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Meet Our Staff
Our Northwest Adoption Exchange staff features dependable adoption professionals with years of direct experience and advocacy in the field. We serve as active consultants and educators, lending expertise and guidance to local, regional and federal task forces and committees. Many of us have personal, meaningful adoption connections that enhance our insight and understanding of the process.
We are passionate about our adoption and foster care work. We are here to help.
Contact us anytime at 1.800.927.9411 or nwae@nwresource.org
Staff Finder:
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Kelly DeLany, MA, LMFT Kelly supervises all NWAE programs and staff, including the Washington Adoption Resource Exchange (WARE), the Oregon Adoption Resource Exchange (OARE) and the Washington Specialized Recruitment Project (SRP). She is also the Director of Website Social Work Policy for AdoptUSKids. Additionally, she sits on executive and planning committees for the Adoption Exchange Association, the Post Graduate Certificate Program in Adoptive Family Therapy at Portland State University; and previously for the Child Welfare Information Gateway, and the Relatives as Parents Project in Oregon, which produced two published guides. She has also consulted with Senator Ron Wyden's office (OR) regarding the Voice for Adoption program, and with Congressman Greg Walden's office (OR) regarding the Angels in Adoption program. Before NWAE, Kelly served as Program Manager of the Oregon Post Adoption Resource Center (ORPARC), a program of Northwest Resource Associates, where she accepted the 2006 Adoption Excellence Award for support for adoptive families from the federal Children's Bureau on ORPARC's behalf. Her prior work includes coordinating the Post Graduate Certificate Program in Adoptive Family Therapy at Portland State University and teaching college psychology courses. As one of the founding therapists of Kinship House (Portland, Oregon) Kelly has over a decade of counseling experience with foster and adoptive children and families, and 20 years working in the therapy field. Her own family is directly touched by adoption, bringing added insight and meaning to her work at the NWAE. Kelly and her husband are joyfully parenting two daughters and one adorable Yorkie-Dachshund mix. Kelly loves swimming, hiking, kayaking, and especially music. |
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Patrick Weber, BA Pat oversees the daily functioning of the WARE program and its staff, from case registration to tracking to reporting. He meets regularly with child and family social workers statewide to help them utilize services on the WARE and NWAE websites. Patrick is an adoption professional with over 30 years of management and leadership in special needs adoption. In addition to completing over 100 domestic and international adoptions, Pat managed Washington's Adoption and Adoption Support programs for Children's Administration for over 15 years. Early on in his adoption career he coordinated the emergency placement of 150 children from the Vietnamese Airlift. His interest in adoption as a lifelong process involved him as a founding board member with the Washington Adoptive Reunion Movement (WARM). A devoted family man and married for over 40 years, Patrick and his wife have two adult children. |
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Kendra Morris-Jacobson, MA Kendra manages all aspects of the OARE program, both on and offline. She conducts statewide outreach in order to help caseworkers and families utilize OARE and NWAE, and coordinates caseworker trainings on recruitment topics. Kendra is also a writer for the NWAE and its programs. Kendra has spent over 15 years in foster care adoption recruitment, including work with Boys & Girls Aid, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and Voice for Adoption. As a prior editor, writer and recruiter, she has captured the stories of hundreds of foster & adoptive children and families, and it has fueled her enthusiasm for this cause. In previous clinical work at Oregon Health Sciences University, Kendra counseled children and families, led groups for adolescent depression, and contributed to research projects. Kendra cherishes family time with her husband, sons and rambunctious white shepherd, and gardens and bakes in her spare moments. |
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Bryna Desper, BA Bryna identifies and enrolls children in the child-specific, targeted recruitment SRP services. She tracks and monitors each child's recruitment activity and permanency options throughout the project year. Bryna recently returned to the Northwest Adoption Exchange after twenty years out in the field. Bryna has worked extensively with both private (Medina) and public (Washington state) agencies as an adoption worker and specialist. A member of several advisory committees, including the Foster Care Assessment Program (FCAP), the Ombudsman Advisory Committee and a Child Protection Team (CPT) for the state of Washington, Bryna would never have predicted that special needs adoption would become her life's passion and work. A self-professed "closet interior decorator", Bryna savors long walks in nature, and cooking dinners for family and friends. |
