As the Ohio Chapter Communications Chair, Lisa has been extremely effective in establishing the chapter as a source of expertise in the state and around the country. Lisa has led efforts to advocate for reinstating Independent Living funds, which were cut from the state budget—which included advocacy visits with members of the state legislature, coordination with other advocates, and numerous opportunities for chapter members to testify before legislative committees. The chapter has also been involved in Ohio Reach, a statewide effort to increase the recruitment and retention of foster care alumni in high education, and to establish foster care liaisons at Ohio universities, community college and technical schools. Lisa’s commitment to supporting the leadership development of other alumni across the state has led to a very well trained and experienced core membership in the chapter and will serve to make the Ohio chapter sustainable well into the future.
 

Lisa has led the development of a number of trainings for our organization including Emotional Resiliency, Purposeful Sharing and Real Life 101 workshops. She is dedicated to teaching professionals about effectively and respectfully engaging alumni, workshops on understanding childhood trauma’s effects across the lifespan and how this can become motivation for using those experiences as an advocate, and trainings to support young people and alumni to establish healthy boundaries and expectations in their personal, volunteer and professional relationships.
 

In addition to her activities at the state level, Lisa is a highly visible and effective national leader. She has a strong presence online as a person who is always willing to ask tough questions about practice and policy in both foster care and adoption. She has provided her technical expertise to numerous other FCAA members as well as the broader child welfare community (leading the establishment of a number of resource websites aimed at people in and from care and the professionals who serve them). Lisa is a gifted trainer and often represents FCAA at state and national events as a keynote speaker and/or workshop presenter.
 

Lisa has recently been engaged FCAA’s Volunteer Social Media Coordinator. This is a fitting position for Lisa as she is active in nearly all conversations through blogs, forums, and social networks that are related to foster care.