With extensive expertise in international project management, Monica Thornton is the Director of the International Program at Vera. Before joining Vera in 2004, she was senior director of Criminal and Supreme Court Programs at Safe Horizon, an organization that had its origins at Vera in the 1970s. At Safe Horizon, she oversaw domestic violence/felony centers, restitution programs, orders of protection services, and emergency services for victims of violent crime in New York City. Monica’s specialization has focused on recent immigrants and gender violence issues, including rape and domestic violence. She serves as a rape crisis counselor and an emergency medical technician providing direct services to women as a volunteer. Monica had led Vera’s international work focused on capacity building and transfer and the development of rule of law indicators. Monica also serves on the board of directors for the International Organization for Adolescents which has been heavily active in the issue of trafficking since 1999. Monica's interests include the emerging confluence of state funded and/or recognized informal systems which may be producing or re-enforcing a secondary status for the provision of justice to women and girls. Monica has co-authored Supporting Security, Justice, and Development: Lessons for a New Era, Experimentation and Reform: Empirical Methods for Improving Justice System, and Developing Indicators to Measure the Rule of Law. She has also practiced international corporate finance at Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt and Mosle and at Morgan Stanley. Monica has worked in Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, Haiti, Chile, France, Spain, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Russia, Latvia, Estonia, Thailand, Indonesia, Korea, the Philippines, Nigeria, India, Chile, and China. Monica received her JD from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and her BA from Smith College. She is fluent in Spanish.