Vicki L. Lopez is the founder of VLL Consulting LLC, a consulting firm specializing in federal, state, and local government affairs across all industry sectors, public affairs and strategic communications, community relations, nonprofit consulting, advocacy training, fundraising, and leadership and board development. The firm also offers a variety of corporate and personal well-being practices including life/well-being coaching, Ayurveda consulting and instruction as well as and meditation instruction.

Ms. Lopez is a well-respected authority in government and community relations. Her expertise includes education, underserved communities, healthcare, affordable housing, and criminal and juvenile justice issues.

Ms. Lopez has considerable experience in the areas of public policy, research and analysis, media and public relations, public speaking, government and community relations, public affairs, advocacy, communications, consensus and team building, fundraising, finance, accounting, budgeting, strategic planning, training and development, management, and administration.

Ms. Lopez has been engaged in public service for the last 30 years. She is a former Lee County, Florida Commissioner and has also received several gubernatorial appointments from Florida Governors Bush, Crist and Scott and the Florida Senate specializing in education, prisoner reentry and criminal and juvenile justice reform. As a result, she has been invited throughout the country to participate and present her experience and expertise to a wide variety of audiences in different venues.

Ms. Lopez is an alumna of Leadership Florida, Leadership Miami and Leadership Lee County. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and serves as the Vice Chair of the Marketing and Membership Growth Committee. She is also an active member of the Chamber’s Government Affairs Committee and incoming Vice Chairman, where she serves as the Committee’s liaison to the Workforce Housing and Non-Profit Business Committees. Ms. Lopez also serves as the Sustainer Advisor on the Board of Directors of the Junior Leagues of Florida Statewide Public Affairs Committee. She is a graduate from the University of Notre Dame where she earned a BBA degree in Accounting.

Ms. Lopez is also a recognized motivational speaker who has been invited to speak on a number of topics in a variety of different settings. For further information, please contact her at 305-216-7794 (cell) or vllconsulting@icloud.com.

Ms. Lopez is also a Chopra Global Certified Primordial Sound Meditation and Perfect Health: Ayurvedic Lifestyle Instructor. She is also a Certified Martha Beck Wayfinder Life Coach. She works with individuals to identify their specific goals, strengths, and areas of opportunity and provide them with proven strategies and customized action plans that result in improved communications skills, increased self-esteem, enhanced relationships, better life/work balance, less stress, and expanded awareness. Her coaching practice helps individuals dramatically improve their outlook on life and work, while improving their leadership skills and unlocking their potential. She also works with corporations and businesses to provide a variety of corporate well-being practices in the workplace and conducts ayurvedic lifestyle and meditation instruction and workshops.

VICKI L. LOPEZ
DETAILED NARRATIVE OF APPOINTMENTS

Vicki Lopez is a Florida signatory of the Right on Crime (RoC) Statement of Principles, a project of the Texas Public Policy Foundation in partnership with the American Conservative Foundation and Prison Fellowship. In her role as a signatory, Ms. Lopez represented the project in different capacities. Ms. Lopez participated in the kick-off of the project in Florida, recruited signatories, testified before local and state governments, developed partnerships with stakeholders and community leaders, and represented the project with media outlets.

In March 2017, Ms. Lopez was invited to present the effects of health issues related to involvement in the criminal justice system at the 10th Academic Health & Policy Conference on Correctional Health led by the Academic Consortium on Criminal Justice Health, the academic home for criminal justice health researchers, educators, clinicians, scholars, and administrators.

In March 2015, Ms. Lopez was invited to present her recommendations for prisoner reentry efforts before the Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections, a blue-ribbon committee created by Congress to examine challenges in the federal corrections system and develop practical, data-driven solutions.

Ms. Lopez served as Chairman of Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s Ex-Offender Task Force, which was established by Governor Bush in April 2005 and funded and supported by The Annie E. Casey Foundation. Ms. Lopez also served as the Chair of the Task Force’s Community Partnership Initiative Committee and developed a model program for ex-offenders who are released in several counties in Florida. The objective was to produce successful reentry results based on the research and reforms recommended by the Task Force. Ms. Lopez helped to develop and strengthen local reentry networks throughout Florida. Ms. Lopez met with local county and city government officials and their staff to encourage them to develop systems, which would provide necessary transition services to ex-offenders returning home to their communities.

As Chairman, Ms. Lopez gave periodic reports to the Casey Foundation Board of Directors ensuring that program outcomes were met on a timely basis. Ms. Lopez worked closely with the Foundation to identify national experts that were invited to present before the Task Force. Ms. Lopez supervised the executive director and other staff and consultants hired to support the work of the Task Force.

