Meet the Women's Center Staff
Each Center staff member serves as a Virginia Tech Safe Zone.
Penny Cook, Volunteer and Operations Coordinator, recruits, trains, places, and evaluates volunteers, interns, and service learning students. She currently advises 9 student teams who provide outreach and education to the University and surrounding community. Students also learn about issues of importance in the lives of women. Penny manages the volunteer program, which includes providing leadership and guidance to volunteers who annually donate over 3500 hours of service. Penny, along with the Women's Center staff, works to provide volunteers a valuable and rewarding experience. Additionally, she maintains the Center's website. E-mail Penny: onecent@vt.edu
Kathy Lokale, Program Coordinator, responsible for the development, implementation and coordination of the Women's Month celebration in March. She also provides leadership to the Women's Leadership Conference, the VT V-Day Initiative, the Graduate Women's Research Series, and the 2008 Chocolate Festival Planning Team. Prior to starting her position at the Women's Center, Kathy volunteered as an AmeriCorps VISTA in rural PA and worked on implementing a Financial Empowerment Series for impoverished single mothers. She also has experience in International Development and is committed to working on global feminism and minority women's issues. Kathy recieved her B.A. from St. Francis University in Psychology and Philosophy and minored in Social Responsibilty. Email Kathy: klokale@vt.edu
Anna LoMascolo, Associate Director for Programming, is responsible for managing all aspects of the education and outreach programming for the Women's Center including program design, implementation, supervision, and assessment of our efforts aimed at advocacy and educating the university community about gender, women's issues, diversity, equity and social justice.
Anna's demonstrated commitment to gender issues in higher education is evident in her career history, volunteerism, and research. She is also trained in crisis response. Anna received her B.A. in communication studies from Virginia Tech and her M.A. in sociology from California State University, Humboldt. She is currently working on her doctoral dissertation in sociology here at Tech. E-mail Anna: alomasco@vt.edu
Melissa Lind, LCSW, Counseling and Advocacy Coordinator, is responsible for outreach to the international and LGBTQ communities and the development of a forensic nursing response protocol with the local hospital to compliment VT's sexual violence response protocol. In addition, Melissa provides the following services to student, faculty and staff who are victims of sexual assault, relationship violence, stalking and harassment: counseling, crisis intervention, advocacy, accompaniment to law enforcement, medical facilities, and judicial proceedings, as well as, information and referral.
Melissa has a masters degree in social work from Portland State University and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the state of Virginia. She recently moved from Eugene, Oregon where she was a therapist specializing in the treatment of trauma, depression and anxiety disorders. E-mail Melissa: lindm@vt.edu
Jessie Meltsner, Special Projects Coordinator, works on projects such as the Lactation Room Program, educational programming, the Women's Center Awards, and other ongoing initiative and activities.
Jessie received her B.A. from Oberlin College and her M.S.W. in Clinical Social Work from the University of Chicago's School of Social Service Administration. She has experience working in inpatient psychiatric settings and has done individual and couples counseling. More recently Jessie has worked with the AmeriCorps program as a community organizer. Jessie has been interested and active in the women's health and reproductive rights movement since 1986. E-mail Jessie: jmelts@vt.edu
Ellen Plummer, Center Director, has directed the VT Women's Center since November of 2000. Ellen has experience working on equity, diversity, and women's issues in higher education as well as in government and non-profit settings. During the academic year 2003-2004, Ellen served as the Interim Director of the VT Office for Equal Opportunity. She has done extensive work with survivors of sexual and domestic violence, and has worked on issues of harassment and workplace discrimination for several universities. Ellen has taught Women's Studies at Virginia Tech and Duke University where she directed the Women's Center and served as director of Gender Equity and Harassment Prevention. Ellen has a BS in Human Development and Family Relations, an MSW in Community Organizing both from the University of Connecticut, and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at VT. Her research examines institutional transformation that improves the climate for women faculty in engineering and science fields. Ellen was raised in Mexico, is fluent in Spanish and loves authentic Mexican food. E-mail Ellen: eplummer@vt.edu
Ellen is currently serving as the Deputy Director for the VT Office of Recovery and Support. She can be reached at 231-0062. For inquiries related to Women’s Center operations, contact Penny Cook. For information on the Center’s educational programming, outreach, and development, please contact Anna LoMascolo. Contact Christine Dennis Smith with questions about counseling, advocacy, and the VAWA grant.
Christine Dennis Smith, Associate Director for Counseling and Advocacy Services, manages the Women's Center's Counseling and Advocacy Program. Christine also oversees our outreach and educational efforts on violence against women issues. Christine along with other Women's Center staff provide the following services to students, faculty, and staff who are victims of sexual assault, relationship violence, stalking, and/or harassment: crisis intervention, short term counseling, advocacy, accompaniment to law enforcement, medical facilities, and judicial proceedings, and information and referral. Christine is also available to do educational presentations and training to student, faculty, and staff groups.
Christine joined the Women's Center is June of 2001. She has her Masters in Social Work (M.S.W.) and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (L.C.S.W). She has extensive experience working with survivors of sexual assault, dating and domestic violence, stalking, and sexual harassment. E-mail Christine: cdennis@vt.edu
Jessica Stallard, SAFE Coordinator, a recent addition to the Women’s Center staff. One of her main responsibilities is advising the Health Advocate program. This program works with sorority women on campus to provide referrals, advocacy, and to raise awareness of women’s health issues is their unique community. Jessica also does presentations, educational programs, and outreach focusing on violence against women issues. Jessica has a B.A. in Sociology from Radford University where she is currently working on a Masters in Social Work. E-mail Jessica: jesss07@vt.edu
Ashley Staum, Office Manager is the newest addition to the Women’s Center staff. Joining the Center in late 2007 she responsible for the proper and efficient implementation of the Center’s receptionist, administrative and fiscal functions. Ashley is also an active participant in all aspects of planning, implementation and coordination of educational programs and support services offered by the Women’s Center. Ashley has been a part of the Virginia Tech community since 1996 when she started her undergraduate degree with the university. She went on to complete her MBA as well as work with other departments around campus focused on event planning and fiscal management. E-mail Ashley: astaum@vt.edu
Jennifer Underwood, Victim Services Outreach Coordinator, joined the Women’s Center and the VAWA team in July 2006 where she works to increase awareness of gender-based violence issues among first-year and sophomore students and to increase reports of sexual assault, relationship violence, and stalking. Jennifer is responsible for developing a protocol to deal with incidents of interpersonal violence, organizing campus-wide programs, facilitating presentations for classes and student organizations, and providing direct services and advocacy to students, faculty and staff. She has experience working with survivors of sexual violence, relationship violence, and stalking, as well as with campus and community outreach and education. Jennifer earned her M.S.W. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is currently working on her Ph.D. in Family Studies at Virginia Tech with a research focus on violence against women. E-mail Jen: jwunder@vt.edu
Jeff Yacup, Outreach and Adjudication Graduate Assistant: With the Women’s Center Jeff is responsible for advising the student group, SAVES (Sexual Assault & Violence Education by Students). He will be helping to give presentations on issues of sexual assault, stalking, cyber stalking, healthy relationships, etc. around campus. He is also part of the VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) grant team. He is currently a first year student in the school of Education pursuing his master’s in higher education. Jeff received his B.S. in sociology with a concentration in crime/deviance and a double major in psychology from Virginia Tech. E-mail Jeff: jtyacup@vt.edu