Kim Dvorchak, JD, joined the NACC team as Executive Director in May of 2017. Ms. Dvorchak is responsible for the overall leadership of policy, operations, programs, fundraising, and the strategic development of the organization. Ms. Dvorchak has more than 25 years of experience in direct representation, policy advocacy, and nonprofit management to advance the rights of children and youth. Under Ms. Dvorchak’s leadership, the National Association of Counsel for Children vastly expanded its programs and services, tripled its budget and staff, and was selected to receive a major multi-year grant to launch a national right to counsel campaign for children and youth in the child welfare system.
Ms. Dvorchak has served in Executive Director roles since 2010. Previously, Ms. Dvorchak was the Executive Director of the National Juvenile Defender Center, where she lead the launch of the Gault at 50 Campaign to commemorate the US Supreme Court case establishing children’s right to counsel. Prior to this position, Ms. Dvorchak was the founding Executive Director of the Colorado Juvenile Defender Center, an attorney training and policy center which accomplished monumental reforms to ensure children’s right to counsel, reduce the prosecution of youth in adult court, and build a community of lawyers committed to zealous advocacy for children.
In her legal career, Ms. Dvorchak represented children and youth in delinquency court, criminal court, and on appeal; she has run her own law firm, and served as a public defender in two states. A recognized national expert on juvenile law, Ms. Dvorchak has published multiple policy reports and is a frequent lecturer at policy conferences and continuing legal education seminars. Ms. Dvorchak continues to serve as an expert witness in juvenile law and policy.
In recognition of her advocacy work on behalf of children, Ms. Dvorchak received the Kutak-Dodds Prize for equal justice by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, the Champions of Children Advocate by the Sewall Child Development Center, the Robert E. Shepherd Jr. Leadership Award for Excellence in Juvenile Defense by the National Juvenile Defender Center, and was named a Colorado Woman of Influence by the Denver Post. Ms. Dvorchak also received the Gideon Award from the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar for her work on an amicus brief in a Colorado Supreme Court case establishing the right to effective assistance of counsel in post-conviction matters.
Ms. Dvorchak received her J.D. from the City University of New York College of Law and her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
After spending six years in the Washington, DC area, Ms. Dvorchak returned to Colorado in 2021 to lead NACC’s expanded operations team in NACC’s Denver headquarters. When she is not working, Kim enjoys spending time with her family, hiking, skiing, and roller skating.