Led by Experience. Grounded in Practice.
The people leading iCARE Adoptive And Foster Families do not observe this work from a distance. They live it, practice it, and are personally accountable to it.
Our Governing Conviction
Children and families are best served when the adults making decisions bring diverse lived experience, professional expertise, and deep community roots to every table they sit at together.
At iCARE, that is not an aspiration. It is a requirement.
A Governance Model Rooted in Lived Proximity
iCARE Adoptive And Foster Families is governed by an eleven-member Board of Directors whose composition directly reflects our mission.
Lived Experience at the Core
Nine of our eleven board members bring personal lived experience in adoption, foster care, or kinship care.
Active Partners, Not Distant Advisors
Our board members are adoptive parents, foster parents, and caregivers who understand firsthand what it means to raise a child whose story began with complexity.
Our Accountability Mechanism
Lived proximity is not incidental to our governance. It is the primary lens through which we evaluate strategy, guard our mission, and measure community impact.
Laura Adams
President & Founder
Lived Experience: Adoptive Parent, Support Group Leader
Laura established iCARE Adoptive And Foster Families in February 2024 in direct response to a gap she recognized through her own journey: the near-complete absence of structured support for children and families after permanency has been achieved.
In just over two years under her leadership, iCARE has grown from a founding vision into an organization that has trained nearly 800 educators, distributed thousands of Connection Kits™ across Illinois, and launched a statewide school designation Movement.
Laura is recognized as an innovative thought leader at the intersection of adoption, foster care, and educational policy. In early 2026, she co-authored the first-ever best practice brief on adoption published jointly through the Illinois Association of School Social Workers (IASSW) and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). Her advocacy contributed directly to the passage of HB 4536 through the Illinois House Committee in 2026, a landmark piece of legislation that explicitly names adopted, foster, and kinship youth within Illinois’ school framework. One of the first times this population has been explicitly recognized in state law.
Board of Directors
Brenda Marwede, LCPC
Board Chair
Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor
Brenda’s clinical leadership at the governance level ensures that every piece of iCARE’s programming remains grounded in evidence-based practice. Her advanced certifications in mental health integrative medicine and child and adolescent care deepen our credibility and strengthen our relationships with clinical partners across Illinois.
Rani Nolan, M.A.
Secretary
Master of Arts, Math Teacher and Tutor
Lived Experience: Adoptive Parent
Rani draws on her background in the classroom to deepen the board’s understanding of the day-to-day realities educators navigate when supporting students with complex developmental needs.
Dr. Ruth Martin
Treasurer
Director of Translational Safety Pharmacology, AbbVie
Lived Experience: Adoptive Parent
Ruth brings scientific leadership, data-driven risk assessment, and complex corporate operations experience to iCARE’s financial governance. Her rigorous oversight keeps our fiscal accountability in step with our rapid, statewide growth.
Dr. Ross Arneson, Psy.D.
Director
Doctor of Psychology
Lived Experience: Adoptive Parent
Ross serves as a direct bridge between our board and Illinois’ educational policy ecosystem. His doctoral-level expertise and co-authorship of the 2026 IASSW/ISBE best practice brief alongside Laura Adams reflects the depth of institutional influence iCARE has built in a short time.
Claudia Berman
Director
Financial Services Professional, Training Interpreter
Claudia brings more than eighteen years of financial services experience alongside a deep commitment to community advocacy. As a training interpreter, she bridges communication gaps with skill and care, a capacity that resonates directly with the bilingual design of Connection Kits™. Her volunteer history with CASA, Wings, and Nurture reflects the values at the heart of this board.
Nicole Burnside, LSW
Director
Licensed Social Worker
Lived Experience: Adoptive and Foster Parent
Nicole anchors iCARE’s social work expertise with frontline perspective from someone embedded daily in the child welfare and school systems our work is designed to support. Her lived and professional experience are inseparable, and both make iCARE stronger.
Marcia Christoffel, MSW
Director
Master of Social Work
Lived Experience: Adoptive Parent
Marcia applies graduate-level social work training to evaluate how iCARE’s statewide programming aligns with both macro policy frameworks and the lived needs of the communities we serve.
