2025 Supervisor of the Year: Lacey Mai from Mississippi
During the 2025 Wendy’s Wonderful Kids® Summit, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption recognized Lacey Mai, a Wendy’s Wonderful Kids supervisor with the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services, as a Supervisor of the Year.
Through our 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 national evaluation revealed that children referred to Wendy’s Wonderful Kids are up to 3x more likely to be adopted.
“Lacey Mai leads her team with such compassion and kindness that it really inspires them to do their best. She’s always looking for ways to mentor them and to find new ways to support them,” shared Candice, Senior Social Services Manager. “Lacey Mai is so passionate about the program itself, about finding permanent connections, but also meaningful connections for children in foster care.”
Chaundra, a Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiter on Lacey Mai’s team, shared; “Lacey Mai is present. She knows the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program inside and out. She knows the story of each child on our caseloads. She wants each member of the team to succeed, so that together, we can better succeed in achieving permanency and well-being for each and every child we serve.”
Lacey Mai maintains a positive attitude in the midst of challenging circumstances and constantly recognizes her team for the important work that they do. She’s committed to the child-focused recruitment model and ensures that every member of her team truly believes that every child is adoptable.
“The thing that I really like most about the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program is the ability to slow down. That we can come alongside the youth where they are, work from the child-focused recruitment so that it is the child who is really leading us as a team,” Lacey Mai said. “Even as adults, we still need people. Belonging is important. We all need somebody we can call when life happens.”
Congratulations, Lacey Mai, for this special honor, and thank you for your commitment to finding safe, permanent families for the longest-waiting youth in foster care.