Our Staff

Todd Solomon - Executive Director (Interim)

collaborators Todd Solomon, a resident of Virginia Beach since 1993, graduated from Virginia Tech with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Engineering, Science, and Mechanics. As a Nuclear Engineering Supervisor for Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Todd was responsible for a dozen employees, a $10 million annual budget and the management of radiological ship support systems. Todd has been trained on many managerial practices that include Lean Thinking, Risk Mitigation and the Powers of First Line Supervision.

Todd also spends much of his free time as a Virginia Beach community activist. He is a graduate of the City's Neighborhood Institute, a founding member and President of the Shore Drive Community Coalition, and a past vice president of the Virginia Beach Council of Civic Organizations. Todd participated in the City's Public Voices on Redevelopment initiative and represented the community as a panel member during the public forum. Todd was also a guest speaker for the City's Community Connections Workshop. A recent accolade was being the only citizen representative on the City's Real Estate Tax Penalty Review Committee.

Betsy McBride - Process Consultant

Betsy McBride is the immediate past Executive Director of the Hampton Roads Center for Civic Engagement. She has been a practitioner and advocate for citizen involvement in public decision making since the early 1970s.

Education: B.A. in Political Science, Minor in Economics, University of Denver

Education Related: Adjunct faculty appointment, University of Denver; Metro Internship Leadership Program, University of Minnesota

Governmental Appointments:

Community Leaders Network, the U.S. Department of Energy
Appointed by U. S. Deputy Asst. Secretary of Energy
Board Member, Colorado Center for Environmental Management
Appointed by Governor Roy Romer (CO)
Hazardous Wastes Regulation Committee
Appointed by Governor Richard Lamm (CO)
City Transportation Committee
Appointed by Mayor of DeKalb, IL
City Recycling Committee
Appointed by Mayor of DeKalb, IL
Illinois citizen representative for Federal Energy Administration (FEA)
Appointed by FEA Administrator
Tribal and Stakeholder Working Group
Appointed by U. S. Deputy Asst. Secretary of Energy

League of Women Voters Leadership:

State President, League of Women Voters of Colorado
State Vice-President, League of Women Voters of Colorado
State Vice-President, League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania
State Energy Chair, League of Women Voters of Illinois
Community Information Project Manager, League of Women Voters of Illinois
Board, League of Women Voters of Boise, Idaho
Board, League of Women Voters of Keokuk, Iowa
Vice-president, League of Women Voters of Quincy, Illinois
Vice-President, League of Women Voters of Schaumburg, Illinois
Vice-president, League of Women Voters of DeKalb, Illinois
Board, League of Women Voters of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Vice-President, League of Women Voters of Arapahoe County, Colorado
Board, League of Women Voters of South Hampton Roads
Author, publication for League of Women Voters of the U.S.
Advisory committee, publication for League of Women Voters of the U.S.

Other Boards and Advisory Committees:

Board, Women's Resources Center, Arapahoe County Community College
Board, Central City Opera Guild
Board, Women's Forum (Hampton Roads)
Elder, First Presbyterian Church, Boise, ID
Elder, Presbyterian Church, Hoffman Estates, IL
State Steering Committee, Colorado Environmental Quality Institute
Rocky Flats Citizens Advisory Committee (radioactive waste clean-up)
Citizen Advisory Committee on Risk, Medical University of South Carolina
State advisory committee on judicial campaign ethics, Pennsylvania

Miscellaneous Community Activities:

Co-chair of state meeting on women and political action (Idaho)
Newspaper column in small local paper (Hamilton Pilot)
Consulting on city recycling in Minnesota
Lobbied in Washington, D.C. for the Clean Air Act
Testimony before Colorado legislative committees
Project manager, town meetings on hazardous wastes, organized for governor
Planning committee, state ballot initiative
Paid staff for 2 statewide campaigns

Work Experience:

Media and Communications Coordinator, Office of the City Manager, City of Virginia Beach, VA
Assistant Executive Director, Search for Common Ground, USA Washington, D.C.
Public Affairs Consultant
Director of Communications, Colorado Center for Environmental Management Denver, CO
Corporate Government Relations, The Pillsbury Company, Minneapolis, MN

Odd job:
Appointed to Federal technology selection panel and asked to review all applications for inclusion of appropriate design for community involvement

Awards:

Public Interest Award for "Expanding Public Participation"
National award for "Outstanding Achievement in Local Government Innovation"

Interesting Contribution:

Author of Public Involvement Principles adopted by the Western Governors' Association

Presentations and Training sessions:

Training session, "Libraries and Civic Engagement," Public Library Association,
National Conference, Minneapolis, MN - 2008
Presentation, "Public Voices on Redevelopment," The Innovations Group,
Annual National Conference, Bellevue, WA - 2007
Facilitator, White House Crime Technology Initiative Forum, Executive Office of
the President, Washington, D.C. - 2000
Speech, "Involving the Public in Environmental Decision Making," Southeastern
States Energy Board, Oak Ridge, TN - 1998
Presentation to IRS Director - Invited by The Gallup Organization,
Washington,D.C. - 1998
Panelist, "Public Participation," National Forum for Black Public Administrators,
Annual Conference, Kansas City - 1997
Planner/facilitator, "Transportation Workshop," Susquehanna Conference,
Harrisburg, PA - 1994
Panelist, Eleventh Annual Good Government Seminar, Pennsylvania State Senate,
Harrisburg, PA - 1994
Presentation, "Letting the Public In: Citizen Access to the Decision making Process,"
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Denver - 1994
Panelist, "Citizen Participation," Environmental Restoration and Waste
Management Advisory Committee, U.S. Department of Energy - 1993
Training session "The Debate Game," Newpapers in Education Program,
The Denver Post - 1993
Training session "Effective Media Relations," League of Women Voters of
the United States, National Convention - 1992
Training session, "Taking the Initiative," Americans for the Environment,
Denver - 1992
Presentation, "Education As An Agent for Change," Northern Illinois University
1980
Presentation, "Community Organizing," Ford Foundation Community Seminar,
Idaho - 1972

Rob Edwards - Administrative Director

Rob Edwards has been a resident of Norfolk since 1997. He graduated from Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee, with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications, and then earned a master's degree in education and administration from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He has been active in the faith-based sector for more than 20 years, working with local churches, community ministries, and military chaplaincy in Kentucky and Virginia.

Currently Rob serves as the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Portsmouth Area Resources Coalition. Prior to coming to HRCCE, Rob was instrumental in brokering a partnership between the City of Portsmouth, Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority, and World Changers, which completed more than $750,000 in housing repairs to owner-occupied low- to moderate-income family homes in Cradock and Truxtun. He also has worked with AngelFood Ministries, a food co-op that processed and distributed over 500,000 pounds of food in just two years. His focus and passion is to mobilize local congregations to engage their neighborhoods to bring about community transformation.

Rob makes his home in the Ocean View community in Norfolk, along with his wife, two kids, and four cats.

Mike Rau - Communications Consultant

Since 1985, Mike Rau has worked in just about every genre and field of mass media imaginable, including the music industry, public relations, politics, radio as both a DJ and a talk show host, TV news as both an assignment editor and Web editor, and print media as a columnist for a daily newspaper.

Rau left WAVY-TV in November of 2008 after nine years, the last two and a half as senior Internet editor. Since then, he's built a reasonably successful business providing consulting services in mass communications to a broad range of clients.

A highly experienced and well respected journalist and writer, Rau also possesses advanced skills in all aspects of website and Web content creation. In addition, he is an adept audio engineer and video producer, as well as being a modestly talented musician.

More information about Mike Rau is available on his website HERE