Ms. Lopez engaged executive agencies whose work intersected with corrections to learn more about the challenges in providing necessary services to ex-offenders and conducted workshops with the agencies to discuss the barriers related to employment and licensing restrictions. Ms. Lopez coordinated the public relations efforts of the Task Force in a statewide effort to educate the general public and policymakers on the work of the Task Force and the importance of implementing the recommendations contained within the Task Force’s final report.

Ms. Lopez briefed legislative staff and key leaders, including the legislators of the relevant policy and appropriations committees, in the Florida House and Senate and was invited to present the Task Force’s findings and recommendations. Ms. Lopez also represented Governor Bush at numerous events around the country regarding the work of the Task Force including presentations at the White House and the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.

Ms. Lopez was appointed to the Florida Department of Corrections’ Reentry Advisory Council and served as the Council’s vice-chair. The Council assisted the Department in the development and coordination of strategies to improve outcomes for released offenders.

In May 2008, Governor Charlie Crist appointed her to the Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises (PRIDE), Inc.’s Board of Directors and confirmed by the Florida Senate. Ms. Lopez was reappointed by Governor Rick Scott and served as chairman during her tenure. PRIDE is a not-for-profit corporation that operates the prison industries program. The entity provides inmates with vocational and on the-job training that can lead to meaningful employment after release. It also provides limited post-release job placement and support.

Ms. Lopez consulted with The GEO Group, a leading provider of correctional and mental health services for federal, state and local government agencies regarding the development of various systems and plans to improve inmate rehabilitation and reduce recidivism with respect to GEO’s facilities in Florida.

Ms. Lopez also served as a member of the Florida TaxWatch Center for Smart Justice Advisory Board. Building on the Florida TaxWatch legacy of providing relevant, timely, powerful research to the leaders and policymakers in the state, the Center for Smart Justice is focused on providing concrete evidence found in data and research to drive the discussion on reform in the correctional system in Florida.

Ms. Lopez served as a consultant to The Pew Charitable Trusts, specifically their Pew Center on the States Public Safety Performance Project, which helps states advance fiscally sound, data-driven sentencing and corrections policies that protect public safety, hold offenders accountable and control corrections costs. Her responsibilities included advocating for introduction and passage of legislation based on criminal justice reform recommendations that has been developed by key stakeholders such as Florida TaxWatch and its Government Cost Savings Task Force; deploying stakeholder alliance in support of executive and legislative action; working with the Governor’s Office and relevant executive agencies to implement reform recommendations, which increase public safety and decrease corrections costs; engaging high-level stakeholders and other leaders for targeted media and legislative activities; and building a broad and diverse set of new and traditional voices to advocate for corrections reform in the state.

Ms. Lopez was a member of the Smart Justice Coalition Steering Committee, an effort spearheaded in 2009 by the Collins Center of Public Policy, composed of a highly committed group of experts and advocates for rational justice reform. Ms. Lopez was invited to present at the first Justice Summit, a statewide meeting of stakeholders organized by the Collins Center with a focus on advancing criminal justice reform efforts in Florida. Her presentation, A Look to the Future… and How We Get There, provided a history of reform efforts and laid out a plan to build statewide coalitions, specifically with the business community, new reentry partners, so as to improve the advocacy of efforts at the legislative level. Her participation in this effort included improving opportunities for work for ex-offenders upon their re-entry into their local communities.

Ms. Lopez assisted in the establishment of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Reentry Task Force to better coordinate the reentry efforts of the Weed and Seed sites with those efforts of the Council.

As part of her role, Ms. Lopez presented at several statewide reentry summits hosted by the U.S. Attorney for the Middle and Southern Districts.

Vicki Lynn Lopez
Appointments, Community Service/Awards, Publications, and Presentations

EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE APPOINTMENTS

• Board Member and Treasurer, Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises, Inc. (PRIDE) – Appointed by Governor Charlie Crist, 2008-2014 and reappointed by Governor Rick Scott, 2014-2015.

• Member, Florida Senate Juvenile Justice Education Work Group – Appointed by Senator Stephen Wise, 2011-2012.

• Vice Chair, Florida Department of Corrections, Reentry Advisory Council – Appointed by Secretary Walt McNeil, 2008-2011.

• Chairman, Governor’s Ex-Offender Task Force – Appointed by Governor Jeb Bush, 2005-2007.

