ADVISORY
BOARD MEMBERS
CHRISTOPHER BAKER-SCOTT
Executive Director & Founder
SUN Scholars, Inc.
Christopher Baker-Scott serves as the Executive Director & founder of SUN Scholars Inc., a 501c3 non-profit organization that serves foster and adopted youth throughout their college experience across Connecticut. Chris holds a master’s degree in Government Extension Studies from Harvard University, in which he published a thesis titled “Post-Permanency Outcomes of Youth Adopted out of Foster Care: Implications on State & Federal Policy.” Baker-Scott is an Alumni of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institutes 2019 Foster Youth Internship Program, is an AmeriCorps Alum, and was recognized as one of Connecticut Magazine's “40 under 40” in 2022.
ANGELIQUE DAY, PhD, MSW
University of Washington Seattle
Associate Professor
Faculty Affiliate of the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute
Director of Federal Policy for Partners for Our Children
Dr. Angelique Day, Descendent, Ho Chunk Nation, does tribal work that is largely focused in the child welfare field. Specifically, she is one of the nation's leading content experts on Indian Child Welfare, specifically, the subject of American Indian grandparents as parents, and is playing a leadership role in the development, testing, and roll-out of two national, tribally adapted foster parent training curriculums.
APRIL LEE
Director of Client Voice
Community Legal Services of Philadelphia
April Lee is CLS’ first Director of Client Voice. In this role, April ensures the inclusion of CLS clients’ lived experiences in internal and external work and advocacy at all levels. April joined CLS as Peer Parent Advocate in the Family Advocacy Unit, the first person in a role of this kind in Legal Services in Pennsylvania. April sits on the Pennsylvania Governor’s Opioid Abuse Child Impact Task Force and has helped guide some of the research surrounding the Opioid Epidemic as part of the City of Philadelphia’s Don’t Take the Risk awareness campaign.
DR. MELISSA T. MERRICK
President and CEO
Prevent Child Abuse America
Melissa T. Merrick, PhD, is President and CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America (PCA America), the nation’s oldest and largest nonprofit organization dedicated to the primary prevention of child abuse and neglect. She has more than 20 years of clinical, research, and leadership experience related to the etiology, course, and prevention of child abuse and neglect.
VALERIE FROST, M.Ed.
Parent Advocate, Lived Experience Leader & Family Engagement Strategist
Valerie Frost, M.Ed., is a parent advocate, lived experience leader, and family engagement strategist working to strengthen how families, systems, and institutions share power and make decisions together. She serves as Community Affiliate Faculty with the University of Kentucky College of Public Health and as a member of Kentucky’s Children’s Justice Act Task Force. A former educator, Valerie brings more than a decade of experience working with children and families alongside her own lived experience navigating child welfare and family-serving systems. Her work focuses on ethical lived-experience engagement, family partnership, system accountability, and translating family expertise into policy and practice. Valerie is the creator of the Ethical Lived Experience Engagement Framework™ and host of the Community In-Site podcast. Her writing and national advocacy have focused on child welfare reform, family engagement, and accountability, and she was invited to the White House in 2024 to contribute her perspective as a parent and lived-experience leader.
VIVEK S. SANKARAN
Clinical Professor of Law
Director, Child Advocacy Law Clinic
Director, Child Welfare Appellate Clinic
University of Michigan, Michigan Law
A clinical professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School, Professor Sankaran directs both the Child Advocacy Law Clinic and the Child Welfare Appellate Clinic, through which law students represent children and parents in trial and appellate proceedings. Professor Sankaran has written numerous articles focused on improving the child welfare system and has litigated cases before the Michigan Supreme Court. In addition, he conducts state and national trainings and works on child welfare initiatives with various national groups, including the American Bar Association, Casey Family Programs, and the National Center for State Courts.
SHROUNDA SELIVANOFF
Director of Public Policy
Children’s Home Society of Washington
Shrounda Selivanoff is the Director of Public Policy at the Children's Home Society of Washington. She brings a fierce and passionate voice advocating for systemic change for parents and their children involved with the child welfare system. She was previously involved with the child welfare system and has since reunited with her daughter. Shrounda's child welfare experience birthed an advocate seeking to destigmatize parents and move towards a system that empowers and values parents as partners. Shrounda's work prioritizes marginalized and disenfranchised families and relentlessly pursues policy change and system reform toward preserving and strengthening families.
VICTOR E. SIMS, MBA BA
Senior Associate
Family Well-Being Strategy Group
The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Victor Sims is a management consultant, a Certified Diversity Professional and passionate advocate for reforming the foster care system. He grew up in Florida's foster care system and has dedicated his life to improving the experiences of children in similar situations. Victor has reduced the number of children sleeping in offices by 100% within 4 months through building partnerships and recruiting kinship families