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Jo Ann Trick, BA Jo Ann is responsible for developing, organizing and managing all Kids' Fest adoption parties, and provides assistance for the Adoption Training and Tracking program. She also manages the Washington Statewide Recruitment Information Center (SRIC) for Northwest Resource Associates. Jo Ann earned her Bachelor's degree from Antioch University with a focus on social work in 2002. She loves talking to families, and providing them with the help they need in becoming foster and/or adoptive parents. Jo Ann enjoys travel and spending time with her family and friends, as well as planning informal events for her family and community. |
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Maggie Cotton, BA Maggie writes and edits the countless biographical profiles of waiting children for the NWAE, OARE and WARE websites. She also lends advocacy and support to families seeking to adopt. Although adopted as an older child, it hadn't occurred to Maggie while getting her degree in human services, doing master's level graduate work in psychology, and conducting crisis intervention with families and children for 15 years, to have a career in adoption. Now she cannot imagine working in any other field. "I have come full circle. There were loving adoptive parents for me when I desperately needed them. Now for over 20 years I have been privileged to be helping other waiting children." Maggie treasures the moments she gets to spend with two awesome teenage brothers to whom she has been "Nana" ever since they were babies. |
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Tyler Helbach, BA Tyler provides overall program support and information technology expertise for NWAE, WARE and OARE. He maintains and updates child profiles, and gives recruitment assistance to the Wednesday's Child, Specialized Recruitment and Kids fest projects. A 2007 graduate of Willamette University, Tyler got his B.A. in History while focusing a minor on American Ethnic Studies. He first became interested in adoption issues when in 2006 he spent a semester in Nepal, teaching English and working with children who no longer had active parents in their lives. After spending this time abroad, Tyler went on to concentrate his major on how the popular discovery of child abuse in the 1960's shaped our current understanding of child welfare issues. A native of Seattle, Tyler is happy and excited to be back where he grew up, working for NWAE and starting graduate school. |
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Stephanie Pride, BFA Stephanie updates and maintains child photos and profiles on the NWAE, OARE and WARE websites. She also helps with design of printed materials and website features. Stephanie graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Visual Communication Design from the University of Washington. She has done design work for Seattle Goodwill and the University of Washington, in addition to many freelance projects. Stephanie appreciates the collaborative atmosphere of nonprofits, and values working with people who are passionate about what they do. Stephanie enjoys vegan cooking and baking, the art of letterpress printing, and spending quality time with her husband and Chihuahua. |
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Amber Louis, BA Amber began her career at Northwest Adoption Exchange in January 2012 as an intern and quickly realized a passion for child welfare and the work that NWAE does. Now serving as a Recruitment and Enrollment Specialist, she works on the Specialized Recruitment Project and heads organization outreach and awareness efforts in Washington State. In the spring of 2012, Amber received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington in Sociology with a minor in Law, Society, and Justice. She complemented her service for foster children inside of the office by completing an honors thesis her senior year, focusing on foster children’s success in young adulthood compared to their peers with different parental structures. She plans on beginning a career in Family and Adoption Law as a first year law student in fall 2014. Until then, she enjoys diligently working for northwest foster youth at Northwest Adoption Exchange. When she’s not studying for the LSAT, she enjoys exploring Seattle with friends, taking road trips around the Northwest, and staying active with hot yoga. |
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In Memoriam - Barbara Tucker Pearson, MSW
NWAE founder and mentor, Barbara Tucker Pearson, joined Northwest Resource Associates (NWRA) in 1988 as the director of the Northwest Adoption Exchange (NWAE). She remained an integral and valuable member of the NWRA team until her recent death after a long battle with cancer. During her years at NWRA, Barbara was frequently named to local, regional and national planning committees charged with developing and implementing foster care and adoption policies. She was also in demand as an adoption and permanency planning trainer. In 2006, Barbara was an honored recipient of the "Angels In Adoption" award from the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI). Barbara was a generous individual who treasured family, and who enjoyed spending time with her horses at her Bainbridge Island home. We are thankful to Barbara for the love and hope she brought to thousands of children and families in need, and for the support, encouragement and inspiration she so generously gave to her colleagues and friends. Read more: www.komonews.com/obits/106639809.html "I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked directly with Barbara for the past six years, and for the wonderful mentoring I received. I am honored to succeed Barbara, and to be able to carry on her vision and values for NWAE." —A personal message from Kelly DeLany, current Director of NWAE |