• Member and Chairman – Industry/Government Affairs Committee, Florida Tourism Commission – Appointed by Governor Lawton Chiles, 1991-1993.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND PUBLIC POLICY INSTITUTES

• Signatory, Texas Public Policy Foundation, Right on Crime, 2011-Present

• Advisory Board Member, Florida TaxWatch, Center for Smart Justice, 2010-2012

• Member, Collins Center of Public Policy, Smart Justice Coalition Steering Committee, 2009 -2010

• Member, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Reentry Task Force, 2008-2013

• Member, European Union’s International Observatory of Juvenile Justice Scientific Committee, 2007

VOLUNTEER ORGANIZATIONS

• Member, Board of Directors, Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce – 2019 – Present

• Vice Chair, Marketing & Membership Growth Committee, Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce – Present

• Member, Government Affairs Committee, Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce – 2018 – Present

• Member, Small Business United: United Way of Miami-Dade County – 2019

• Executive Council Member, Women United: United Way of Miami-Dade County – 2018 – 2019

• Board Member, The Women’s Fund of Miami – 2006-2009 and 2019 – 2020

• Sustainer, Junior League of the Palm Beaches – 2005 – 2014; 2016 – Present

• Sustainer, Junior League of Washington, D.C. – 2015-2017

• Sustainer, Junior League of Tallahassee – 2014- 2016

• Past-President and Member, Notre Dame Club of Greater Miami – 1996 – 2014; 2015 – Present

• Member, Notre Dame Club of Tallahassee – 2014 – 2015

• Board Member, Florida Network of Youth and Family Services – 2011-2013

• Sustainer Advisor and Member, Junior Leagues of Florida: State Public Affairs Committee – 2006-Current

• Member, Miami-Dade Regional Juvenile Detention Center: Community Advisory Board – 2006-2008

• Member, Girls Advocacy Project: Community Advisory Board – 2004-2012

• Past President and Advisory Board Member, ArtSpring – 2004-2008

• Member, Association of Junior Leagues International – 1998-Present

• Sustainer and Active Member, Junior League of Miami – 1998-2005

• Alumna, Leadership Miami – 1997

• Alumna, Leadership Lee County – 1992

• Alumna and Member, Leadership Florida – 1991 – Current

AWARDS

• Junior Leagues of Florida State Public Affairs Committee, Leadership Impact Award – 2019

• Florida Network of Youth and Family Services, Faces of Courage Girls Award – 2007

• Bennett College, Women’s Courage and Vision Award – 2007

• Girls Advocacy Project, Girls Power Award – 2004

• Junior League of Miami, President’s Leadership Award – 2004 and 2003

• Junior League of Miami, Volunteer of the Year Award – 2004

• Junior Leagues of Florida, State Public Affairs Committee, Berta Blecke Award for Outstanding Efforts in

Legislative Advocacy – 2004

PUBLICATIONS

Articles

• “Health Effects of an Ex-Offender’s Successful Reentry into Society,” American Journal of Public Health (April 2006, Vol. 96, No. 4): pp 588-a-589

Op-Eds and Public Essays

• “Give ex-offenders the tools to get to work,” The Tampa Tribune, February 24, 2011

• “Allow ex-offenders to say, ‘Let’s get to work’,” The Palm Beach Post, February 23, 2011

• “Pre-release bills dumb on crime,” The Tampa Tribune, March 28, 2010

• “Pre-trial release cuts only help bail bonds industry,” Sun-Sentinel, March 28, 2010

• “Florida Legislators: Restricted Pre-Trial Release,” North Country Gazette, March 28, 2010

• “Pre-trial bill is unfunded, unneeded,” Tallahassee Democrat, March 26, 2010

• “Beware the bail-bond lobby,” The Gainesville Sun, March 25, 2010

• “Helping ex-inmates do the right thing,” The Palm Beach Post, January 7, 2007

• “Stop prisons’ revolving doors,” Orlando Sentinel, December 28, 2006

• “Freeing Offenders’ Voices,” Miami Herald, September 18, 2005

RADIO INTERVIEWS

• “Update on Criminal Justice Reform Efforts.” WPBR 1340 am, The Justice Hour with Lisa Macci, Palm Beach County, FL, May 10, 2010.

• “Women in Prison.” The Story with Dick Gordon, North Carolina Public Radio WUNC, transmitted from Miami, FL, April 6, 2010.

