Meet the 2016 Leadership Honorees
These awards recognize leaders who have had a significant impact in improving outcomes for children and families and building Communities of Hope across America.
Select the photo below to read more about the year’s honorees.
Erma Vizenor
As tribal chair of the White Earth Nation for 11 years and secretary-treasurer for six years, Dr. Erma Vizenor was instrumental in developing the tribe’s child welfare and foster care programs and aligning their practices around the Indian Child Welfare Act. She also headed an effort to develop a one-stop shop for children and families needing services and to develop culturally relevant services for families. Additionally, Dr. Vizenor has increased mental health services and the number of nurses on the reservation, which was selected in 2015 as a demonstration site for the Obama Administration’s Rural Impact project to decrease rural poverty and increase opportunities.
Dr. Vizenor also helped create a residential treatment program, a sobriety center for women, a community college and a new school, in addition to developing the first Early Childhood and Family Education program on the reservation. Dr. Vizenor is also the founder of Native Youth Alliance Minnesota, which works to prepare Native youth for a lifetime of choices, through education, research and organizational efforts. She has a master’s degree from the University of Minnesota Moorhead and a doctorate from Harvard University.
Ann Silverberg Williamson
As executive director of the Utah Department of Human Services, Ann Silverberg Williamson is leading the effort to implement a comprehensive model of care to strengthen the experiences and outcomes for children, families and adults. The evidence-based model encourages individual voices in planning, assesses early risks and strengths, and leverages community partnerships for sustainable results. Under her administration, Utah operates a federal child welfare demonstration project that is reducing foster care placement, child abuse and neglect incidents and long-term social services intervention. Ms. Silverberg Williamson was selected as a 2015 Aspen Institute Ascend Fellow to focus on economic security, educational success and health and well-being for low-income families. She previously served as president and CEO of the Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations and formerly led the Louisiana Department of Social Services.
James M. Henry
Jim Henry is the deputy to the Tennessee governor and chief of staff. He was previously the commissioner for the Department of Children’s Services, and was the first leader of the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Mr. Henry collaborates closely with stakeholders, including judges, local elected officials, foundations, business leaders and the faith community. His vision has resulted in a statewide effort to better address the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences, a reduction in using congregate care, more timely permanency for children who need homes, and a contract to make Tennessee the first state to offer comprehensive services to help foster children who transition out of state custody. Mr. Henry chairs the Appalachian Child Welfare Leaders Workgroup, bringing together child welfare leaders in one of the country’s poorest regions to identify strategies to support families and children. He also served 12 years as a state representative, six of them as minority leader.
Judge Thomas Brittan Hammond
Judge Britt Hammond serves as juvenile court judge of the Toombs Judicial Circuit in Georgia. Judge Hammond negotiated and developed the statewide cross-border Interstate Pact for the Placement of Children (ICPC) agreement between Alabama and Georgia. He led unprecedented engagement and collaboration between top-level child welfare and judicial leaders, policymakers and child welfare staff. In the two Alabama and Georgia counties that piloted the joint agreement, more than 70 children were housed safely with relatives across state borders, preventing entries into foster care. As a result of the agreement’s success, Judge Hammond is currently leading development of a similar agreement between Alabama and Tennessee. In addition to being a national expert in ICPC reform, Judge Hammond is a member of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.
Dana Emery
Dana M. Emery heads Dodge & Cox, a San Francisco-based investment firm with more than $270 billion in assets under management. In addition to sitting on the firm’s investment and business strategy committees, she serves on Dodge & Cox’s Charitable Giving Committee, which is focused on improving educational opportunities for low-income youth. Ms. Emery serves on the national board of directors of Summer Search, a mentoring program that provides long-term coaching and relationships for low-income youth in five cities: San Francisco and the Bay Area, Seattle, New York, Boston and Philadelphia. The program helps connect high school sophomores and juniors with two summer experiences that expand their horizons and build their confidence. In addition to her volunteer board duties, Ms. Emery and her family mentor three teens through another Bay Area organization, Today’s Youth Matter, sponsoring them in private schools, supplementing their education through tutoring and providing family support such as internet access.
