Journalism Nonprofit Focused on Children Pulls Three Civic Heavyweights onto its Board of Directors

LOS ANGELES - Jan. 31, 2017 - PRLog -- Fostering Media Connections (FMC), a nonprofit news organization that specializes in producing solution-based journalism on child welfare and juvenile justice, has added three members to its Board of Directors: Leslie Gilbert-Lurie, Aileen Adams and Jeremy Pelphrey.

FMC's Board of Directors now comprises seven members who have decades of experience in journalism and communications, local and national governance, nonprofit management, law and other fields.

"Since moving to Los Angeles last year we have been intent on setting roots and growing our board here," said Daniel Heimpel, executive director of Fostering Media Connections. "We feel so honored that these three well-accomplished, civically minded leaders have decided to devote their time and energies to Fostering Media Connections."

Fostering Media Connections is best known as the organization that publishes The Chronicle of Social Change, a news website that covers child welfare and juvenile justice reform across the nation.

While serving as vice chair of the Los Angeles County Blue Ribbon Commission on Child Protection in 2013, Gilbert-Lurie saw how Fostering Media Connections' in-depth reporting bolstered the county's efforts to improve child protection. She joined The Chronicle of Social Change Advisory Council in 2016, and recently moved to the Board of Directors to get more deeply involved.

"I wanted to serve on the Board of Directors to better support the organization's very important work," Gilbert-Lurie said. "I discovered Fostering Media Connections while serving on the L.A. County Blue Ribbon Commission on Child Welfare. Then, I saw firsthand how the in-depth reporting in The Chronicle of Social Change, and the work of Fostering Media Connections, played a powerful, instrumental role in the county's reform."

Adams, who has been a leader in local, state and national governance, said she believes in the organization's ability to inform decision-making on child welfare.

"Fostering Media Connections is a critical organization that provides both policymakers and consumers with the information that they need to know to make informed decisions about the child welfare system," Adams said. "I am thrilled to serve on their board because of their commitment to providing in-depth knowledge about topics not sufficiently covered by any other publications."

Pelphrey, a lawyer who advises business and fiduciaries, is also looking forward to helping Fostering Media Connections advance its mission.

"We can improve the lives of vulnerable children, especially those in foster care, by reducing adversity, by fostering opportunity, and by connecting with people directly in their communities," Pelphrey said. "FMC is the medium through which adversity and opportunity are chronicled in a manner that promotes solutions and constructive action in foster care. I am delighted to be a part of an organization that inspires action on such a critical cause for our communities."

Learn more about the three new board members and their experience:

Leslie Gilbert-Lurie

Gilbert-Lurie is a writer, lawyer and philanthropist whose highly-acclaimed memoir, Bending Toward the Sun, was published in 2009. She co-chairs Human Rights Watch's Los Angeles Committee and is a member of its International Board of Directors. Previously, she served as president of the Alliance for Children's Rights and vice chair of the Los Angeles County Blue Ribbon Commission on Child Welfare, which led to widespread child welfare reform in the county. Before joining the Board of Directors, she served on the advisory council for The Chronicle of Social Change – a daily news website published by FMC.

Aileen Adams

Adams has been a leader in government at the local, state and national levels. She served as President Clinton's appointee heading the Office for Victims of Crime in the U.S. Justice Department; as the Secretary of State and Consumer Services agency in the Cabinet of Governor Davis; and as Deputy Mayor for Strategic Partnerships under Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa. She was the Co-Executive Director of the County's Blue Ribbon Commission on Child Protection and helped to prepare their report with recommendations on how to improve the County's child protection system.

Adams served for many years as the Legal Counsel at UCLA's Rape Treatment Center, where she co-founded Stuart House, a widely-acclaimed center for sexually abused children. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Weingart Foundation, which supports nonprofits in Southern California that serve underserved communities.

Jeremy Pelphrey

Pelphrey is a partner at Fox Rothchild LLP Attorneys at Law, where he advises businesses, fiduciaries and funds on a broad range of Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and transaction-based matters. He has practiced law at firms in California and Illinois and lectured on labor law at Bradley University.

Pelphrey also serves as counsel to Los-Angeles-based nonprofit United Friends of the Children regarding their health and welfare benefit arrangements. In Peoria, Illinois, he served on the board of trustees and as general counsel to the South Side Office of Concern, which seeks to end homelessness and provide individuals and families with a warm, safe place to live and assistance in achieving their goals.

Fostering Media Connections is a 501c (3) non-profit that harnesses the power of journalism to advance child welfare reform by covering emerging solutions to the system's challenges. The Chronicle of Social Change (http://chronicleofsocialchange.org) is a national online news site published by Fostering Media Connections that produces daily news about child welfare, juvenile justice and children's mental health issues. Learn more at http://fosteringmediaconnections.org.