Demetrius Rayford

Demetrius has worked with families of children with behavioral and emotional challenges in the state-wide Family Support Organization (FSO), providing Parent Support and Training. With over 16 years of advocacy under her belt, Demetrius’s journey led her to advocate passionately for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. She was the first Advocacy Initiated Response (AIR) Triage Advocate and later became the AIR Triage Advocate Trainer, for the New Orleans Family Justice Center. Through strategic initiatives, Demetrius structured the program and role, resulting in the NOFJC and NOHD receiving a fully funded expansion across all NOPD Districts. She engaged in the Domestic Abuse Fatality Review Team and the Sexual Assault/ Domestic Violence Coalition while at the NOFJC as well. Demetrius has presented data for AIR and facilitated training on the AIR program and domestic violence for multiple agencies and spoken at multiple events in New Orleans, most recently at the 2024 OCJC Public Safety Summit. 

Demetrius’s holds an Associate of Arts in Criminal Justice from Delgado Community College (2017), a Recovery Coach Professional Certificate from Connecticut Community for Addiction (CCAR) (2022) and a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice with Honors from Southern University at New Orleans (2023). She is also a member of the Criminal Justice Honor Society, Alpha Phi Sigma. 

In her spare time, Demetrius spends time with her family, watches true crime tv, makes soap and body butters and tries various DIY projects around the house.