"Our children are our nation’s most important resource and we need to do all we can to help them make good decisions and stay safe. Preventing childhood drinking is an important part of that effort. A child who begins drinking at nine, ten or even older is at serious risk not only for alcohol abuse later in life, but a host of other dangerous behaviors as well ." —Anne Holton

Introducing Anne Holton, First Lady of Virginia

Virginia's First Lady Anne Holton brings her commitment to children's issues to Leadership. Ms. Holton, wife of Governor Tim Kaine, has devoted her career to serving as an advocate for Virginia's families and children. Ms. Holton was a juvenile court judge in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court for the City of Richmond until her husband was elected governor. As a judge, she served as chairperson of the Millennium Team, a task force focused on improving court processing of abuse/neglect foster care cases in Richmond.

The First Lady has also served on the Virginia Child Support Guideline Review Panel and as a member of the Advisory Committee for the Virginia Court Improvement Program, focusing on foster care and adoption issues. Earlier, she was an attorney with the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society. Ms. Holton helped design an award-winning volunteer lawyer program for the City of Richmond and was awarded Metropolitan Richmond's "Women of Achievement Award" in 1995.

Ms. Holton graduated from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School. She and her husband have three children. Her father, Linwood Holton, served as Virginia's governor from 1970 to 1974.