OUR TEAM

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GAILE OSBORNE
Executive Director

  • Gaile Osborne is the Executive Director of Foster Family Alliance of North Carolina and an experienced foster, adoptive, and guardianship parent. She and her husband have adopted four children from foster care, have two children under guardianship, and are currently caring for one medically complex infant placement. Over the past decade, their family has fostered more than 30 children.

    A native of Alamance County who now lives in the Asheville area, Osborne’s personal experience parenting children adopted from significant trauma backgrounds led her into a full-time career advocating for children, families, and systems change. Before joining Foster Family Alliance of NC, she spent eight years as an advocate for children with disabilities and 18 years as a special education teacher in North Carolina.

    Osborne is currently licensed as a Therapeutic Foster Care parent, providing care for children with complex behavioral, emotional, developmental, and medical needs. This specialized training and hands-on experience gives her a unique perspective on the challenges facing foster families and the supports children need to thrive. Her experience as both a caregiver and advocate informs her leadership and strengthens her commitment to improving outcomes for children and families across North Carolina.

    Osborne holds a master’s degree in special education from UNC-Greensboro, with a focus on emotionally disabled children, and currently holds North Carolina teaching certification in four areas. She brings deep experience as a foster and adoptive parent, a parent of children with special needs, a statewide advocate, and a former special educator.

    In 2025, Osborne was recognized with the Dr. Laura Boyd Champion for Children & Families Award from the Family Focused Treatment Association and the Collaborative Leadership Excellence Award from the Institute for Family for her leadership supporting foster, adoptive, and kinship families across North Carolina.

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CHRISTY ROESSLER, BSW
Deputy Director

  • Christy Roessler graduated from UNC-Greensboro in 2000 with a Bachelor of Social Work degree. She has spent the past 22 years working for a local Department of Social Services, starting out as a Child Welfare In-Home Services worker, Foster Care Social Worker and for the past 15 years as an Adoption/Post-Adoption Social Worker. She has a wealth of knowledge in the areas of DSS, foster care, adoption and post adoption services. She has wonderful working relationships with the many foster/adoptive families and community partners she has served over the past 22 years. Since leaving her DSS position this year, she has continued to advocate for and encourage foster/adoptive families. She is looking forward to focusing her advocacy and support to the families she will encounter through FFA.

    Christy is a native of Alamance County. She and her husband have four children.

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CONNIE HOLT, BSW
Business and Clinical Director

  • Connie Holt graduated from UNC-Greensboro in 2000 with a Bachelors of Social Work and Political Science degree. She has over 20 years of experience working as a social worker in the healthcare field. She is aunt to several adopted and fostered children. She has expansive knowledge of community resources. I am excited about the opportunity to work for FFA-NC!

    Connie is a native of Alamance County and is married and has two children.

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JERRIE TEAGUE
Foster Family Specialist
Region 3 Support Group Leader

  • Jerrie Teague has been a foster parent for the past 10 years in Alamance County. She and her husband Daniel have fostered 46 children during this time. They have one biological daughter, and have adopted four children. Jerrie and Daniel both grew up in large families and knew that they wanted a large family as well.  

    Jerrie is a certified MAPP trainer and has helped train many foster families.

    Her partnerships with families extends past MAPP training, where she continues to be a support and listening ear for families as they journey through foster care. Jerrie is an advocate for children of all ages and abilities. She has specialized training in trauma, mental health, and autism. Jerrie likes to refer to herself as “Just a mom”, but the impact she has had on so many foster families tells a different story. Jerrie enjoys mentoring foster families, recruiting families, and creating opportunities for families to learn and lean on each other. 

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DELANEY SINCLAIR
Adoption Promotion Training and Support Program Specialist

  • Delaney brings a strong foundation in behavioral health and family support to her role at Foster Family Alliance. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from UNC-Asheville and is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Western Carolina University.

    Delaney has worked extensively with families in behavioral health settings, providing case management and care coordination services. She has collaborated with interdisciplinary teams to support children and youth, conducting assessments, developing treatment plans, and connecting families to vital community resources. Her work has given her deep insight into the challenges families may face when navigating complex systems. Delaney is passionate about empowering families and believes in meeting them where they are in their journey. Her current graduate studies have provided her with training in crisis intervention, trauma-informed care, and working with children and adolescents. Delaney brings both clinical knowledge and genuine compassion to her work, understanding that every family's story is unique and deserves individualized support.

    She is excited to bring her experience and heart for family advocacy to Foster Family Alliance, where she looks forward to supporting foster families as they navigate their journey.

Courtney Thompson

Region 2

COURTNEY THOMPSON
Statewide Outreach Director

  • Courtney Thompson is our Statewide Outreach Director for Foster Family Alliance and she also serves as a Guardian ad Litem (GAL) for District 36. Courtney and her husband have been foster parents for over 7 years and have fostered many children during that time. In 2025, they finalized the adoptions of five children, completing the family they had hoped and prayed for.

