Meet Our Board of Directors
Brian Franklin - Board Chairperson
Brian Franklin is a Vice-President at Edelman Communications, one of the world’s largest public relations firm and is the father of Samuel, who joined his adopted family in September, 2009. Brian is also on the board of Africa Bridge, an NGO that empowers orphans and vulnerable children in Tanzania. Beginning in 2009, Brian has provided pro bono public relations services to various NGOs and played a critically important role during the Haiti earthquake.
Jared Rolsky, MSW - Board Vice Chair
Jared Rolsky has been the Director of Golden Cradle Adoption Services in Cherry Hill, NJ since 1997. He has been involved with domestic and international adoptions since the early 1980′s and has worked to make adoption an accessible and client driven service. Prior to coming to Golden Cradle, Mr. Rolsky was Executive Director or Jewish Family Service of New Haven, CT. There, he expanded the adoption program to include adoptions from South America and Eastern Europe. He has been associated with Council on Accreditation since the mid-1980′s and is currently a team leader for COA.
Mr. Rolsky was President of the Council of Family Service Agencies of Connecticut, Treasurer of the United Way Executives of CT, board member of the Association of Jewish Family and Children’s Agencies and currently Membership Chair and webmaster for the Delaware Valley Adoption Council. He chaired the Joint Council Ethics Committee that was charged with the recent Standards of Practice Statement.
Nancy Fox – Secretary
Nancy Fox has been involved in international adoptions for more than 30 years as the Executive Director of Americans for International Aid and Adoption (AIAA), one of the founding members of Joint Council. Previously having served on the Board of Directors and as President of the Board, Ms. Fox is strongly committed to professionalism and good practice in the field of international adoption. Over the years, she has been a birth, foster, and adoptive parent and, recently, an adoptive grandparent. She supports a strong spirit of cooperation between the placing and direct services agencies, adoptive and adoptee groups and medical experts. Ms. Fox believes that she can bring to the Board and the Membership of JCICS experience, vision, and a passion for the concept that children in need of families, anywhere in the world, must be the principle focus of our efforts.
Dana Ernest Johnson, M.D., Ph.D.
Dana E. Johnson is Professor of Pediatrics, member of Division of Neonatology and Founder of the International Adoption Clinic at the University of Minnesota which is one of the largest adoption-related medical programs in the world. Over the past twenty-three years, information gathered through this clinic on the medical status of children adopted from dozens of countries and a wide variety of living conditions has helped establish the field of adoption medicine. His research focuses on the short- and long-term effects of early deprivation on child health and early development. Dr. Johnson is an adoptive parent, serves on the Editorial Boards of Adoption Quarterly and Adoptive Families Magazine and is a Senior Research Fellow in the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute.
Jane Aronson, M.D.
Dr. Aronson is a board certified general pediatrician and pediatric infectious diseases specialist, and has been a practicing adoption medicine specialist for the past 12 years. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and the director of International Pediatric Health Services (IPH), which she opened in 2000. Since founding WWO in 1997, Dr. Aronson has visited orphanages in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, Russia, and Latin America.
Albert L. Reyes, Ph.D.
Albert L. Reyes is the President of Buckner International, a global Christian ministry that provides humanitarian aid, volunteer missions opportunities, community enrichment and prevention programs, an international network of residential, foster care and transitional housing services, domestic and international adoption, support programs for children living in orphanages in other countries, and operation of seven senior living communities in Texas.
Dr. Reyes previously served as President of Buckner Children and Family Services, President of Baptist University of the Américas in San Antonio, President of the 2.5 million-member Baptist General Convention of Texas, manager for Sprint’s National Customer Service Center and as pastor of three churches.
Dr. Reyes earned a bachelor’s degree from Angelo State University and master’s and doctoral degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He also earned the doctor of philosophy degree from Andrews University.
