Dr. Victoria E. Kress (she/her) is the elected 75th president of the American Counseling Association (ACA). She has been a counselor for 3 decades and a counselor educator for over 2 decades. She is the director of the clinical mental health and addictions counseling programs at Youngstown State University.

She served two terms on Ohio’s counselor licensing board and was instrumental in updating Ohio’s counselor practice act. She has been the recipient of over 50 professional and community service awards, most of which for her advocacy, leadership, scholarship, community service, and mentorship initiatives. She has also received awards for her work with people who have intellectual disabilities, for empowering girls in her community, for her sexual assault prevention efforts, and for her child abuse advocacy work.

She is a past president of Chi Sigma Iota International, the Association for Humanistic Counseling, the Ohio Counseling Association, and the North Central Association for Counselor Education and Supervision; she is a past ACA Midwest Region Chair; she is a past member of the American Counseling Association’s governing council; and she has chaired or served on 100+ counseling committees.

Dr. Kress has engaged in legislative advocacy on behalf of the profession and these we serve for over two decades. She is also passionate about child advocacy, trauma-informed practices, growing counseling leaders, mentorship of developing counselors, and legislative advocacy.