About Katie

Katie Ciorba VonDeLinde, MSW, LCSW, is an energetic social worker, educator, and activist working on issues of survivor-centered intimate partner violence (IPV) advocacy, the intersection of economic justice and IPV, and ethical social work practice. Katie has trained thousands of social workers and advocates across the nation on the intersection of economics and domestic violence to increase survivors’ financial security. Ms. VonDeLinde has over ten years of experience as a beloved, award-winning adjunct faculty member at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University and University of Missouri St. Louis School where she teaches courses on direct social work practice, intimate partner violence, violence across the life course, and human behavior.   

Katie has advocated for the rights of survivors of violence for more than twenty years. As assistant director of a domestic violence/sexual assault program in rural Iowa, she saw survivors face great dangers due to economic abuse and poverty and recognized that the domestic violence field's lack of focus and training on economics left advocates unequipped. She sought education on economics as she attended the University of Iowa's MSW program and worked on the Building Comprehensive Solutions to Domestic Violence national initiative headed by foundational leaders Susan Schechter and Jill Davies. 

Katie then served as program director at ROW, an urban economic advocacy and intimate partner violence program,  where she was an integral player in the development and implementation of the ROW's Economic Action Program (REAP), one of the first economic advocacy programs designed for survivors of domestic violence. As the REAP program gained national attention, Katie trained advocates around the country on economic education and advocacy and supported organizations developing survivor-centered economic programs. Currently, Katie works part-time as a hospital based domestic violence advocate.