Staff
Sarah Brittingham
Executive Director,
Director of International Programs
As the Executive Director and Director of International Programs, Sarah oversees Partners’ operations in California. She also manages the U.S. side of international placement and organizes, maintains and strengthens Partners' overseas programs.
Prior to coming to Partners, Sarah was the Director of International Programs at Illien Adoptions International from 2006-2011. As such, she managed adoption programs in Ukraine, Guatemala, Ecuador, Azerbaijan, and India, among others. She also represented Illien with government authorities in various countries, traveling to Kenya, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Ukraine, Colombia, Ecuador and Guatemala to initiate and open new programs. Sarah worked part-time teaching English to adult Hispanic students at the Latin American Association as well and is fluent in French and Spanish. She has a Master of Arts in Development Studies from the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague, the Netherlands, and she completed research on the subject of Birth Families and Intercountry Adoption in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Sarah can be reached at sarah@partnersforadoption.org.
Kristin Schnoor, MSW
Director of Social Services
Kristin is responsible for running the Social Services Department, and hiring and managing all social services staff.
She has been working in the field of social work since 2005. In addition to working as a foster care social worker in New York City, she has been working as a social worker for Partners for Adoption since 2009. Kristin has always been interested in the field of adoption and is thrilled with the role of Director of the Social Services Department at Partners. Originally from the East Coast, she has been living in San Francisco since 2009 and loves taking advantage of the Bay Area’s many outdoor activities. She can be reached at kristin@partnersforadoption.org.
Mary Robbins
Social Services Manager
Mary Robbins joined Partners first as an Adoption Coordinator, and then as the Manager of Social Services for the agency.
She has experience in managing both domestic and international adoption processes. She works with clients to complete their international adoptions, coordinates homestudies, and assists the Director of Social Services in running the department. Mary previously worked for the Rockefeller Foundation, as well as the Seva Foundation, setting up clinics in developing countries. Mary can be reached at mary@partnersforadoption.org
Leslie Farbman
Manager of Russia and Ukraine Programs
Leslie works with families adopting from Russia and Ukraine, from beginning to end. She corresponds with our in-country staff and manages cases for the Agency. She worked for 7 years in early childhood education, and continues to be committed to helping children and families in the adoption community. Leslie can be reached at leslief@partnersforadoption.org.
Diana Revutsky
Advisor, Retired
Formerly Partners’ Executive Director and Director of International Programs, Diana now provides advice on Russian and Ukrainian adoption to our new Executive Director, Sarah Brittingham and Board of Directors.
Originally a Russian language teacher by profession, Diana began her career in adoptions in 1993, when she founded one of the first Russian and Eastern European adoption programs in the US. The program grew to become Adoptions and Aid International, a non-profit adoption agency. In 2004, Adoptions and Aid merged with Partners for Adoption, and Diana became Program Director as well as Executive Director. She managed all aspects of the adoption process personally, traveling to Russia frequently. Diana has personally made over 1000 successful adoptions happen for American families.
In September of 2011, Diana stepped down from her position as Executive Director to spend more time with her 3 year old granddaughter, Lucy.
Lisa Jones
International Adoption Consultant
Lisa has been active in the adoption community since 2002, when she and her husband began exploring international adoption for their own family. She had traveled extensively to over 20 countries, so international adoption seemed a natural path for her. Lisa and Dennis adopted a baby girl from Russia in 2004. Lilia is now 4 years old. Lisa's experiences in Russia have inspired her with the desire to help other families find their children, wherever they may be. She enjoys nothing more that talking with families about their adoption dreams and how to make them real. Lisa can be reached at lisa@partnersforadoption.org.
Jan Kellogg
International Adoption Consultant
Jan has been active in the adoption community since 2001, when she and her husband decided to build their family through International adoption. Jan and her husband have adopted two daughters from China. After adopting her first daughter she found herself helping many people who she knew fulfill their adoption dreams. Jan's personal adoption experiences are what lead her to Partners for Adoption. Her desire to help families have a positive experience with their plans to build their families gives her great personal satisfaction. Jan can be reached at jan@partnersforadoption.org.
Heather Randolph
Heather works to support the entire Partners staff in their day-to-day endeavors. Formerly, Heather worked in corporate advertising and marketing for companies such as Hewlett-Packard, PG&E and Brown Forman wines before becoming mother of two (now ages 6 and 8). She is now following a long-time desire to work in an environment dedicated to helping children and building families. She is thrilled to be a part of the Partners for Adoption team and looking forward to growing with the agency. Heather can be reached at heather@partnersforadoption.org.
William Brody Giles
Accountant
Brody Giles is a finance and bookkeeping professional with over 10 years experience specializing in accounting, budgeting, financial analysis, and data management.
Regional Social Workers
Kathy Bargar, LCSW
Kathy has both professional and personal experience in the field of international adoption. Kathy completed an undergraduate degree in psychology. She then graduated with a Master's of Social Work from the University of Southern California in 1994. Since that time, she has been working with adoptive families providing direct service through homestudies, post adoption support and adoptive parenting education. She also has administrative experience in adoption and is the former Director of Social Services for Partners for Adoption. She recently scaled back her role to focus on her family but enjoys continuing at Partners for Adoption as a Social Worker. She has expertise in the sensory integration of post institutionalized children. Kathy and her husband have one biological child and one child adopted from China.
