2026 Recruiter of the Year: Molly from Iowa
During the 2026 Wendy’s Wonderful Kids® Summit, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption recognized Molly, a Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiter with Four Oaks Family and Children’s Services in Iowa, 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.
“Molly is super passionate about the kids she’s working with,” said Naomi, a Wendy’s Wonderful Kids supervisor at Four Oaks. “The first day I met her, she had a list of all their favorite snacks. So, she’s great at getting to know the kids and remembering those pieces of them.”
Molly brings heart, creativity and persistence to her work as a Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiter. One of her greatest strengths is her ability to unpack the “no” with youth. She partners with each child’s team to understand barriers, advocates fiercely for her youth and makes sure they have the information and support they need to make their own decisions about permanency. Most importantly, Molly shows up. She attends concerts and soccer games, remembers birthdays and other milestones, and finds ways to connect with youth over the things they love.
“It is humbling to be given this award,” shared Molly. “The youth [I serve] keep me motivated. They have such an ability to bounce back and become such amazing individuals. And when you see a kid really get matched with a family or reunited with a loved one, and you can tell that their emotions have changed, and their behaviors have changed, and they have a much more positive outlook … that drives me to help all of the kids find that.”
Congratulations, Molly, and thank you for sharing our belief that a permanent family is possible for every child … no matter their story.
