Sheryl Cates
Chief Executive Officer - Texas Council on Family Violence, National Domestic Violence Hotline & the Teen Dating Abuse Helpline (1-800-799-SAFE, TTY 1-800-787-3224) www.ndvh.org and www.loveisrespect.org
Austin, TX
In March 1999, Sheryl Cates became the leader of the Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV) and the National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH).
The Texas Council on Family Violence is one of the largest domestic violence coalitions in the
country serving domestic violence programs and battered women in Texas.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline is the only service of its kind connecting people in crisis to local help in communities across the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Hotline operates 24-hours a day, 365 days a year and has answered more than 1.8 million calls since 1996.
Loveisrespect.org, National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline was launched in February 2007. The Helpline is
a 24-hour resource for teens experiencing dating abuse. It is specifically designed with teens and young
adults in mind, operating around the growing technologies that they use most often: the phone, web and
chat.
Sheryl has more than 23 years of experience in the movement to end violence against women. Sheryl
Cates is recognized as a national leader in the effort to end domestic violence. She was recently given the
Legacy Award from the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community. Sheryl has
been prominently featured as an expert in the field of domestic violence on The Oprah Winfrey Show,
ABC’s Prime Time, The Queen Latifah Show, The John Walsh Show, CBS Saturday Early Show, The
Montel Williams Show, and Court TV. Sheryl has been a featured speaker at a roundtable dialogue at the
White House to provide feedback on family violence programs to Attorney General John Ashcroft and
Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez. Sheryl has also made two appearances with President George W.
Bush at the White House to promote family violence policies.
Nominated as Lubbock’s Woman of the Year in 1998, Sheryl is also the recipient of the Liberty Bell
Award, Lubbock County Young Lawyers Association; the Citizen of the Year Award, National
Association of Social Workers; and the Women Helping Women Award, Soroptimist International.
Sheryl is a Leadership Texas graduate and has served on the boards and as a member of a number of
community service organizations including the Texas Council on Family Violence Board of Directors,
where she served for five years and was Chair from 1997-1998. She has served on the Advisory Board to
the Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence, American Bar Association/Commission on Domestic
Violence, Violence Against Women National Advisory Council, WomensLaw.org, Allstate Foundation’s
Domestic Violence Program, National Network to End Domestic Violence, and Cut-it-Out. She has also
served in an advisory capacity for the Texas Governor’s Commission for Women, and in a leadership
capacity on the Council for Crime Victims for the Texas Office of the Attorney General.