JCICS 2004 Board Members

The current 2004 Joint Council Board is composed of twelve members. Eight of the Board members served on the Board in 2003, while one was re-elected and three were elected to the Board for the first time at the annual conference in April 2004.

, President

Deb Murphy-Scheumann is the founder and Executive Director of Special Additions, Inc. established in 1993. Special Additions, is an international aid and adoption agency that is accredited by the Council on Accreditation. She has been involved in the field of international adoptions since the adoption of their daughter Allison from Korea in 1985. Deb is the mother of nine children ranging in age from three years to 28 years and has three grandchildren. Three of her children have special needs, shaken baby syndrome, cerebral palsy and fetal alcohol syndrome. Deb served as Vice-President of the Board in 2003.

, Vice-President

Ms. Wetterberg is Director of the Uniting Families Foundation, a small agency in Illinois that has received COA accreditation. She is a CPA and also holds an MS degree in human services administration. Her undergraduate training was in elementary education, and she worked in a school district for seven years. She has testified before Congress on international adoption issues, and has presented seminars on adoption in the U.S. and abroad. She has also organized a program in Croatia, which trained health workers, social workers, and religious leaders to recognize and treat post traumatic stress disorder in rape victims. She is the mother of children adopted from Eastern Europe. Ms. Wetterberg served as Treasurer of the Board for 2002 and 2003.

, Secretary

Heather Stultz is the Romania Program Specialist and Post-Placement Coordinator for MAPS International, founded in 1977 by Dawn C. Degenhardt. Ms. Stultz is an active member of the COA Standing Review Committee as well as a co-facilitator of MAPS International’s support evenings for waiting families. Prior to joining MAPS International, Ms. Stultz traveled to both Guatemala and Romania where she worked with low-income families and abandoned children while completing her undergraduate social work education.

, Treasurer

New to the Board, Keith M. Wallace is founder and CEO of Families Thru International Adoption (FTIA). Keith is also an attorney and a member of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. FTIA is accredited by the Council on Accreditation for Children and Family Services, Inc. (COA). Keith has served on several JCICS committees and is currently the Treasurer of the Board of Directors. He has presented hundreds of seminars on different aspects of international adoption to various audiences. FTIA is active in many aid projects for children.

Donna Clauss has been the Executive Director of Rainbow House International for 18 years. She is a LMSW and also holds a Masters of Arts Degree in Education. Donna has been involved with Joint Council for over 18 years and has been very active with the Education Committee as well as the Committees working on the Hague Convention and COA. She helped to develop the JCICS Parent Preparation System.

Rebecca Hackworth is the Director of Social Services for Dillon International, Inc. in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She is a licensed clinical social worker. She helped develop Dillon's India program and now directs the agency's China and Haiti programs. She teaches a quarterly class on the Physical and Emotional Care of Newly Adopted Children. Rebecca did an extensive research project with their agency's families over the last 30 years that was published in the November 2002 issue of Adoption Today magazine. She has served as President of the Oklahoma Adoption Coalition in the past and remains active in that organization made up of public and private adoption agencies, adoption attorneys, adoptive parents and adult adoptees within their state. She is the mother of two adopted children from Haiti and four step children (three of whom were adopted domestically). She has served on the board of directors for the Foundation for the Children of Haiti since 1981.

Rosemary Martin is the Executive Director at Carolina Adoption Services. She has a masters degree in social work and over 30 years experience as a clinician and agency administrator. Her clinical experience includes years of working with adoptive parents and birth mothers considering adoption. Rosemary is both a NC licensed clinical social worker and licensed marriage and family therapist.

Cynthia Peck is the Azerbaijan program coordinator for FCVN in Denver, CO. Cynthia holds degrees in English and Psychology and has been involved in the adoption field for over twenty-five years. She is a single adoptive parent of 8 children, now young adults, from Korea, Vietnam and the US. She has founded international adoption agencies and parent support groups. She published of Roots and Wings Adoption Magazine which merged with Adoption TODAY in 2000, and is currently the editor and co-founder of Fostering Families TODAY Magazine. She is the author of Parents at Last: Celebrating Adoption and the New Pathways to Parenthood.

Mr. Pitkowsky is the current Vice President of the Adoptive Parents Committee, Inc. (APC), a parent support group serving over 3,000 New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut families. He is also President of the New York City chapter. He has represented APC at Joint Council, the Hague Alliance, and the Advisory Council on Intercountry Adoption (ACIA); he serves on the Executive Board of ACIA. He has provided testimony on Capitol Hill, chaired and co-chaired APC conferences, and led workshops for the Open Door Society and NACAC conferences. He has two children adopted from Latin America. This is Sam's second term on the Board of Directors as he served from 2001 - 2003 as well.

Linda Vollman is new to the Board this year and has been involved with adoptions at PLAN Loving Adoptions Now, Inc. since 1976. Linda's degree is in management. As General Manager at PLAN she has been able to experience the many facets of adoption both international and domestic. Linda has worn many hats! She has been an adoptive parent/ social work trainer, coordinator/trainer for the Infant Adoption Awareness Training (training health care professionals in the area of adoption), seminar presenter both in the United States and abroad, and public speaker on adoption issues. In the early years of PLAN Linda was active in parent group development - (PLAN was founded by a group of adoptive parents and was one of the first parent-led adoption agencies.) She has been involved in legislative issues pertinent to adoption. Linda has traveled worldwide for PLAN - visiting orphanages, representing the agency and escorting children to their adoptive families. Linda and her husband have children by birth and by adoption.

New to the Board this year, Snow Wu is President of Great Wall China Adoptions based in Austin, Texas. Ms. Wu, a native of China, brings to the JCICS Board her knowledge and expertise of Chinese culture and intercountry adoption.

, President Emeritus

Judy Stigger, 2002 and 2003 Board President, is a licensed clinical social worker at The Cradle, serving any family or individual touched by adoption. She also offers parent training for several area adoption agencies and consults with parent groups, schools and other professionals. She was formerly the Director of International Adoption for The Cradle. She is the Content Consultant for Conspicuous Families, a web-based family preparation program found under www.AdoptionLearningParnters.org. Judy presents at international, national and area seminars, authored a book, Coping with Infertility, plus several articles, and serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Adoptive Families Magazine. She was named an Angel in Adoption by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption. Judy and her husband are the adoptive parents of two grown, special needs and cross-racially placed, children.