Nancy Cannon-O’Connell, Ph.D., President
Dr. Cannon is the founder and Principal of Cannon Collaborations, where she provides executive coach and consulting. She brings over twenty years of management experience to her role on the National Foster Youth Action Network Board. She has held the position of vice president for strategic development in two national health care firms and has consulted extensively on issues such as management responses to accelerated market changes, leadership development in times of organizational change, and product development strategies to meet shifting customer demands. She has completed management consulting engagements in both the public and private sectors.
Her work has taken her into Chevron and Ford Motor Company, Merck, Eli Lilly, Pfizer and Harte-Hanks as well as technology firms such as IBM, Agilent /Philips Medical Systems, Cisco, and IDX Systems; MCOs such as Wellpoint, United Healthcare, Cigna; and insurers such as CNA Insurance and Great West. Her client work has spanned Venezuela, parts of Europe and South Africa.
Bill Corwin, Vice President
Bill Corwin is the President of Clarke School for the Deaf/Center for Oral Education, which has campuses in Northampton and Canton MA, New York City, Philadelphia and Jacksonville, FL. Before coming to Clarke, Corwin served as the Chief Strategic Development Officer for the National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association (CASA), in Seattle, WA, and prior to that was the executive director of two different CASA programs in California. He also was an attorney for children in the child welfare system in California from 1992 – 1996, and founded the Homeless Youth Advocacy Project in San Jose in 1993. He has served on the boards of the California CASA Association and the National CASA Association. Mr. Corwin joined the Board of the National Foster Youth Action Network as a founding member in December 2007. He received a B.A. in History from Brown University and a law degree from Columbia University. Mr. Corwin and his wife, Jennifer Rosner, have two daughters and live in Massachusetts.
Johnny Madrid, Treasurer
Johnny Madrid has been involved in foster care advocacy for 12 years. He began as a youth member of California Youth Connection where he was involved across a spectrum of roles including the Advisory Board, Legislative Committee, and the Youth Empowerment Training Project. While in CYC he facilitated dozens of focus groups with peer foster youth, gave speeches across the country, lobbied legislatures, and trained over 150 social workers. While a student at Stanford University, he wrote his honors thesis on higher education and founded the Stanford Foster Care College Project. He is a recipient of the Truman Scholarship and was featured as one of Newsweek’s “15 Students You Don’t Know But Will.” After graduating college, Johnny joined the securities division at Goldman Sachs and has pursued a career in finance for the past 5 years.
Katharine Cahn
Katharine Cahn is Assistant Professor at the School of Social Work at Portland State University, and Executive Director and Assistant Dean of Continuing Education and Training Center for Improvement of Child and Family Services. Katharine has written and speaks nationally on her studies in child welfare. Her experience includes implementation of a system of care in child welfare with a focus on taking an innovative practice up to scale; using research and program evaluation to promote a child welfare system for improved outcomes; family and community engagement; leadership development; and multi-disciplinary collaboration. She works with state and tribal child welfare agencies, courts, and community partners to promote an integrated system of care that protects children, keeps families together, and engages community, faith, and cultural partners in systems planning. Katharine received a B.A. from Reed College, an MSW from University of Washington, and a Ph.D. from Portland State
Rosezella Canty-Letsome
Rosezella Canty-Letsome is an attorney with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) in Washington, D. C. For the past 16 years, Rosezella has been the Chief Steward of the National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 280 representing the professionals at USEPA. Rosezella is a former law professor and presently serves on the Maryland National Organization for Women Executive Board. Rosezella received her B.A. from Howard University, a M.A.T. from Antioch College, a J.D. from Duquesne University Law School and a LL.M from Harvard Law School. Rosezella resides in Hyattsville, Maryland with her two daughters who practice law in the non-profit arena.
Emily Dulcan
Emily Dulcan is the Colorado Press Secretary and Digital Strategies Director for Organizing for America, the grassroots organization dedicated to supporting President Obama. After working with nonprofits in Washington D.C. and Mexico, in 2006 Emily earned a master’s degree in cross-cultural journalism from the Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri, Columbia, and parlayed her love of words into a career in strategic communications and public relations. After two years at Fenton Communications, the nation’s largest public-interest communications firm, Emily began freelancing as a communications consultant and worked on strategy, branding, and messaging for corporate clients. In the spring of 2009 she served as the communications director for Emanuel Pleitez, who ran for Congress in a special election in Los Angeles’s 32nd Congressional District. Currently Emily serves as the Co-Director for the Los Angeles Chapter of the New Leaders Council, a nonprofit organization that trains progressive young adults to be political entrepreneurs. When she’s not living to work, Emily enjoys travel, photography, and eating well.
Jessica Hilderbrand
Jessica Hilderbrand is the Program Officer for Project Everlast at the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation. Jessica began her advocacy for youth in the foster care system in 2003 with her involvement in the Project Everlast Council (then Nebraska Foster Youth Council) during her last year in foster care. Through her advocacy and volunteerism with Nebraska Children and Families Foundation she was offered an internship and then full employment in 2005. Jessica now supports the work of Project Everlast across Nebraska. She is also the Secretary of the Nebraska CASA Association Board of Directors and the Co-Coordinator of Community at CrossBridge Christian Church. But her favorite role is being a mother to her 3 year old daughter.University.
