About CCAI:The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that was founded in 2001 by advocates of children in the U.S. and around the world in need of families.
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OUR STORY |
Established in 1985
In 1985, a committed group of Members of Congress, including U.S. Senators Lloyd Bentsen (D-TX) and Gordon Humphrey (R-NH) and U.S. Representatives Tom Bliley (R-VA) and Jim Oberstar (D-MN), discovered they had a common goal – to live in a world where every child had a permanent, safe and loving family to call their own. They also found that their shared commitment to eliminating the barriers that hinder children from realizing this basic right to a family was one that transcended party lines and geographic borders. Dedicated to making a difference, these members united to form the Congressional Coalition on Adoption (CCA) caucus. In 1998, the CCA caucus leaders* hired a full-time fellow, Kerry Marks Hasenbalg, who worked in the U.S. Senate to carry out the important work of the CCA.In 2001, the four CCA co-chairs and Kerry Marks Hasenbalg created CCAI.
*U.S. Senators Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Larry Craig (R-ID), and U.S. Representatives Tom Bliley (R-VA) and Jim Oberstar (D-MN).
*U.S. Senators Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Larry Craig (R-ID), and U.S. Representatives Tom Bliley (R-VA) and Jim Oberstar (D-MN).
Our Goal
CCAI is entrusted with the great privilege of bringing voices of experience and expertise–from foster youth in the United States to children living in orphanages around the world, from brain scientists to psychologists–to the active membership of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption (CCA) in the United States Congress.
CCAI STAFF
Nancy Kay Blackwell
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Kate McLean
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Taylor Draddy
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Honorable Mary L. Landrieu (Chair)
Senior Policy Advisor, Van Ness Feldman LLP
Susan Neely (Vice Chair)
President & CEO, American Council of Life Insurers
Brian Graff (Treasurer)
CEO, American Retirement Institute
Susan Hirschmann (Secretary)
CEO, Williams & Jensen
Kelly Gage
Senior Philanthropic Advisor, Nomi Network
Kerry Marks Hasenbalg
Founding CCAI Executive Director & CEO, Becoming Foundation, Inc.
Kim Carver
Vice President Government Relations, Gulf Coast Bank
Rita Lewis
President, RML Strategies
Rick Spielman
General Manager, NFL Minnesota Vikings
Russ Sullivan
Shareholder, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP