Virginia Sexual & Domestic Violence Action Alliance

Future of 24/7 Services: Regional Conversation (Richmond)
2025-07-01 11:30 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Training Center, 1413 W. Main St., Richmond, VA, 23220
In 2023, after two years of working with all of you, the Action Alliance released Sustaining the Movement, a 10-Year Plan for Virginia’s Sexual and Domestic Violence Programs. This document is now guiding our work internally, and with legislators, funders, and all of you. The VOCA funding crisis made the value of this road map clear to all of us: it requires dedicated strategy and action to ensure that all corners of Virginia continue to benefit from effective sexual and domestic violence services and prevention initiatives.
One of the first actions described in the plan is to: Develop an updated description of the work of SDVAs that recognizes how services and programs will continue to evolve in response to community needs as well as wider influences.
We know more now about trauma, healing, and prevention than we did 30 years ago, and it has changed our work—and we can expect that knowledge to continue to evolve. Technology has expanded our opportunities to connect—and has cranked up the pace of our work. No doubt there are technological changes on the horizon that we have yet to imagine. The roots of our work, which are deeply intertwined with movements for equality and justice have held strong, and we have also been called upon to expand our thinking about how we build upon those roots. Still, we have never wavered from the commitment to serve ALL survivors.
We are going to begin our work on this BIG objective (an updated description of the work of SDVAs) with regional conversations about the future of 24/7 services delivery. There are no preconceived ideas about where this conversation will take us. We plan to create a space where you can ask all the “what if” questions that are on your mind. We hope to hear differing perspectives offered with both passion and respect for differences. Importantly, we believe that the outcome must come from the field collectively, and not from a small committee or a funding agency, and so we are hoping that ALL of our member agencies can participate or send a representative to at least one of these conversations.
*If you register and are unable to attend, please consider sending a representative in your stead. Email the change to training@vsdvalliance.org
Registration for this event closes June 25th.

Prevention Gathering
2025-06-24 10:00 - 15:00 | VDSS Office, 5600 Cox Rd. Glen Allen, VA, 5600 Cox Rd, Glen Allen, VA, 23060, United States
Join us June 24th from 10a to 3p for a day of connection and all things prevention. This gathering will focus on innovation in prevention programming from folks here in Virginia! There will be time for small group discussion, skill-sharing, and hearing from others in the field. Unfortunately, lunch will not be provided but we will allow ample time for lunch and breaks throughout the day.
*This gathering is specifically for those doing prevention work at their agencies*

VAdata Office Hours
2025-06-24 08:00 - 17:00, 2025-05-27 15:00 - 16:30, 2025-04-29 15:00 - 16:30, 2025-03-25 15:00 - 16:30, 2025-02-25 15:00 - 16:30
Drop in (virtually) any time between 3:00 and 4:30 to ask us your VAdata related questions.

Statewide Advocates' Meeting
2025-06-18 14:00 - 15:00, 2025-04-16 14:00 - 15:00, 2025-02-19 14:00 - 15:00 | Virtual- Zoom
The Statewide Hotline/Crisis Response Team would like to offer this space as an ongoing opportunity for folx working on the front lines and on the hotlines providing direct services and support! This is a space with opportunities to meet other advocates across VA, learn more about the Statewide Hotline and Project for Empowerment of Survivors (PES) and to share trends, highlights, events, regional updates, etc. We look forward to seeing you all every other month in 2025 on the 3rd Wednesday from 2-3p.
If you know of other Advocates, Hotline and/or Direct Services staff that could benefit from joining the space, please send their contact information to lwhite@vsdvalliance.org.
Note: We will try to accommodate last minute language translation requests but we typically need two weeks to secure interpretation services.

