Virginia Wimmer was appointed on August 24, 2021, by Governor Gavin Newsom as Deputy Secretary for Women Veterans Affairs at the California Department of Veterans Affairs. Just before her appointment, Virginia was the Deputy Director of Veterans Services and the County Veterans Service Officer at the San Joaquin County Health Care Services Agency since 2014. While serving veterans in San Joaquin, she worked with The Honorable Superior Court Judge Barbara A. Kronlund, to establish the county’s first Veterans Treatment Court, which debuted in 2015. The VTC identified veterans in the criminal justice system who were eligible for treatment and court supervision instead of jail or prison.

 

Virginia served 26 years in the U.S. Air Force as a Health Care Services Manager, Recruiter, and in the Security Forces, and finally retired as a Senior Master Sergeant/E-8 in 2012. She was awarded the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Air Force Achievement Medal, the Air Force Good Conduct Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Medal. She did tours in South Korea and Italy and she deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation New Dawn.

 

She earned her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Southern California. Virginia is a Certified Applied Suicide Intervention Trainer through LivingWorks.net, an Accredited Mental Health First Aid Facilitator through the National Council of Wellbeing, and a Nationally Accredited Veterans Advocate through the National Association of County Veterans Service Officers. She has two grown daughters, Nikkia and Michela, and currently resides in Vacaville with her husband, Mike, and their two dogs; Thor and Bianca.