Meet the NSCA Board for 2020-2021

Valarie Wright is in her third year as a Senior Companion Program Manager with First State Community Action Agency in Georgetown, Delaware. Valarie retired from the State of Delaware in 2014 with over 20 years’ experience as a public information clerk, employment services specialist, employment services supervisor, and contract/consultant with the Delaware Department of Labor, Division of Employment and Training. She also served two years from 2013-2015 as a member of the Delaware Workforce Development Board Youth Council (formerly Delaware Workforce Investment Board). As a member, she was part of an ad-hoc committee creating youth scholarships and processes. The scholarships still exist today.

For five years, she served with the Delaware National Guard - Active Guard Reserve as a Personnel Administrative Specialist. Her education in business administration and participation in Department of Labor’s Leadership Associates Program led her to obtain the following skills and experiences: 

• supervision
• personnel
• contract consulting
• budget management
• data validation.

Valarie is an active member in her church which she has participated in as well as led projects for fundraising for over 25 years. She is a member of the Delaware Association of Volunteer Administrators (DAVA).

Email: vwright@firststatecaa.org

Betty Vail has served as the RSVP Director for the City of Miles since 2009, covering Carter, Custer, Fallon, and Rosebud Counties at 45 volunteer sites with over 200 volunteers. Betty has served on the NSCA Board since 2018. Previously, Betty was both a Cub Scout and Boy Scout leader and has volunteered with many other organizations. She currently is a member of the Custer County Transit, Custer County Council on Aging, and the Salvation Army Boards. Betty attended Miles Community College. She is a certified Strong Women, Strong Bones and Arthritis Foundation Exercise instructor. She is also certified in “Workin’ It Out,” a cognitive intervention program. Betty has a wide variety of work experience from office manager to Athletic Director at Powder River County High School, Motel Manager in Alliance, Nebraska, Weight Watcher Leader, and WoRC Case Manager prior to becoming RSVP Director. She is honored by the Montana Boy Scouts of America with a District Award of Merit and Weight Watchers as leader of the year and a diamond leader. She is most proud of her personal accomplishment of climbing Devils Tower, Wyoming.

Betty is a mother to some amazing sons with lovely wives and is proud of her two awesome grandsons. Her free time is spent walking with friends, reading, and of course playing with her grandsons.

Email: rsvp05@midrivers.com

Maria E. ReQua has been directing volunteer programs in New Mexico since 2005. She has served in both rural and metropolitan communities and in both nonprofit and local government sectors. Maria is currently the Foster Grandparent Program Project Director for the City of Albuquerque Department of Senior Affairs. Maria also worked for Albuquerque’s largest organization serving individuals with disabilities where she managed community and corporate volunteer projects. Before moving to Albuquerque, Maria directed the Foster Grandparent and Senior Companion programs as well as a senior volunteer transportation program in northern New Mexico.
 

Deb Blackburn, M.Ed., M.A., and coursework for Doctorate of Public Health. Deb has been with Georgia Southern State University Area Senior Companion Program since 2012. As a board member for NSCA, she represents small rural Senior Companion Programs.

Her professional experience includes DFCS, nursing homes, home health, and Executive Director of two community based nonprofits. In her community, she has been a board member for several agencies, served on numerous commissions, coalitions, and collaborations. Deb has won and managed over $2.8M in grants, from proposal stage through evaluation and reporting. During her career she has developed, managed, and evaluated non-profit and government budgets up to $1.2M annually. She also has 24 years as an enthusiastic and effective trainer and instructor.

Deb’s specialties are grants, sensitivity/multicultural training, team building, and social service mapping. Her other skills include:

• program management
• social work leadership
• finding solutions for complex issues
• impact/evidence based programming
• federal grants
• supervision and evaluation of students, volunteers, and staff
• day-to-day operations to ensure accountability and efficient and effective use of available resources while maintaining good stewardship of funds and in-kind donations
• fundraising
• advocacy
• counseling
• research
• policy/procedure development and implementation
• strategic planning
• facilities management
• inspections
• construction experience.

