ARVADA, COLORADO

Toni Miner is a family advocate in Colorado and the mother of two daughters and a son. She also is the kinship caregiver and legal guardian for two grandchildren. After Toni was involved with the child welfare system, she overcame drug addiction and was reunited with her children. Toni serves as a family support partner for Jefferson County, where she helps other parents involved in the child welfare system advocate for themselves. She is member of the Birth Parent National Network and is developing a Parent Support Partner mentoring program.

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA

As the only parent mentor at the Indian Child Welfare Act Law Center in Minneapolis, Shana King helps more than 200 Native American families, supporting them in court, meeting with social workers and assisting them with case plans. She works toward the center’s mission to strengthen, preserve and reunite Indian families under the framework of the Indian Child Welfare Act. King is also a parent consultant who works under contract with the Minnesota Department of Human Services to teach classes on resiliency and strategic storytelling that help families in the child protection system communicate their situation and wishes. King meets monthly with other parent consultants to discuss needed improvements in the child welfare system.

A member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, King lived in foster care as a teen. A mother of five, King overcame substance abuse and was successfully reunified with her children. She plans to meet a daughter who was adopted later this summer.

DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA

Corey Best is a single father and a local and national advocate for birth parent and family engagement. After successfully overcoming addiction, he developed his parenting skills and now has a strong relationship with his 6-year-old son. As the family engagement manager with the Healthy Start Coalition of Flagler and Volusia Counties in Florida, he trains child welfare staff and helps families develop their parenting and advocacy skills. He also spearheaded a pilot Parent Partner program to help families meet goals and achieve reunification. He serves on the Substance Exposed Newborn Task Force, and the Birth Parent National Network’s Parent Council, ensuring that the voices of parents are heard.

LINCOLN, NEBRASKA

Tracy and Douglas Christensen brought an older foster youth, Joy, into their home in 2014 after Tracy met her while serving as a mentor at a camp for foster youth. The couple advocated for improvements in her medical treatment and helped her establish family connections that she didn’t know existed. The Christensens took Joy to Texas to visit her birth mother, who is disabled and lives in a care facility. And they visited Colorado to meet extended family. They have adopted Joy, and they have spoken at foster parent gatherings and provider meetings about the importance of maintaining biological family connections.

KAILUA, HAWAII

Makani grew up in Hawaii in an adoptive family of six children, including his brother, a female cousin and three other boys. All the children suffered abuse in the home, which continued after the family moved to Arizona. At age 18, Makani courageously took action to protect his siblings and stop the abuse, then made sacrifices to become their caregiver so they would not be separated in the child welfare system. He created a home for the children while he was a full-time student playing on his college football team. His high school sweetheart, Brianna Summers, moved to Arizona, and together they cared for the younger siblings. With assistance from Casey Family Programs, the couple found extended family members who wanted to help. A couple adopted one child, their great-niece. And another couple became parents to two others. Makani and Brianna married in 2014 and adopted the other two children. The Kema-Kaleiwaheas’ efforts, and those of relatives, have had invaluable impact for five vulnerable children.

BOISE, IDAHO

An alumna of foster care, Maritza is a social worker, kinship caregiver and dedicated advocate for youth in foster care. Soon after she entered graduate school in 2013, Maritza learned of her nephew’s and nieces’ unstable home situation in Mexico and quickly worked to bring them to Idaho. She became their legal guardian and helped them navigate a new country — all while excelling in Master of Social Work courses, completing an internship and helping the children maintain a relationship with their birth mother. Maritza brings hope to others by mentoring youth in foster care, offering support to refugees resettling in Boise, and sharing her story as a speaker with the American Promise Alliance and the Idaho Drop-Out Summit.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

An alumnus of foster care, Jerod Pierce overcame difficult family circumstances, including his mother’s addiction and incarceration and multiple moves, to become a successful student. After being served by Casey Family Programs in Montana and Washington, he graduated cum laude from Seattle University with degrees in business administration and finance, and he completed an internship with investment firm D.A. Davidson, where he was subsequently hired. After working in a number of investment and private equity firms, Mr. Pierce attended Harvard Business School. He recently became founder and managing partner of Olympic Holdings, a Seattle-based holding company that invests in manufacturing businesses. Additionally, Mr. Pierce has encouraged other disadvantaged youth as a speaker with the Year Up program, which provides intensive career training and development to low-income youth.