Team

Refuge House is led by a Board of Directors who determines the strategic direction of the agency and provides oversight to the executive director. The executive director is responsible for the operations and programs of the agency, and the functions of the administrative, fiscal and program teams. Program services are led by a team of program directors and managers, who supervise direct service and community education staff members. Three programs operate on a 24-hour basis: our Leon County Emergency Shelter, our Taylor County Emergency Shelter and our Sexual Assault/Rape Crisis team. Our entire staff team of over 50 people are passionate advocates dedicated to the needs of survivors and our community.

Meg Baldwin is the Executive Director of Refuge House, the domestic and sexual violence center serving the eight county Big Bend area. She has served in this role since 2005.  In 2016, the Refuge House Board of Directors named the newly-opened Refuge House rape crisis/forensic facility The Meg Baldwin SAFE Center, in recognition of her contribution to the creation of this important service to rape victims. Prior to joining Refuge House, Meg was an Associate Professor of Law at the Florida State University College of Law, specializing in women’s rights, violence against women, and prostitution.

Meg is also a nationally recognized expert on the legal, social, and advocacy issues facing prostituted women and children. She was instrumental in creating one of the first advocacy and support agencies for women seeking to escape and heal from prostitution.  Meg drafted the first state legislation to provide civil remedies for women coerced in prostitution against perpetrators, which has become the model for legislation adopted in other states.

Meg was the 2008 recipient of the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence Warrior for Women Award, the 2010 recipient of the National Organization of Men Against Sexism Lifetime Achievement Award, and a 2016 recipient of the Florida Commission on the Status of Women Leadership Award.

Meg serves on the Board of Directors of the Big Bend Continuum of Care, and is a past board member of the United Partners for Human Services, the United Way of the Big Bend, the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence, and the National Advisory Board of the FCADV Trafficking Project. Meg served as an advisor to the Florida Supreme Court Gender Bias Study Commission. She is a 1984 magna cum laude graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School.

Refuge House is led by our dedicated Board of Directors, representing our community and our mission with pride:

GWENN THOMAS

CPA, President

GEORGIA CAPPLEMAN

Chief Assistant State Attorney, Second Judicial Circuit, Vice President, Resource Development Co-Chair

MARY MCVICAR

McV Tax & Advisory Services, Treasurer

BRITIAN RILEY

Florida State University, Resource Development Co-Chair

ELIZABETH DESLOGE ELLIS

Attorney, Nabors Giblin & Nickerson, P.A.,

Secretary

CAPTAIN BRICE GOOGLE

Leon County Sheriff’s Office

CELESTE HART, M.D.

Endocrinologist, The Thyroid Center

LAURI HUNTER

The Motivating Factor

ROBERT LOTANE

Communications

ANNE ROWE

FSU Faculty and Dean, Retired

BECKY SAUERS

Lady Links Golf

DEPUTY CHIEF TONJA BRYANT SMITH

Tallahassee Police Department

JAMES VARNADO

Chief, Fraud Division of the Florida Office of the Attorney General