Future of 24/7 Services: Regional Meeting (Hampton)
2025-06-12 10:30 - 15:00 | Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 179 E Mercury Blvd, Hampton, VA 23669, 179 E Mercury Blvd, Hampton, VA, 23669, United States
In 2023, after two years of working with all of you, the Action Alliance released Sustaining the Movement, a 10-Year Plan for Virginia’s Sexual and Domestic Violence Programs. This document is now guiding our work internally, and with legislators, funders, and all of you. The VOCA funding crisis made the value of this road map clear to all of us: it requires dedicated strategy and action to ensure that all corners of Virginia continue to benefit from effective sexual and domestic violence services and prevention initiatives.
One of the first actions described in the plan is to: Develop an updated description of the work of SDVAs that recognizes how services and programs will continue to evolve in response to community needs as well as wider influences.
We know more now about trauma, healing, and prevention than we did 30 years ago, and it has changed our work—and we can expect that knowledge to continue to evolve. Technology has expanded our opportunities to connect—and has cranked up the pace of our work. No doubt there are technological changes on the horizon that we have yet to imagine. The roots of our work, which are deeply intertwined with movements for equality and justice have held strong, and we have also been called upon to expand our thinking about how we build upon those roots. Still, we have never wavered from the commitment to serve ALL survivors.
We are going to begin our work on this BIG objective (an updated description of the work of SDVAs) with regional conversations about the future of 24/7 services delivery. There are no preconceived ideas about where this conversation will take us. We plan to create a space where you can ask all the “what if” questions that are on your mind. We hope to hear differing perspectives offered with both passion and respect for differences. Importantly, we believe that the outcome must come from the field collectively, and not from a small committee or a funding agency, and so we are hoping that ALL of our member agencies can participate or send a representative to at least one of these conversations.
*If you register and are unable to attend, please consider sending a representative in your stead. Email the change to training@vsdvalliance.org
Registration for this event closes June 6th.

Supporting Immigrant Survivors Webinar
2025-06-11 12:00 - 14:00, 2025-06-09 10:00 - 12:00 | Virtual- Zoom
The Action Alliance is hosting staff from The Tahirih Justice Center, a national nonprofit organization serving immigrant survivors of violence, to present information on supporting and safety planning with survivors who are immigrants in our current environment.

Directors' Virtual Meet Up
2025-06-04 14:00 - 15:00, 2025-04-02 14:00 - 15:00, 2025-02-05 14:00 - 15:00 | Virtual- Zoom
The Statewide Hotline/Crisis Response Team would like to offer this space as an ongoing opportunity to increase partnership, learn more about the needs at agencies, have a place to share and learn more about Statewide Hotline operations, and to provide the space for folx to discuss challenges, highlights, regional updates, trends, etc. We look forward to seeing you all every other month in 2025 (February, April, June, August, October and December) on the 1st Wednesday from 2-3p!
Note: We will try to accommodate last minute language translation requests but we typically need two weeks to secure interpretation services.

Future of 24/7 Services: Regional Conversation (Richmond)
2025-05-29 12:00 - 16:00 | Training Center, 1413 W. Main St., Richmond, VA, 23220
In 2023, after two years of working with all of you, the Action Alliance released Sustaining the Movement, a 10-Year Plan for Virginia’s Sexual and Domestic Violence Programs. This document is now guiding our work internally, and with legislators, funders, and all of you. The VOCA funding crisis made the value of this road map clear to all of us: it requires dedicated strategy and action to ensure that all corners of Virginia continue to benefit from effective sexual and domestic violence services and prevention initiatives.
One of the first actions described in the plan is to: Develop an updated description of the work of SDVAs that recognizes how services and programs will continue to evolve in response to community needs as well as wider influences.
We know more now about trauma, healing, and prevention than we did 30 years ago, and it has changed our work—and we can expect that knowledge to continue to evolve. Technology has expanded our opportunities to connect—and has cranked up the pace of our work. No doubt there are technological changes on the horizon that we have yet to imagine. The roots of our work, which are deeply intertwined with movements for equality and justice have held strong, and we have also been called upon to expand our thinking about how we build upon those roots. Still, we have never wavered from the commitment to serve ALL survivors.
We are going to begin our work on this BIG objective (an updated description of the work of SDVAs) with regional conversations about the future of 24/7 services delivery. There are no preconceived ideas about where this conversation will take us. We plan to create a space where you can ask all the “what if” questions that are on your mind. We hope to hear differing perspectives offered with both passion and respect for differences. Importantly, we believe that the outcome must come from the field collectively, and not from a small committee or a funding agency, and so we are hoping that ALL of our member agencies can participate or send a representative to at least one of these conversations.
*If you register and are unable to attend, please consider sending a representative in your stead. Email the change to training@vsdvalliance.org
Registration for this event closes May 23rd.

