2026 Recruiter of the Year: Marieli from North Carolina
During the 2026 Wendy’s Wonderful Kids® Summit, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption recognized Marieli, a Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiter with Children’s Home Society of North Carolina, as a Recruiter of the Year.
Through our Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program, the Foundation supports the hiring of professionals, known as recruiters, who are dedicated to finding permanent families for children lingering in foster care. 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 the model is up to 3x more effective at serving the longest-waiting children in care. That includes teenagers, children with special needs and siblings.
“When you first meet Marieli, she appears to be very introverted and quiet … just has this calm demeanor.” said Katrina, a Wendy’s Wonderful Kids supervisor at Children’s Home Society of North Carolina. “What you don’t realize is that she is such a strong advocate, and she truly connects with the children and families that she works with. Something in her just lights up.”
Marieli’s work as a Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiter shines as a model of excellence. She builds deep, trusting relationships and turns challenges into momentum. And she consistently creates thoughtful connections that lead to permanency.
“Marieli is great. She made sure I had everything that I needed. If I had any questions, she was always there for me,” said Lisa, who adopted Dylan and Evan with help from Marieli.
“What keeps me going is knowing that my impact is not just with the youth that I’m serving, but it’s a generational impact.” shared Marieli. “We’re finding permanency for these youth, but we’re changing the trajectory of their lives and generations to come after that. It’s not just an immediate impact. It’s a lifelong impact.”
Congratulations, Marieli, and thank you for sharing our belief that a permanent family is possible for every child … no matter their story.
