The STOPDV Leadership Team

Andria Russaw has called Conway, Arkansas home since 1986. She has worked for Centennial Bank for more than 20 years and currently serves as a Director of Marketing. In her free time, she enjoys photography and spending time with her three grown children. 

In December of 2019 joined the Board of Directors for STOP DV, and quickly was surprised to learn the number of domestic violence occurrences in Faulkner County and was inspired more to help. She serves as Chair of the STOPDV Board and Development Committee, which manages fundraising efforts and coordinates events.

Chris Rippy has lived in Conway for over thirty years. A graduate of Conway High School and the University of Arkansas, he attended the UALR Bowen School of Law in Little Rock. After founding and developing an Elder Law and Estate Planning practice in Maumelle, Chris moved his law practice to Conway in 2014. 

Shortly after completing law school and passing the bar exam, Chris accepted a part-time position with the 20th Judicial District's Prosecuting Attorney's Office, focusing his time prosecuting Domestic Battery crimes and representing Petitioners who were seeking Domestic Orders of Protection against their abusers. During this time, Chris saw the need for a holistic approach to domestic battery and was honored to be a founding member of STOPDV. 

He and his wife Christin got married in 2005 and have three children; Alli, Emily, and Andrew. As a Conway native, Chris is thoroughly invested in his community. He and his family are heavily involved in their local church and many other community activities. 

Jill Walden is a life-long resident of Conway and a graduate of Conway High School. She earned two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Central Arkansas - a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance. Jill has worked at Lisa Stephens Certified Public Accountant, PLC for over 23 years, and serves as Vice President and Income Tax Manager. Jill also serves as Agent of the Conway Advertising and Promotion Commission for the firm. She has one son, Ryder, who is 12 and he is her main man. 

In September 2019 Jill joined the Board of Directors as Board Treasurer and is extremely honored to be a part of the inaugural board. Domestic violence is a real and often-overlooked problem, and she hopes to be part of the solution.

Randy Higgins has been a long-time resident of Faulkner County. He has been married to his high school sweetheart Verna for 38 years, with whom he has two sons, Matt and Mitchell, both of which are graduates of UCA. He has two grandchildren as well, Maddox, 5, and Avery, 1. 

Randy and his family are members of Immanuel Baptist Church in Greenbrier for nearly 28 years, where he serves as the chair of the Finance Ministry. He graduated from the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Reserve Training program in 1995 and had served as a reserve law enforcement officer in Faulkner County for 25 years; 16 years with the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office and currently 9 years with the Greenbrier Police Department. He is also a graduate of the class of 2007 Faulkner County Leadership Institute. 

Randy is currently serving his 5th two-year term on the Faulkner County Quorum Court, that represents District 2, including his hometown of Greenbrier. He chairs the Courts and Public Safety Committee and is a past member of the Budget and Finance Committee and the Grievance Committee for Faulkner County Employees. Randy was selected by the Faulkner County Quorum Court to represent Faulkner County as one of 75 delegates to the Arkansas Association of Quorum Courts, and was also elected by the delegates he works with to serve on the Governing Board of the Arkansas Association of Quorum Courts and is also currently serving as the vice president of the Governing Board. 

Along with these positions, Randy has had a wonderful career working for the same company for more than 34 years, starting as a field technical representative and making his way to his current position of Region Business Operations Manager. 

  Shelia Isby, a life-long resident of Conway is a graduate of Conway High School and attended the University of Central Arkansas. She was the first minority to be elected to the Conway City Council winning a city-wide election with 66.4% of the votes in 1998 and is currently serving her eighth term. She is the wife of Will Isby, has one daughter Brittany Miller (Kevin) and two granddaughters (Karsyn and Kaiya) and is anxiously awaiting the arrival of her grandson in January. 

As a founding member of the Conway Regional Women’s Council, she was instrumental in establishing Dazzle Daze, which has raised thousands of dollars for health-related items for our area. She has been a co-chair of Dazzle Daze during two separate terms. She currently serves on the Advertising and Promotion Commission, Arvest Bank Board, Stop DV Board, Conway Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and is a mentor for Young Empowered Sisters (YES). 

A 1994 graduate of the Faulkner County Leadership Institute, Isby has been recipient of the Martin Luther King Commission Distinguished Citizen Award, the Dan Nabholz Award and in 2015 received The Minority Enterprise Development Lifetime Achievement Award. Shelia has been employed with Counseling Associates, Inc. since 1996 and serves as their Human Resources Coordinator. 

The reason she serves on the Stop DV Board as with all her Community Involvement, she’s very passionate about serving her community and she believes everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect and no one should ever suffer any type of abuse at the hands of another. She is passionate about her love for God, her family and serving her community. 

  Representative Spencer Hawks is a real estate broker for Coldwell Banker RPM Group and a state legislator. As a legislator, Hawks serves on the House Judiciary Committee where legislation involving domestic violence issues are considered. He has been married to his wife for ten years and has three children. Hawks is passionate about serving his community through both public service and philanthropy.