Domestic Violence: Its Cause and Cure

In 2012 Ms O'Connell was named CEO of YWCA Sonoma County - the community's domestic violence service provider since 1975.

She was formerly Senior Vice President of Marketing for Sonoma National Bank in Santa Rosa where she managed community relations and non-profit support. Her career in the marketing and public relations arena of community banking spans nearly 30 years and two coasts.  For over  a decade she served as a member of the Advisory Board and Chair of PR/Media for the capital campaign of The Salvation Army - Santa Rosa Corps where she was named "Volunteer of the Year" in 2009.  Honored by Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce with a leadership award in the field of Media, Communications and Public Relations that same year, Ms. O'Connell is also a graduate of Leadership Santa Rosa Class 17.

A graduate of the University of San Francisco, where she earned a place on t he Dean's List for academic achievement, Ms. O'Connell holds a Bachelor's Degree in Organizational Behavior.  She leads a staff of 35 and is responsible for the sustainability of a $2 million budget.  Madeleine and her husband, Kevin reside in Santa Rosa along with their boys, Johnny age 7 and Nicholas age 5.

Challenged with a diagnosis of State Two breast cancer in 2014, Madeleine reminds each of us that there was a 20% chance of the lump she found being malignant, which it was - contrasted to the national and local statistic that one in four families will be affected by domestic violence - that's 25% of the people we know.