Stephanie Mitchell, LICSW
Stephanie Mitchell is the CEO at MAPS Worldwide. She oversees all aspects of MAPS Worldwide’s services including: Infant Mental Health Residential Programs; Family Shelter Programs for homeless mothers and their children; inter-country and domestic adoption programs; and humanitarian aid programs.
Ms. Mitchell is a licensed clinical social worker with an extensive background in international child welfare and children’s services. Her humanitarian aid travels with MAPS have taken her to China, Guatemala, India, Nepal and Russia.
Richard Pearlman, MSW
Richard Pearlman was elected to the Board in 2006. He is founder of the Family Resource Center (FRC), a Chicago based Illinois licensed child welfare agency since 1987. During his tenure as FRC’s Executive Director, Family Resource Center has participated in more than 2,500 adoptions. Mr. Pearlman was first introduced to the field of child welfare as a student intern with a small Quaker college, Friends World College as he lived and worked with street children in Bogota, Colombia. Mr. Pearlman has traveled to Guatemala, China, Ukraine and Russia. Mr. Pearlman is the father of three children, one of whom is adopted.
Julie S. Tye, MBA
Julie Tye has been president of The Cradle since December, 1992. The Cradle is an internationally-known, not-for-profit adoption agency, established in 1923. It is the only agency in the country with an onsite newborn nursery which is a vital component of the agency’s ability to serve babies who have special medical needs. In addition to direct placement services, The Cradle is the nation’s leader in providing adoption preparation and education through its online program AdoptionLearingPartners.org.
Prior to coming to The Cradle Julie worked at Lutheran General Health Care System in a variety of areas including business development for the addiction treatment division, group practice management and hospital administration.
Julie received her MBA from the Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University in 1978 with a concentration in Hospital and Health Services Management.
Julie is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute and a current member of the Economic Club of Chicago. Julie lives in Glenview, IL with her husband, Fred and their two children.
Frank Garrott, MBA
Frank Garrott is the President & CEO of Gladney Center for Adoption. He was formally the Chief Operating Officer of the organization, having his first experiences with Gladney in 1987 and 1991 when he adopted two children through Gladney and then later serving as a Gladney Center board member for nine years. Mr. Garrott earned his MBA from the University of Texas after graduating from Duke University. He went on to a career in business consulting, including the last eleven years with PriceWaterhouseCoopers in New York and Connecticut. In addition to his work with Gladney and Joint Council he also sits on the Board of the Christian Mission to the United Nations Community.
Ellora DeCarlo, MSW
Ellora DeCarlo is the President and co-founder of Futuro de los Ninos, a foundation that provides aid for children in Guatemala. Ellora is a founding member of the Guatemala 900 Campaign and serves on the board of Semillas de Amor Children’s Village in Guatemala. Ellora has a Masters in Social Work and over ten years experience in education and advocacy for women and children. She currently lives in New York City with her husband, Gary Cooper, and their 3 beautiful children, Leo, Julia, and Lorenzo. When she is not advocating and/or mothering, she works as an actor and theatrical producer.
Amy Eldridge
Amy Eldridge is the Executive Director of Love Without Boundaries. Amy states that her life was changed forever when she first visited her youngest daughter’s orphanage in China. On her return to the States, she helped to organize a national donation drive to provide heart surgeries for four orphaned children in China. Following those successful operations, she helped found Love Without Boundaries, taking the name from a flag given to her from the Chinese government that said, “Love Makes No Boundaries Between Countries.” Since founding LWB in 2003, Amy has traveled extensively throughout China, working with orphanages and local citizens to find creative solutions to help children in need. Amy is a mother of seven and has been awarded the “Angel in Adoption” award by Congress for her humanitarian work in China and the Oklahoma Public Citizen of the Year award.
Angelique Hatch
Angie is the Co-Founder and President of International Child Advocacy Network (ICAN) a non-profit with a mission to help, without waste. ICAN partners with organizations that are operating internationally and helps raise awareness and funds to assist those in need. Angie resides in Hudson, WI with her husband Dan and their four children and has been advocating for children’s rights for over 15 years.