Diana Cheng, LCSW/Trainer
Diana is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with experience conducting pre-placement homestudies and post-placement reports for international adoptions. She also conducts educational workshops to help prepare families for the international adoption process. Diana is also an adoptive parent and she is passionate about her work in the field of adoption.
Tanya Cohen, LCSW
Tanya Cohen is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has been working with adoptive families since 2001. She has worked with domestic, international and foster care/foster-adoption. Her experience includes completing pre-placement homestudies, post placement reports, placing agency services and providing both pre and post adoption education for domestic and international adoptions. She has a passion for adoption and loves working with families during the pre adoption process and with both the families and children during post placement. She resides in Orange County with her husband and two children.
Jill Christopher, MSW
Jill has been working in the field of social work for 17 years. She has extensive history with child protective services ranging from investigations, court dependency and foster care and adoptions. Jill's career with child protective services has taken her from an entry social worker into management. She was drawn to adoptions during her graduate education where she interned in the county adoption agency. She has kept her love for adoptions by working in the county adoptions throughout her career and private adoption agencies by conducting homestudies.
Debra Culwell, MSW
Debra has been working in the field of social work for over 12 years. She has an extensive history with child protective services, primarily in investigations and court dependency. She also has a substantial history in the medical field, including 10 years as a respiratory therapist and 5 years of medical social work, where she provided services to patients of all ages. Debra has both personal and professional experience in adoptions and is committed to her work with children and families.
Karina Freibergs, LCSW
Karina is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker providing pre-placement homestudies and post placement reports. She has been a Social Worker with homeless families, foster families, adoptive families, and
children for over 16 years. She has conducted educational workshops for foster care and foster-adoptive families. Karina also facilitates therapeutic groups for children in residential treatment where she is
employing new skills in the field of sensorimotor arousal regulation.
Carrie Grange Isaacson, LCSW
Carrie has been working with adoptive families since 1994. She received a BA with Honors and Distinction from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Ms. Grange Isaacson went on to receive an MSW from the Columbia University School of Social Work in New York with a minor in law. She currently holds a social work license to practice in New York and California and is the founder of Baby Maven, a private practice specializing in working with parents. Carrie also writes as a parenting expert for several magazines and publications. Ms. Grange Isaacson is a former adjunct lecturer for Columbia University and has been qualified as an expert witness on child custody cases.
Carrie is based in San Diego, California where she resides with her partner and two children. She is thrilled to work the Partners for Adoption aiding adoptive families every step of the way.
Jessica Johnson, MFTI
Jessica Johnson, M.A., MFTI has been working in the adoption field since 2000. She has worked in all areas of adoption including as a social worker, therapist, case manager, and educator. Her adoption experience includes international, domestic, and foster care adoption. Jessica earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Social Behavior from the University of California, Irvine and her graduate degree from Pepperdine University in Clinical Psychology (Marriage and Family Therapy Emphasis). Jessica experiences great joy in helping build families through adoption, and feels like she is a part of an even greater extended family through her clients.
Kim Mechem, MSW
Kim is a graduate of California State University (graduate) and Indiana University (undergrad). She has worked with children and families for over 15 years and in the field of adoptions since 2006. She has experience and expertise in international, domestic and foster care adoptions through homestudy assessments, pre-and post-adoptive trainings, and post placement support. Kim is a social worker in the Sacramento region.
Renate Rzepa, MSW
Renate has been a Social Worker since 1996 and received her MSW from San Francisco State in 2002. She was a pre-school and kindergarten teacher for many years, also a case manager for homeless families and a licensing worker writing home studies for 6 years. Her cousin adopted his daughter from a private agency, some of her friends adopted children from Russia and Guatemala and her best friend was adopted. Renate loves working in adoption to provide children with a permanent home.
Heidi Allison-Rhodes, LCSW
Heidi is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with experience providing pre-placement homestudies, post placement reports, and education classes, preparing parents for domestic and international adoptions. Heidi has also worked extensively with children and families as a therapist, providing interventions relating to attachment and other issues.
Angela True, LMFT
Angela is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with expertise in adoption adjustment issues and educating adoptive families about the attachment process in adoption. Angela has an adopted child whom is the light of her life and she believes whole-heartedly in the international adoption process.
Katie Wilson, MSW
Social Worker
Katie is a licensed clinical social worker with over six years of adoption experience. Her adoption experience includes domestic, foster care and international adoption. Katie has facilitated adoption support groups as well as adoption orientations, workshops and pre-adoption trainings covering topics such as trans-racial adoption, attachment in adoption, the legal process of adoption, adjustment, the affects of trauma, and child development. In addition to her adoption experience, Katie also has experience supervising juvenile court advocates. Katie has both personal and professional experience with adoption and believes wholeheartedly in the adoption process.