Jacqueline Franchetti

Jacqueline Franchetti is the Founder and Executive Director of Kyra’s Champions, a 501(c)4 charity, that advocates for legislative and policy changes to keep children safe from abuse in child custody cases. Kyra’s Champions was formed after Jacqueline’s 2-year-old daughter, Kyra, was killed by her abusive father during a court-ordered visit.

 

In the five years since Kyra’s murder, Jacqueline has already made substantial changes to better protect children from abusive parents. She has passed bills on both the state and federal level. Kyra’s story has been the subject of investigative media reports, and her efforts has garnered wide bipartisan support from federal, state and local lawmakers.

 

Today, there are six bills in New York State, including “Kyra’s Law,” inspired and based on Kyra’s custody case to protect children from abusive parents. These bill are all common sense solutions to keep children safe. Based on Jacqueline’s advocacy, the New York State Governor formed a “Blue Ribbon Commission” in 2021 to explore the role of forensic custody evaluators in custody case and make reform recommendations. Jacqueline was one of only 20 asked to serve on this Commission, and the final report called for an overhaul of the forensic custody evaluations, even calling for their elimination.

 

Jacqueline was also instrumental in the passing of H.Con.Res. 72 in the US House of Representatives. This Resolution to make child safety the top priority in divorce/family courts all across the United States passed with unanimous support. This achievement was monumental as it was the first time in 30 years that Congress has addressed family court issues. Jacqueline has also passed a law on victim’s rights, which continues to help other families in the wake of a family violence child homicide.

 

Jacqueline also runs the Kyra Franchetti Foundation, a 501(c)3 charity raising awareness about the risk of family violence, especially to children, inside and outside our divorce/family court system in the United States. The focus of the Kyra Franchetti Foundation is to change the way issues of violence and abuse are addressed so that child safety is put above all else. Our program, (Un)Covering Family Violence™, helps members of the media better understand how to cover family violence stories involving child homicides.

 

Jacqueline has received praise for her work. She won the highly competitive Business Mastery Championship and was presented the award by Tony Robbins. The R Baby Foundation also honored her with their “Courage Award.” She also received the “2021 Justice for Children Leader Award” by the California Protective Parents Association.

 

Jacqueline continues to be one of the leading executive coaches to Fortune 1000 companies. She is the CEO and Chief MESSAGEologist at Message2Momentum. C-Suite executives, Wall Street moguls and business leaders rely on her to help them prepare for major communications events.

 

Jacqueline believes her work is just beginning in the child advocacy space, and sees many avenues to keep babies and children safe from abusive parents.