Larchmonter Elected Chair of Anti-Sexual Assault Organization

by Judy Silberstein

(February 26, 2009) Frederick Arnold, a resident of the Town of Mamaroneck since 1995, is a “numbers guy” and the newly elected president of the board of RAINN (Rape Abuse & Incest National Network), the nation’s largest organization working to prevent sexual assault and help victims of this crime. “1in 6 women have been sexually assaulted. And the incidence of crime is as high in Larchmont, per capita as it is in the South Bronx,” he explained in an interview with the Gazette. “If you have a daughter, nieces – any kind of connection to a woman of college-age or under “you have to care about this issue, he said.

Mr. Arnold’s career in international finance gives him both the skills and the time for the RAINN board. For 20 years he was an investment banker in New York and London, primarily at Lehman Brothers and Smith Barney. In the past ten years, he has been doing “turn-around” with private equity owned companies. ”While you work 24/7 when you’re on a project, there are times in between,” he said. In 2004, after finishing as chief financial officer and chief administrative officer at Willis North America, Mr. Arnold was “in between” and looking to do “serious nonprofit work.”

That’s when he learned about RAINN. For someone who worked with large international projects, RAINN was impressive, “the leading brand in this field,” said Mr. Arnold.

RAINN operates as an umbrella organization, sitting on top of 1,100 rape crisis centers. It runs the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE) and an online hotline (at rainn.org) in partnership with the crisis centers. The hotlines have helped more than 1.2 million people since 1994. Recently, the organization was named one of “America’s 100 best charities” by Worth magazine.

The online hotline was among the projects Mr. Arnold helped with. “The vulnerable population, girls under 18, are online people,” he said. “They don’t use the phone.” Now they can just go to rainn.org and click “I need help” to reach someone.

For the past three years, Mr. Arnold also served on the RAINN board as chair of the audit committee. And now he has been elected president of the board, to the delight of Scott Berkowitz, president and founder of RAINN. In an announcement of Mr. Arnold’s election, Mr. Berkowitz said, "Fred's experience, management and financial expertise, and strategic mind have already been of great value to RAINN, and he will play a vital role as we continue to grow the organization in order to keep up with the vast demand from victims of sexual assault. His dedication to RAINN is truly remarkable and we look forward to the progress we'll make in the fight against sexual violence under his leadership of the board."

Asked about his plans for RAINN, Mr. Arnold said his aim is to move the organization forward – and that will involve another set of numbers. A major goal is to double the organization’s funds, which is now around $2 million. Another goal is to continue making progress in reducing sexual assaults.

“The incidence of rape has been cut in half since RAINN began,” he said. It used to be ½ million per year, and now it’s closer to ¼ million. “But the incidence of sexual assault is still high,” he said. “Just in our country, 1 in every 2 minutes there is another sexual assault; 250,000 in a year,” he said. “That’s pretty much the same as women diagnosed with breast cancer in a year – just to give you a sense.”

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