Our Network
We encourage our members to take an active role in the Network. Please contact the committee chairs below to find out more about opportunities to be involved and to join a committee(s).
Finance & Fundraising Committee
The committee’s duties shall be to select a professional auditor to conduct an annual audit or compilation of the organization’s books as directed by the Board of Directors. The results will be considered by the committee when preparing a report. The report will serve as a recommendation to the Board of Directors to ensure the continued financial stability of the organization.
Chair: Morgan Abbate, mabbate@oag.state.va.us
Legislative Committee
The committee’s duties shall be to promote and encourage laws in connection with the purposes of the organization by recommending and advising the Board of Directors as to the initiation of legislation, the support of legislation, and the status of the laws and legislation, and to plan legislation in furtherance of the purposes of the organization and to monitor the effects of legislation.
Chair: Robin Bostic, rbostic@kingwilliamcounty.us
2022 version General Assembly Legislative Summary Report
Victims’ Rights Committee
The committee’s duties shall include monitoring issues related to the provision of services to victims of crime and informing the membership of any changes in policies or programs that affect victims’ rights; making recommendations for the enhancement and successful delivery of these rights to crime victims; identifying education and training needs; and, in collaboration with the Legislative Committee, make recommendations to the Board of Directors for advocacy regarding legislative changes that promote victims’ rights.
Chairs: Kyanna Perkins, kperkins@oag.state.va.us
Program Committee
The committee’s duties shall be to plan the annual Virginia Crime Victims’ Issues Conference, Crime Victims’ Rights week events and other Network-sponsored training and events.
Chair: Lindsay Cassada, cassadal@chesterfield.gov
Victim Compensation Committee
The committee’s duties shall be to monitor the Virginia Victims’ Fund (VVF), to keep the membership informed of any changes in services to victims or police made by VVF that may impact upon program service delivery, and to make recommendations to the Board of Directors for formal presentation to VVF.
Chair: Kate Bennett, ben057@henrico.us
Board
Virginia Victim Assistance Network Board of Directors, November 2019. Not pictured: Jon Zug and Sharron Saunders.
Robin Bostic, Board President
Robin Bostic is a Victim Witness Director for the counties of King William and King & Queen, serving in the position since 2009. Previously, Robin worked as a Deputy Clerk in the King William Circuit Court handling civil and criminal cases as well as the collection of restitution. She has a BS in Criminal Justice with a minor in Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Lindsay Cassada, First Vice President
Lindsay G. Cassada is the Coordinator of Chesterfield County’s Domestic and Sexual Violence Resource Center and has served in this role since July of 2017. Lindsay has been with Chesterfield County since 2009, initially employed as an Assistant Director of the Chesterfield Victim/Witness Assistance Program, then as a Probation Officer in Community Corrections Services. Prior to Chesterfield, Lindsay served nine years as the Director of Hanover County’s Victim/Witness Assistance Program. Before that, she served the rural counties of King William and King and Queen, as a Family Violence Specialist for Quin Rivers Agency for Community Action (now Project Hope). Lindsay holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Virginia Tech.
Mary Anne Freshwater, Second Vice President
Mary Anne established the Appomattox County Victim/Witness Assistance Program in 1997. The program originally operated on a part-time basis for 18 years and then transitioned to full-time in 2016. Ms. Freshwater has served in the legal field for her entire career, first working for a private civil attorney and a law firm before discovering her passion for crime victims while working part time in the Commonwealth’s attorney’s office. Mary Anne had previously served on The Network Board of Directors as Secretary for six years and is now filling in for a vacated position of Second Vice-President through November, 2019. Mary Anne holds a Para-Legal Certificate from Central Virginia Community College.
Sharron Saunders, Secretary
Sharron Saunders is a Victim Witness Services Director for the City of Richmond, serving in the position since 2016. Sharron has been employed with the program since 2004. She has a Master of Arts in Human Services Counseling: Criminal Justice from Liberty University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Mindy Stell, Treasurer
Mindy Stell has been involved in the criminal justice field for over 25 years, where she has provided services and advocacy to both adult and child victims of crime. As the Director of the Dinwiddie Victim/Witness Assistance Program for more than twenty years, she has worked directly with victims of all crime to include victims of domestic violence, homicide, sexual assaults and robbery.
Ms. Stell currently holds the position of Treasurer for the Virginia Victim Assistance Network, and previously as President for two plus terms and as First-Vice President for 5 years. Her duties within the Network include serving on various committees which include legislation and program committees. Mindy has also been a member of other organizations and committees to include the Dinwiddie Multidisciplinary and SART teams, the Crime Commission’s work group for domestic and sexual assault funding. She was appointed by the Governor to serve on both the Parole Commission and Sexual and Domestic Violence Advisory Board, as well as serving as Treasurer for the Central Virginia Victim's Services Coalition.
Laurie Crawford, MPA
Laurie K. Crawford, MPA, is Project Manager for Virginia’s Linking Systems of Care for Children and Youth (LSC) State Demonstration Project, a state-level initiative supported by the Office for Victims of Crime which aims to develop a coordinated and trauma-informed response to identifying and linking services to children and youth who have experienced crime. Prior to taking this position at the Department of Social Services, Laurie was a Program Manager at the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) for over nine years. Previously, she implemented the Project RADAR and Project Connect initiatives at VDH and has been responsible for statewide policy, training, and public awareness initiatives in criminal justice, public health, child welfare, and victim advocacy for over 20 years. Laurie earned a BA in Psychology from the University of Virginia and a Master of Public Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University and has previously served as Assistant Director of the Charlottesville Victim/Witness Assistance Program and as Domestic Violence Services Coordinator for the Henrico County Division of Police.
Joyce Walsh
Ms. Walsh established the Victim Assistance Program in the Chesapeake Sheriff’s Office. This was one of the first eight Victim Assistance Programs in the Commonwealth. Ms. Walsh directed the program for 28 years and is currently retired. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana.
Jon Zug
Mr. Zug has been employed as the Albemarle County Circuit Court Clerk since January of 2016. Previously, he worked as an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for 28 years, in the offices of the Cities of Norfolk and Charlottesville, and the County of Albemarle. John has served as the Co-Chair of the Monticello Area Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team from 2010 to present. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Economics and Psychology from James Madison University in 1984 and a Juris Doctor from George Mason University School of Law in 1987.
