Dr. Audra Bullock, President of Tidewater Friends of Foster Care, will be our guest speaker.
After an accomplished career in Engineering, Audra decided to follow her passion for helping children and founded Tidewater Friends of Foster Care, a 501(c)(3) organization working to improve outcomes for foster youth in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Established in June 2016, Tidewater Friends of Foster Care has a core mission to enrich the lives of foster children through partnering with individuals, area businesses, and corporations to help increase the number of available foster family homes and provide funding for academic tutoring, enrichment programs and extracurricular activities for foster youth.
Audra is a three-time ODU alum, earning her BS, MS and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology. In 2000, she joined the Engineering Faculty at University of Hawaii, where she was a recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, as well as the Hi Chang Chai Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2009, she joined NASA Langley Research Center and worked on Space Shuttle Missions along with other Space-borne Programs in remote sensing, earning her the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal.
Both Audra and her husband, Richard Litton, have a strong commitment to community service within Hampton Roads. They support numerous children’s initiatives, tutor women seeking their GEDs and have opened their home to foster and adopt children within the Norfolk Foster Care System. In addition to leading Tidewater Friends of Foster Care, Audra serves as the Parent Representative on the Norfolk Community Policy Management Team, which oversees the local interagency efforts to serve the needs of at-risk youth and their families in Norfolk, Virginia. She also serves on the Board of the Old Dominion Athletics Foundation and the Fundraising Initiative Leadership Committee for ODU.
Tidewater Friends of Foster Care (TFFC) is committed to enriching the lives of foster children in our community, because they believe that every child deserves an opportunity to thrive. Due to the inherent instability in family environment, foster children often miss out on key elements of a healthy and happy childhood, such as consistent family routines, enrollment in a single school system, and participation in enriching activities. Consequently, these children struggle emotionally and academically, with outcomes that reflecting this strife.
Through its philanthropy, TFFC strives to ensure that children in the foster care system have access to resources that afford them the opportunity to thrive. For more info, check out www.tidewaterffc.org.