Creating a Family Board

Gina Samuels, Board Chair

Gina Miranda Samuels is an adult transracial adoptee and an Associate Professor at the School of Social Service Administration and a Faculty Affiliate of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture at the University of Chicago. Her scholarly interests include transracial adoption, mixed race and multiethnic identity formation, interpretive research methods, and the development of relational, kinship, and cultural ties among young adults whose childhoods are shaped by foster care and adoption.

Erica Burgess

Erica Burgess, BSW, brings over 20 years of experience of combined direct care and management experience in the child welfare system through the private sector.  The majority of Erica’s career was spent as the Director of Foster Care and Adoption for a North Carolina nonprofit.  Her years working in the private sector have provided Erica with the experience and knowledge in child welfare including program development, staff development and training, fiscal oversight, program evaluation, consultation, and project management.  Erica has a passion for improving the lives of the children and families served in the child welfare system.  She has specific expertise in the areas of foster care, adoption, kinship care, licensure, programming for transition age youth, recruitment and retention of foster, adoptive and kinship caregivers. 

Leon Coleman

Dr. Coleman is an Assistant Professor and researcher in the Department of Pharmacology and Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has done extensive research on the effects of alcohol on brain development including studies of both the central and peripheral effects of ethanol on cellular biological processes that contribute to both addiction and alcohol-related diseases.

Dr. Coleman earned his M.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine as well as a Ph.D. in Neurobiology. 

Micah Ennis

Micah Ennis is the Director of Rowan County Department of Social Services, where she has served in varying capacities for 27 years.  Micah has served on community arts boards and helped establish the local Prevent Child Abuse Rowan and its subsidiary Terrie Hess House Child Advocacy Center.  She describes herself as a servant leader and seeks to support and grow servant leadership within the organization and community.  Micah’s personal mission includes excellent service to families and children, especially children involved in the child welfare system. She holds an M.S.W. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Micah and husband, Eric, have a blended family of 5 grown children and 8 grandchildren.  During non-pandemic times, weekends are spend loving on grandchildren, playing Scrabble with friends, and visiting the local coffee shop. 

Robin Gurwitch

Robin Gurwitch, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist with close to 30 years of experience in evidence-based treatments and the impact of trauma/disaster/terrorism on children. She is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center and the Director of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) and Child-Adult Relationship Enhancement (CARE) Training at the Center for Child & Family Health.

Dr. Gurwitch earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Stephen W. Hayes

Steve Hayes is an attorney specializing in adoption and assisted reproductive law. Steve has been a litigator for more than 40 years. He has been recognized in Best Lawyers in America, Wisconsin Super Lawyers, as a Leader in the Law and in Milwaukee Magazine as one of the top attorneys in his field in the Milwaukee area. He has volunteered his time as president or board member for lawyer organizations, including the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys, Milwaukee’s public television station, his church and various adoption groups.

Steve has been lead counsel in numerous Wisconsin and federal appellate cases in the areas of children’s law, including surrogacy, wrongful adoption and termination of parental rights cases. He continues to represent several Wisconsin adoption agencies, adoptive parents or birth mothers and was recognized as an Angel in Adoption by the Congressional Coalition in Adoption in 2006.

Alicia Jones

Alicia is a mother and grandmother of children with different abilities. Her advocacy journey began 30 years ago with her daughter. She has lived experience as a kinship caregiver.  Additionally, she has been a part of two research projects on kinship caregivers: Urban Institute, Washington DC and the Nationwide Caregiver Project. She was also interviewed as part of the Creating a Family Legal Options Project and serves on their Kinship Advisory Committee. It is her passion to serve all families in North Carolina, so that no family will be left behind. Whether serving in a leadership role or as an active member of various local organizations, she gives it her all.

