Justice Ingrid Gustafson

Justice Ingrid Gustafson has worked tirelessly for over 20 years to promote the well-being of children and families in the child welfare system, both as a district court judge in Yellowstone County and as a Supreme Court justice. She is Montana Supreme Court’s sitting member on the Court Improvement Program, which gives federal funding to agencies and tribes for preventative services to assist vulnerable families. She has been instrumental in getting judges and other court workers to participate in training to improve communication and best practices in child welfare.

While a judge in Yellowstone County, Justice Gustafson launched a court pilot to promote family reunification and reduce case processing times. As a result of her efforts, the termination of parental rights decreased by one-third and case processing time decreased by 40%. The prehearing conferences also facilitated conversations among parents, attorneys, CPS workers and Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)/Guardian ad Litems (GAL). Many of the practices employed in her pilot program have been replicated and implemented in Montana’s district courts statewide with some practices recently signed into state law.

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Christine James-Brown

In 2007, Christine James-Brown became president and chief executive officer of the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), the nation’s oldest and largest membership-based child welfare organization. She led CWLA’s continued work in improving the quality and availability of child welfare and related services through standard-setting and advocacy. Under her leadership, CWLA has restructured its business model and service strategy to better anticipate and respond to the needs of children and families who are vulnerable.

After a challenging downsizing period, CWLA worked with members and experts across the country to develop the CWLA National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfare. The initiative aims to raise child welfare awareness both within and outside of the system, helping individuals and groups understand their responsibility in improving outcomes for children and families. Under James-Brown’s leadership, CWLA has emerged as a powerful coalition of hundreds of private and public agencies that serve children and families. James-Brown retired from her role in 2023.

Prior to joining CWLA, she served as CEO of the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania and the United Way International, where she had a special focus on the needs of children in Philadelphia and its surrounding counties, and around the world.

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The Honorable Aurora Martinez Jones

Judge Aurora Martinez Jones is a child welfare law specialist dedicated to improving the lives of children and families through legal advocacy. She co-founded the Child Welfare Race Equity Collaborative, which harnesses the insights and work of lived experts to make the child welfare system more equitable and anti-racist. She is certified by the National Association of Counsel for Children, a nonprofit that provides high-quality legal representation for children.

Her current judicial position oversees the Travis County Model Court for Children and Families, which includes the child welfare dockets in Travis County. The Model Court supports several initiatives through committees on Race Equity and Disproportionality; Domestic Violence and Child Protective Services (CPS); Pregnant and Parenting Foster Youth; and LGBTQ+ and CPS; and through Model Court programs such as the Family Drug Treatment Court and the Crossover Program for Dual Status Youth. She runs a trauma-informed court and continues her work in dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline.

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Jerod Pierce

Jerod Pierce is the founder of Olympic Holdings — a Seattle-based holding company that invests in privately owned businesses and real estate — as well as the Pierce Family Charitable Trust, a private family trust with a mission to honor and reflect the family’s shared values through giving.

Pierce, an alumnus of Casey Family Programs foster care, graduated cum laude from Seattle University with degrees in business administration and finance. He completed an internship with the investment firm D.A. Davidson, where he was later hired. After working at various investment banking and private equity firms, Pierce attended Harvard Business School for his Master of Business Administration.

Pierce credits his challenging early life experiences with helping him develop gratitude, resilience, compassion, tenacity and loyalty — traits that have contributed greatly to his success. He is the 2016 recipient of the Casey Excellence for Children Alumni Award and a strong advocate of mentoring. Mentors have been very important in his life and career, and he is now in a position to help others. He continues to give time and significant resources back to society, including volunteer work at nonprofit organizations and schools to share his personal experiences of growing up in a disadvantaged environment. The Pierce Family Charitable Trust currently supports organizations related to foster care and mental health.

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Dr. Annetta Wilson

Dr. Annetta Wilson’s decades of successful work center around one theme: ensuring children can remain safely with family. Currently she serves as the executive director of Sankofa House, a residential community established in 2008. The 58-unit building offers affordable housing to grandparents raising grandchildren and to young adults who have aged out of foster care in Illinois. In addition to being a safe, supportive community, Sankofa House convenes monthly support groups, develops training curriculum for grandparents raising grandchildren and has hosted congressional staff for education on kinship and its impact on children and families.

Dr. Wilson leverages lived experience, data and cross-system collaboration in her leadership. She spotlights critical challenges families face and facilitates opportunities for people to share their experiences and ideas for solutions. She creates spaces for youth in the community to heal from trauma, has secured grant funding for mental health counseling in high schools and hosts an annual Girls SpeakOut empowerment event.   ​

As a valued partner to Casey Family Programs, Dr. Wilson informs local, state and federal policy discussions. She has partnered with Casey to improve permanency rates in Illinois, an example of her critical work in promoting racial justice and equity in the state. At the federal level, Dr. Wilson has supported Ways and Means Subcommittee Ranking Member Congressman Danny Davis in his efforts to raise awareness about challenges and opportunities that children and families face.

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