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Debby is the Executive Director of the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence (NCDSV), a position she's held since the organization formed in 1998.

Debby has been dedicated to ending violence against women since becoming a volunteer with the first rape crisis center in Texas in 1974. She became the Assistant Director of the Austin Rape Crisis Center, and then co-founded and served as Executive Director of the Austin Center for Battered Women from 1977 until 1982. (These two agencies combined in 1997 and became known as SafePlace.)

In 1982, she became the first Executive Director of the Texas Council on Family Violence, a position she held until 1996. As Executive Director, she assisted communities throughout Texas to establish shelters and other services for battered women, initiated battering intervention programs and represented battered women and advocacy agencies before the Texas Legislature. In this role, she promoted laws and policies to improve the criminal justice and health and human service systems’ responses to domestic violence. Under her leadership, the Texas Council grew to be one of the largest state coalitions in the country with over 50 staff providing training and technical assistance, public education and advocacy. In February 1996, the Texas Council started the National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-SAFE and 1-800-787-3224 TTY), a 24/7 service for all U.S. states and territories.

In August 1996, Debby joined Sarah M. Buel, JD, in opening Tucker, Buel and Associates, a consulting firm offering customized consultation and training to end violence against women. In May 1998, Sarah and Debby co-founded the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence to sponsor conferences and provide customized training and consultation nationwide. The National Center received funding from the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice to collaborate on trainings with the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the National Sheriffs' Association and the National Center for Rural Law Enforcement. These trainings educate law enforcement officers on their responses to domestic violence and sexual assault.

The National Center has an award-winning website, initially funded by Altria, that provides direct access to information for local, state and national professionals and volunteers. The National Center collaborated with the Avon Foundation for Women to produce educational materials for the general public to better understand domestic violence and works with many individuals and organizations to address violence in the military community. The National Center consults with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on DELTA (Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancements and Leadership Through Alliances), a program involving 14 state coalitions to advance the prevention of domestic violence. NCDSV is also consulting with the CDC Foundation on the DELTA PREP program designed to prepare 19 additional state coalitions to participate in DELTA and initiate evidence-based prevention strategies in their states. 

Debby has extensive experience on the national level.  She served as Co-Chair of the U.S. Department of Defense Task Force on Domestic Violence (work and implementation) from 2000-2003.  She served as founding Chair of the National Network to End Domestic Violence during its leadership in the passage of the Violence Against Women Act in 1994. She is a member of the Advisory Committee for the State Farm Insurance initiated Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence, the Board of Advisors for WomensLaw.org and the National Leadership Committee of Jewish Women International.

In Texas, she serves as Treasurer for Texans Against Gun Violence and she chairs the Master of Public Administration Advisory Committee for Texas State University.

In 2012, the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration presented Debby with the Alfred M. Zuck Public Courage Award. Doris Buffet awarded Debby The Sunshine Lady Award in 2008 for outstanding leadership in the movement to end violence against women.

She received the National Network to End Domestic Violence’s Standing in the Light of Justice Award and Marshall's Domestic Violence Peace Prize in recognition of her national leadership. She has also been honored by the National Association of Social Workers. Debby received the YWCA's Outstanding Achievement Award and the Texas Council on Family Violence established the Deborah D. Tucker Staff Achievement Award, of which she was the first recipient. In addition, the National District Attorneys Association honored her with their Stephen L. Von Riesen Lecturer of Merit Award. In 2003, Debby was a Lifetime TV Times Square Project Honoree, which saluted individual men and women for their work to stop violence against women and working to make our world a safer place.

E-mail Debby at dtucker@ncdsv.org.

Read the recent feature, Legacy Snapshots ~ Leading advocates reflect or recalled: Debby Tucker.

Debby is included in TCFV's Women Inspiring Innovation through Imagination.

Christina has worked in the battered women's movement since 1992. She started working for the National Center in 1998. She manages the Center's technical assistance program, assists in the design of training and is responsible for the agency's media relations, marketing and communications efforts, including the award-winning website. During her tenure with the National Center, she assisted in writing and editing How to Recognize, Respond to, and Provide Resources to End Domestic Violence, an educational CD funded by the Avon Foundation for Women. She also assisted in writing and editing the 36-hour Domestic Violence Train-the-Trainer Program for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. In addition, she assisted in writing and edited the 16-hour Rural Law Enforcement Training: Domestic Violence Intervention and Investigation with the National Sheriffs' Association.

Prior to joining the Center, she worked for six years at the Texas Council on Family Violence. Her primary responsibilities were public relations related, with significant involvement in the public policy efforts. During her tenure at the Council, she edited and wrote the newsletter, The River, coordinated the statewide Texas Silent Witness march, developed and assisted in the implementation of the national public relations plan to launch the National Domestic Violence Hotline, managed the media relations efforts and served as agency spokesperson. Previously she worked for the American Heart Association, Texas Affiliate and two Austin-based advertising / marketing firms.

She is a former Chair of the Board of Directors of the Texas Advocacy Project in Austin, Texas, a statewide nonprofit legal organization for victims of domestic violence. She is an award-winning communicator and a graduate of the Leadership Texas program.

She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Theatre from St. Mary-of-the-Woods College in St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, where she received the Alumnae Leadership and Service Award – Outstanding Graduate. E-mail Christina at cwalsh@ncdsv.org.

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Randy was the National Center’s Website Coordinator from 2003-2005. He has extensive experience in the public technology and multimedia sector. After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in Advertising from the University of Texas at Austin, he worked for Apple Computer, Inc., the Austin Convention Center and Dell Computer Corporation among other varied multimedia positions.

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Kit Gruelle is a survivor of domestic violence and has worked as an advocate for battered women and their children for 24 years. She is a community educator who collaborates with law enforcement and other criminal justice professionals, health care providers, clergy, legislators, educators, and other allied professionals to prevent family and domestic violence.

She is featured in several training films and has written protocols for sexual assault and domestic violence first responders, public safety dispatchers and hostage negotiators. She also educates legislators about domestic violence reform and serves as a commissioner for the North Carolina Crime Victims Compensation Commission. Her article “Healing From Within: Physicians Responding to Battered Women” was recently included in The Physicians Guide to Intimate Partner Abuse by Drs. Ellen Talliferro and Patricia Salber, published by Volcano Press.

Kit consults with the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence. She is currently working on a feature-length documentary about the history of the American Battered Women’s Movement (Private Violence: The Movement Against Battering In America). E-mail Kit at kgp54_1999@yahoo.com.

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