Our Leadership

Gift for a Child, Inc. is led by a team of professionals with extensive experience working in the fields of business, education, healthcare, writing and the arts. We come from a wide range of perspectives, knowledge and insight to leverage our professional experiences to focus on specific issues facing child welfare agencies and youth in foster care.

The members of the Management Team share a vision to improve the lives of children in foster care, by advocating on their behalf, connecting them to caring adults and providing them with critical resources and support to change their future outcomes.

Executive Board

• Pamela Joseph, Chair â€“ Vice Chairman, Payment Services, U.S. Bank
• Rene Gunn, Vice Chair â€“ Senior Director, Loyalty Programs Elavon (adoptive mom)
• William Stahlke - President
• Lisa Hedenstrom, Secretary- Vice President of Nursing, Piedmont Fayette Healthcare (adoptive mom)
  
• Joseph Schaeffer, Treasurer - CFO, Wakefield Beasely
• Bill McInerny – Vice President - Former CEO of Marketing Central
• Lynn Hood - Principle, Cracker Jack Marketing

Board of Directors

• Mason McFalls, Financial Analyst, Smythe Barnery (foster youth alumni)
• Brenda Gilpatrick – President, Fantastic Plastics
• Edna Goble – Author, Failure is Not An Option
• Kindred Howard - Writer, KBHoward Writing
• Mark Johnson - CEO Legacy Pointe Academy (adoptee)
  
• Myra Carmon- Vice President, Georgia State School of Nursing
• Cappie Suttle – Former Director, Kaplin Educational Institute
• Norris West – Director of Communications, National Legal Aid & Defender Association
• Marvin Turner – Educator

Foster Youth Alumni Spokespersons and Advisors

• Regina Lousie, Awarding Winning Author and Youth Advocate
  
• Eric Tyler Anderson, Author, Entertainer and Youth Advocate
  
• Mason McFalls, Financial Analyst, Smythe Barnery (UGA Graduate)
• Elizabeth Southerland, Author
  
• Edward Washington, Partner - Leaders of Change
  
• Joshua Robinson  (Art Institute of Atlanta)
  
• Isaiah Wilcox, (Morehouse College Graduate 2011)
  
• Crystal Williams Poet, Writer (Emory Univesity Graduate)
  
• Brittany Jean,  Youth Advocate (Georgia State Graduate)
  
• Gweenyona Boyd, Youth Advocate (Clayton State Graduate)