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Board of Directors

Victoria Dinges, Allstate Insurance Company (Chair)

Marc Berejka, REI (Vice Chair)

Michael Miller, ING Direct (Treasurer)

Patti Seger, Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence (Secretary)

Tiffany Carr, Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence (Past Chair)

Debra Chandler, TransAmerica Financial

Lupita Reyes, Verizon Foundation

Maria Rodriguez, Vanguard Communications

Vickie Smith, Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Karen Tronsgard-Scott, Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence

Alexa Verveer, Discovery Communications

Kathy England Walsh, Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence

Biographies:

• Victoria Dinges (Chair): Victoria is the Assistant Vice President of Public Social Responsibility for the Allstate Insurance Company. As Assistant Vice President, she is responsible for furthering Allstate's efforts to build leadership through strategic philanthropy and corporate social responsibility. Victoria leads and coordinates Allstate's public social responsibility efforts in the key focus areas of The Allstate Foundation, Allstate's Teen Safe Driving and Domestic Violence signature programs, volunteerism, annual corporate social responsibility reporting and the company's Chicago cultural and civic initiatives. Victoria is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society and the Executives' Club of Chicago, and a President's Circle Member of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Victoria earned a bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Northwestern University's J. L. Kellogg School of Management.
• Marc Berejka (Vice Chair)
• Michael Miller (Treasurer): Michael is the Global Head of Legal and Compliance for ING Direct, the direct banking division of the Dutch financial conglomerate, ING Group, headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. In his role he is responsible for managing the legal and regulatory affairs of ING Direct while advising management on global strategy development of the bank and the larger Group. He also leads and coordinates the compliance and legal functions in the nine countries in which ING Direct has business units. Outside of ING, Michael serves as an external director to the European holding company of PCCW, one of Asia's largest telecommunications, media and IT solutions companies, advising and assisting management with the development of its European activities and strategic initiatives. Spending the first years of his career with a law firm in Washington, DC, he then moved in-house to a telecommunications company in the same area. Michael is a frequent guest speaker and panellist at various European forums on legal, compliance, ethics and corporate social responsibility topics. He earned a bachelor's degree in accounting and finance from Marshall University, where he has also served on the Institutional Board of Advisors. He also has a M.B.A. from European University in Spain and a J.D. from George Mason University. Michael is a member of the Virginia State Bar, American Bar Association and the Association of Corporate Counsel.
• Patti Seger (Secretary): Patti has served as Executive Director of the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence (WCADV) since 2005. Her 25 years of domestic violence victim advocacy experience includes six years as the WCADV Policy Coordinator, six years as Director of Dane County District Attorney’s Office Domestic Violence Unit, and seven years as the Systems Advocate at Domestic Abuse Intervention Services (formerly Dane County Advocates for Battered Women). She currently serves on the NNEDV Policy Committee, serves as Wisconsin Governor Doyle’s appointee to the WI Law Enforcement Standards Board, has served as the Attorney General’s appointee to the Wisconsin Sentencing Commission, serves on the WI VAWA Advisory Board, and is the chair of the WI Department of Corrections Crime Victim Advisory Committee.
• Tiffany Carr (Past Chair): Tiffany, a native of Florida, currently serves as the President and CEO of Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence (FCADV), the statewide professional association representing Florida's 42 certified domestic violence centers. Tiffany, a 13-year veteran of the organization, spent much of her early tenure with FCADV organizing initiatives in Florida's rural communities and training nationally on the barriers to providing services to rural victims of domestic violence and their children. Tiffany serves as the primary individual responsible for advocating to the legislature for the passage of critical public policy initiatives and securing additional funding for Florida's centers. In 2005, Tiffany was appointed by President Bush to the National Advisory Committee on Violence Against Women and most recently served as a key leader on Governor Charlie Crist's Transition Team. Tiffany served as the group leader overseeing the transition of six of Florida's state agencies that were responsible for public safety related issues. In 2005 Tiffany was honored with The Governor's Peace at Home Award, presented by Governor Jeb Bush for outstanding statewide leadership and advocacy. Additionally, Tiffany has been awarded a multitude of both state and national awards for her extensive advocacy fighting violence against women.
• Debra Chandler: For the past 15 years, Debra has worked as an independent financial advisor with Transamerica Financial Advisors, Inc.  Her experience includes nonprofit development and event management, political fundraising, real estate development and sales, and financial services.  Debra has served as a grant reviewer for the United Way of the National Capital Area, Fairfax County, and as a development committee member for Chipping In to End Domestic Violence to benefit the Fairfax County Women’s Shelter.  She is an alumna of Northwestern State University of Louisiana and Georgetown University’s Executive Development Program in Financial Planning and Real Estate Investing.  She has lived in the Washington, DC area for nearly 30 years.
