IAVAAN - Meet The Leadership

Australia Committee Netherlands Committee

Canada Committee New Zealand Committee

Germany Committee Romania Committee

Guatemala Committee South Korea Committee

India Committee Switzerland Committee

Iran Committee Ukraine Committee

Israel Committee United Kingdom Committee

Italy Committee U.S.A. Committee

Japan Committee Vatican Committee

U.S.A. Committee Leadership

Theodore U.C. Kim, Board Chairman:

Ted Kim, who was born in China of Korean parents, was graduated from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in 1961. Ted is the Founding Executive Director of Adoption Service Information Agency, Inc. (ASIA), an agency working in both international and domestic adoptions. Ted is a long-time member of the Board of Directors of the National Council For Adoption, serving as a member of the Nominations Committee and as Chair of the International Adoption Committee. Ted was part of the IAVAAN delegation to The Hague in 2000. Ted was a founding Board Member of IAVAAN and has served as the Board Chairman of IAVAAN. Currently he serves as the Board Chairman of the U.S.A. Committee for IAVAAN.

ASIATedKim@aol.com

____________________________

William L. Pierce, President & Executive Director:

Bill has an earned Ph.D. in Social Services and Social Policy from the Union Institute. After 10 years with the Child Welfare League of America and 20 years as Founding President & CEO of the National Council For Adoption, Bill helped found IAVAAN in 1991. He was on the IAVAAN Delegation to the Hague in 1994 and 2000. Since stepping down from NCFA in 1999, Bill's activities include serving as President and Executive Director of the Richard C. Stillman Foundation for Adoption, Director and Senior Fellow for The Discovery Institute for Public Policy, Chair of the Montgomery County (MD) Board of Social Services, Publisher and Executive Editor of Adoption/Medical News, and President of a consulting firm, Pierce Group International, Inc.

pgidc@aol.com

____________________________

Larisa Mason, Director:

Larisa was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and was graduated from St. Petersburg State University in 1976. After working in the field of Russian-Eastern European Studies at the University of Pittsburgh (PA), she founded International Assistance Group in 1991. This licensed PA child-placing agency, which is accredited by the Council on Accreditation, works to find families for children in the Russian Federation and Belarus. Larisa is the parent of two children, one of whom was adopted from Russia. Larisa serves on the Board of Directors for International Development of the University of Pittsburgh. Larisa is the convener of a group of US agencies that collaborates to improve adoptions from Russia to the US.

lmason@iagadoptions.org

____________________________

James W. Savley, Sr., Treasurer:

James Savley is the President of Small World Ministries, Inc. and Executive Director of Small World Adoption Programs, which he founded in 1985. James' graduate work was Liberty University in Virginia, where he was awarded his Master of Arts in Psychology Counseling in 1981. James was a Family Therapist and Director of Family Life Services Adoption Agency from 1984-1985. From 1992-1999 James served as one of the representatives of the National Council For Adoption to the US State Department in efforts to implement the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. James is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the National Council For Adoption and chairs the International Adoption Committee.

jsavley@swa.net

____________________________

Michael P. Bentzen, Secretary & Counsel:

Mike received his JD from George Washington University's National Law Center in 1964. He is a partner in the firm of Hughes & Bentzen, PLLC. Mike is a former Board Member and legal counsel to the National Council For Adoption (Washington, DC) and the past President of The Barker Foundation (Bethesda, MD), an agency that works with both domestic and international adoptions. Mike also Chairs various organizations such as the Population Reference Bureau (Washington, DC), Montgomery College Foundation (Montgomery County, MD), the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington (former Chair), and he is the Vice-Chair for the Washington Very Special Arts, Inc. (Washington, D.C.). Mike is an adoptive father of three and and resides in Vienna, VA.

mbentzen@aol.com

m