State and Local Partners Meeting
2025-05-15 10:00 - 12:00
These interactive quarterly gatherings of advocates, preventionists, sexual and domestic violence agency administrators, state funders and other partners serving survivors of violence are opportunities for connection and collaboration on the local, regional, and state level. The State and Local Partners Meetings are a unique forum for agencies to share their expertise and experiences from the front lines with funding partners who would like to learn more about emerging trends, needs, and celebrations among our communities.
This invitation is open to advocates, preventionists, funders, and other partners serving survivors and/or supporting community education on healthy relationships. Our time together will be spent learning from each other, engaging in discussion on statewide issues, sharing valuable resources, etc.
All four meetings in 2025 will be virtual, meeting via zoom from 10am – noon. We anticipate that participants are coming prepared to engage in conversations that will continue to move forward the work of ending sexual and domestic violence here in the Commonwealth.

VAdata Training
2025-05-02 10:00 - 15:00 | NOVA
Sexual and domestic violence agencies across the state use VAdata to track services and manage their grant reporting. For new staff, this means there’s a lot to learn about VAdata, how data is captured, and how to use data to tell the story of survivors in your area. For advanced users, there may be more questions about the many reports available or specific questions about how data shows up in those reports.
After this training, participants will understand more about the history and scope of the VAdata system, how to use and audit queries to retrieve information, how to use reports in grant writing, raising community awareness and more, and how data entry practices impact data and reporting statewide. Participants are encouraged to bring any and all questions to the training along with their laptops to apply practical tips learned to their own agency’s VAdata account.
The deadline to register for this training is April 25th.
Note: We will try to accommodate last minute language translation requests but we typically need two weeks to secure interpretation services.

I-CAN ECHO: Hot Topic
2025-04-23 12:00 - 13:30 | Virtual
Extension for Community Health Outcomes or ECHO is a virtual network. Our ECHO will provide professionals with opportunities to learn about supporting survivors of abuse with disabilities and connect with other professionals.
Our ECHO will be held once a month on Wednesdays from 12:00-1:30 PM. Certificates of participation and CEUs are available.

November 13: Disability Etiquette & Respect
December 11: Supporting Survivors who are d/Deaf or Hard of Hearing
January 15: Best Practices Accessible Communication
February 12: Disabilities and the Criminal Justice System
March 12 Brain Injury and Abuse
April 23: Hot Topic

Principles of Primary Prevention
2025-04-23 09:30 - 16:00 | Training Center, 1413 W. Main St., Richmond, VA, 23220
Primary prevention programs are focused on reducing or eliminating the first-time perpetration of sexual violence and intimate partner violence (SV/IPV). This means figuring out what factors make some people more at-risk to perpetrate SV/IPV, and changing or interrupting those factors. This training delves into the key concepts underlying this innovative work, highlights promising practices from the field, and includes an overview of Virginia’s Guidelines for the Primary Prevention of Sexual Violence & Intimate Partner Violence used by sexual and domestic violence agencies throughout Virginia and across the country.
Registration closes on April 16th.

Violence Prevention in Action ECHO
2025-04-16 10:30 - 12:00 | Virtual- Zoom
Join our Violence Prevention in Action ECHO program to build your prevention network, connect over challenging cases, and stay on top of best practices in sexual and intimate partner violence primary prevention!
Project ECHO is an international, evidence-based model for training and peer-to-peer learning, originally developed at the University of New Mexico for use by doctors and other medical providers. We’ve used the model since 2019 to cultivate a thriving community of preventionists from Sexual and Domestic Violence Agencies across the Commonwealth.
For more information about our use of the ECHO model or the structure of the session, please visit: https://bit.ly/VPAecho.

Basic Advocacy Training
2025-04-15 09:00 - 2025-04-16 17:00 | Training Center, 1413 W. Main St., Richmond, VA, 23220
This interactive training is designed for program staff or volunteers in their first year of victim advocacy work. Participants will learn a brief history of our movement and the building blocks and tools of advocacy. Throughout the course, participants will integrate the foundational principles of a Trauma-Informed Approach into all levels of advocacy work. Participants will also be able to identify and define sexual and domestic violence; learn the application of best practices such as risk assessments and safety plans; understand the influence of culture and context on both victimization and survivorship; and learn about resources in Virginia for supporting both survivors and advocates. (This is the updated version of Basic Advocacy Training, incorporating domestic and sexual violence throughout instead of separating the training material. This provides all advocates a more comprehensive Basic Advocacy Training.)
The deadline to register for this training is April 8th.

