Dr. Maryann McEvoy, EdD is an accomplished Children’s Rights Activist with over 20 years of experience advocating for increased protection and empowerment of children throughout the world. Dr. McEvoy has proven success in the development, management, and evaluation of programs dedicated to advocating for women and children. She has extensive experience in humanitarian leadership, education, communications, and strategic planning. Dr. McEvoy has worked in a variety of contexts including state government, nonprofit leadership, and the United Nations. During her time with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), In 2009, Dr. McEvoy engaged a team of experts and multiple International Delegates to launch the Blue Heart Campaign, a marketing campaign that resulted in the development of the Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking, which remains an integral source of financial support for Human Trafficking Victims to this day. Dr. McEvoy served as the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s first state-level Child Advocate under both Governor Tom Wolf and Governor Josh Shapiro. In this role, Dr. McEvoy led the movement to confirm a formal Office of Child Advocate for Pennsylvania, a 25-year-old advocacy initiative that she was able to guide the Commonwealth in completing within 3 years in state government. Dr. McEvoy is an elected member of the Executive Steering Council of HEAL PA, a coalition of close to 300 trauma experts within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania working to implement the Trauma Informed PA Plan. She serves as the leader of Pennsylvania’s Prevent Child Abuse America chapter, centering all her advocacy work on the understanding of child prejudice and the resulting need for a trauma-informed social and political movement.
Dr. McEvoy is a graduate of West Chester University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in special education, New York University with a Master’s degree in International Education, and a Drexel University with a Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Administration with a focus on Trauma Informed Global Advocacy.
