Board of Directors
Jodi Jackson Tucker
President
Teri Froman
Vice President
God broke Teri’s heart for the orphan during the adoption journeys to Russia and China for her children. She is committed to God’s calling on her life to ensure children’s voices are heard and families are equipped to provide loving homes to God’s children. She brings over 30 years of experience in leadership from both the secular business world and church ministry. She currently serves on the board of Second Mothers and has served as an Executive Pastor, Adult Ministry Pastor, Local Missions Pastor, and completed her Master of Arts in Christian Studies. She has served as an Orphan Sunday coordinator, founding member of Hope 1:17 Orphan Ministry, and as a board member of Both Hands Foundation. She and her husband Ryan and their children make their home in mid-Tennessee.
Paula Droege
Board Treasurer
Paula is mother of three adult biological children as well as “second mother” to three young men she and husband Tom adopted as older teens and young adults. Paula also has seven grandchildren. Early in her Christian journey Paula spent two years in Mexico and Honduras doing mission work where the Lord impressed on her heart a burden for the poor and the orphaned. For the past 10 years Paula has volunteered as a Guardian ad Litem for children in foster care. Paula brings to our team thirty-five years of accounting experience in the private sector working in a small business. She is also treasurer for the nonprofit organization, Child Evangelism Fellowship.
Elaine Springer
Board Secretary
Elaine is a registered nurse, currently focusing on the underserved in her community health work. For 25 years she served alongside Peter and Anita Deyneka as a missionary to Russia in various capacities. One of her greatest joys was promoting prayer for The CoMission and its missionaries. About eight years ago, Elaine began to write for A Family for Every Orphan and now serves as their prayer coordinator, writing orphan prayer updates twice a month. She and her husband live in Oswego, Illinois and have three granddaughters.
Anita Deyneka
Board Member Emeritus
Board member Anita and her late husband Peter Deyneka are known throughout Russia and Europe for their years of leading the ministry that is now known as Mission Eurasia. She currently serves as Director Emeritus of that board, as well as serving on the boards of World Without Orphans and A Family for Every Orphan, global networks advocating for children without families. She is the author of six books and numerous publications about Christianity and the orphan crisis. She lives in Wheaton, Illinois and has two married children who were adopted from Colombia and five grandchildren.
Theresa Marcroft (Terri)
Board Member
Terri is an adoptive mom, a huge fan of open adoption, and a marketing professional. She brings over 20 years of B2B marketing experience to our team. She also serves as Executive Director of Unplanned Good, an organization she founded in 2010 to encourage women facing unplanned pregnancy to consider adoption. Terri is a California native and makes her home in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Karla Marie Williams
Board Member
Karla and her husband are parents to six children adopted from foster care. For the last ten years, Karla has conducted Trauma-Competent training through creating her own curriculum for foster & adoptive parents, social workers, and child advocates around the world. With the experience several countries, cultures, and systems, Karla brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise as she ministers to the heart of those who care for traumatized children. She is the author of numerous books on foster care, adoption, homeschooling and the work she has done across the globe.
Malen Papadoupolous
Board Member - Global Strategist
Malen was born and raised in the Philippines. She was called as a missionary to Costa Rica in the 90’s, then God opened door for her to serve in various churches in the US. While serving faithfully in churches with walls, she asked God intensely “What else, Lord?”. That’s when God spoke to her and brought her to James 1:27! She moved to the Philippines together with her family to serve as an orphan advocate in 2011. She served as the Philippines Orphan Sunday Coordinator for Christian Alliance For Orphans, CAFO, for more than a decade. She also served as the Vice President of Philippines Without Orphans. She is married to a Greek American and has a biological daughter and an adopted son who is a special needs child.
Lead Volunteers
Sarah Davis
Events and Special Projects Strategist
Sarah and her husband Shann have been foster parents since 2009, and adoptive parents since 2019. After adopting their son, Sarah and Shann decided to step away from foster care through the government and continue serving families facing crisis through an organization called Safe Families. Sarah now serves as the ministry lead for Safe Families at their church, encouraging the people of God to be the hands and feet of Christ to those in need. Sarah is also a passionate educator, having homeschooled for 15 years, and for the past 7 of those, taught high school classes for a worldwide homeschooling organization called Classical Conversations. Sarah and Shann live in North Carolina with their three children.
Ashlie Atento
Content Strategist
Growing up with an adopted little brother, Ashlie has always had a heart for orphans and hopes to adopt in her future family. Ashlie is a graduate of NC State University and works as an Assistant Planner for Belk’s corporate office. She served as a Development Intern for Lifeline Children’s Services and serves on Renew Retreat’s volunteer team as a content creator. Ashlie loves to combine her passion for helping vulnerable children and their families with her creativity and social media savvy.
Savannah Lyon
Media Strategist
Savannah Lyon is a mom, believer in Jesus, a creative, and a community leader in the human services space in the middle of Nebraska. She has one daughter, nearly flown from the nest, and one son thriving in his teen years. Savannah fostered several teen girls in her late twenties, and then ironically adopted the only boy she fostered. She is also the proud mom of a Bernese Mountain Dog and a doodle. She completed her undergraduate from Central Christian College of the Bible in Moberly, Mo in General Ministry and her Masters of Business Administration from the University of Nebraska at Kearney. She has articles published in Her View From Home and an essay in So God Made a Grandmother.