Catherine-Esther Cowie, MBA, MFA
Director
MBA, MFA; Director of Marketing at the Erikson Institute
Catherine-Esther brings data-informed marketing strategy, deep institutional knowledge of child development, and mission-driven storytelling to the iCARE board. As Director of Marketing at the Erikson Institute and a published poet and visual artist, she brings both the analytical and creative voice our Movement requires.
Isabel Fiore, M.Ed.
Director
Master of Education
Lived Experience: Adoptive Parent
Isabel grounds iCARE’s educational programming in the reality of how schools actually work and what educators genuinely need. Her insight ensures our programs are built for the classroom, not just for the proposal.
Elizabeth Shabelman, Ed.S., M.A., LCPC
Director
Educational Specialist, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor
Lived Experience: Foster Parent & Educational Surrogate for DCFS
Beth brings more than three decades of experience in special education and therapeutic school settings. Her integrated perspective at the intersection of clinical mental health and school systems helps the board navigate the complex, layered needs of children who move across public schools, therapeutic environments, and foster and adoptive care.
What This Board Has Built
In just over two years, iCARE’s board has navigated extraordinary growth in a complex and rapidly shifting landscape. Their work is not oversight from a distance. It is active, hands-on strategic partnership.
Statewide Infrastructure
Built a multi-partner network across Illinois and developed a professional development infrastructure being formalized for statewide deployment.
National Funding
Secured funding from National organization to distribute Connection Kits™ to all Illinois Public Schools in Fall 2026.
Educational Scale
Trained nearly 800 educators and put thousands of Connection Kits™ directly into the hands of Illinois educators.
Legislative Footprint
Co-authored state-level best practice briefs and drove the passage of HB 4536 through the Illinois House Committee, explicitly naming adopted, foster, and kinship youth in Illinois school policy for the first time.
Whether you lead a school, work in a classroom, serve families, or simply believe these children deserve better, iCARE has a way for you to get involved.
Our Advisory Board
The iCARE Advisory Board is a circle of trusted voices who bring lived experience, professional expertise, and deep community roots to our work. While they do not meet formally, their guidance shapes our vision, strengthens our programs, and keeps us grounded in the real needs of children, families, and schools.
Marchele Alber
Youth Voice Advisor
Marchele brings something no credential can replicate: the perspective of a young person who lived the experience our work is designed to support. A former youth in care, a thriving college student, and a young adult living with fibromatosis, she offers grounded, powerful insight into what it means for students to feel safe, seen, and supported in the classroom.
Marchele is a champion for Connection Kits™ and for the tools and training that help educators understand the story behind the behavior. Her voice ensures our work stays rooted in what children and young people actually need.
Sheri Alber
Educator and Adoptive Parent Advisor
BA in Psychology, M.Ed.
Sheri brings thirty-four years as a classroom teacher, including thirty-two years in Chicago Public Schools and twelve years in Cabrini Green, alongside a lifelong commitment to adoption and child development.
Fourteen years ago, Sheri adopted a sibling group from foster care. Since then, her personal and professional journeys have become inseparable. She has devoted herself to understanding how children learn, connect, and grow, especially within adoptive, foster, and kinship families, and to building bridges between educators and the families they serve.
Stephanie Bell
Educator and Adoptive Parent Advisor
Stephanie is a dedicated educator and adoptive parent who brings a deeply personal understanding of what children with complex histories need from the adults around them. Throughout her years in education, she worked with students whose behaviors and learning challenges reflected underlying needs that called for consistency, understanding, and genuine connection.
Her journey as an adoptive mother deepened that awareness and reinforced her belief in the power of informed, supportive schools. Stephanie sees programs like Connection Kits™ as essential in equipping educators, families, and leaders with the knowledge and tools to meet children where they are.
Doug Bolton, Psy.D.
Clinical and School Consultation Advisor
Licensed Clinical Psychologist; Director of School Consultation, Formative Psychological Services
Doug spent more than twenty years as a psychologist and principal at North Shore Academy, a K-12 therapeutic school in Highland Park, Illinois. Today, he provides consultation, supervision, and professional development to parents, educators, and clinicians across the country, helping communities build environments that foster student and staff resilience.
