Richmond
Abigail R. Wescott is the Managing Director of External Affairs for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP), Gubernatorial Appointee to the Board of Trustees for the Family and Children’s Trust Fund of Virginia, Vice Chair of the Marymount Alumni Board, and Adjunct Professor at Marymount University. Abigail is a Virginian native and first-generation college graduate and received her Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Marymount University, where she played lacrosse. She went on to receive her Master’s in Business Administration from DeSales University. 

Before moving to Richmond and starting her career at VEDP, Abigail served as Chief Operating Officer at the Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Virginia. While residing in Southwest Virginia, she developed a love and passion for that area and its people, leading her to be involved in several initiatives across that region of the Commonwealth, ranging from youth programs to economic development.

When not working, you can find Abigail trying a new recipe, watching football or basketball, traveling, and spending time with loved ones.

Richmond
Dr. J. Tyler Hart currently serves as the President & CEO of Commonwealth Autism (CA), a non-profit whose mission is to innovate, operate, and model services that support diversity, equity, and community inclusion for Virginians with autism. CA envisions an inclusive Virginia where all people have the opportunity to participate in every aspect of their community and realize their full potential. . Before accepting the CEO role, Dr. Hart served as Provost, overseeing all student facing functions at the College inclusive of Enrollment Services, Student Support and Academics at Richard Bland College (RBC) of William & Mary

As an executive leader who has earned recognition throughout the region as a strategic thinker and an innovative problem-solver, Dr. Hart has overseen a number of major initiatives, including planning and implementation of the RBC’s strategic plan (RBC-19) that redefined and refocused the mission and vision along three critical areas: (1) enrollment, (2) programs and delivery, and (3) operations and resources. As project manager for the Exceptional Student Experience (ESE@RBC) program, Dr. Hart led a team that successfully implemented a predictive analytical tool, using business intelligence along with a case management approach. This model program pairs students with a Learner Mentor who guide them from orientation to graduation as a single point of contact to positively impact student retention and graduation.

Dr. Hart holds a Ph.D. in Leadership from Old Dominion University in Norfolk Virginia, where his research focused on entrepreneurial practices in community colleges. He has a M.B.A. from Averett University in Danville Virginia and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Longwood University in Farmville Virginia.  He and his wife, Mali, love to spend time outdoors with their three daughters (Ruby, 9; Maizy, 7, and Tilly, 5).

Woodbridge
Tiffany Garner currently serves as the Federal Policy Advocate for Children & Health at Futures Without Violence based in Washington, DC. Within her position, she is focused on working with Congress to pass legislation to prevent further violence against women and children including firearm violence, maternal health and child welfare. She works with national partners and coalitions to advocate for funding to support violence prevention programs that focus on healing families impacted by trauma and violence. She also works with national partners to protect healthcare funding including Medicaid, SNAP and WIC for survivors of violence and their children.

She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Communication and Master’s Degree in Community Counseling from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and completed her Masters of Public Administration from Old Dominion University in Fall 2020. She currently serves as the co-chair for the Health & Social Policies Task Force with Women in Government Relations.

Tiffany is native to North Carolina where she spent over seven years as a domestic violence counselor for children exposed to intimate partner violence as well as a manager for an innovative youthful offenders’ program, focusing on teens who perpetrate aggressive and violent behaviors within dating relationships. She has continuously worked nationally with law enforcement, researchers, public officials and community partners across the country on advocacy initiatives as well as public funding support focused on the implementation of innovative community-based strategies for reducing and preventing violence and crime within vulnerable communities.

McLean
From 2017-2022, Cindy served as the Family Counseling Center of Greater Washington’s Board of Directors Chairperson. This non-profit is dedicated to providing mental health services for low-income immigrant families primarily in and around Fairfax County and the Northern Virginia area. Prior to her work at the Family Counseling Center, she was nominated by former President George H.W. Bush to be Commissioner of the U.S. Copyright Tribunal and assumed Chairmanship of the agency in December 1991. Cindy also spent time at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services in a variety of positions and was a columnist for an Omaha, Nebraska newspaper. She now resides in McLean, VA and has three children and five grandchildren.

Carl Ayers is the Deputy Commissioner of Human Services for the Virginia Department of Social Services. He rejoined the Department after 2 ½ years with Casey Family Programs (CFP) as a Sr. Director of Strategic Consulting. In his current role, he oversees the Division of Family Services, the Division of Benefit Program, Local Engagement and Support, Training and Continuous Quality Improvement. In his previous role with CFP, he supported work around transforming and improving the child welfare systems with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Allegheny County, PA and Philadelphia County, PA as well as the state of New Mexico. Immediately prior to joining CFP, Carl served as the Director of the Division of Family Services for the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2014 to 2020. This Division was responsible for the supervision of the Child Protective Services, Foster Care, Adoption, Prevention Services, Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance and Title IV-E programs for Virginia. Prior to joining the Virginia Department of Social Services, Carl held a number of positions with local departments of social services. Most recently, he served as the Director of the Floyd County Department of Social Services from 2004-2014. He was an active member of the Virginia League of Social Service Executives including serving four-terms on the executive committee and two-terms as President before joining the Virginia Department of Social Services. Overall, Carl has nearly 25 years’ experience in local and state government.

Throughout his distinguished career, he has held numerous leadership positions at the local, state and national levels. These leadership roles included chairing the Interagency Partnership to Prevent and End Youth Homelessness for the Commonwealth of Virginia and served on the Executive Committee for the National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators. He led Virginia’s implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act and he led Virginia’s Three Branch Initiative to reduce child fatalities as well as Virginia’s statewide study involving Substance Exposed Infants with a focus on how Virginia can improve its response to children and families impacted by Substance Abuse. He currently serves as a board member for the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA). Carl holds a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) and a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree from Radford University and is a graduate of the Virginia Executive Institute as well as the Commonwealth Management Institute.