Lee Ann De Reus is an internationally recognized expert on gender, sexualized violence, and women’s rights and the co-founder—along with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Denis Mukwege—of the Panzi Foundation, a nonprofit supporting Panzi Hospital, a treatment center for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She is also the co-founder and former chair of the US Board of Directors of the Panzi Foundation USA. Since August 2017, she has served as the executive director of the Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment and Appeals Project, which offers pro bono legal representation for survivors of abuse, training for legal and mental health professionals, and lobbying for legislative protections for victims.
