Child Welfare

Cancel is a nationally recognized leader driving systems change in child welfare to improve outcomes for youth and families. His proven track record of mobilizing cross-sector partnerships and lived-expertise drives effective innovation at the local, state, and federal levels. As CEO, Sixto advises state and federal government leaders and bodies to adopt best-practices and improve policies, designs and builds novel technological and practical solutions, improves resource accessibility, and directs a research center to address historical knowledge gaps.

Beidler Carr manages a team of attorneys and staff who work on children’s law projects throughout the country and brings a background in government, nonprofit management, and children’s advocacy to her role. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Prudence worked on numerous children’s advocacy projects, including advocating for children and parents involved in the child welfare system in California, New York, and Illinois, expanding access to affordable child care in California and Spain, and helping prosecute child sex abuse crimes.

The Potts Family Foundation supports nonprofit capacity building and funds organizations improving early childhood programs in Oklahoma. Griffin served six years in the Oklahoma State Senate where she was a member of leadership and improved policies around juvenile justice, child welfare, health care, and criminal justice reform. Griffin sits on boards for the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy, The Oklahoma Academy for State Goals, The Oklahoma Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation, and the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits.

The Children’s Village and Harlem Dowling collectively serve more than 17,000 children and families each year with community-based programs, family support services, and residential care. Dr. Kohomban is a leading national advocate for reforms to the child welfare system that prioritize the needs of families and preventive services over the use of residential care. He was a primary contributor to the federal Family First Prevention Services Act, creating the greatest advances to the child welfare field in over four decades.

Kelly joined Gov. Youngkin's team during his gubernatorial transition and currently serves as the Special Advisor for Children, focusing on youth mental health and child welfare. In the Governor’s office, she ran a first-of-its-kind campaign that resulted in 1,041 kids being matched with permanent families in 2013. Prior to that, Kelly managed a collective impact effort for eight years to remedy a discontent with the state of Virginia’s current foster care system. She’s also a kinship-adoptive mom and former Virginia Secretary of the Commonwealth.

The Christian Alliance for Orphans works in tandem with families, churches, and organizations to create effective services for vulnerable children and families — from adoption and U.S. foster care – and aids empowerment programs worldwide. Jedd previously served as a Special Assistant to President George W. Bush. He led the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and oversaw reform efforts to make community- and faith-based groups central partners in all Federal efforts to aid the needy.

At AEI, Riley focuses on child welfare and foster care issues, specifically analyzing the role of faith-based and community organizations in changing the foster care and adoption services landscape. She also studies how race, class, and family structure affect foster care placement and services and the impact of the drug crisis on child welfare. She is concurrently a senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum. Riley has authored several books and is a frequent media contributor.

Stigdon’s career has spanned nursing to government work and now she is the CEO of the Indiana Region of the American Red Cross. She was appointed by Gov. Eric Holcomb to lead the Department of Child Services where she transformed how the agency functioned and worked with families and children in need. During her time at DCS, Indiana saw the number of children in foster care decrease by 50% while federal safety measures improved. Before her appointment to DCS, Stigdon was a nurse leader at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health for almost 20 years.

In addition to his roles with the Utah Court of Appeals and Third District, Judge Thorne was a tribal court judge in 10 states and is the former president of the National Indian Justice Center. Nationally known as a leading expert on policies and programs to support children, particularly Native American children and their families, Judge Thorne is currently chair of the Board of Directors for Child Trends, Inc. He also served as a member of the American Bar Association’s Steering Committee on the Unmet Legal Needs of Children and was a member of the PEW Commission of Children in Foster Care.