How to Lead When the Work is Heavy with Bridgette Stumpf and Lindsey Silverberg

What does it take to lead with strength and compassion when your work revolves around trauma, crisis, and healing?

In this episode, I’m joined by Bridgette Stumpf, CEO and Co-Founder, and Lindsey Silverberg, Executive Director at Volare, a nonprofit based in Washington, DC that provides free, trauma-informed legal, advocacy, and therapeutic services to survivors of crime. Formerly known as the Network for Victim Recovery of DC (NVRDC), Volare has grown from a grassroots startup into a $5M organization with national reach.

Bridgette and Lindsey share what it takes to lead in the survivor services space - from building resilient teams and navigating resource scarcity, to advocating for systemic reform and shifting how organizations think about trauma, healing, and justice.

We also talk about how they use storytelling, marketing, and even their own podcast (TraumaTies) to engage with their community while honoring the complexity and sensitivity of the work.

💡 In this episode, we cover:

• What it means to create a truly trauma-informed organization (not just a program)
• How to prevent burnout and build resilience in your team
• Creative strategies for sharing resources and building cross-sector partnerships
• Fundraising and scaling in a challenging environment
• Using social media and storytelling to deepen impact—without retraumatizing
• Why they launched a podcast, and what it’s taught them about leadership and connection

💼 Bridgette Stumpff

Bridgette Stumpf, Esq., is the CEO at Volare (formerly Network for Victim Recovery of DC (NVRDC)), a position she has held since co-founding the organization in 2012. She has over 15 years of experience advocating to ensure those impacted by crime are afforded meaningful rights and access to supportive services to mitigate the negative effects of trauma post-victimization.

💼 Lindsey Silverberg

Lindsey Silverberg is the Executive Director at Volare In this capacity, Lindsey works to ensure seamless delivery of survivor services in the acute crisis response, advocacy and case management, legal, and therapeutic programs. Her responsibilities range from building infrastructure and support for direct service staff, to educating the local and national community about trauma, and thinking big with Volare's CEO on how to help survivors achieve survivor-defined justice. Lindsey joined Volare as one of the first full time staff members in 2012, as an advocate providing hospital accompaniment for sexual assault survivors, attending court, and offering direct advocacy support to survivors of crime. She received her B.A. from the University of Maryland and her M.A. from the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

🧰 Resources & Links:

• 🎧 Check out their podcast: TraumaTies
• 🔗 Learn more: volare-empowers.org

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