Reflections from the AdoptUSKids Professional Leadership Development Graduation
Reflections from the AdoptUSKids Professional Leadership Development Graduation
Published on:
Oct 31, 2025
Category
Policy & Advocacy
This month, I am honored to share a reflection written by my colleague Dawn Wilson, C.A.S.E. Training Institute Director, on my recent graduation from the AdoptUSKids Professional Leadership Development Program. Dawn attended the event and captured the spirit of the experience beautifully. Her words highlight both the incredible work of my cohort and the meaningful mentorship and connections fostered through this program.
Reflections from APLD Program Graduation
I had the awesome opportunity to participate in the graduation ceremony for Ashley Garcia-Rivera’s year-long participation in the AdoptUSKids Professional Leadership Development Program (APLD). APLD is a prestigious federally-funded year-long leadership development program for emerging leaders in child welfare.
Ashley was one of 22 emerging leaders from across the country – working in public and private sector child welfare settings in various capacities. Participants are matched with mentors in their workplace. Ashley’s mentor was Edna Davis, a Training and Implementation Specialist with the National Adoption Competency Mental Health Training Initiative at C.A.S.E., who was unable to attend the graduation event. During the year, they attended an in-person kickoff and participated in coursework and coaching calls. Participants also engaged in a research project which culminated in presentations during the 3-day graduation ceremony.
This was a packed three days of presentations, fun, and fellowship. As an observer I was struck by several things:
- The vast programmatic interests of participants. Projects, for example, focused on evaluating cultural competency in service delivery, programmatic services for aging out/transitioning youth, provision of mental health and substance abuse services for youth and parents and evaluating a range of best practices including father involvement, kinship care, visitation for incarcerated parents, and legal parent representation. Some were issues I was aware of, but others provided new perspectives and about populations or programs I wasn’t as familiar with. It was exciting to see the work that many are doing to impact children and families and the workforce.
- The number of participants who had personal connection to the issues they were researching. Whether impacted by the loss of a parent early on, experiences with foster care or adoption, or caring for loved ones whose parents were incarcerated, the projects were closely tied to issues of deep, personal experience and impact. These ties came through and made the subjects even more compelling.
- The importance of connection, mentorship, and in-person meetings. The bonds that were created during the year-long process are real and both work- and life-affirming. Participants are not just part of a cohort (and as the 7th cohort – part of a larger network of leaders) they have developed deep bonds of support and champions for each other in the very challenging, complex, and heart-wrenching work of child welfare. Watching participants cheer each other on as they presented and shared the challenges they experienced through their projects (and everyone experienced challenges) was very moving! We all need champions in our work, and Ashley now has a network of leaders across the country to support her.
While unable to attend graduation, her mentor Edna Davis also shared the following reflections on her time with Ashley:
Since working at C.A.S.E., I have witnessed the depth of Ashley’s lived experience, her incredible strength and resilience, knowledge of the inner workings of this rewarding yet complex field, and her profound compassion. Serving as one of her APLD Mentors allowed me to connect with Ashley on a deeper level in that I learned more about her journey, including her family connections, her struggles in those connections, and how those experiences have brought her to this place in her life to truly contribute to policy development and the welfare of those served in the child welfare system. While there were challenges and subsequent changes in approach for her project, Ashley was able to truly focus on the power of the data this project did yield and how it could be used to help in presenting her case as she responded to her research questions. Ashley has grown so much personally and professionally from being an APLD Fellow – not only in the importance and impact of research and data and how it can be used, but also about the connections she has made with other fellows and the leadership of this incredible program. She shared with me recently that the connections with other fellows and even mentors have been the most impactful part of her experience, for which she is incredibly thankful. Ashley, we truly salute you! Your journey continues to be inspiring, uplifting, and is simply beyond amazing. I truly believe that the best is yet to come. Your voice will not only affect policy here in the U.S. but will go far beyond its borders. We are so very proud of you.
I am so grateful that Ashley had this opportunity as an APLD fellow! Her study on Cultural Responsiveness in Mental Health Services for Transracial adoptees is worth further exploration, and I know that we at C.A.S.E. are hoping to build on the foundation she set.
I am immensely proud of Ashley and happy to have had the chance to participate in her graduation! Please join me in celebrating Ashley as an AdoptUSKids Professional Leadership Development Graduate.
