Executive Bios

Maureen Blaha
Executive Director
National Runaway Switchboard

Maureen Blaha is the executive director of the National Runaway Switchboard (NRS), a position she has held since November 2000.  The organization has made great strides under her leadership – the visibility of NRS has grown, and support has increased in both personnel (33 percent more volunteers) and finances (an increased budget of 32 percent).  NRS reach extended beyond the U.S., when Blaha was invited to speak to UK parliament to help launch The Children's Society of England's 2005 national Safe and Sound Campaign.

Also under Blaha’s leadership, NRS co-created National Runaway Prevention Month, a campaign to increase awareness of the issues facing runaway youth and to educate youth, families and the public about steps that can be taken to prevent youth from running away.  In 2005, Blaha was a featured speaker at a closed session of the Special Victims Assistance Unit of the FBI.  In addition, she appeared on the British television show Tonight with Trevor McDonald.  In 2002, Blaha was invited to represent the runaway population at the groundbreaking White House Conference on Missing, Exploited and Runaway Children.

Blaha first demonstrated a strong commitment to youth and family issues as director of the statewide child abuse program for the Children’s Home and Aid Society of Illinois.  Prior to that, she served as the legislative liaison for the Massachusetts Office for Children, a child advocacy and regulatory agency.  Blaha is a co-creator of the Blue Bow Campaign for Child Abuse Prevention (Illinois) and the Great American Wagon Pull: Families Pulling Together to Prevent Child Abuse, and is a founding member of the National Family Support Roundtable.  

Working with the legislature, Blaha helped champion the “Hearsay Bill” and “Children’s Trust Fund Bill” in Massachusetts.  Additionally, she was appointed to the Governor’s Healthy Families Task Force, which was instrumental in building a network of Healthy Family sites in Illinois.  She is an inaugural member of the National Family Support Roundtable Leadership Council and also serves on the Illinois Missing Children Task Force.

Blaha graduated from Northern Illinois University with a bachelor’s degree in Education.