AVA Annual Luncheon – April 2019 – Albuquerque
On April 30, 2019, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, VAWA Administrators and AVA Board members gathered for our annual luncheon meeting.
The turnout was by far the largest and most diverse participation ever! There were 53 VAWA administrators from 49 states, D.C., Guam and Puerto Rico.
AVA Staff and Board gave updates as follows:
- President’s Report – Julia Fuller Wilson
- Executive Director’s Report – Barry Bryant
- Treasurer’s Report – Cecilia Miller
- Website Update – Kim Oppelt
There was meaningful conversation about many of the ongoing issues that VAWA Administrators face as well as updates about two new plans that AVA has for the near future, including:
- Peer mentoring – AVA plans to provide assistance to new VAWA administrators by pairing them with veteran or seasoned administrators to help guide them though any early challenges they may face
- Joint Peer-to-Peer – AVA asked VAWA Administrators if they would be interested in participating in a Peer-to-Peer meeting in the future that included VOCA Administrators. Based on the overwhelming support of this idea, AVA will reach out to NAVAA to start the conversation.
- New Partnership – AVA is partnering with the Justice Research Statistics Association (JRSA) to develop a victim services outcome measurement tool.
- Listerve Update – Kim Oppelt shared plans that AVA has to update our existing listserve. Many administrators have not been able to receive updates via Yahoo email so AVA is looking into transitioning to a different listserve provider, Electric Embers.
AVA also held Board member elections and each prospective Board member spoke and shared their reasons for wanting to serve on the Board. See About the Board for info.
