Dr. Tanya Coakley is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro and provides instruction in Research Methods and Data Analysis for Social Work Practice. She earned a Ph.D. in Social Work and a Minor in Statistics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She also holds an MSW degree from the University of South Carolina, Columbia, and a BSW degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Dr. Coakley serves on the Board of Directors for the Black Child Development Institute of Greensboro, and is a member of the CWLA Cultural Competence Committee for legislative advocacy and national awareness about children’s cultural needs. Her practice experience includes working in mental health and foster care and adoption services in North Carolina.

Dr. Crumbley is in private practice as a family therapist, trainer and consultant. His areas of specialization include pre- and post-adoptive therapy, chemical dependency, couples therapy, physical and sexual abuse therapy, kinship care and transracial adoptions.

He has been a consultant to the Los Angeles County Kinship Care Program, the Child Welfare Institute, the Child Welfare League of America, the Spaulding Center, and the Philadelphia Society of Services to Children Kinship Care Program. He has provided expert testimony and briefings at the United Nations, U. S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, Pennsylvania Multi-Ethic Placement Task Force and the Philadelphia City Council.

Dr. Crumbley received the Child Welfare League’s Excellence in Kinship Care Practice Award in 2007. He is the current board president of NACAC, the North American Council on Adoptable Children.

Dr. Rick Delaney is an internationally known speaker and consultant to agencies and to foster, kinship, and adoptive parents. He is the co-founder and a principal contributor to Foster Parent College.

For many years, Dr. Delaney has been a consultant to the Casey Family Programs and to other public and private foster care and adoption programs across the country. He is the author or co-author of several books in the area of foster care and adoption including Fostering Changes: Myth, Meaning, and Magic Bullets in Attachment Theory, Troubled Transplants: Unconventional Strategies for Helping Troubled Foster and Adopted Children, and The Healing Power of the Family. Dr. Delaney received his doctorate degree from Loyola University of Chicago.

Ms. Gorham taught for 30 years in public schools in New York City and Oregon. She received master's degrees in education and special education from City College of New York and Yeshiva University, respectively. She was a parent representative/co-chair of the Oregon Early Intervention Coordinating Council, and she has presented statewide and nationally on the parent role in special education and parent rights. As a member of the Oregon Department of Education/University of Oregon Behavior Cadre, she conducted trainings and presentations and provided mentoring on Positive Behavior Support throughout the state.

Ms. Jorgenson, formerly Executive Director of the National Foster Parent Association, has been an educator, social service specialist, foster parent trainer, and mentor for over 20 years. She has taught growth and human development, early childhood education, psychology, and parent education in community colleges in Ohio, Nevada, and Michigan and at Central Michigan University and Antioch University in Ohio. In addition to being a foster and adoptive parent, Karen is an approved trainer for the Institute for Human Services, based in Columbus, Ohio. Karen received her B.A. in psychology from California State University, Northridge, and her M.A. in developmental psychology from Central Michigan University.

Mr. Joyce, LICSW, Clinical Director of PATH, Inc. of North Dakota, has been a social worker since 1975. He began his career as a VISTA volunteer and has worked as the clinical director of a psychiatric facility; as an outpatient therapist; as a supervisor of outpatient therapists; as a foster care caseworker; and as a supervisor and clinical director of foster care services. Mr. Joyce teaches part-time in the Master of Social Work Program at the University of North Dakota and provides trainings for foster-adopt parents. He holds an M.S.W. from the University of Iowa and has completed post-graduate education in family therapy.

Dr. Kagan is a psychiatrist in Fort Collins, Colorado, specializing in the treatment of children and adolescents. Prior to becoming a psychiatrist he was a practicing pediatrician and neonatologist. Dr. Kagan received his pediatric training at the Kansas University Medical Center, his neonatology training at the University of California, Davis, and his psychiatry training at the University of Washington.

Howard J. Markman, Ph.D. is a professor of psychology and Co-Director of the Center for Marital and Family Studies at the University of Denver. A noted expert on marriage, he specializes in research on the prediction and prevention of marital distress. Dr. Markman has published extensively in professional journals and appears regularly in the media as an expert on relationships and marriage. He has coauthored the books We Can Work It Out and Fighting for Your Marriage, as well as co-produced the Fighting for Your Marriage video- and audiotapes. He developed the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP) and is co-founder and president of PREP Inc., and cofounder of LoveYourRelationship.com.

Dr. Nickel is a developmental and behavioral pediatrician and Professor of Pediatrics at Oregon Health Sciences University. A graduate of the University of California School of Medicine, San Francisco, he has served as a clinician and researcher for over 30 years in California, Washington, and Oregon. His current research interests include children with autism spectrum disorders, behavioral and emotional problems in infants and toddlers, substance-exposed newborns, and complementary and alternative therapies. Dr. Nickel's work has been published in peer-reviewed journals including Pediatrics, Infants & Young Children, Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, American Journal of Medical Genetics, and Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics. He has also authored many book chapters and is co-editor of The Physician's Guide to Caring for Children with Disabilities and Chronic Conditions.

Dr. Pacifici writes grants and directs research at Northwest Media, Inc. As an educational psychologist for more than 15 years, he is instrumental in developing instructional content for curriculums, and he is a contributing writer of FPC courses. He received his doctorate from The City University of New York and is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Indiana. His research publications can be found on the Web at www.NorthwestMedia.com

Mr. Quinn has been a social worker and foster family agency supervisor for 25 years in residential foster care and group home settings. He received his master's degree in psychology from California State University in Sacramento. Mr. Quinn has authored handbooks for foster parents, group home staff, and private agency caseworkers and is a contributor to the Foster Parent College online training catalog. He is currently a Supervising Social Worker for Nepenthean Homes FFA in Fair Oaks, California.

Ms. Keefer Smalley is the Director of Foster Care and Adoption Training at the Institute for Human Services (IHS) in Columbus, Ohio. A graduate of the Ohio State University School of Social Work, she specializes in adoption and child welfare. Ms. Keefer Smalley has been a consultant and trainer to states and private agencies in the U.S., Canada and Eastern Europe. She is the author of the IHS Pre-service Training Curriculum for Foster, Adoptive, and Kinship Caregivers, and co-author of Telling the Truth to Your Adopted or Foster Child: Making Sense of the Past (2000) and Wounded Children, Healing Homes (2009).

Scott M. Stanley, Ph.D. is Co-Director of the Center for Marital and Family Studies and a research professor of psychology at the University of Denver. He has authored numerous research articles on relationships and is an expert on marital commitment. Dr. Stanley has co-authored the book Fighting for Your Marriage and developed video- and audiotapes by the same title. He is also the co-author of A Lasting Promise and the author of The Heart of Commitment and The Power of Commitment. Additionally, he regularly contributes to print and broadcast media as an expert on marriage. He is co-founder of the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP).

Mr. White is the president of Northwest Media, Inc., and co-founder of both Northwest Media and Foster Parent College. He is a specialist in the design of interactive Web-based educational material. He co-writes and manages the production of all Foster Parent College courses.