JooYeun Chang is Managing Director at the Aviv Foundation, where she contributes to foundation-wide initiatives and helps steward U.S. grantmaking, including the foundation’s children and families, democracy, and Jewish life portfolios. Prior to joining Aviv, Joo served as the program director for child well-being at the Doris Duke Foundation, where she oversaw grantmaking to promote children’s healthy development and protect children from abuse and neglect. Earlier in her career, she was a Managing Director at Casey Family Programs. Joo also has extensive experience in public service, serving as acting assistant secretary and principal deputy assistant secretary for the Administration for Children and Families of the US Department of Health and Human Services, where she was the top federal official overseeing the implementation of national child welfare policy. She also led the State of Michigan’s child welfare system as executive director of the state’s Children’s Services Agency. Joo holds a J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law.
Sean Couch is a child and family policy professional whose work focuses on advancing solutions at the intersection of substance use, mental health, child welfare, and maternal health. As a Senior Program Associate with the Center for Children and Family Futures, he partners with Tribal, state, and local leaders to strengthen systems that support the health, safety, and well-being of children and families. With more than 18 years of public service experience, Sean has progressed from military leadership and frontline practice to helping design policies and systems that shape how families experience support, recovery, and care. His work centers on aligning child welfare, public health, and substance use treatment systems around a shared goal: keeping children safe while strengthening families. He has led innovative initiatives, including directing statewide telehealth networks for mental health and substance use treatment and helping launch Oklahoma’s first clinic integrating trauma-informed prenatal care, substance use treatment, and recovery supports for pregnant women and their families. A frequent national speaker, Sean has presented on prenatal substance exposure, Plans of Safe Care, and cross-system collaboration. He believes lasting change happens when people with different experiences and perspectives work toward a common purpose. Through his work, he seeks to build policies and systems grounded in dignity, opportunity, and hope—creating a bold future where families receive support before crisis, communities have the tools to thrive, and better outcomes are not exceptional, but expected.
Noah Duncan serves as the Director of Foster Insights, a nonprofit organization that helps state child welfare agencies translate their administrative data into actionable insights that strengthen family, kin, and community connections for children. He partners with agencies across the U.S. to develop innovative analytics and data tools that improve foster home recruitment, placement, and retention while helping more children grow up in family-based care.
Noah's work has centered on developing the Adverse Placement Score (APS), a measure that helps agencies understand whether children in out-of-home care are placed close to home, with siblings, and in family-like settings. APS has informed conversations about child well-being measurement at the state and federal levels and is being used by multiple states to guide recruitment strategy, improve placement decisions, and strengthen accountability.
Trained in applied math but grounded in education, Noah believes data is only valuable when it is understandable and actionable for the teams doing the work. His work bridges the gap between technical analytics and frontline practice so that child welfare leaders, supervisors, and caseworkers can use data to make better decisions for children and families.
Rob Geen is the founder of CWPolicy LLC and currently directs the Child Welfare Initiative at the Bipartisan Policy Center, where he leads expert work on child welfare financing, accountability, differentiating poverty from neglect, and termination of parental rights. He previously led child welfare and juvenile justice policy work at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, worked on the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, and oversaw policy research at the Urban Institute and ChildTrends. He currently serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees at the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.
Luke Goble, Ph.D., is Vice President for Research and Insights at The Contingent, where he leads research, data, evaluation, and learning across the organization’s national child welfare initiatives. His work focuses on helping agencies and community partners better understand the needs of children and families, identify gaps in local systems, and use data to guide practical action. At The Contingent, Luke has developed tools that examine foster care capacity, placement outcomes, and differences across communities. These include a system dynamics model that explores how changes in recruitment, licensing, retention, kinship care, placement, and permanency affect the broader child welfare system. He has also created approaches for identifying areas where children face greater risks of being placed far from home, separated from siblings, or placed outside family settings. Luke has presented his work through the American Evaluation Association and participates in national learning communities, including the CAFO National Data Working Group and Foster America’s Generative AI Leadership Group. Before joining The Contingent, Luke served as Vice President for Academic Affairs at Warner Pacific University, where he oversaw institutional research, program evaluation, accreditation, and academic planning. He earned his Ph.D. in American Studies from the University at Buffalo. Luke is also a foster and adoptive parent. That experience grounds his professional work in a personal commitment to improving how child welfare systems support children, families, and caregivers.
