About the Office

_{Lisa Wilkes, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives & Special Assistant to the President
lwilkes@vt.edu}

Serves as the chief administrative officer for the Office of the President in addition to advancing strategic university initiatives.

_{Debbie Breon, Office Manager and Executive Assistant
dsbreon@vt.edu}

Manages the Office of the President’s reception area, provides executive administrative support to the Vice President for Strategic Initiatives & Special Assistant to the President, and serves as the point of contact for obtaining presidential signatures.

_{Elena Conway, Public Relations Manager
edconway@vt.edu}

Manages communications and the website for the Office of the President, oversees the writing and communications intern, and supports university projects and initiatives.

_{Eric Earnhart, Senior Public Relations Director
earnhart@vt.edu}

Oversees executive communications for the president, including letters, speeches, emails, newsletter articles, social media, and other correspondence, serves as principal writer for the University President, and manages the Office of the President's website and communications.  

_{Melissa Elliott, Senior Executive Assistant
elliott1@vt.edu}

Manages the president's calendar, coordinates his travel, and serves as the point of contact for presidential scheduling requests.

_{Elizabeth Gill, Writing and Communications Intern}

Assists the president’s public relations efforts through writing and brand management.

_{Ally Seaver, Multimedia and Strategic Communications Intern}

Assists the president’s strategic initiatives through multimedia marketing.

_{Dani Villarroel, Graduate Assistant}

Assists the Office of the President’s priority projects and presidential initiatives through data collection, research, analysis, and presentation.

_{Eleanor Webster, Deputy to the Vice President for Strategic Initiatives & Special Assistant to the President
eleanorwebster@vt.edu}

Manages the administration for the president’s leadership groups and external board appointments, provides strategic project support for presidential priorities, and serves as the point of contact for requests involving the president's spouse, Laura Sands.

_{Pascha Gerni, Managing Director, Business and Administration
pascha@vt.edu}

Oversees business and administrative functions for the Office of the President and units reporting to the senior management area, including finances, operations, facilities, and HR.

_{Jesse Kurowski, Division Director of Human Resources
jlw@vt.edu}

Provides leadership, guidance, and resources for all talent-related activities for the president’s senior management area.

_{Amanda Lucas, Senior Business Operations Coordinator
alucas4@vt.edu}

Provides fiscal, human resources, and administrative support to the Office of the President and to the president’s senior management area.

_{Christine Watkinson, Business & Administrative Operations Manager
cawatkin@vt.edu}

Provides policy and procedure guidance for the Office of the President, as well as support for the office’s financial and human resources operations.

_{Kim Akers, Senior Director of Operations
kimake@vt.edu}

Oversees operations for The Grove and its staff, and serves as the point of contact for internal university partners supporting its day-to-day activities and special events.

_{Michael Arrington, Executive Chef for University Events
marringt@vt.edu}

Serves as executive chef for university events hosted at The Grove and oversees culinary arts learning for The Grove student culinary intern.

_{Olivia Deegan, Graduate Assistant}

Assists with the planning and execution of events at The Grove and supervises student event employees.

_{Will Racek, Student Culinary Intern}

Assists with culinary arts preparation and production.

_{Sharon Tickle, Operations Assistant
smtickle@vt.edu}

Manages housekeeping assistance and provides general oversight for daily building operations.