About Victoria
Victoria is a high school science teacher turned mental health nurse practitioner/founder. After witnessing the “MacGuyver-ness” of nurses as they anchored care for one of her students who was harmed at school, she fell in love with the role of nursing. Early in her nursing career, she had the privilege of learning the stories of hundreds of individuals experiencing high hospital utilization in the community of Camden, New Jersey. Victoria’s patients, colleagues, and the broader community of Camden gave her the space to un-learn much of what she was taught about the paternalistic ways of being a care provider. To this end, she authored COACH, the Coalition’s broadest reaching technical assistance framework on the provider behaviors that facilitate authentic healing relationships.
After spending years facilitating the Coalition’s national technical assistance work, she accepted its inaugural Chief Learning Officer role, which forced her to refine how to make the business case for complex care and authentic healing relationships to large health systems and government entities. During the same period of time, the Coalition’s work grew to such an extent that it launched the National Center for Complex Health and Social Needs. Victoria served on the core team of individuals that launched the National Center while holding a dual role as the Coalition’s CLO.
Shortly after the launch of the National Center, she fell in love with her now life partner who pulled her to the midwest where she ran her own consulting company for 8 years, scaled a whole-person approach to care via a Venture Capital backed healthcare tech company (acquired), and furthered her nursing education to become a Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP). Wearing both her provider and consultant hats, she witnessed the need for models built by those with lived expertise across multiple social service sectors. Along with Shannon Scott and Sonya Soni, Our Lived Experience was born with the intention of bringing the work of brilliant social innovators they met along their respective journeys to the masses.
Outside of work, you are most likely to find Victoria: 1) Refining her toddler negotiation skills 2) on a yoga mat 3) planning a trip to nature or being in nature or 4) nerding out about healing in a variety of forms.