Heather Luczak 

Heather Luczak is Director of People Development at MX Technologies.  She is an insight and L&D manager with a demonstrated ability of distilling both data and information into consumable, actionable materials to improve organization performance.Her work often requires creativity and unconventional thinking to look at problems in a new way, and pull together the right resources across teams and silos to execute the right solution. 

Heather holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services from Brigham Young University.

Jamie Morningstar 

Jamie Morningstar is a fixture in the Utah tech scene and has been a part of several of Utah’s most interesting and successful Software as a Service brands. Most recently, she served in engineering and product management leadership at Qualtrics in Provo, Utah. Jamie holds a degree in Computer Science from St. Mary’s College of Maryland and an MBA from BYU. She was honored as a decade of impact winner in the 2024 Women Tech Awards. Jamie is currently pursuing a MA in Clinical Mental Health and plans to re-orient her professional work around coaching and counseling. In her spare time, Jamie loves to ski, cycle, and knit. 

Jamie and her husband Stephen are proud parents to four kids, two by birth and two by adoption. They were grateful users of Creating a Family resources throughout their daughters’ adoption processes from Kazakhstan and China. Through their adventures in adoption, Jamie’s heart and mind were opened to the depth and complexity of the global orphan crisis. In response, she started to get involved with hands-on orphan advocacy and education projects. She leads an annual orphanage work trip to the Hogar de Amor orphanage in Colima, Mexico, and is excited to serve on the board of Creating a Family. 

Gaile Osborne

Gaile and her husband adopted 2 children from foster care, have another child through guardianship, and have fostered over 18 children in the past 10 years. Her passion is helping other families overcoming trauma and coaching parents and school systems when interacting with children with trauma. She has served as a Parent Advocate for the last 8 years. Before that she spent 17 years as a special education teacher in North Carolina. She is also the Board President for Foster Family Alliance of North Carolina.

Gaile has a master’s degree in special education from UNC-Greensboro and currently holds NC teaching certification in four areas.

James Fletcher Thompson

James Fletcher Thompson is an attorney with extensive experience in legal processes for adoption and assisted reproductive technology (ART) in the state of South Carolina.

Thompson is a frequent lecturer throughout the state and country on adoption, ART, and child welfare issues. He has also testified before the South Carolina General Assembly on numerous occasions on bills impacting families and children. Mr. Thompson is the author of a book published by the South Carolina Bar entitled South Carolina Adoption Law and Practice, A Guide for Attorneys, Certified Investigators, and Families. He has received national and state recognition for his service on behalf of children and adoptive families.

Nick Sgarlata

Nick Sgarlata is the Executive Director of Bridge to Brighter, a non-profit dedicated to supporting youth in and aging out of foster care through resources and programming that help them achieve their goals. 

Nick and his wife, Carrie, have three biological children and two adopted children. They are also licensed foster parents.

Mayia Warren

Mayia Warren is an independent recording artist and extraordinary individual who has dedicated her life to advocating for invisible disabilities, albinism, and chronic illnesses. Her passion for creating positive change and her unique approach to raising awareness have earned her numerous accolades in the field. Mayia employs various mediums, such as creative communication, traditional artistry, media, music, writing, and digital content, to establish effective initiatives within the disability arena. As someone who personally navigates multiple invisible chronic conditions, Mayia draws upon her life experiences as a powerful tool for impact. 

Elizabeth Williams

Dr. Elizabeth Williams is an integrated care psychologist serving children, teens and their families in her practice embedded within Hendersonville Pediatrics in Hendersonville, NC.  She works with all ages, from toddlers through graduating seniors.  She is also a founding partner and consultant for Health Integration Consultation Services, whose mission is to facilitate behavioral health integration into medical practices.

Dr. Williams grew up in South Carolina and received her Bachelor’s Degree from Furman University. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. at East Tennessee State University.  She spent a year as a Visiting Assistant Professor at East Tennessee State University before joining the Hendersonville Pediatrics Behavioral Medicine team in January 2017.   She enjoys outreach and is a regular public speaker in her community.