Nomination for the John Cook Award:
Northern Virginia Counselors Association
Ellissia Price-Fagin
To Linda Grubba, Chair of the John Cook Award Committee:
It is with great privilege and honor the Northern Virginia Counselors Association (NVCA) nominate Ellissia Price-Fagin.
To know Ellissia is to know a giant in our counseling field. To work with her is to work with the hardest working, dedicated and passionate being ever. To call her friend is to friend a living saint. Ellissia is the current’s version of NVCA godmother. She helped us bring NVCA back to life by advocang to VCA to let us take over a snoozing chapter. She stepped in and created our bylaws when no one could find our previous copy bylaws, lost to an archived box the heavens knows where. Lastly she empowered us to work through strong personalities involved and brought us all to the table for one common goal, to bring NVCA back to its former glory.
Thanks to Ellisia’s guidance we were able to celebrate NVCA’s 70th anniversary with a webinar series that the enre state could admire. We had leading experts throughout the country present to our members and open it to others in VA and the rest of the world for a nominal/affordable fee. She helped us maintain our monies so we can keep offering quality content. Then she nudged us and believed in us to apply for VCA best chapter, which we won two years.
We would not be serving in this presiden?al trio if it wasn’t for Ellissia. We don’t get stuck in the weeds with beauracracy and roles, we all roll up our sleeves inspired by Ellissia’s example and get the work done. Every month for the last 2 years going on 3 we have offered amazing webinars and content to our chapter. We keep bringing in new leaders to our board and in 2023 we have a diverse full board for the first ?me and who knows when. What’s our biggest atrac?on to our board? Ellissia! She’s funny, she’s inspiring and for some magical reason, incredibly humble. Half the ?me in our board mee?ngs we all sit in awe when she regales us with her stories of when she was a school counselor, when she served on this board or that, or exhilara?ng stories of naviga?ng oppressive systems we call schools. We are so thankful for Ellissia and none of us would be here serving in this presiden?al trio if it wasn’t for her encouragement and her graciousness.
When we look back at the legacy that Dr. John Cook shared with us, we think of no other recipient than Ellissia Price-Fagen. She served as a school counselor, she served as a board leader, and now that she’s “retired” she still continues to serve in several boards, as editor for Virginia Associaton for Specialist in Group Work (VASGW), VCAF Board Director and NVCA Treasurer and royalty (okay this last one isn’t an official title but it should be!).
Signed by: NVCA Presidential Trio:
| Willeta Wilson | Roberto C. Martinez | Margarita Martinez |