The Women's Center is run by a talented and diverse group of dedicated faculty and staff members.
Faculty & Staff
Faculty Profiles
Sharon Davie, Director of the Women's Center, graduated with a BA from Dickinson College and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Virginia. She has taught and been part of U.Va. administration for over twenty-five years. Sharon began the Women's Studies program in 1981 and the Women's Center in 1989. Her most recent publication is a book about US Women's Centers: University and College Women's Centers: A Journey to Equity. (Order it from Amazon.com.)
Virginia Moran, Associate Director and Iris Editor, is a native of Charlottesville and a U.Va. alumna who returned to Charlottesville to work at the Center after sojourning through the South - Houston, Mobile, and Nashville - in pursuit of a Ph.D. in Literature and Creative Writing and teaching.
Jennifer Merritt, Director of Mentoring and Diversity, teaches the Women's Center intern classes in Global Justice and Women, and Women as Peacemakers, while directing the Center's educational events programming and serving as Associate Director of the Young Women Leaders Program. She earned her BA from Vanderbilt University in Political Science, her Masters in Business Management Strategy from the Northwestern University, and her PhD in Social Foundations of Education from The University of Virginia's Curry School of Education. She has worked in industry management with Johnson & Johnson and served on the faculty of John Carroll University, a Jesuit college in Ohio, where she founded a school, and later an intervention program called The Carroll-Cleveland Philosophers' Program, for urban, court adjudicated teens with unique gifts and talents.
Jen is involved in international development work through the Catholic Diocese, has led international immersion trips for students seeking to develop solidarity with justice advocates in the developing world, and most recently presented and published research findings on the Philosophers' Program at the Paris Philosophy in Education conference of the United Nations Education Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). She lives in Charlottesville with her husband, Noah, and their two children Wylie and Sky
Claire Kaplan, Director of Sexual and Domestic Violence Services, is an activist in the feminist, anti-violence, democratic socialist, and LGBT movements. She earned her BS from UC Davis and her Masters in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California, after which she worked in the film industry before joining the staff of the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women and then the National Coalition Against Sexual Assault in Washington, D.C. She has been the Director of SDVS (formerly known as the Sexual Assault Education Office) since 1991. Claire received her Ph.D. from UVa’s Curry School of Education; her dissertation examined the connection between undergraduate activism and a life-long commitment to social justice work among women's studies majors. Her most recent publication, co-authored with other UVA colleagues, is “Domestic Violence” – “Intimate Partner Violence." for Emergency Medicine Specialty Reports. She teaches Gender, Violence, and Society (EDLF 589-14) each spring with colleague Cartie Lominack, Executive Director of the Shelter for Help in Emergency, as well as Women in El Salvador: Local Organizing in an International Context (SPTR 428) with Sharon Davie.
Claire is involved in UVa Pride, UVa's LGBT Faculty, Staff, and Graduate Student Association, and is active on Grounds in working to ensure that the University is a fair and safe place for all students, staff, and faculty She lives in Charlottesville with her partner of 20 years and their 13-year-old daughter.
Charlotte Chapman is the Director of Counseling Services at the Women's Center. Charlotte is a licensed professional counselor and a licensed substance abuse treatment provider. She has her Masters Degree in Counseling from Virginia Commonwealth University. Charlotte is adjunct faculty in the Rehabilitation Counseling program at VCU. She was also in private practice in Richmond specializing in treating women and adolescents in addiction, trauma and other mental health concerns before moving to this area. She lives in Afton with her husband and many four legged beings. For more information go to www.chapmantraining.com
Staff Profiles
Sue Gerrans is from South Africa and works as the Executive Assistant to the Director. She also sits at the front desk and manages millions of behind the scene activities.
Zvezdana Kish is the Fiscal Specialist. She is responsible for managing all of the budget, finance, procurement as well as human resource activities of the Center. Zvezdana received her B.A. in 1994 from the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Osijek, Croatia. She first came to the University in 2001 as a member of the Aquisitions Department in Alderman Library, and accepted her current position with the Women’s Center in fall of 2003. Zvezdana lives at Lake Monticello with her husband Alex, and their two daughters, Natasha and Aniko.
Lauren Russo is the Assistant Editor for Iris Magazine. She has lived in Charlottesville since 2001 and now considers herself a townie. She's held many a position at the Center, having worked here since 2002. Her most recent incarnation as Assistant Editor of Iris Magazine combines her Master's in English Literature with her love of community building through reading.
Amy Chestnutt is the Eating Disorders Education Coordinator. She provides education and outreach to students about eating and body image concerns, disordered eating, and eating disorders. She is a member of UVa’s Coalition on Eating Disorders and Exercise Concerns and helps organize Perfect Illusions and Celebrate Every Body Week. She graduated with a B.A. from the University in 1997 and a Masters of Public Health (M.P.H.) from Emory University in 2004.
Logan Stout recently moved to the Charlottesville area from Charleston, South Carolina. She is the Eighth Grade and Outreach Coordinator for the Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP).
Kristin Gilger is the Graduate Assistant to the Director. She is a native Texan, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in English Literature at U.Va.
Melissa Levy is the Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP) Assistant Director. In previous lives, she has served as a middle school band director, the American University Hillel Program and Assistant Director, and a researcher with the Darden/Curry Partnership for Leaders in Education. When not working as part of the team managing YWLP, she tries to make progress on her dissertation in Social Foundations of Education and attend the City Market as frequently as possible.
Zoe Krylova is the Development Assistant at the Women’s Center. She plans events, processes donations, sends acknowledgements and helps to coordinate major mailings. She is the “list person.” Outside of the Women’s Center she is a Doula — a pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum support person. She is also a mother and a poet. She loves to hike, travel, garden, photograph, collage and sew. Zoe was born on the island of Cyprus and moved to the U.S. when she was four. She craves Mediterranean food and the deep blue sea!