• Lupita Reyes: Lupita was appointed National Program Director of the Verizon Foundation in January 2006. In this role she is responsible for strategy development, grant administration and relationship management for the Foundation's safety and health programs including domestic violence prevention, healthcare, accessibility, and internet safety. Promoting relationships with national organizations in domestic violence, Lupita has appeared in local and multi-lingual TV markets in New Jersey, DC, and Florida to advance domestic violence prevention, healthcare and Thinkfinity.org, Verizon's signature cause. In 2008, Lupita was one of several Hispanic corporate executives recognized by ASPIRA for distinguished service professionally and in the community. Previously, Lupita sat on the Board of Los Angeles Valley College, a college serving primarily disadvantaged communities in Los Angeles. Lupita holds an undergraduate degree in Business Management from Incarnate Word College.
• Maria Rodriguez: Maria co-founded Vanguard Communications, a full-service public relations firm committed exclusively to the marketing and promotion of social issues, in 1987.  Her vision was to challenge and inspire others to make a difference in the world through communications.  Maria is now president and sole owner of the firm, and her efforts to influence social issues through communications have had significant impacts on her employees, her community and society as a whole.  Maria has managed many public education and social change campaigns for a broad spectrum of national and community-based nonprofit organizations and government agencies.  Her expertise includes strategic planning, culturally and linguistically competent communications, media relations, alliance building and event management.  At Vanguard, Maria leads a team of more than 30 communications professionals who work to advance change in areas such as health, education, sustainable agriculture, and environmental protection. In 2003, Vanguard Communications became the first Hispanic woman-owned firm to earn the highly coveted PR Week PR Agency of the Year Award.  Much of the firm’s work is in support of women, youth and families, and in 2006 the firm was named a Best Small Company by Working Mother magazine.  Prior to founding Vanguard, Maria served as media director of a boutique public relations firm where she managed and implemented consumer education initiatives on behalf of the firm’s clients, including the National Institutes of Health.  A native Washingtonian, Maria is a first generation American whose Spanish parents immigrated to the United States in 1957 from Venezuela. She graduated from George Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
• Vickie Smith: Vickie is the Executive Director of the Illinois Coaliiton to End Domestic Violence (ILCADV).  She began her work in the battered women’s movement over 27 years ago by providing direct services to survivors of domestic violence.  She helped open a nonresidential crisis intervention program, first serving on the Board of Directors and then serving as the first non-paid director.  Vickie joined the staff of ILCADV in March 1988 as a Grant Monitor, and then became Executive Director in 1993.  In May, 1999 she relocated to Texas, where she joined the National Training Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence and participated in technical assistance and training all over the United States.  Vickie resumed the position of Executive Director of ILCADV in August 2008.  Vickie is a founding board member of the National Network to End Domestic Violence.  During the development of NNEDV, Vickie worked with other state and national advocates on drafting the historic 1994 Violence Against Women Act, which has had a significant impact on services for battered women.
• Karen Tronsgard-Scott: Karen is the Executive Director of the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, Vermont’s federally recognized coalition of domestic and sexual violence organizations.  Tronsgard-Scott, whose career in working with non-profit organizations began in the mid-1980’s when she volunteered for a school serving children with developmental disabilities in Colombo, Sri Lanka, has a Masters degree in Political Science with a Certificate in Public Administration from Ohio University.  She has worked in the movement to end violence against women for the past seventeen years, serving as the director of a community-based domestic and sexual violence services organization, and teaching and training about the intersection of oppression and violence against women.  She lives in Hinesburg, Vermont with her partner, son and many pets.
• Alexa Verveer: Alexa is the Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Government Relations for Discovery Communications, where she oversees all federal and state/local legislative, regulatory and government relations issues.  She also oversees Discovery's Standards and Practices Department, which ensures that programming and commercials reflect the integrity of the company's 29 network brands.  Before joining Discovery, Alexa served as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP).  In that position, she oversaw $4 billion in federal support to state and local communities to improve their criminal and juvenile justice systems.  Prior to her appointment to OJP, Alexa served in the Office of the Associate Attorney General, the third ranking office in DOJ.  As Deputy Associate Attorney General, Alexa assisted in supervising the work of OJP and managed the development of DOJ's wireless communications policies, including its strategy for promoting interoperability within and among public safety systems.  Alexa received her B.S. degree from Northwestern University and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.  She is a member of the Bar of the District of Columbia, where she lives with her husband and two daughters.
• Kathy England Walsh: Kathy is the Executive Director of the Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence (TCADSV).  With more than 20 years of experience in crisis intervention, program development and public policy advocacy, Kathy provides training and technical assistance to communities and works on public policy issues of concern to victims of domestic and sexual violence.  In her time as Director of TCADSV, Kathy has crafted and successfully advocated for more than 100 new laws to improve safety for victims of domestic and sexual violence and assisted in the development of domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, and community task forces throughout the state.