Email: debblackburn@georgiasouthern.edu

Felicia Adams joined Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging in 2016 as the Senior Companion Program Administrator. Adams has a passion for community engagement, children’s rights and reducing health disparities. She has more than a decade of experience in research, public health, program management and community health education.

Prior to joining the Eldercare Services Institute team at Benjamin Rose, Adams was Director of Administration and Communications for the Schubert Center for Child Studies at Case Western Reserve University. She has also held positions with the Case Center for Reducing Health Disparities, The Centers for Families and Children and University Hospitals. Adams discovered her passion for community engagement and public health while serving as Community Projects Manager for the Greater Cleveland Health Education and Service Council.

Adams has undergraduate degree in Psychology and a master’s degree in Public Administration with a focus on Law & Public Policy from the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University. Additionally, she earned a certificate in volunteer management.

Adams volunteers regularly at her church, Church on the North Coast, and with the Our Lady of the Lake School Parent Teacher Organization.

Nancy has been the director of the RSVP Program of Southwestern Illinois College, a two-county program, since 2018. Prior to that she worked at the college as the Campus Executive Director and Title IX Coordinator. Nancy is a lifelong resident of Madison County and has extensive background with service organizations and non-profits in the area.  

Nancy is a graduate of Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, IL with a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education; Master's Degree in Education Administration, and additional coursework at McKendree University in Lebanon, IL.

She has had several roles with the tenure; 1987 - 2014 as Teacher, Elementary School Principal, and ending career as Director of Elementary Education/Title I.  Employer - Granite City School District, Granite City IL.  In my Title I role, I provided administrative guidance for seven elementary schools and numerous federal grants under the Title I umbrella. 

Alicia Lucke has served as the Senior Corps Project Director for the Oregon Cascades West Council of Governments since 2014 where she oversees the RSVP, Foster Grandparent, and Senior Companion Programs in Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties of Oregon. An urban-rural interface, volunteers in this region enjoy National Service in diverse settings including a college city, agricultural municipalities, and the Oregon coast. Alicia earned a bachelor degree in both Spanish and Political Science and a Master of Development Administration from Western Michigan University where she also had the opportunity to study abroad in Spain and Mexico. She is trained by the U.S. Government in Adult Learning Strategies and has experience as a federal training linguist, Head Start family worker and former Director of Cultural Health Initiatives for the American Heart Association.  

Alicia is bilingual, enjoys travel, cooking, playing tennis with her husband, and chasing after their three young, energetic kiddos.

Email: alucke@ocwcog.org

Lynette Scriver-Colburn has been the Project Director for United Way RSVP in Great Falls, Montana since April 2015. She has been involved with NSCA since 2018 as an auxiliary board member and a RSVP program representative. Prior to joining the United Way, Lynette was a historian with a research firm in Missoula, Montana and also worked for the US Forest Service. Lynette received her B.A. in US History from Montana State University-Billings and her M.A. in Public History and Federal American Indian Policy from Washington State University.

Lynette is married to her husband Hal, and together they enjoy road trips, concerts, and whatever activities their niece and nephew are involved in. She is also a competitive powerlifter and is involved in historic and cultural preservation efforts in north central Montana. 

Email: lynette@uwccmt.org

Donna has served as a Program Director for Ecumen RSVP since 2004, serving four counties in central Minnesota. She also served four years on the National Senior Corps Association (NSCA) in the roles of RSVP Cluster Rep., President, and Immediate Past President. She served two terms as the President for the Minnesota Senior Corps Association (MnSCA), and prior to that served two terms as the MnSCA Secretary. In addition to her role as Director of Ecumen RSVP, she serves as the Coordinator for the Meeker Council on Aging, for Meeker County Minnesota.  Prior to her work in Senior Corps she was the Director for the Grove City Area C.A.R.E. LAH/ BNP program.  Donna holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration Management obtained from Southwest Minnesota State University. She is a Minnesota native and lives on her family farm with her husband. Her two sons, and their families, currently run the family farm.  Donna is also a certified Deputy Medical Examiner, and recently retired after 20 years of service in the field.  In her spare time she enjoys music, gardening, and her three grandchildren Ages 13, 7 and 5.