VAdata Training
2025-03-28 10:00 - 15:00 | Pearl Bailey Library, 2510 Wickham Ave, Newport News, VA, 23607, United States
Sexual and domestic violence agencies across the state use VAdata to track services and manage their grant reporting. For new staff, this means there’s a lot to learn about VAdata, how data is captured, and how to use data to tell the story of survivors in your area. For advanced users, there may be more questions about the many reports available or specific questions about how data shows up in those reports.
After this training, participants will understand more about the history and scope of the VAdata system, how to use and audit queries to retrieve information, how to use reports in grant writing, raising community awareness and more, and how data entry practices impact data and reporting statewide. Participants are encouraged to bring any and all questions to the training along with their laptops to apply practical tips learned to their own agency’s VAdata account.
The deadline to register for this training is Mar 21st.
Note: We will try to accommodate last minute language translation requests but we typically need two weeks to secure interpretation services.

Emergence In-Person Retreat
2025-03-25 - 2025-03-27 | Roslyn Retreat Center, 8727 River Rd, Richmond, VA 23229, Richmond, VA, 23229, United States
We invite you the first of two experiential gatherings that will combine strategies for enhancing individual and organizational wellness. These sessions will focus on strengthening relationships, expertise, and collective power for healing-centered transformation. We will learn about moving from reacting to the crisis of burnout towards the healing-centered capacity to prevent it, and build muscle to create robust practices for sustained wholeness, connection, and power.

I-CAN ECHO: Brain Injury and Abuse
2025-03-12 12:00 - 13:30 | Virtual

VaData Training
2025-03-07 10:00 - 14:00 | Samuels Public Library, White Meeting Room B, 330 E Criser Rd, Front Royal, VA, 22630, United States
Sexual and domestic violence agencies across the state use VAdata to track services and manage their grant reporting. For new staff, this means there’s a lot to learn about VAdata, how data is captured, and how to use data to tell the story of survivors in your area. For advanced users, there may be more questions about the many reports available or specific questions about how data shows up in those reports.
After this training, participants will understand more about the history and scope of the VAdata system, how to use and audit queries to retrieve information, how to use reports in grant writing, raising community awareness and more, and how data entry practices impact data and reporting statewide. Participants are encouraged to bring any and all questions to the training along with their laptops to apply practical tips learned to their own agency’s VAdata account.
Note: We will try to accommodate last minute language translation requests but we typically need two weeks to secure interpretation services.

State and Local Partners Meeting
2025-02-27 10:00 - 12:00
These interactive quarterly gatherings of advocates, preventionists, sexual and domestic violence agency administrators, state funders and other partners serving survivors of violence are opportunities for connection and collaboration on the local, regional, and state level. The State and Local Partners Meetings are a unique forum for agencies to share their expertise and experiences from the front lines with funding partners who would like to learn more about emerging trends, needs, and celebrations among our communities.
This invitation is open to advocates, preventionists, funders, and other partners serving survivors and/or supporting community education on healthy relationships. Our time together will be spent learning from each other, engaging in discussion on statewide issues, sharing valuable resources, etc.
All four meetings in 2025 will be virtual, meeting via zoom from 10am – noon. We anticipate that participants are coming prepared to engage in conversations that will continue to move forward the work of ending sexual and domestic violence here in the Commonwealth.
At this meeting, we will be joined by staff from The Tahirih Justice Center, a national nonprofit organization serving immigrant survivors of violence, to do a brief workshop on supporting and safety planning with survivors who are immigrants.

I-CAN ECHO: Disabilities and the Criminal Justice System
2025-02-12 12:00 - 13:30 | Virtual

Advocate Wellness Experiences: Practicing the Pause
2025-02-07 10:00 - 15:30 | Hampton, VA
Guided by the perspective that there is more power in pausing than relentlessly pushing through – join us to explore and co-create new ways of being in our work. A “third” way that calls for an intentional and critical paradigm shift in the anti-violence movement, from reacting to the crisis of burnout towards building healing-centered capacity to respond to and even prevent it; to not just survive, but to thrive.
Together, we will unpack the impacts of this work and try on practices that support recentering ourselves amidst it. Our time will be reflective, interactive, experiential, joy-filled, and will embrace spaciousness and pauses. This session is also intended to nurture connections among fellow wellness allies, and ready us with insight and practices to continue our work whole and well.
Each session will be organically tailored to hold space and provide practices for the current needs of the field and the experiences and intentions of those who register. After registering, participants will be asked to complete a survey to fold in your perspective on how to meaningfully craft the session. In addition, the weather and unique location and space of each session will inform our time together.
