About
Our Purpose
To advance child, family and community well-being.
Our Vision
A nation which upholds the potential of all children, families and communities.
Our Mission
We create solutions to problems that disrupt stability and limit potential by changing practices, policies and systems.
We engage with thousands of children, families and partners every day to build pathways that lead to health, stability and nurturing relationships. For too many children and families, societal factors overload their lives. When that happens, some children and families need a little support; others need more. We meet them where they are and where they dream.
Our Values
Our organization is shaped by our values. This is what we believe in and how we show up.
CHSA believes in the intrinsic dignity, value and belonging of every person.
Fairness and justice are first and foremost in the way we partner with children, families and communities.
We are committed to holding ourselves accountable to promoting belonging in all aspects of our work.
We engage and listen to the people whose experiences are often unheard and unheeded.
Our work drives changes that improve the conditions of well-being for children, youth, and families, their communities and our country.
Leadership
CHSA is self-governed by its members who make an annual investment that sustains our mission and uplifts our values.
Officers
Andry Sweet
Board Chair
President/CEO of Children’s Home Society of Florida
Kirsten Olson
Vice-chair
CEO, Children and Families First of Delaware
Mike Shaver
Secretary
President/CEO Brightpoint (Illinois)
Encarni Gallardo
Treasurer
Executive Director of Children’s Service Society (Utah)
Borja Alvarez de Toledo
Immediate Past Chair
President/CEO of Waypoint (New Hampshire)
Board Members
Georgia Boothe
Executive Vice President, Children’s Aid (New York)
Bryan Cook
Executive Director, Wyoming Children’s Society
John Damon
CEO, Canopy Children’s Solutions (Mississippi)
Anthony DiFabio
President/CEO, Acenda Integrated Health (New Jersey)
Steve Girelli
President/CEO, Klingberg Family Centers (Connecticut)
Janice Lane Schroeder
Executive Director, Children & Families of Iowa
Emily Larson
CEO, The Family Partnership (Minnesota)
Susanna Leggio & Gabe McGaughey
Acting, Vice President of Child Well Being at Children’s Wisconsin
Brian Maness
President/CEO of Children’s Home Society of North Carolina
Stephanie McCarthy
Vice President of Children & Family Services, Ascentria Care Alliance (Massachusetts)
Mark Melson
President/CEO, Gladney Center for Adoption (Texas)
Laura Mitchell
President/CEO, Beech Acres Parenting Center (Ohio)
Dave Newell
President/CEO, Akin (Washington)
Karen Nolte
CEO, FamilyForward (Missouri)
Shannon Schumacher
President/CEO, The Villages of Indiana
Lana Temple-Plotz
CEO, NCHS (Nebraska)
Krystal Thompson
President/CEO, Children’s Home Society of Virginia
Tracy Thurston
CEO, Arizona’s Children Association
Rick Wheat
President/CEO, Methodist Children’s Home
Mary White
President/CEO, Children’s Home Society of West Virginia
Staff
CHSA Staff
Marlo Nash
Managing Director
Amy Ramirez
Executive Assistant
Tanisha Lewis
Public Policy Director
Frank Poremski
Finance Director