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Lorena Vollrath-Bueno

Vice President of Education and Engagement, National District Attorney’s Association (NDAA)

Eradicate Hate:
2023

Lorena Vollrath-Bueno began her career as a prosecutor in 2003 at the Leon County, Florida, State Attorney’s Office, Second Judicial Circuit. She also worked in the Orange County, Florida, State Attorney’s Office, Ninth Judicial Circuit, from February 2005 through June 2007. During her time in the Ninth Judicial Circuit, she was a member of the Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit (SCU) of the State Attorney’s Office. As a member of the SCU, she prosecuted child abuse cases, including those resulting in a death, and all sex offenses involving children and adults. In February 2010, she left the State Attorney’s Office when offered a position with the U.S. Attorney’s Office Northern District, Pensacola, Florida, in a grant-funded position under Project Safe Childhood. Project Safe Childhood is a nationwide initiative launched by the U.S. Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Ms. Vollrath-Bueno then returned to the Leon County State Attorney’s Office to continue pursuing justice for victims of sexual offenses at a state level. In 2013, she became the chief of Felony Division B in the Leon County State Attorney’s Office and remained in the position until the end of her tenure. In 2023, she joined the NDAA as the vice president of education and engagement.

Ms. Vollrath-Bueno has lectured for a variety of agencies regarding sexual violence, domestic violence, human trafficking, and digital and forensic evidence presentation. She has lectured for the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association (FPAA); the Office of the Attorney General, Florida Crime Prevention Training Institute (FCPTI); and the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence (FCASV), including its grant-funded program “Excellence in Sexual Assault Response.” She has also been a guest lecturer for the Florida Association of Women Lawyers, the Salvation Army Human Trafficking Symposium, and the Florida Department of Corrections in its National Crime Victim’s Rights Week, to name a few.

Ms. Vollrath-Bueno was an adjunct for the National Criminal Justice Training Center (NCJTC) of Fox Valley Technical College, which provides training for the Internet Crimes Against Children Investigators (ICAC) across the United States, as well as teaching overseas for the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC).

In April 2021, Ms. Vollrath-Bueno was the recipient of the Kathy Ray Law Enforcement Official of the Year Award, which was presented during National Crime Victim’s Rights Week by the Big Bend Victim Assistance Coalition (BBVAC), and in September of that same year the Florida Department of Law Enforcement awarded her (and others involved in the operation) the Florida Missing Children’s Day Commissioner’s Award for Meritorious Service in “Operation Stolen Innocence.”

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The Summit was more than empty words – it made clear that a solution-driven approach is the only way to fight hate. That’s why the working group activities, which are results driven are going to be critical in defeating violent extremism. The Summit brought together the best minds in government, private sector, academia, and civil society. Being surrounded by these experts sparked new ideas – some of which I’ve already implemented or have written about.

Jason Blazakis
Jason Blazakis Professor of Practice and Director of Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism, Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS)