We are a group of attorneys, professionals, volunteers, and generous supporters who are passionate about advocating for relative caregivers who have stepped up to raise at-risk DC children in times of crisis.
Staff
Marla
Spindel
Co-Founder and Executive Director
[email protected]
Stephanie
McClellan
Co-Founder and Deputy Director
[email protected]
Demi
T. Otukoya
Community Organizing and Outreach Specialist
[email protected]
Board of Directors
Jenny Brody
President
Bio
Victoria Taplin
Vice President
Bio
Beth Stekler
Secretary
Bio
Jonathan Peskoff
Treasurer
Bio
LaShon Dean
Board Member
Bio
Donnequa Grantham
Board Member
Bio
Karen Lovitch
Board Member
Bio
Community Advisory Board
Our Community Advisory Board consists of 15 members who are grandparents, aunts, cousins, siblings, and godparents raising at-risk DC children when their parents are unable to care for them. The purpose of the Community Advisory Board is to hear from amazing relative caregivers who have stepped up to protect and care for children in times of crisis. These relative caregivers may not have expected to take on this role but they have risen to the challenge and we are in awe of their hard work and dedication!
We know it is not easy for relative caregivers to raise children because they face an uphill battle with a system designed for parent-child families, not for families that look like theirs. We want relative caregivers to have a voice to help make more services, supports, and financial assistance available to kinship families, as well as make the system more user-friendly and responsive to kinship family needs.
Community Board members meet regularly to identify issues they seek to raise with government decision-makers and to discuss how they want to go about doing so. They work together to empower themselves and others in their community to take action to help all kinship families in DC.
To date, Community Advisory Board members have testified before the DC City Council, met privately with DC Councilmember staff to raise awareness about kinship family issues, participated in community events, and made an advocacy video.
For questions or more information, please contact Executive Director Marla Spindel at [email protected]
Supporters
Rhoda Spindel, In Loving Memory of Lillian Gally
Mrs. Gale Arnold
The Bergstrom Family Foundation
The Cedar Hill Foundation
Olivia Baker
Jenny and Peter Brody
Carol Connell
Tara Dittamo
Jennifer Elgin
Alisa Gilhooley
Donnequa Grantham
Lauren Harrington
Jane Khoury
Debbie Pam Klatt
Kolar Charitable Foundation of Buckley LLP
Amy Kossoff
Tracy and Carl Kulikowski
Arden Levy
Karen Lovitch
Desiree Magney
The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation Inc.
Karen McSweeney
Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation
Marla Morse
Karen Peskoff
Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville PC
The Rhodes Family Charitable Fund
Ropes & Gray LLP
Elisa Rosen and Jonathan Berman
Jonathan Rosen
Annette Simon and Rob Portman
Frederic Spindel and Halle Peskoff
Laurel Spindel
Marla Spindel and Jonathan Peskoff
Michael Richman
Christine Simpson
Kristin and John Sokol
Beth Stekler
Victoria Taplin
Linda and Ben Tesdahl
Alice Weinstein
Rachel Wolkinson
The Women’s Bar Association Foundation of DC
Become a supporter
Memberships
Child Welfare League of America
DC Legal Services Providers Consortium
DC Fair Budget Coalition
DC Access to Justice Commission Raising the Bar in DC Campaign
A Wider Circle Highland Community Implementing Partners
National Hidden Foster Care Working Group