Meet Victoria

VICTORIA MCCAUSLAND Ph.D., FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT

After two tours as an officer in the Marine Corps and the completion of a Ph.D. in the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences at The Pennsylvania State University, Dr. Victoria McCausland spent four years engineering support programs for Gold Star families across the entire Naval Special Warfare community. Through her work, Victoria unites her past to the present by directing the efforts of her work outside academia towards supporting the families of our nation’s fallen heroes.

In 2011, Victoria’s late husband died in a group tragedy during the Global War on Terror. That same year she was working towards the completion of her Ph.D. in Communication Studies,  specializing in how military families elicit and receive support during trauma. Because of her personal understanding of loss, combined with her military background and her academic research on supporting families who were managing not just everyday stress, but stress and emotions that few could really understand- Victoria was asked to be one of the first government employees to lay the foundation for support programs dedicated to Gold Star and Surviving families (military families of the fallen) in her military community.

In this role, Victoria served as an advocate, an innovator, and a listening ear. She believed the best work she created came from long conversations with the families learning about what their needs were, what their troubles were, and at times asking them specifically if they would feel supported if she implemented a new program or service to meet them where they were at in their journey. She spent several years designing and building these programs and then decided to dedicate more time to her own family. After stepping away from an incredibly fulfilling job, she was honored when her community asked her to remain involved by continuing to develop and facilitate programs in partnership with foundations that support their families of the fallen. Her journey has now evolved again, and now she wants to assist those beyond her own community. Victoria and her team are motivated to reach others to provide them with the support they deserve.

Victoria holds her Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University and is currently an Assistant Professor specializing in the field of Interpersonal Communication in the context of resilience, families, and social support. In 2018, she was also selected as a Presidential Leadership Scholar.

When Victoria is not building programs for her clients, she teaches, consults, and speaks outside academia on a variety of topics surrounding interpersonal communication skills and strategies, the development of connected communities and cultures, and the provision of informal and formal support through and beyond loss.

Outside of her work, Victoria loves cooking, traveling, and spending time connecting with friends, but Victoria’s greatest joy comes from the special memories she creates with her family.