About
Our Purpose
To advance child, family and community well-being by achieving equity and better outcomes.
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 Commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
CHSA’s core organizational values reflect our commitment to ensuring equity, diversity and inclusion in the work of our individual member organizations, our network as a whole and the work we all do within our collective networks. Our EDI focus areas are: Governance, Workforce and Leadership, Training, Data, Engagement, Continuous Improvement and Accountability, and Advocacy.
Our Values
The culture of our organization is shaped by our values. This is what we believe in and how we show up. Our values are aligned with the mores of our members and key stakeholders.
CHSA believes in the intrinsic dignity, value and belonging of every person.
We are equity-focused and inclusive.
Fairness and justice are first and foremost in the way we partner with children, families and communities.
We are ethical and respectful.
We are committed to holding ourselves accountable to promoting equity, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of our work, while dismantling bias and discrimination in policies, procedures, and other activities.
We lean into courageous conversations.
We engage and listen to the people whose experiences are often unheard and unheeded.
We are compassionate and empathetic.
Our work drives changes that improve the conditions of well-being for children, youth, and families, their communities and our country.
We are solutions driven.
Leadership
CHSA is self-governed by its members who make an annual investment that sustains our mission and uplifts our values.
Officers
Borja Alvarez de Toledo
Board Chair
President/CEO of Waypoint (New Hampshire)
Andry Sweet
Vice-chair
President/CEO of Children’s Home Society of Florida
Brian Maness
Immediate Past Board Chair
President/CEO of Children’s Home Society of North Carolina
Encarni Gallardo
Secretary
Executive Director of Children’s Service Society (Utah)
Jacob Schmitt
Treasurer
President/CEO of Arizona’s Children Association
Board Members
Georgia Boothe
Executive Vice President, Children’s Aid (New York)
Kristin Burkart
Executive Director, Wyoming Children’s Society
John Damon
CEO, Canopy Children’s Solutions (Mississippi)
Anthony DiFabio
President/CEO, Acenda Integrated Health (New Jersey)
Dianne Haulcy
President/CEO, The Family Partnership (Minnesota)
Janice Lane Schroeder
Executive Director, Children & Families of Iowa
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)
Kirsten Olson
CEO, Children and Families First (Delaware)
Shannon Schumacher
President/CEO, The Villages of Indiana
Michael Shaver
President/CEO, Brightpoint (Illinois)
Lana Temple-Plotz
CEO, NCHS (Nebraska)
Mindy Watrous
President/CEO, Tennyson Center for Children (Colorado)
David Whelan
Vice President, Child Well-Being at Children’s Wisconsin
Mary White
President/CEO, Children’s Home Society of West Virginia
Committees and Member and Peer Engagement
Standing Committee Leadership
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee
Janice Lane Schroeder (IA), Co-Chair
Lana Temple-Plotz (NE), Co-Chair
Edgard Martinez (DE), Co-Chair
Finance Committee
Jacob Schmitt (AZ), Chair
Governance and Membership
Anthony DiFabio (NJ), Co-Chair
Mike Shaver (IL), Co-Chair
Impact and Innovation
Lana Temple-Plotz (NE), Co-Chair
Georgia Boothe (NY), Co-Chair
Public Policy Committee
Kirsten Olson (DE), Chair
Jamaica Pfister (NC), Co-Chair
Member and Peer Engagement
HR Executive Forum
Institutes Collaborative
Additional Groups TBA
Staff
CHSA Staff
Marlo Nash
Managing Director
Amy Ramirez
Executive Assistant
Tanisha Lewis
Public Policy Director
Frank Poremski
Finance Director