Jeff O’Brien
Director, Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) Program
Jeff O'Brien is Director of the Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) National Program. The multi-racial, mixed gender MVP program is the first large scale attempt to enlist high school, college, and professional athletes in the fight against all forms of men's violence against women. MVP National is presented in partnership by the Center for the Study of Sport in Society and the National Consortium for Academics and Sports.
Jeff holds a BA in English (1989) and MS in Education (1994) from Canisius College in Buffalo, NY. At Canisius, O’Brien was co-captain for his senior year and an All-America selection in 1987 and 1988 at tight end. He was inducted into the schools Sports Hall of Fame in 1999. Jeff has coached football at both the high school and college levels.
As a student-athlete, he worked with Canisius College’s Athletes Helping Athletes outreach program. Jeff was named Director of Athletes Helping Athletes in 1991, coordinating the community outreach efforts for the athletic department. In 1992, he developed and organized the first date rape and dating violence workshop series for all student-athletes at Canisius. In 1995, he was named as the initial Director of Canisius' AmeriCorps program -- Athletes in Service to America. Jeff has been the Director of the MVP program since 1998, working with thousands of professional and student-athletes as well as hundreds of coaches and athletics staff. From 2003-06, Jeff was the Sr. Associate Director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society, providing leadership for the center's variety of outreach programs and serving on the senior leadership team.
He is a published author, a part-time sociology lecturer, has presented at numerous professional conferences and organizations, appeared on television and radio shows, and serves as a consultant for the MVP Strategies - US Marine Corps and Navy Training Program as well as an subject matter expert for the US Air Force's Sexual Assault prevention & intervention efforts.
