Dr. Caitlyn M. Clark, PhD
Founder & Principal, The Clark Justice Institute
Caitlyn M. Clark, PhD, founded The Clark Justice Institute in April 2026 after eight years in victim services and criminal justice.
Dr. Clark holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Criminal Justice and a Master of Science in Criminal Justice from Nova Southeastern University. She is a member of The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and serves as an alternate committee member. Dr. Clark is an Advanced Credentialed Advocate (CA) through the National Advocate Credentialing Program, administered by the National Organization for Victim Advocacy.
Dr. Clark has extensive experience in victim services, trauma-informed advocacy, and survivor support, with a focus on intimate partner violence and sexual assault. Her background spans both community-based and systems-based advocacy. She has served as a community-based victim advocate for a domestic violence agency, a domestic violence specialist in the child welfare system, a systems-based victim advocate within law enforcement, and a lead victim/witness specialist for city government. Throughout her career, Dr. Clark has advocated for crime victims, developed curricula, and trained professionals in trauma-informed practice, victim services, and victim rights.
She is trained in domestic violence and sexual assault counseling advocacy, mental health first aid, trauma-informed practices, and multiple advocacy resource systems.
Dr. Clark is also a survivor. Her own case progressed through law enforcement’s initial response before she began her professional career in the field.
These two perspectives do not align as neatly as many assume. Statutes define victim rights in specific terms, and training curricula outline trauma-informed practice. However, for many survivors, the process does not move beyond the first phone call, interview, or decision about their case before anyone explains what it means or what comes next. Dr. Clark has experienced both sides of this moment: as the person waiting for a response and as the professional who understood why the call was not coming.
The Clark Justice Institute (CJI) was founded based on this lived experience. CJI supports both survivors navigating complex systems and the professionals and organizations that assist them. Dr. Clark provides survivor consulting, professional consulting, training, education, research, expert witness services, and advocacy and resource navigation.
Her research focuses on multidisciplinary collaboration in violence prevention, bridging victim-centered and offender-focused approaches. CJI’s survivor-facing work offers education, support, and resource navigation, and adheres to the practice standards of the NACP Code of Ethics.