Jodi Hill-Lilly is the Director of Child Well-Being at the Doris Duke Foundation (DDF), where she leads a national portfolio focused on fundamentally reimagining how systems serve children, youth, and families—shifting investment and practice further upstream to prevent involvement in the child welfare system and ensure families have the support they need to thrive. A recognized systems innovator, she advances transformative strategies that move beyond intervention toward prevention and long-term well-being. She joined DDF in August 2025 following a distinguished 37-year career with the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF), where she rose from front-line social worker to Commissioner.
Lynn Johnson is President of ALL IN Empowering Futures, a nonprofit advancing national initiatives that equip communities, faith-based organizations, nonprofits, government, and businesses to address the challenges facing children and youth impacted by foster care, adoption, poverty, and human trafficking. Her work is grounded in a deep commitment to dignity, opportunity, and lasting support for vulnerable children and families.
Previously, Mrs. Johnson served as Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a Senate-confirmed role overseeing more than 60 federal programs and a budget exceeding $59 billion. During her tenure, she launched the ALL IN Foster Care and Adoption Challenge, a national initiative calling on governors, courts, agencies, churches, community organizations, foster alumni, and citizens to work together on behalf of children and families.
As Executive Director of the Jefferson County Department of Human Services in Colorado, she championed a holistic approach to reducing poverty, strengthening families, preventing abuse and neglect, and combating child trafficking. Her expertise spans child welfare, welfare reform, mental health, developmental disabilities, early childhood education, and criminal justice policy.
Mrs. Johnson previously served in Colorado State Government, including as Chief of Staff to Lieutenant Governor Jane E. Norton and as a policy advisor to Governor Bill Owens.
She holds degrees from University of Northern Colorado and Arizona State University, and completed executive leadership programs through the Federal Judicial Center and the Harvard Kennedy School. She has been married for 40 years and has three adult children, two amazing daughters-in-law, two grandchildren and more than 150 foster alumni in her heart.
Rebecca Jones Gaston is a nationally recognized child welfare leader with nearly three decades of experience. She was recently appointed by Mayor Mamdani as Commissioner of NYC’s Administration for Children’s Services. Previously, she served as Commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2022–2025). Prior to her federal role, she led child welfare systems in Maryland — helping reduce the foster care population by 50% — and in Oregon, where she reduced out-of-home placements by more than 2,000 children in just over two years. Previous to her appointment as Commissioner of NYC’s ACS, she founded and led RJG Consulting Group, helping agencies and philanthropic partners build family-centered, prevention-driven solutions.
Zach Laris is a social entrepreneur focused on transforming how we create, craft, and carry out policies for children and families.
Zach designs and builds platforms to make child and family policy more strategic and effective.
He founded Bolder Horizon to support the development of the next generation of cross-partisan child and family policy leaders, ideas, and institutions.
Zach is also the Founder and President of Child Welfare Wonk, a strategic policy intelligence platform serving decision makers in child and family policy.
Before becoming an entrepreneur, Zach spent over a decade leading successful national campaigns and building child welfare policy infrastructure at the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Zach has an MPH in Health Policy from The George Washington University, where his capstone focused on federal policy opportunities to improve mental health for youth in foster care. He has a BA in Political Science and International Studies, focused on Peace and Conflict Resolution.
