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During the 2024 Wendy’s Wonderful Kids® Summit, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption recognized Anna, a Wendy’s Wonderful Kids supervisor with Raise the Future in Colorado, as Supervisor of the Year. Anna equips each of her team members with the tools needed to succeed and work well together.

Through its Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program, the Foundation supports the hiring of adoption professionals who are dedicated to finding permanent families for the longest-waiting children in foster care. That includes teenagers, children with special needs and siblings. These professionals use an evidence-based, child-focused recruitment model to find the right family for every child in their care.

A rigorous, five-year evaluation revealed that children referred to Wendy’s Wonderful Kids are up to 3x more likely to be adopted.

“Seeing that excitement [from those who I supervise], and the passion, and their drive for supporting these youth, and building those connections, and getting them one step closer to permanency, that’s the most rewarding piece to me,” shared Anna.

Anna has created space to help her team feel invigorated with weekly “Mental Health Breaks” and “Team Time.” She also helps to advance equity for all child welfare professionals and the youth they serve throughout all of her work and additional time spent on the Equity Advisory Council.

“Anna is such a fierce advocate for the people who she supervises and really meets us where we’re at to support us in doing our best every single day,” said Mason, a Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiter on Anna’s team.

Congratulations, Anna, and thank you for your collaborative leadership to bring permanency to children lingering in foster care.