Dorienne Silva, Deputy CEO & Southeast President

Rutgers University, MSW, 1984

University of Puerto Rico, B.A., Psychology, 1978

Ms. Silva has served Youth Advocate Programs, Inc. for 14 years. Having previously served as Vice President of New Jersey, Texas, Florida and South Carolina, she now functions in the capacity of Deputy CEO & Southeast President. Additionally, Ms. Silva has served as the YAP liaison with Carlos Toledo and the Children's Street Movement in Guatemala for the past eight years. Ms. Silva heads the Hawaii consultation project and oversees YAP's European programs.

Dorienne has over 25 years of human/social service direct practice and management experience with such agencies as the Department of the Public Advocate and the Governor's Committee on Children's Services Planning, both located in Trenton, New Jersey. She has also served La Casa de Don Pedro, Inc. in Newark, New Jersey, PROCEED, Inc. in Elizabeth, New Jersey, the Department of Social Services in San Juan, Puerto Rico and Catholic Big Sisters, Manhattan Family Court in New York City.

Her service to the community ranges from advocacy at different levels on behalf of youth and families, resolving citizen vs. government disputes, to serving victims of domestic violence and those who suffer from addiction, to coordinating training and employment services and developing and managing programs for at-risk youth. Ms. Silva brings to Youth Advocate Programs and the clients she serves a unique cultural understanding. Born in Puerto Rico, she fluently speaks and writes both English and Spanish.