President & Chief Executive Officer
Candace Vanderwater has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Volunteers of America Chesapeake & Carolinas (VOACC) since 2025. She leads a $57.7 million organization with approximately 900 employees, serving nearly 9,800 individuals across Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and the Carolinas.
Vanderwater joined VOACC in 2011 as Director of Northern Virginia Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) Services. In 2014, she was promoted to Vice President of Strategy and Organizational Development, where she led the strategic planning process and developed growth and capacity-building initiatives. She later assumed executive oversight of Homeless Services, Substance Use Disorder Services, and I/DD Services across Virginia.
Vanderwater was appointed Chief Operating Officer in 2016 and then Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in 2022. In these roles, she oversaw Human Resources, Administration, Program Services, and Organizational Excellence to advance the organization’s strategic goals. She was named President and CEO in June 2025.
Under her leadership, VOACC has expanded the use of evidence-based practices, grown its clinical and credentialed workforce, and earned national accreditations from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) and the American Correctional Association (ACA). In 2025, the organization earned its first national Medical Respite Program Certification through the National Institute for Medical Respite Care (NIMRC) under the National Health Care for the Homeless Council. In 2021, VOACC was awarded Evergreen Charter status—the highest designation from Volunteers of America national.
Vanderwater has led the onboarding of major U.S. Department of Labor contracts, the integration of behavioral health services, and the launch of a medical respite program in partnership with managed care organizations in Washington, DC. She was also instrumental in the 2019 merger of the VOA Carolinas affiliate into VOACC and helped launch the organization’s first Family Focused Recovery program in North Carolina.
She holds a Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy from Indiana University and is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT). In 2019, she was commissioned as a minister by Volunteers of America, and in 2021, she earned an Executive Master of Nonprofit Administration (EMNA) from the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.
A passionate advocate for leadership and organizational development, Vanderwater completed a Nonprofit Certificate of Education through the University of Notre Dame and VOACC’s Nonprofit Leadership Program in 2016. She is a 2018 graduate of the Leadership Center for Excellence’s Regional Leadership Program in Arlington, Virginia. She is also certified in several leadership development tools, including Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI), Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation–Behavior® (FIRO-B and FIRO-Business), and Crucial Learning programs including Crucial Conversations/Mastering Dialogue®, Getting Things Done®, and Crucial Accountability®.
Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Vanderwater is the eldest of six siblings and a first-generation college graduate. She lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with her husband Paul, a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer, and their daughters. She enjoys the summer season, entertaining, and traveling.