Meet the Staff
Executive Director
Beth A. White, CAE APR
Beth has worked with the West Virginia Association for Justice since January 2003. She began her work for the association as a political and media consultant; she was named executive director in June 2005.
Beth is a certified association executive (CAE) and an an accredited public relations (APR) professional with more than 20 years experience in public relations, political communication, political campaigns, association management, organizational and program development and legislative advocacy. She has provided state, regional and national trainings in effective public relations, communications and messaging, legislative and media advocacy, coalition building, organizational development and management, and program evaluation. Beth received an M. S. in public relations from the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communication at Syracuse University, where she also completed coursework in political communication at the university’s Maxwell School. Her undergraduate degree is from West Virginia State.
Beth is also a published historian and lecturer, focusing on U. S. history from the colonial period through the Civil War era and U. S. political history. For more than a decade, she has studied the history of trial by jury and the Seventh Amendment, lecturing on the subject extensively to both state and national audiences and writing articles on the subject. She is completing the second edition of her book on West Virginia regiments that fought in the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign. In 2000, she created the Civil War Scholars Lecture series, which brings nationally known historians to Charleston for free public lectures. The program is funded by the West Virginia Humanities Council. She has provided extensive volunteer work to both history and historic preservation organizations.
Legislative Director
Patrick R. Cadle
Pat joined the West Virginia Association for Justice in 2011. He serves as the lobbyist and primary government relations person for WVAJ. As a legislative staff member or lobbyist, Pat has participated in nearly 30 annual sessions of the West Virginia Legislature
Originally from Ravenswood, Pat is a graduate of Marshall University with an M.A. in political science. He earned an undergraduate degree in political science and international relations from Cedarville University in Ohio. Pat has been involved in legislative work for more than 20 years. His political work began as a staff assistant to the West Virginia Senate President in 1993. He spent ten years on the West Virginia legislative staff, moving to the Legislative Performance Evaluation and Research Division in 1995, and then went to the House Judiciary Committee as a clerk and legislative analyst 1997 to 2004.
Pat left the West Virginia Legislature in January 2004 to serve as the senior project manager of the USAID-funded project aiding the institutional development of the new Parliament of Kosovo. Pat returned to West Virginia in 2006. Over the next five years, he worked as a lobbyist in Charleston during the legislative session and continuing to work abroad to assist democratizing parliaments in Bosnia, Indonesia and Bangladesh as they learned to function as a modern legislative body. He circled the globe twice while working on projects for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). He has also done contract work for West Virginia government projects with the West Virginia Association of Counties and the West Virginia Sheriffs' Association.
Assistant Director
Debra Lee
Debra Lee joined the West Virginia Association for Justice in October 2011. Prior to working with WVAJ, Debbi served as the Deputy Director for Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Southern West Virginia. In her seven years of service at Consumer Credit, she managed the education department which focused on financial literacy.
Debbi has extensive knowledge and experience working with the non-profit community. She has assisted in planning several large events and galas, served as the key point person to facilitate a myriad of programs, and written and edited professional publications.
She earned a Bachelors of Arts degree from West Virginia State University in 2003. She attended Marshall University Graduate School to attain a M. S. in Adult Education. She has served on a number of local boards and community organizations throughout West Virginia.
WVAJ AFFINITY PARTNERS
.jpg)
.jpg)
.png){kind=spacer}
CONTACT WVAJ
Telephone: (304) 344 - 0692
Fax: (304) 343 - 7926
WVAJ OFFICE
208 Capitol Street, Suite 100
Charleston, WV 25301
QUICK LINKS