February Employees of the Month: Leslie McPherson & Julie Thomas

Congratulations to Leslie McPherson, Director of Hotline & Volunteer Services, for being voted as Employee of the Month, at Victim Support Services (VSS), for February of 2018. Leslie has been with the agency since June 2013 and began as a volunteer, quickly working her way through the ranks – getting hired on full-time in August of 2014, and landing herself a leadership role at the agency in early 2016. Leslie spear-headed the creation of the statewide crime victim service center hotline, which VSS began managing and monitoring in 2015. She is described by peers as having a consistently cheerful demeanor, as well as a willingness to consistently step-up in challenging situations with fierce determination, and an ability to keep the team on track throughout projects. Here is what some of the VSS rock stars had to say about Leslie:
“Leslie is a wealth of knowledge and is always willing to step in and help out. She usually knows the answer to everything and will coach you on how to do things as much as needed (even after she has already gone over that stuff before)” and;
“Leslie is extremely organized which makes it easier for others to fulfill their own roles. Also, she helps people to achieve their goals within the organization by providing them the opportunity to learn new skills outside of their job functions.”   
Next, our warmest congratulations also go out to Julie Thomas, Director of Victim Services &Training, for being voted as Employee of the Month, at Victim Support Services (VSS), for February of 2018. Julie has been with the organization for six (6) years and landed herself a promotion to Director of two VSS programs in 2017 – Victim Services and Training. Julie has worked diligently to design and promote VSS’s newest program (Training) and just last year, she traveled out of state three (3) times to train at national conferences! As a supervisor, her mentees report:
“Julie emanates care and compassion for the Advocates. She is also wonderful at reading people and understanding their needs. I have never had a boss that constantly checked on my work/life balance to make sure I wasn’t trying to do too much” and,
“Julie is a great manager. No matter what challenges or crises comes her way, she finds a way to deal with it.”
Finally, “She is a very attentive supervisor. She always makes time for her staff, checks in with us regularly, and welcomes case debriefing and questions as situations arise. I appreciate her expertise in the field, eagerness to help out, her candor and great sense of humor. She emphasizes and values sustainability in this work, and thus prioritizes staff happiness and well-being. I really enjoy working with her!”
Overall, we concur that we are beyond lucky to have such fine individuals as Leslie and Julie, here on our team at VSS. Both are loved and respected by all of us here at the organization as well as our volunteers, Board members, donors and other constituents. Bravo, ladies! Thank you for leading by example and for making all the difference!