Dr. Vredeveld is the founder (2015) and director of RISE, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit supporting acid attack survivors in Uganda and Nepal.  While in Uganda in 2013 to help establish a mental health program for a local NGO serving refugees, Dr. Vredeveld met an acid attack survivor, whom she later helped get to the US for a series of pro bono surgeries.  Since that time, Dr. Vredeveld has been a fierce advocate for acid attack survivors in Uganda.

Dr. Vredeveld is currently working with Ugandan human rights lawyer Arnold Agaba to get a specific law against acid attacks in Uganda.  She started a petition on change.org (now with over 44,000 signatures.) She also led a team of researchers to conduct the largest study to date of acid attack survivors in Uganda.  The results of this research will be shared with members of the Ugandan Parliament to make a case for why a specific law is needed.  Dr. Vredeveld and Arnold first met each other through Professor Bert Lockwood, Director of the Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights at the University of Cincinnati. Founded in 1979, the Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights at the University of Cincinnati College of Law is the oldest program for the study of international human rights law.

Dr. Vredeveld directs RISE as a volunteer, doing so out of an appreciation for the immense privileges she has as a result of being born in the US.