Jennifer Storm is an award winning victim’s rights expert, advocate and best-selling author of multiple books. Having worked on some of the most high profile cases in our history, she is often the first call media make when stories break on addiction, victimization and trauma.
After a childhood rape turned her life upside down, Jennifer Storm turned to drug and alcohol to cope with the trauma she endured. This ten year battle with addiction culminated in a brutal suicide attempt which she survived. She awoke in a hospital bed with renewed hope and set out to rebuild her life while exposing one secret at a time. Now with two decades of recovery and healing, Storm seeks to bring forth her experience, strength and hope to others.
She has worked many high profile cases including helping victims/survivors of; Jerry Sandusky, Bill Cosby, Catholic Clergy victims and thousands of other cases in her twenty year long career as a victim advocate, Jennifer Storm is often times the first call media make when stories break.
Governor Tom Wolf recently re-appointed Mrs. Storm for a 2nd six year term as the Victim Advocate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in December 2019. Governor Tom Corbett had previously nominated her as Commonwealth Victim Advocate on Nov. 8, 2013, and she was unanimously confirmed by the state Senate on Dec. 10, 2013. As Victim Advocate, she is responsible for representing the rights and interests of crime victims within the Commonwealth. She is the President Elect of the National Crime Victim Law Institute in Portland Oregon.
Mrs. Storm has received numerous awards including; the 2012 Gail Burns Smith Award from the National Crime Victim Law Institute presented at their annual conference for Excellence in Victims Services, the 2012 Liberty Bell Award from the Dauphin County Bar Association and the 2011 Pathfinder Award for Excellence in Victims Services in the Commonwealth of PA presented by Governor Tom Corbett.
She was born and raised near Allentown, PA and attended Northampton High School. She graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor of Science in Rehabilitation Services and a Master’s Degree in Organizational Management from The University of Phoenix. She studied Conflict Resolution and Dispute Management at The ILR School of Cornell University.
Her media appearances are vast, and include frequent appearances on all major networks including, ABC, FOX, NBC, NPR, CBS and PBS as the county spokesperson for victims rights. She has appeared on The Today Show, ABC World News with Diane Sawyer, CBS 48 Hours Live to Tell program and E! News online. In 2002, Mrs. Storm also publicly debated Oliver North live on his syndicated talk show Common Sense with Oliver North regarding LGBTQ rights.
She has been profiled or appeared in the following publications; The New York Times, People Magazine, Business Week, The Washington Post, LA Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The New Yorker, Cosmopolitan Magazine, Marie Claire Magazine, Curve Magazine, The Advocate, Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, WE Magazine, Women Magazine and many more.
Mrs. Storm has traveled the country giving keynotes, lectures, workshops, and panel discussions regarding victims’ rights, LGBT rights, addiction and recovery, and civil rights.
Jennifer lives at home in Camp Hill PA with her wife, they are foster parents and adoptive parents of a son.
Jennifer is the author of six critically acclaimed books on addiction, recovery and victimization. Awakening Blackout Girl: A Survivors Guide for Healing from Addiction and Sexual Trauma, Blackout Girl: Tracing my Scars from Addiction and Sexual Assault, Second Edition, Echoes of Penn State: Facing Sexual Trauma, Picking Up the Pieces Without Picking Up: A Guidebook Through Victimization for People in Recovery, Leave the Light On: A Memoir of Recovery and Self-Discovery and Blackout Girl: Growing Up and Drying Out in America.
Jennifer’s presentations have won her much praise as she presents an interactive program that looks at one woman’s recovery from addiction, trauma and adversity and identifies key components of what can help a person turn their lives around. Jennifer Storm is the ultimate survivor turned thriver having chronicled her own story of victimization and recovery in her memoirs Blackout Girl: Growing up and Drying out in America, Leave the Light On and Picking Up the Pieces Without Picking Up. As a child and teen survivor of sexual assault as well as a woman in recovery from addiction, Jennifer Storm can speak first hand about the complexities of biological and emotional responses of trauma, understanding sexual identity, the effects of substance abuse and discuss how to obtain and maintain long-term recovery, and victim’s rights. She is the gubernatorial appointed Victim Advocate of the State of Pennsylvania. She is a widely sought-out expert speaker on the subjects of trauma, addiction and victim’s rights. She has worked on several high profile cases including the Jerry Sandusky case, Bill Cosby and Archdiocese of Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Storm will discuss issues related to Alcohol Facilitated Sexual Assault, trauma associated with the aftermath of sexual assault, addiction as a coping mechanism and finally how to heal as a survivor.
The learning environment will be interactive, fun, and educational. Questions and discussion will be encouraged. Ms. Storm has a unique story that can be presented in a variety of ways to a variety of audiences.
She has given hundreds of lectures, keynote presentations, workshops, book readings, etc.