• “Reentry Issues Regarding Ex-Offenders Returning Home.” Topical Currents hosted by Joseph Cooper, National Public Radio station 91.3 WLRN, Miami, FL, August 8, 2007.

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS

• “Political Watch – What Businesses Can Expect from Changing Policies.” Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce South Florida Economic Summit. Miami, FL, January 16, 2019.

• “Your Vote. Your Voice. – a nonpartisan workshop in preparation for the upcoming 2018 midterm elections.” United Way Women United, Junior League of Miami, and The Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade. Miami, FL, September 20, 2018.

• Special Session – Town Hall Meeting Forum – “An Emerging Blueprint for Change.” 10th Academic Health & Policy Conference on Correctional Health, Atlanta, GA, March 16, 2017.

• “Recommendations – Prisoner Reentry Efforts.” Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections, U. S. Capitol, Washington, D.C., March 11, 2015.

• “Zero Tolerance.” Florida Senate Pre-K -12 Education Committee, Tallahassee, FL, January 24, 2012.

• “The Intersection of Education and Public Safety.” Florida Senate Pre-K -12 Education Committee, Tallahassee, FL, October 19, 2011.

• “So, You Want to be a Reentry Advocate.” 10th National Prisoner Reentry Conference, Atlanta, GA,

October 13-15, 2011.

• “Collateral Consequences of a Felony Conviction.” National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Task Force on Restoration of Rights and Status After Conviction Hearing, Miami, FL, February 16-17, 2011.

• “Reentry: The Role of the Church.” Faith Christian Church, Anchorage, AK, October 10, 2010.

• “A Look to the Future.” Success Inside & Out Conference, Hiland Mountain Correctional Center, Eagle

River, AK, October 9, 2010.

• “Gender Specific Programming for Girls in Detention.” Junior Leagues of Florida State Public Affairs Committee Fall Conference, Daytona Beach, FL, October 1-3, 2010.

• “One Voice: A Strategy Discussion on Advocating for Public Policy Reform.” 2010 Florida Reentry Summit, West Palm Beach, FL, September 21, 2010.

• “Effective Advocacy in a Resource Constrained Environment.” Association of Junior Leagues International 88th Annual Conference, Orlando, FL, April 15-17, 2010.

• “Being an Effective Advocate for Criminal Justice Reform.” OUT4LIFE: The State of Reentry Conference, Prison Fellowship Ministries and the Georgia Department of Corrections and Pardons and Paroles, March 29-31, 2010

• “Current Strategies to a Successful Reentry.” University of Miami School of Law Therapeutic Jurisprudence Center Psychology, Public Policy and The Law Journal Symposium, Rethinking Prisoner Reentry in the Era of Mass Incarceration, Miami, FL February 26, 2010.

• “A Look to the Future… And How We Get There.” Collins Center Justice Summit, Tampa, FL, November 16-17, 2009.

• “A Look to the Future… And How We Get There: The Role of the Media.” Center on Media, Crime and Justice at John Jay College in New York and the Collins Center for Public Policy Seminar, The Future of Sentencing, Corrections and Crime Reduction in Florida: A Conversation between Florida Journalists and Policy Makers, St. Petersburg, FL, October 21, 2009.

• “Keynote Address: Second Chances.” 8th Annual National Prisoner Reentry Conference, Baltimore, MD, October 15-18, 2009.

• “Gangs: Identification, Intervention, and Transition of Former Members.” Attorney General McCollum’s 24th National Conference on Preventing Crime in the Black Community, Jacksonville, FL, May 20-23, 2009.

• “Reforming the Juvenile and Criminal Justice Systems: How Can They Work for Vulnerable Boys and the Parent of Young Children?” Morehouse School of Medicine Community Voices Freedom Voices Conference: Strengthening Families During Incarceration and Homecoming, Atlanta, GA, April 30-May 1, 2009.

• “The Girls Advocacy Project.” University of Miami School of Law Helping Others Through Pro Bono Efforts (H.O.P.E.) Public Interest Resource Center, Juvenile Justice Initiatives, Miami, FL, January 27, 2009.

• “Keynote Address: Coming Home.” Women Moving Forward Pre-Release Conference, Maryland Correctional Institution for Women, Jessup, MD, October 4, 2008.

• “Gangs: Identification, Intervention, and Transition of Former Members.” Attorney General McCollum’s 23rd National Conference on Preventing Crime in the Black Community, Tampa, FL, June 19-22, 2008.

• “Short-Term Interventions CAN Make a Difference.” 15th Annual Conference on Mental Illness Linking Force XV, Miami, FL, May 13, 2008.