Global Ministry Partners
Sara Vargas
Brazil
Sara Vargas is an internationally known influencer in the global movement for orphan care. A native of Brazil, she grew up as a missionary kid in the Amazon. She has been married to Rodrigo for 29 years, and is mother of 4 children, three of whom are adopted. Sara is a well-known pastor and worship leader in Sal da Terra Ministry, a prominent church movement. She is co-founder and president of Pontes de Amor, Bridges of Love, which serves foster and adoptive families. Sara is a counselor for ANGAAD (The Brazil National Association of Adoption Support Groups), a director for Orphan Sunday and Second Mothers coordinator for Brazil. She is the facilitator for World Without Orphans Brazil and Regional Ambassador for World Without Orphans in Latin America. She graduated with a degree in Law and also has an advanced degree as a Family Therapist. She is the winner of multiple awards, including the Inspiration Award by Globo TV Brazil, and The Friend of Children Award by the National Association for Adoption.
Anu Silas
India
Anu is the founder of Vanitashray, an NGO in India that is committed to providing best practices for orphans and vulnerable children, family preservation services, facilitation of adoptions, and care for the destitute, including widows and young girls. In its 24 years of existence, Vanitashray has impacted more than 2,000 families. Anu holds a master’s degree in social work and has completed post-graduate studies in human rights. She serves with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and partners with World Without Orphans, Family Strengthening—India, and the Australia Relief and Mercy Service (ARMS). Any spent three years as Executive Director for Maharashtra State for the All India Council of Human Rights, Liberties and Social Justice. In this role, she advocated for young girls and against child prostitution and child marriages in India. Any also served for eight years as a local witness on a special task force under the Pune Police Commission that rescued minors from “red-light districts.” Anu has personally raised 56 girls since 1999 and has placed three girls in permanent families through adoption.
Nisreen Hawatmeh
Jordan
Nisreen Hawatmeh is Founder and Managing Director, SANADAK Orphan Ministry | Project Director, Hope Groups Jordan | Ambassador for the MENA Without Orphans- Jordan. She is the Founder and Managing Director of SANADAK Orphan Ministry, dedicated to serving orphans and vulnerable children through holistic, trauma-informed care. She also serves as Project Director of Hope Groups Jordan, providing psychological and emotional support to individuals and families affected by trauma and displacement. With a background in psychological and Christian counseling, Nisreen specializes in family counseling, behavior modification, and trauma-informed care. She is a certified trainer with Haggai Leadership Training and LAMb International, an Internal Family Systems (IFS) practitioner, and an Ambassador for the MENA Without Orphans. In addition, she serves on the Middle East Without Orphans Leadership Team and is the International Coordinator for Orphan Sunday Ministry in Jordan. Nisreen holds a bachelor’s degree in Architectural Engineering from the University of Jordan and brings extensive experience as a senior professional architect. She lives in Amman, Jordan, with her husband Maher Abu Lail and their two children, and is committed to empowering children and families to thrive spiritually, emotionally, and socially.
Monica Aguilar
Mexico
Mony holds a Bachelor in Pedagogy, and is a wife, mother of 3 children (one adopted) and lecturer. Since 2016 she has developed as an activist for the right to live in a family for children and adolescents. She currently directs the work of ABBA (ADOPCIÓN Y ACOGIMIENTO FAMILIAR DE MÉXICO AC), founded by she and her husband, through which she promotes the adoption of older children, sibling groups and children with disabilities. Mony coordinates initiatives in social networks and leads groups of parents so that they can provide therapeutic parenting. For the last several years, she has held an annual retreat for foster and adoptive mothers in various regions of Mexico.
Alina Druta
Moldova
Alina Druță is a nationally recognized expert in child welfare and child protection with over fifteen years of experience in developing, implementing, and coordinating social programs in the Republic of Moldova. She serves as National Coordinator for the Child Welfare Department at Open Gate International Moldova and as President of the Christian Alliance “Moldova Fără Orfani” (ACMO), and is also featured as President of Moldova Without Orphans on the World Without Orphans speaker forum. Beyond her systemic work in trauma-informed policies and practice, Alina is a passionate practitioner of family-based care— together with her husband John Druta, raising their 2 biological sons and fostering over 60 foster kids over the course of 13 years. She collaborated with UNHCR and international partners to advance trauma-informed responses during humanitarian crises. She is a respected international speaker and advocate for trauma-informed, family-based child welfare systems.
Chrina Henson
Phillipines
Chrina Cuna-Henson is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Generations—Home, a nonprofit ing the Philippines dedicated to ending the orphan crisis through safe and loving families. She is a TBRI® Practitioner and national advocate for adoption and foster care, serving on the Child Placement Committee of the National Authority for Child Care (NACC) and on the Smart Parenting Board of Experts. Chrina also co-founded Studio Impact, producing corporate and inspirational media, and hosts the podcast “Family is the Answer.” She and her husband Jonathan are raising three children and are passionate about strengthening communities of second mothers and fathers while advocating for family-based care across the Philippines.
Zoriana Bielova
Ukraine
Sue Austen
Zimbabwe
Sue is a Zimbabwean national, a child welfare advocate and founder of Kukosha, established in 2014 to prevent the separation and institutionalization of vulnerable children by strengthening families. Through food security initiatives, Kukosha has become the largest supplier of infant formula in Zimbabwe, providing consistent monthly support to high-risk kinship families and foster parents. The organization also supports teen mothers through a foster care model and promotes local foster care and adoption initiatives and support. Sue is committed to building capacity within the child welfare sector and serves as an Affiliate and Master Trainer for LAMb International/GCBN, is an accredited trainer with the National Children at Risk Network, a certified TBRI Practitioner, and a graduate of the Trauma Research Foundation. As part of the National Facilitation team for Zimbabwe Without Orphans, Sue heads up the Training Dept which seeks to equip caregivers and professionals in trauma-informed care and best child care practices.She is a Regional Ambassador for Africa WWO. A mother of nine, Sue lives in Harare, Zimbabwe, where her family life deeply informs her passion for ensuring every child grows up in a safe and loving home.
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