Adrien Lewis is the creator of CarePortal, a care-sharing technology platform that mobilizes communities to take action for children and families in crisis. What began as a decade-long career in healthcare, technology, and education was transformed by a 2007 mission trip to Haiti, deepening his calling to advocate for vulnerable children. After volunteering with The Global Orphan Project, Adrien left the business world to dedicate himself fully to this mission, becoming a foster and adoptive parent and developing CarePortal into a national platform connecting families in need with communities positioned to help.
Jedd Medefind is President of the Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO), a network of more than 300 organizations working to equip families, churches, and organizations for effective service to vulnerable children — from U.S. foster care to global child welfare. Before joining CAFO, he served in the White House as Special Assistant to President George W. Bush, leading the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. He also held roles in the California State Legislature and helped establish the California Community Renewal Project. Jedd is the author of several books, including Becoming Home, and writes and speaks regularly for both faith-based and mainstream audiences on child welfare, advocacy, and cross-partisan leadership.
Marina Nitze is a partner at Layer Aleph, a crisis engineering firm that helps organizations restore complex systems and emerge stronger from existential challenges. She is the co-author of Crisis Engineering and Hack Your Bureaucracy and works with states to surface and scale promising practices in foster care through the Child Welfare Playbook. She previously served as Chief Technology Officer at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (2013–2017), helped found the United States Digital Service, and served as a Presidential Innovation Fellow in the Obama Administration. Marina is currently on the Boards of Ameelio and Renaissance Philanthropy, and has volunteered as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate for at-risk foster youth for more than 20 years.
Thea Ramirez is the Founder and CEO of Adoption-Share, a national nonprofit technology organization advancing its' Family-Match platform to improve outcomes for children and families involved in child welfare. A clinical social worker by training, Thea has spent more than two decades working at the intersection of child welfare, innovation, and systems change. She is the creator of Family-Match™, a secure decision-support platform developed in collaboration with former senior eHarmony researchers to help child welfare professionals recruit, identify, and match families for children in foster care that will have greater likelihood of achieving stable placements. The platform has been implemented by state child welfare agencies and partners across the United States, supporting thousands of families and contributing to improved placement stability and permanency outcomes for children with complex needs. Thea's work has been recognized nationally, including being named a Congressional Angels in Adoption Honoree. She has presented before policymakers, government leaders, and child welfare professionals in the United States and internationally, including at the White House and the European Parliament. She is leading efforts to advance national initiatives that will equip states with actionable insights to strengthen foster parent recruitment, retention, and placement decision-making. Known for building unlikely partnerships across government, academia, philanthropy, and the nonprofit sector, Thea is passionate about modernizing child welfare through practical innovation that helps every child find the right family—and every family receive the support they need to succeed.
Rebecca Robuck is a Partner at ChildFocus and Executive Director of the National Coalition for Child and Family Well-Being, a coalition of 30+ organizations advancing policy reform to strengthen family support, improve child protection, and promote healing for children and families. She also co-facilitates the Child Welfare Funders Collaborative, a group of fifteen foundations focused on prevention-centered reform. Her career spans federal and state policy, coalition-building, and strategic advising, beginning as a Legislative Assistant to U.S. Representative Jim Cooper. Rebecca holds Master's degrees in Social Work and Public Administration from the University of Pennsylvania and is a certified professional coach.
Rita Soronen has spent more than 40 years working on behalf of abused, neglected, and vulnerable children. As President and CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption since 2001, she leads an organization that in 2025 dedicated more than $41 million to programs finding permanent families for children in foster care. Under her leadership, the Foundation launched Wendy's Wonderful Kids (now in all 50 states) which research shows makes a child up to three times more likely to be adopted. She has testified before Congress, serves on the board of Think of Us, and is an advisory board member of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. Her honors include the Angels in Adoption Award, YWCA Woman of Achievement, and an honorary Doctorate of Community Leadership from Franklin University.