• “Voices of the Underserved.” Morehouse School of Medicine Community Voices’ Freedom’s Voices Conference: Addressing Health Disparities and Inequities as a Social Justice Issue for Men, Women and Their Families, Atlanta, GA, April 9-11, 2008.

• “Individual Models of State Reentry Efforts.” White House Faith-Based and Community Initiatives: National Summit on Prisoner Reentry, Los Angeles, CA, November 27-28, 2007.

• “The Journey Continues.” 3rd Annual Re-entry Conference, The National Women’s Prison Project, Baltimore, MD, November 24, 2007.

• “The Girls Advocacy Project.” European Union’s International Observatory of Juvenile Justice 2007 International Congress: Phenomena in Juvenile Delinquency: new penal forms, Seville, Spain, November 6-7, 2007.

• “Bridging the Gap: A Writing Workshop.” 12th Annual National Workshop on Adult and Juvenile Female Offenders: Transforming Lives, Soaring to New Horizons, Baltimore, MD, October 20-24, 2007.

• “Bridging the Gap: A Writing Workshop Documentary Screening.” Cinema Paradiso, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, July 24, 2007.

• “Constructive Debate When Discussing Controversial Issues.” Junior Leagues of Florida State Public Affairs Committee Task Force Meeting, Orlando, FL, July 22, 2007.

• “Junior League and Advocacy.” Junior Leagues of Florida State Public Affairs Committee Task Force Meeting, Tampa, FL, June 16, 2007.

• “Governor’s Ex-Offender Task Force Update.” Florida Substance Abuse and Mental Health Corporation, Miami, FL, June 6-7, 2007.

• “Bridging the Gap: A Writing Workshop Readings.” Books and Books, Coral Gables, FL, May 15, 2007.

• “Bridging the Gap: A Writing Workshop Documentary Screening.” Bill Cosford Cinema, University of Miami, Miami, FL, April 23, 2007.

• “Stories of Men’s Health Issues and Stories of Reentry.” Morehouse School of Medicine Community Voices Healthcare for the Underserved: Saving Men’s Lives II: A Grassroots Policy Dialogue, Washington, D.C. April 15-18, 2007.

• “Reentry Strategic Planning.” Project Safe Neighborhoods 2007 Reentry and Anti-Gang Summit, Miami, FL, April 2-4, 2007.

• “Reflections.” White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives: Compassion in Action Roundtable, Improving Prisoner Re-Entry Services Through Faith and Community-Based Partnerships, Washington, D.C., March 22, 2007.

• “Presentation of the Governor’s Ex-Offender Task Force Report.” Florida House Safety and Security Council, Tallahassee, FL, March 7, 2007.

• “Models for Prison Ministry.” The Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida Workshop, Delray Beach, FL, February 23, 2007.

• “Final Recommendations of the Governor’s Ex-Offender Task Force.” Florida Sheriff’s Association Mid-Winter Conference, Sandestin, FL, January 29, 2007.

• “Presentation of the Governor’s Ex-Offender Task Force Report.” Florida Senate Committee on Criminal Justice, Tallahassee, FL, January 23, 2007.

• “Coming Home: A Look Ahead.” Bureau of Prison, Federal Correctional Complex Coleman Reentry Summit, Coleman, FL, January 11-12, 2007.

• “Response to Punitiveness in the Imprisonment of Women, 1977 – 2004, a report authored by Dr. Natasha Frost.” Prisoner Reentry Institute at John Jay College of Criminal Justice Occasional Series on Reentry Research, New York, NY, December 15, 2006.

• “Ex-Offender Councils.” Alliance for Human Services 4th Annual Institute, Miami Beach, FL, October 27, 2006.

• “Building Coalitions with Police, Prosecutors and ‘Unusual’ Suspects.” National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ 4th Annual State Legislative Network Conference, Portland, OR, August 4-5, 2006.

• “From Recidivism to Redemption: Ending the Cycle of Incarceration.” Manhattan Institute Conference Moving Men into the Mainstream: The Next Steps in Urban Reform, New York, NY, June 21, 2006.

• “P is for Prison: An Insider’s View” and “W is for Women: How the Criminal Justice System Affects Them Differently.” Oregon Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers 2006 Annual Conference: Zealous Defense from A to Z, Bend OR, June 15-17, 2006.

• “It’s Not Over After Sentencing.” Arkansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Annual Conference, Tunica, MS, April 27-29, 2006.