organization responding to individual cases that have a sensationalist appeal. WATCH looks at the big picture by collecting and analyzing data from the front lines of the judicial system - in the courts. It is for these reasons that I joined the WATCH board of directors in 2009. I am now the board chair and am proud to be serving this organization. The only reason I do not give it five starts is because its direct impact is mainly in Hennepin county and needs to spread across the country. Also, for a 20 year old organization, its name is not well known enough, but we are working on that. Two of the impacts on Hennepin County that WATCH has had that I am most proud of occurred before I joined the board. One was the use of WATCH data and analysis to make strangulation a felony offense. In the past, strangulation was not considered a serious offense although the majority of domestic abuse cases that ended in death or serious injury started with strangulation. The second is WATCH's role in extended from 12 hours to 24 hours the amount of time officers have to arrest domestic abusers. Often times 12 hours was not enough time to locate the abusers and they would get off scott free without even having to explain their actions. I hope this narrative helps all of you out there understand more about what WATCH does and why you should support us.

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