Michele McCord is the Executive Director of the Task Force on Domestic Violence, “HOPE, Inc.”. She is a 2000 graduate of then Fairmont State College with a major in Sociology and a minor in Psychology. She began her career at HOPE as a student intern during the spring semester of her senior year and was hired full-time as a Case Manager in May 2000. Since beginning at HOPE, Michele has held numerous positions within the agency. She began working with the finances of the agency during her first summer at HOPE and then went on to work full-time as the Financial Manager and later as the Financial Officer of HOPE. As of January 1, 2018, Michele was named the Director of HOPE, after the retirement of HOPE’s previous Director of 31 years. She is a member of the Board of Directors of both the West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information and Services. Michele believes strongly in giving a voice to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Meet our Board of Directors
Michelle McCord, Co-chair
Katie Spriggs, Co-chair
Katie is a graduate of Shepherd University with a bachelor’s degree in Social Work. Katie is currently enrolled in an MSW program at WVU. Katie has worked in victim services for 8 years, with a focus on victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking and stalking. She is a member of the WV human trafficking task force, is co-chair of their training committee and a steering committee member. Katie has trained medical professionals, law enforcement, military members and community members about intervention and prevention of human trafficking, domestic violence, and sexual assault. Katie has been with Eastern Panhandle Empowerment Center (EPEC) for 8 years and currently works as the Executive Director. EPEC is a dual program in the Eastern Panhandle of WV that serves victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and human trafficking. Katie co-facilitates the statewide WV coalition against domestic violence’s advocates aspiring for equity team, public policy team and is co-chair of their membership and board.
Elizabeth Wehner, Vice-chair
Bio coming soon.
Julie Britton Haden
Julie has a long history of social justice advocacy/liberal do-gooding starting in the 90s as a volunteer for a housing program for West Virginian’s with HIV/AIDS where she worked her way up to Program Coordinator. She moved on as the Development Director/Operations Specialist with the WV Coalition for People with HIV/AIDS for five years. In 2007, Julie became the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS and Emergency Solutions Grants Specialist through the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity. Missing the front lines she left state government to become the Victim’s Advocate for the WV Division of Corrections (DOC) in 2014. After a few years at the DOC Julie became the Program Director for the YWCA of Charleston’s Resolve Family Abuse Program. Julie has been with Resolve for four years. In the past four years, Resolve has dynamically changed the way domestic violence services are provided by also serving men in shelter, adding a pet shelter for survivor’s animals, starting a pilot project that allows survivors apply for domestic violence petitions and attend the follow up hearing remotely and avoiding having to be in the same courtroom as the abuser, and operating from a truly housing first orientation. Julie is a graduate of West Virginia State University with a bachelor’s in Sociology. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the WV Coalition Against Domestic Violence and is on the leadership team. Julie has been recognized for her work with West Virginian’s with HIV/AIDS during a national conference in Washington DC. She’s a lifelong learner, questioner of the status quo, and a somewhat extroverted introvert. Julie lives in South Charleston with her son, Tripp, two dogs – Dexter and Tucker, and two cat- Catticus Finch and Corky.
Amanda McComas – Sec.
Bio coming soon
William “Tootie” Carter
Bio coming soon.
Nikki Tennis
Nikki Tennis, a Clarksburg native, is the director of Children’s Behavioral Health Services at the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources’ Bureau for Behavior Health. She works to ensure West Virginia’s youngest residents and their families have access to the behavioral and mental health programs that will enable them to overcome the effects of substance abuse.
Rev. Kay Albright
Rev. Kay Albright is the Health Equity Outreach Coordinator for West Virginia Covenant House. Rev. Albright also pastors a church. She is a member of West Virginians Against Violence, the Mayor’s LGBTQ+ Working Group, West Virginia Council of Churches, Charleston Area Religious Leaders Association, Charleston Black Ministerial Alliance, and Mountains of Hope. Rev. Albright is honored to be a part of West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence Board.
Alexia Jennings
Alexia Jennings currently serves as the Executive Director at the Rape and Domestic Violence Information Center serving Monongalia, Taylor, and Preston Counties.
Alexia is most known for her commitment and advocacy to the mission of reducing domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking and stalking in the community, She has over ten years of dedication to survivors of violence in the state of West Virginia through her non-profit, volunteer, and work experience.
In October of 2024, Alexia was honored with the “Diane Reese Advocacy Award,” an award conferred in memory of Diane Reese, a 14-year Team Coordinator for the Coalition. Alexia won the award for embodying the vision, determination, and skill needed to adapt and build an organizational foundation for RDVIC, and for taking outstanding action to support WV survivors.
JJ Johnson
Jennifer “JJ” Johnson has served as the Executive Director of Centers Against Violence (CAV)–a dual Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault victims’ services program—for over three years. However she’s been a social worker for nearly a quarter of a century. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology/human services, a master’s degree in social work, and is working on her doctorate in integrated behavioral health.
JJ uses her years of education and experience working with individuals of all ages and walks of life to aid in assessing and developing trauma-informed services for victims served by CAV. As a survivor of domestic violence herself, she understands the unique challenges faced by people experiencing violence, and is committed to ensuring all survivors and their families receive the support, care, and services they need in order to move forward with their lives in a violence-free and healthy way.
Emily Larkins
Emily Larkins serves as Executive Director of the Family Crisis Intervention Center of Parkersburg. She is a Washington, West Virginia, native and dedicates her time to serving her clients, giving back to her community, and spreading awareness about domestic violence and other oppressions.
Emily also chairs the WV Family Protection Services Board, and is determined to ensure victims and survivors have access to DV services that empower them to take control of their lives and live free from violence and the fear of violence.
Reginia Thomas
Bio coming soon.
Dan Heyman
Dan Heyman describes himself as a “recovering journalist,” but that is a bit of exaggeration — he hasn’t really recovered.
He’s reported on West Virginia for outlets including The New York Times, Washington Post, and National Public Radio for three decades, but now works as an online contract editor. Dan grew up in Pittsburgh before getting a journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin. He moved to West Virginia to take a job with West Virginia Public Broadcasting and just never left.
He now lives in s house in the woods in Charleston with lots of dogs, trying to get fruit trees to grow on his land and fighting a literally uphill battle to keep the kudzu at bay.
Dr. Danielle Davidov
Dr. Davidov is an associate professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences and holds an adjunct appointment in the WVU Department of Emergency Medicine. Her research involves using qualitative and mixed methods to develop and evaluate complex interventions in community-based, academic, and clinical settings. In particular, she is interested in the successful adoption and implementation of strategies to improve system-level responses to trauma and violence. She has served as qualitative lead and consultant on multiple large-scale, federally funded projects with international and domestic interdisciplinary teams, leveraging survivor and stakeholder engagement to cultivate meaningful change in both research and practice. Statewide, her work has focused on rural health disparities related to the intersection of trauma, substance abuse, and mental health. Along with the WV Coalition Against Domestic Violence, she led the development of the PCORI-funded WV AWARE (Asking Women About Relationship Experiences) network, which integrates survivors and stakeholders in the research process to improve screening and assessment for intimate partner violence in healthcare settings. This project won the 2021 Purple Ribbon Award from the West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence for demonstrating outstanding commitment to the collaborative work of ending violence against women in West Virginia. Within the School of Public Health, she mentors undergraduate, master’s level, and doctoral students and teaches courses related to intervention design, qualitative methods, social determinants of health, and public health prevention. She undertakes service and engagement activities that aim to enhance the health and well-being of women and underserved groups in her home state of West Virginia.
Tracy Strckland
Bio will appear here.