    As a mother to children with complex medical, developmental, and special needs, Courtney is deeply passionate about advocating for children and families navigating foster care, adoption, kinship, disabilities, trauma, and behavioral health challenges. She works tirelessly to connect families with resources, education, and support so they can thrive both in and beyond the child welfare system.

    Courtney is a native of Lincoln County and still proudly calls Lincoln County home. After experiencing years of infertility, Courtney and her husband felt called to foster care as a way to support children while growing their family in a different and meaningful way.

    Before joining Foster Family Alliance, Courtney spent several years working in North Carolina public schools in special education and kindergarten. Her background in education, combined with her lived experience as a foster and adoptive parent, allows her to bring both professional knowledge and personal understanding to the families she serves.

    Through her work with Foster Family Alliance and as a GAL advocate, Courtney is committed to ensuring children and families feel seen, supported, and empowered throughout every stage of their journey.

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NADINE ROBINSON
Administrative Coordinator
The Giving Tree

LANITTA BERRY
Community Engagement Specialist

  • As a person who was directly impacted by the intricate child welfare system within Mecklenburg County, Lanitta Berry developed the perspective that solutions are closer to home than not. She began her advocacy journey in 2014 as a member of Sayso and the following year joined the board of directors. From 2015 to 2018, she leveraged her voice to educate stakeholders, empower her peers, and organize to uplift the power of collaboration and partnership to tackle child welfare's biggest challenges. After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2022, she launched a career providing technical assistance and expertise to innovate and change the way families are supported and receive care locally, statewide, and nationally. Today she continues to work with other dedicated professionals on the North Carolina Child Welfare Family Advisory Council and Birth Parent Family Advisory Council, agency staff, philanthropic and community-based partners to ensure all families are safe, can achieve permanency, and can holistically thrive no matter the ZIP code.

Kaitie Rodriguez

Region 2

Caitlin Bell

Region 5

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SHERRY H THOMAS
School Advocacy
Consultant

  • Sherry H. Thomas has been involved in special education in North Carolina for more than 39 years, working at the school, district and state level. She has a Bachelor’s degree from Sacred Heart College and a Master’s Degree from UNC-Charlotte both in special education, focusing on Learning Disabilities, Intellectual Disabilities and Behavior issues. She is married and has three adult children and two wonderful grandchildren. She is a native of Lincoln County, and lives in Raleigh. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, reading, time at the lake and travel.

    She is excited to bring her experience to this position with FFA and to be included in this most important work for children and families.

JENN STOUT
Chief Administrative Officer

  • Jennifer Stout is a seasoned child welfare leader with more than 31 years of experience across foster care, child welfare, juvenile justice, and family support systems. Throughout her career, she has strengthened programs, elevated statewide practice, and championed policies that ensure children and families receive the support, stability, and advocacy they deserve.

    A dedicated foster parent for 17 years, Jennifer has opened her home to over 35 teenage foster sons, bringing a deeply personal understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing youth in care. During the COVID‑19 pandemic, she expanded her family again by adopting a sibling group of brothers, further deepening her commitment to permanency, stability, and healing for teens who have experienced trauma. As a single mom who continues to foster today, Jennifer grounds her leadership in lived experience and a deep belief in the power of family.

    Jennifer has been a long-term supporter of Foster Family Alliance of North Carolina, contributing to statewide caregiver advocacy and system-improvement efforts. Coming on board with  FFA‑NC is a natural extension of her lifelong passion and drive to strengthen foster care, elevate caregiver voices, and ensure families receive the training, support, and respect they deserve.

    She holds a Bachelor’s in Social Work from the University of South Florida and a Master of Science in Management and Leadership from Western Governors University, blending human‑services expertise with advanced organizational leadership. Her work centers on empowering caregivers, advancing trauma‑informed practice, and building a more responsive, compassionate, and effective system for children and families across North Carolina.

REGIONAL

Amy Lambert

Region 1

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KELLYANN BREEST
Logistics
Manager 

  • I have over 20 years of experience in administrative support for the Department of Public Instruction in the Exceptional Children Division. Currently I am working as a project coordinator for the Special Education department in Nebraska through a Technical Assistance Center called Westat. I have expertise in all things office related and a passion for supporting the systems that teach our children so they can be the best versions they can be. I have two associate degrees from Wake Technical College in Business Administration and Hospitality Management. I am a transplant from Long Island NY my husband, 2 son's and I moved to North Carolina in February 2000 and moved into our forever home in Franklin County in December 2000.

Megan Henderson

Region 4

Hannah Minter

Region 3

Jza-Qera Thompson

Region 6

Alena Williford

Region 6

Kevin Graves

Region 4

Antoinette Gaskins

Region 7

Hanna Kelley & Nathan Kelley

Kinship

Kirsten Jones

Region 3

Jenni Perry

Region 5

READ MONTHLY NOTES FROM THE TEAM