Stephanie Summers is CEO of the Center for Public Justice, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting justice in public life. She is the co-author of Unleashing Opportunity: Why Escaping Poverty Requires a Shared Vision of Justice and a frequent speaker on Christian public engagement, pluralism, and civic leadership. A recipient of the inaugural Duke Divinity Reflective Leadership Award, she holds an M.S. in Nonprofit Management from Eastern University. Her leadership career includes 12 years with the CCO, serving as Vice President for the Eastern Region as well as Organizational Development. Her voice at the intersection of faith, justice, and cross-partisan civic life is a distinctive contribution to the child and family policy field.
Michelle Turner is the Founder and CEO of Here Now Health, the first virtual behavioral health company built for Medicaid members impacted by the child welfare system.
Michelle leads Here Now Health with a deep understanding of both the child welfare and healthcare systems, shaped by years as a foster parent to more than 40 children, a CASA volunteer, and a healthcare executive. She has held leadership roles across community and global health, including at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), as Executive Director of a global telehealth nonprofit, and as a Vice President at Hazel Health, where she helped scale school-based virtual care nationwide. Throughout her career, she has focused on building clinical programs that meet kids and families where they are, and when they need it most. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Child Psychology and a master’s degree in Public Health.
Joe Waters is the co-founder and CEO of Capita, an independent think tank dedicated to a future where families and communities flourish. Since founding Capita in 2018, he has developed forward-leaning initiatives exploring the major transformations of our time — social, demographic, cultural, technological, and economic — and their potential impacts on families worldwide. His work spans narrative change, policy development, and partnership with leaders committed to implementation. He also serves as a Senior Advisor at Openfields, a consulting firm based in Greenville, South Carolina, and previously served as Executive Vice President of the Institute for Child Success. A 2021 Aspen Institute Ascend Fellow, Joe's commentary on issues facing American families has been published widely across local, national, and international outlets. He holds a B.A. in History from Furman University and a Master of Divinity from Duke University.
Brian Widuch currently serves as a Senior Advisor to the Secretary at the Maryland Department of Human Services, focusing on strategies to promote economic mobility and family well-being for all Marylanders.
From 2015 to 2025, Brian served served in the White House Office of Management and Budget, overseeing social services programs including child welfare programs under the Children's Bureau, refugee resettlement, and SNAP. In this capacity, Brian worked as a nonpartisan expert for the Obama, Trump, and Biden Administrations developing budgets, reviewing and approving regulations, and developing and implementing policy agendas.
Brian played a key role in developing the Biden Administration's child welfare policy agenda and in the domestic resettlement of Afghans under Operation Allies Welcome. He also served as a Director of Strategic Planning in the National Security Council during the Biden Administration. Brian received his undergraduate degree and Masters in Public Policy from the George Washington University in Washington, DC. He lives in Baltimore, MD with his wife Maggie.
Dr. Tamarie Willis is a child welfare policy scholar, program evaluator, and systems-change leader whose work sits at the intersection of child welfare, criminal legal policy, behavioral health, and family well-being. Prior to joining the University of Washington, she served as a Society for Research in Child Development and American Association for the Advancement of Science Public Policy Fellow at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she deepened her expertise in translating research into federal policy. She previously served as Manager for Reentry Initiatives at Wayne State University’s Center for Behavioral Health and Justice, where she oversaw federal and state grants and led evaluation for reentry programming serving individuals with co-occurring substance use and mental health needs across nine prisons and three jails in Michigan. In this role, she managed complex partnerships among state agencies, county systems, corrections, probation and parole, community mental health, peer specialists, and community-based providers. For nearly a decade, Dr. Willis has conducted applied mixed methods research and evaluation to strengthen child welfare systems, with a focus on permanency, kinship care, adoption-sensitive practice, youth engagement, and workforce development. Her scholarship examines parental incarceration, termination of parental rights, foster youth transitions to adulthood, and the competencies needed to support permanency. She has also partnered with child welfare agencies, courts, and legal-system stakeholders to elevate youth voice in permanency planning and decision-making. Her current work focuses on how child welfare policy affects incarcerated parents and the clinical, educational, and behavioral outcomes of their children in state care.