He is the author of *Untethered: Creating Connected Families, Schools, and Communities to Raise a Resilient Generation,* a resource that aligns closely with iCARE’s approach to system alignment and connected practice.
Jocelyn Fetting, BSW
Youth Voice and Advocacy Advisor
BSW, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; current MSW candidate
Jocelyn draws on nearly a decade of personal experience within the child welfare system to inform her work with authenticity and insight. A strengths-based advocate, she has co-developed and delivered trainings on transitions into adulthood and the importance of being truly seen, highlighting stable support, relational connection, and the conditions that help young people build joyful, prosperous futures.
As an iCARE Advisory Board member, Jocelyn brings the youth voice perspective that keeps our work accountable to the children and young people at the center of everything we do.
Rick Feltner
Child Advocacy and Foster Care Advisor
Advocate Supervisor, CASA of the Tenth Judicial Circuit, Illinois
Rick brings a perspective that is both professional and deeply personal. As a former foster youth and adoptee, he understands firsthand what children in adoptive, foster, and kinship situations navigate in school and beyond, and how much the right support, applied early and consistently, can change the trajectory of a child’s life.
As Advocate Supervisor with CASA of the Tenth Judicial Circuit in Illinois, Rick works daily within the systems iCARE is committed to strengthening. He connected with iCARE’s mission after encountering Laura Adams at the Illinois CASA Convention, recognizing immediately that this was an organization doing work he had been looking for. His experience across child welfare and advocacy brings essential frontline perspective to the iCARE Advisory Board.
Theresa Spierling
Foster Care and Family Advisor
Theresa is a specialized licensed foster parent with more than thirteen years of foster care experience and a lifetime dedicated to nurturing children. A biological mother of three and adoptive mother of two, her calling began early. At nine years old, watching children written off as “bad” yet deserving of love sparked a commitment she has never set down.
Over the years, Theresa has worked with Head Start, operated a home daycare, served as a legal guardian, and volunteered with the Allendale Association. Her qualifications live not in certificates but in the stories, resilience, and hope of the many children whose lives she has shaped.
Katie Stoddard
K-12 Marketing and Communications Advisor
Founder and President, Ed2Market
Katie brings fifteen-plus years of experience in educational publishing, professional development, and K-12 marketing. As founder and president of Ed2Market, she advises organizations across the globe on reaching and serving the education market. Before that, she built her expertise at companies including Voyager Sopris Learning, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Corwin, and mindSpark Learning, and spent years as an eighth grade Language Arts teacher.
Katie brings a rare combination of classroom experience, strategic marketing expertise, and genuine commitment to mission-driven educational organizations.
Keri Stone
Educator and Adoptive Parent Advisor
B.S. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; M.Ed. Northwestern University; Certification in Trauma-Informed Practices, North Central College
Keri has spent more than thirty years as a middle school educator on Chicago’s north shore. As a transracially adoptive parent, her personal and professional lives are deeply intertwined. The extensive learning she and her wife have pursued to support their child has become the foundation of her passion for creating systems change in the adoption world.
Keri is committed to work that shifts the narrative around adoption, centers the adoptee’s voice, and ensures every child walks their school journey feeling welcomed and supported. She also serves on the Advisory Board for Family Service Center in Glenview.
Dan Vosnos
Educational Policy and Advocacy Advisor
Senior Director of Development, National Down Syndrome Society; 2023 50CAN National Voices Fellow
Dan is an impact leader and advocate for children and families with unique learning needs. Advocating for his son, who was born with Down syndrome, gave him firsthand insight into how educational policy shapes the lives of students who need more from the systems built to serve them. He has channeled that experience into bridging conversations between the general education community and the unique abilities community.
With more than twenty years as a high school administrator and athletic director in Chicagoland, Dan brings both policy perspective and deep operational experience to the iCARE Advisory Board.
Whether you lead a school, work in a classroom, serve families, or simply believe these children deserve better, iCARE has a way for you to get involved.
