After more than 30 years with the coalition, Cathy Maxfield Coleman has retired, and we couldn’t let this moment pass without celebrating her extraordinary legacy. Two of her longtime colleagues, Executive Director Kristi VanAudenhove and Policy Director Courtenay Schwartz, share their reflections on what Cathy has meant to them, to survivors, and to this movement.
From Kristi…
More than 30 years after joining the coalition’s staff, Cathy Maxfield Coleman has embraced retirement!! We will be celebrating with her in July, and we hope that all of you who know her will find some time to celebrate with her, maybe with an invitation to lunch? We hear that she has some flexibility in her schedule these days! 😊
Cathy and I are both Tauruses; we were born in the same year, love our gardens and our grandchildren, and have a particular fondness for elephants. We began working together in 1991 when the Genieve Shelter opened its doors, and we were two of the three paid team members carrying out the founder’s vision for services across Western Tidewater.
It is an understatement to say that I was in awe of Cathy’s advocacy skills. She put those Taurus traits of passion and determination to use on behalf of hundreds of women and children, helping them clear a path to both safety and ongoing community support. We got to know each other well as we juggled families and 24-hour on-call shifts. And that friendship has endured.
A few years later, when Cathy joined Virginians Against Domestic Violence, she stepped into multiple leadership roles: as a statewide advocate, an organizer with survivors, and one of many leaders amplifying the voices of Black women in the movement. As a colleague and friend, Cathy has helped me take risks I might not have taken—and I have never regretted doing so. She has shared perspectives on life, politics, family, and faith that have taught me valuable lessons, expanding both my compassion and my purpose.
Like any two bulls, we’ve butted heads over the years…and always returned to grazing in the fields together. I look forward to joining her in the retirement pasture not too, too long from now! For now, I am wishing Cathy and her family much love and the very best of times in the years ahead.
From Courtenay…
As both a colleague and an advocate, Cathy is truly unparalleled. She possesses a remarkable ability to recognize and honor the humanity in every person she encounters. Whether navigating a particularly challenging survivor situation or facing personal struggles, she was always among the first people I sought out for her wisdom and perspective. Following the birth of my fourth child, Cathy looked out for me with extraordinary care, helping ensure that I did not become overwhelmed as I balanced the competing demands of work and family. I will always be grateful for her thoughtfulness during that time and for her intuitive understanding of the challenges working mothers face in raising young children.
Cathy’s compassion and skill as an advocate have set a standard to which I will aspire throughout my career. During the years we worked together, survivors frequently shared how deeply they valued the support and guidance they received from her. One particularly powerful example of her extraordinary advocacy involved a survivor who contacted the hotline years after escaping a severely abusive marriage. Although she had fled the relationship, her children remained with the abuser. Then, one of those children, a young boy, went missing. Cathy stood beside this survivor through the agonizing months of the investigation and later through the criminal trial that followed. The relationship they built extended far beyond the courtroom. Cathy remained a trusted source of support for this survivor and even came to know the survivor’s children.
This story captures what I have long admired most about Cathy: for her, this work has never been merely a profession. Her commitment to survivors and to this movement is deeply personal, authentic, and unwavering. Throughout her career, she has been a trailblazer, both as an advocate and as a leader in this work, and her impact on survivors, colleagues, and the broader movement cannot be overstated. I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to have worked alongside her, to have learned from her example, and to carry forward the lessons she has taught so many of us.
Cathy’s 30-plus years of advocacy have left an indelible mark on survivors, colleagues, and this movement as a whole. As she steps into retirement, we invite you to honor her legacy in a lasting way: consider making a gift in Cathy’s name to the Action Alliance, helping ensure that the work she devoted her life to continues for survivors across Virginia.
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