Adam Pertman is the Executive Director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, a national nonprofit that is the pre-eminent research, policy and education organization in its field. Pertman is also the author of the groundbreaking Adoption Nation: How the Adoption Revolution is Transforming America, which has been reviewed as “the most important book ever written on the subject.” In addition, he is the author of many chapters and articles on adoption- and family-related issues in books, scholarly journals and mass-market publications. Read more.
Brenda McCreight, Ph.D., R.S.W., child and family therapist; mom to 14 children including 12 through adoption; author of “Recognizing and Managing Fetal Alcohol Syndrome/Effects: A Guidebook” , “Parenting Your Adopted Older Child: How To Overcome the Unique Challenges and Raise a Happy and Healthy Child”, and the childrens’ book “Eden’s Secret Journal: The Story of An Older Child Adoption” Brenda is pleased to announce that she is extending her consulting practice to include parent coaching through telephone consults and fly-in services.
Dr. Ochs has been a general pediatrician in Chicago since 1984.  He lives in the Ravenswood neighborhood with his wife, five daughters, and two dogs.  He began working with adoptive families in 1997, during the adoption of his first Chinese daughter.  Since then, he has seen over a thousand of internationally adopted children in his practice and adoption clinic, has done thousands more referral reviews, has spoken to thousands of adoptive parents, and has adopted three more special needs Chinese daughters.  He has written adoption medicine articles for several adoption publications, for the AAP Illinois Chapter Newsletter, and for the Child’s Doctor of Children’s Memorial Hospital, has spoken on international adoption at the International Pediatric Association in Beijing, in 2001, and, since, at the CAFFA and Midwest Adoption conferences.  He is a founding member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Section on Adoption and Foster Care, and serves on its executive committee. He can be reached at his office, at 773-769-4600, via fax, at 773-769-6242, via email, at t-ochs@northwestern.edu, or at his home office, at 773-907-8864.
Deborah Hage remains happily married to Paul Hage since 1969 and after 14 children. They have given birth to two children, adopted seven children and have been therapeutic foster parents to five other children. Most of the children have been physically, emotionally, behaviorally and/or intellectually challenged. They have dealt extensively with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, educational and legal issues. At one point in time 8 of the children were teenagers at once! They went through the throes of emancipation, with several seeking out and finding birth parents and others finding that the surest way to leave home was to go to jail. Read more.
Michael Yates, M.Div., is the Project Manager of Tennessee Adoption Support and Preservation (ASAP), a post adoption program designed to support adoptive families struggling with the unique needs of their children (www.tnasap.org). Michael has many years of experience in child welfare including two years of residential services at Vanderbilt Child and Adolescent Hospital, 12 years of therapeutic foster care and adoption, and two years with ASAP.

Sarah has a Master's degree in Social Work with over 30 years experience in the child welfare field. She is currently employed as a Supervisor in a state department of child and family services, overseeing the licensing and monitoring of adoption and foster care child placing agencies. She is also the adoptive parent of a 20 year old daughter.

Susan Badeau has been a child welfare professional for twenty-six years.  Currently a policy consultant, from 2002 – 2005 Ms. Badeau served as the Deputy Director of the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care. She has also worked in direct services at both the casework and supervisory levels in adoption and foster care in both public and private agencies.  She has developed curricula on many topics used to prepare professional child welfare staff, adoptive and foster parents, judges, attorneys and youth.  She also writes extensively on topics related to children, particularly those with special needs. A lifelong child advocate, she completed a one-year Kennedy Public Policy Fellow in the office of Senator John D (Jay) Rockefeller IV in Washington DC where she had the opportunity to work on policies that impact on the lives of children and families. Sue is also a frequent speaker at state, regional and national conferences.

Sue and her husband, Hector, are the lifetime parents of twenty-two children, two by birth and twenty adopted.  They have also served as foster parents for more than 50 children in three states, and as a host family for refugee youth from Sudan, Kosovo and Guatemala.  This summer, their 28th grandchild was born.  They have won numerous awards for their work, including being recognized by President Clinton with an “Adoption Excellence” award for their work on behalf of adoption and children in foster care in 1997.

Jennifer Deazvedo is an adoption preparation caseworker for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.  Jennifer has a Bachelor of Social Work Degree and has been a caseworker for over 7 years.  She has been preparing children for adoption and has been placing children in their "forever" families for over 4 years.

Barbara Holtan, the Executive Director of the Adoption Exchange Association, has agreed to serve on our panels. She states, “I consider my most important credential to be the fact that my husband and I are adoptive parents - 5 kids, 3 by adoption (2 came to us as older kids ages 7 and 8) and 2 by birth. They are all grown now and out on their own.”

Gene Tweraser worked for 19 years as an adoption specialist for the state of Arkansas, and is still in contact with many of the families, including the now adult "children", with whom she worked. Her expertise would be in the area of family relationships, developmental issues, and most particularly now, family connections between adopted persons, birth parents and adoptive families, as well as lifebooks. These are the areas in which she has most recently done videos, workshops and articles. She reports, "I don't have a website, and I'm certainly not a nationally-known expert, but I have presented many times at NACAC and have a lot of practical experience.

Sarah Gerstenzang works for the Adoption Exchange Association as an Assistant Director of our largest project. Previously, she was a Senior Policy Analyst at Children’s Rights. But maybe most importantly, she and her husband were foster parents in New York City and the youngest of their three children was adopted through the foster care system. She has a book coming out this winter with Vanderbilt University Press entitled, Another Mother: Co-Parenting with the Foster Care System.

Deborah Jill Chitester received her Masters of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from Adelphi University in New York and was granted her Certificate of Clinical Competence (C.C.C) by the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA). She has 12+ years experience working with all age levels both mono-lingual and Spanish speaking, having received special certification by the State of New York as a Bilingual (English/Spanish) Speech-Language Pathologist. Deborah has worked with all age levels and all disabilities. She began her practice in New York, where she worked with both private patients as well as with the major school systems and corporations. She provides specialized language services for internationally adopted children and provides consultative services for parents concerning the importance of distinguishing second language aspects from true speech and language disorders.

Faye Hall works with Jeff Merkert. Their company is Connection Resources, LLC. They use their manual to train parents and professionals in the impact of early trauma on a child's development, resulting behaviors, and healing interventions. She is also an adoptive mom and she and Jeff are both family based therapists. Additionally, she see clients in an outpatient office and facilitates support groups.

Alissa Sugrim, MSW, is an Adoption Specialist in Orlando, FL. She has over 6 years experience in child welfare ranging from an investigator to a targeted adoption recruitment specialist. She currently is the point person for the Heart Gallery of Metro Orlando, which will launch its first ever exhibit in November of 2006. In addition, Alissa chairs the Match Committee and Wednesday's Child. A native Floridian, she received her BA in Sociology from the University of Florida, and her Master's in Social Work from the University of Michigan. She invites you to check out the following websites:
www.fsmetroorlando.org and www.heartgallerymetroorlando.org as well as the Florida Heart Gallery websites:

Nancy Magnall has been an adoption information specialist for the past 5 years for the Iowa Foster and Adoptive Parents Association (our website is www.ifapa.org).  She provides information, resources, and support for families who have adopted children with special needs through the Iowa Department of Human Services.  She is also an adoptive mom of one son who is 16 and has been a foster parent for 20 years.