Our volunteers passionately guide the organization forward.
Kristin Barsness
Fundraising Advisor
Kristin (she/her) has more than 25 years of experience in the nonprofit sector and has been defined by the conviction that when staff and volunteers are coached to bravery, they can accomplish anything. Barsness has led more than 30 major capital and comprehensive campaigns, 40 campaign feasibility studies, many community and project readiness assessments, as well as worked in-house to lead library, healthcare, university, and K-12 education shops to fundraising success. Her work with Pacific Northwest clients and organizations has helped raise more than $250 million to change the world.
After serving as Vice President of Collins Group, Kristin helped launch Seattle University’s $300 million campaign, then led the Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital Foundation to triple unrestricted giving in three years. In 2018 she founded her consulting firm to help mid-size nonprofits prepare and manage significant campaigns and raise more money.
She and her husband, Ed Crossan, a high school teacher, have been lifelong advocates for the transformational power of education. They live in Tacoma and devote their free time to keeping up with a busy family of teenagers and dogs.
Lisa Peña Humes
Ambassador
Lisa Peña Humes is a recently retired NYC public school teacher who lives in Queens with her family. A wife, mother, and grandmother, Lisa was adopted from foster care and reunited with her first family in the early ’90s. She is passionate about storytelling, community outreach, and supporting adoptive and foster families as they build more empathetic and informed relationships. Lisa believes that no two adoption journeys are alike—and that every story deserves to be heard.
Read Lisa’s story →From Alma to The Adoptee Lounge
Adam Esparza
Ambassador
Adam Esparza is a creative professional rooted in the visual arts and the written word. He embraces life’s mysteries—from ancient relics and museums to the natural rhythms of the present moment. A native New Yorker who finds peace in nature, Adam approaches relationships with thoughtfulness and depth. Through his art and advocacy, he encourages others to recognize that the tools for healing and fulfillment are already within them.
Read Adam’s story →My Aha! Moment
Anna Lehnardt
Research Assistant
Anna Lehnardt is an adoptee, researcher, and advocate focused on helping people better understand adoption across the lifespan. She is currently in her Master's program (Marriage, Family and Human Development) at Brigham Young University in Provo, UT. She studies family relationships, identity, and mental health, and uses her platform to bring honest, nuanced conversations about adoption into everyday spaces. Anna is passionate about centering adoptee voices while also supporting adoptive and birth families through education and empathy. In her free time, she loves spending time with her family, her husband, making cookies, and crocheting!
Sam McEvans
Operations Specialist
Sam McEvans (he/him) volunteers in Operations for AMS. Sam is a listener of adoptee voices and is a queer adoptive parent in an adoption constellation that is deeply committed to openness.Sam recently acted as volunteer Publicist for the groundbreaking new book Adoption Unfiltered, which for the first time brings together the perspectives of adoptee, birth parent, and adoptive parent authors in one title. He formerly held marketing positions at Slack and Twilio.
Aubry Quick
Research Assistant
Aubry Quick (she/her) works for Oklahoma Human Services as a Child Welfare Specialist. She completed a bachelor’s in psychology at Southern Nazarene University and is a recent Master of Social Work at the University of Oklahoma, where she gained experience in the nonprofit and medical social work sectors. Additionally, she has a background in research, having spent the past three years working as a research assistant. Aubry plans to pursue a Ph.D. and continue working in adoption research. As a stepparent adoptee, Aubry deeply values work that centers the adoptee experience and is passionate about including all adoptee voices.
Ellen Reeve
Ambassador
Ellen Reeve is a retired educator, adoptee, adoptive parent, and adoption scholar. She recently earned her Ph.D. in Education from Lesley University, where she focused on the power of pre-adoptive artifacts—photos, documents, letters, and personal heirlooms—to illuminate adoptee identity. Ellen lives in Colorado and enjoys pickleball, swimming, travel, and time with her dogs. Her work is a moving testament to how artifacts can speak volumes—and how stories endure.
Read Ellen’s story →My Uncle’s a Sailor: A Journey of Reclaiming Birth and Belonging