05/20/2021
Join us tomorrow at noon for this final workshop in our Spring Discussion Series, presented by The Center for Advanced Practice at Adoption RI. Register now at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-discussion-a-racially-culturally-just-system-for-children-tickets-148845138817
This complimentary virtual workshop promises to be informative and compelling, with the following educated panel of professionals sharing experiences and answering questions.
Facilitated by: Maria L. Quintanilla.
Maria is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Latino Family Institute, Inc. (LFI). LFI specializes in providing adoption, kinship care, foster care services, temporary care to unaccompanied minors, and family support services to the Latino community in Southern California. Maria obtained her Master’s in Social Welfare Degree from University of California, Berkeley and also studied Social Welfare and Public Health at Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico. Maria is a recognized leader in the field of Latino child welfare issues. She has developed a culturally based practice model of service delivery for Latinos and has conducted trainings on this model statewide, nationally, internationally in Canada through her work as a trainer for the National Resource Center for Adoption and the National Resource Center for Diligent Recruitment. Maria is a board member of the Adoption Exchange Association (AEA) since 2001 and serves as Board Secretary. AEA operates the AdoptUSKids with the US Children’s Bureau since 2002.
Featured Panelists:
Kamilah Bunn. With a bachelor’s and master’s degree in business administration and certification in public management, Kamilah Bunn brings her business and leadership skills to improve the lives of children in the child welfare system. For nearly two decades, Kamilah has developed solutions to strengthen systems and the workforce. As CEO of AEA—a national association with 500 members—her management and marketing skills led to 300% growth in dues revenue, doubling memberships during her tenure. Kamilah works with experts to design racial equity programming for members to reduce racial disproportionality in their systems and improve their staff recruitment and retention practices which leads to improved outcomes for children, youth and families served.
Womazetta Jones, MA serves as the Secretary of Rhode Island’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS), bringing almost 30 years of human services experience to the role. Among her immediate objectives are to lead Rhode Island’s ongoing transition to a health and human service network that examines an individual’s health needs on a holistic basis. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in law enforcement administration and political science from Western Illinois University, Womazetta later went on to receive her Master of Arts degree in psychology, counseling and guidance from Chicago State University. In her previous role, Womazetta served as the director of social services for Ramsey County, MN, which provides protection and support services for children and adults, including services around disabilities, mental health, substance abuse disorders, child protection, foster care and child care licensing, and adoptions. Here, she strived to help eliminate the stigma of mental health challenges facing communities of color and the area’s Native American populations. Womazetta began her career as a child welfare specialist at the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services in 1991, eventually being promoted to Deputy Bureau Chief. Here, Womazetta was responsible for child protection practices throughout Illinois.
Ramona Burton is a senior policy analyst with the U.S. Government Accountability Office, where she focuses on child welfare issues. Over the last few years, she has worked on studies of unaccompanied minors, substance-affected infants, and childhood trauma. Ramona has a Ph.D. in political science from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. Ramona is also a wife and mother. Her daughter, who was adopted at 14 years-old, is a rising sophomore at Loyola University – Baltimore.
