Scott Berkowitz

Scott Berkowitz is the founder and president of RAINN, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization. RAINN is dedicated to stopping sexual violence by supporting survivors, holding perpetrators accountable, and creating safer communities.

Under his leadership, RAINN has become a transformative national force. RAINN has supported more than 5 million survivors and their loved ones since the organization’s start in 1994, and helped pass legislation that has taken thousands of rapists off the streets and prevented countless rapes. 

Scott pioneered nationally accessible, trauma-informed crisis services by launching RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE) RAINN would go on to create the web’s first secure, anonymous online hotline service in 2006 (rainn.org/hotline); the hotline is also available by texting “HOPE” to 64673  and on other platforms such as WhatsApp. 

The goal? Making sure survivors can get help however and whenever they need it. RAINN now operates dozens of specialized hotlines for partner organizations, corporations, schools and institutions, including the DoD Safe Helpline for the Department of Defense.

A longtime advocate for policy reform, Scott has championed hundreds of federal and state laws that strengthen sexual violence prevention and advance justice for survivors. His work includes passage of the Debbie Smith Act, which has been instrumental in solving cold cases and is responsible for 42% of all cold hits in the FBI’s national DNA database—bringing accountability to offenders and closure to survivors.

Scott has expanded RAINN’s impact through strategic public education initiatives, working with national media and entertainment networks to reshape public understanding of sexual violence and acting as a frequent spokesperson in national media.  

RAINN has also become a national leader in prevention consulting and training, partnering with major corporations, youth-serving organizations, educational institutions, and federal agencies to build cultures of safety, accountability, and healing.

Scott is also CEO of A&I Publishing. Earlier in his career, he served as publisher of Campaigns & Elections magazine and founded a political training organization that educated more than 100 future members of Congress and conducted groundbreaking democratic training programs around the world.

He graduated from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts.