ABOUT US

STAFF

Rachel Durchslag, Executive Director:

Rachel Durchslag has been working in the social justice community for more than eight years. After receiving her BS from Skidmore College in 2000 with a double major in women’s studies and social work, Rachel moved to Chicago where she worked for Personal Political Action Committee, the Day Care Action Council of Illinois, and the Chicago Chapter of the National Organization for Women. In 2005, Rachel earned her master’s degree in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago. In June of 2006, Rachel founded the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation, an organization that works to eliminate sexual exploitation through litigation and advocacy, organizing and policy reform, and prevention and resource development. Besides serving as the Executive Director of CAASE, Rachel is a Trustee on the Board of the Nathan Cummings Foundation and a board member for the organizations Prostitution Research and Education and the Dreamcatcher Foundation. In her spare time Rachel is a fitness instructor with the Lakeview YMCA.

Rachel is the receipient of the YWCA’s Promise Leadership award, the Soroptimist’s Woman Making a Difference award, and the Young Nonprofit Professional Network’s Young Nonprofit Professional of the Year award.

Contact Rachel at rachel@caase.org

 

Lynne Johnson, Advocacy Director:

Lynne Johnson has been working in the violence against women movement for over 10 years. As an attorney in Maryland, Lynne represented battered women in Protective Order hearings and also worked in Baltimore City’s Juvenile Court system representing children in the foster care system. Since relocating to Chicago in 1999, Lynne managed domestic violence and rape crisis programs and has advocated for improved community responses to violence against women. Lynne holds her 40 Hour Crisis Intervention certifications in both domestic violence and sexual assault. Johnson is a trainer for the Chicago Rape Crisis Hotline and the University of Chicago’s Resources for Sexual Violence Prevention program. Lynne joined Chicago Foundation for Women in 2005 as the Program Officer, and later served as its Director of Advocacy, working in areas of reproductive justice, violence against women, and women’s health. In June 2009, Johnson joined the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation as the Advocacy Director. Lynne holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Baltimore’s School of Law.

Contact Lynne at lynne@caase.org

 

Kaethe Morris Hoffer, Legal Director:

Kaethe Morris Hoffer represents individual survivors of sexual assault, including through prostitution, advocating for them through civil litigation and within the context of the criminal system. Kaethe has spent the last twenty years doing legal and political advocacy opposing sex inequality and sexual violence. She has advocated for individual survivors in state court, in federal court, in university disciplinary proceedings, and in numerous other venues. She has co-authored cutting edge civil rights laws for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, and lobbied for progressive legislation on trafficking and prostitution in Springfield, Illinois, Washington, D.C., and at the United Nations.

Morris Hoffer conducts trainings on civil legal remedies against sexual assault for rape and domestic violence service organizations, as well as for attorneys and legal organizations. She currently serves on the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault’s Policy Advisory Committee, and previously was a member of the women’s policy advisory group for the Obama Campaign, the Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women in Illinois, and a policy advisor to Mayor Richard M. Daley.

Contact Kaethe at kmh@caase.org

 

For a list of CAASE Board Members, click HERE

SUPPORTERS

Bruce T. Halle Family Foundation

Blessed Virgin Mary

Chicago Community Trust

Chicago Foundation For Women

Field Foundation

Maxine and Jack Zarrow Family Foundation

Michael Reese Health Trust

NoVo Foundation