MEET THE TEAM
The people behind the network
Our team brings together lived experience, legal expertise, program leadership, and deep community roots, all in service of keeping siblings connected.
Isabel Stasa, MPA
Director of Programs & Co-Founding Member
Isabel Stasa, MPA, is a radically empathetic leader who translates her lived experience in foster care into systemic reform and cross-sector social justice. Separated from her siblings when she entered foster care at 13, Isabel began advocating locally on the importance of sibling relationships. Her work is built on the conviction that family integrity, often experienced as the sibling bond for children in care, is a foundational human right and a catalyst for equity. Her academic foundation in Law, Justice, and Social Change (B.A.) from the University of Michigan and her Master of Public Administration provide a dual lens for her approach. This framework informs her leadership as an independent consultant and as the Legislative Committee Chair for the National Network for Fostering Sibling Connections, where she crafts policy to protect fundamental family connections.
Isabel’s impact bridges grassroots mobilization and federal policy. Her time working in the United States Senate saw her draft pivotal legislation protecting sibling relationships—a direct outcome of her personal experience. Her commitment to embedding lived expertise in governance is further demonstrated through her leadership with the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute and her service on the National Foster Care Youth & Alumni Policy Council.
Cathy Krebs
Core Volunteer
Though she did not spend time in foster care while she was growing up, Cathy never got to live with her sister and experienced a great deal of disconnection in her childhood. Later as a lawyer representing children and young people in child welfare cases, she saw her clients struggling due to the disconnection that the child welfare system imposes. Listening to her client’s need for connection has driven much of her advocacy including her support for sibling connections.
Cathy Krebs serves as the Committee Director of the American Bar Association Litigation Section Children’s Rights Litigation Committee (CRLC), working closely with a diverse group of volunteer leaders—children’s attorneys from across the country—to advance the Committee’s mission of expanding access to legal representation for children and youth. Under her leadership, the CRLC champions the right to counsel for children and supports lawyers in providing fearless, high-quality advocacy for child and youth clients. Prior to her position with the committee she worked at the Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts, first as a Skadden Fellow and later as a staff attorney, where she represented children and youth in child welfare and education cases.
Ivory Bennett
Core Volunteer
Ivory Bennett (she/her) is a Pittsburgh native and former foster youth who spent 17 years in care across urban and rural Pennsylvania. Growing up in foster care with two siblings while being separated from others fueled my desire to reconnect. I later found more siblings through social media and DNA testing, which deepened my commitment to fostering sibling connections and healing the fractures caused by system-driven separation.
Ivory holds a B.A. in Africana Studies and English Literature from the University of Pittsburgh, a Master’s in Education Administration, and is an aspiring doctoral student. Ivory is deeply committed to education equity, holistic health, and child welfare reform. She advocates through writing, public speaking, and board leadership. A Type 1 diabetic, she approaches wellness through a trauma-informed lens. In her free time, she enjoys international travel, vegan cuisine, and caring for her growing plant collection.
Erica Hickey
Core Volunteer
Erica Hickey is an accomplished policy expert with more than a decade of experience advocating for systems-involved youth and families. Erica entered foster care as a teen and was immediately separated from her three siblings. From then on, she became an advocate for youth in care and emphasized the importance of maintaining sibling connections through legislative successes in California.
Her work is driven by a deep commitment to advancing policies that improve outcomes for young people impacted by the child welfare system. As a policy strategist, she operates at the critical intersection of community organizing, research, and public policy. Drawing from her own lived experience in foster care, Erica brings a unique and powerful perspective to her work—especially on issues related to preserving sibling connections following adoption. She holds degrees in Sociology, Psychology, Political Science, and Political Science - Public Service, and she is a current court reporting student.
Tori Shuler
Core Volunteer
Tori is a Foster care Lived Expert, a sister to 8, an auntie to 15 and a mom to a beautiful daughter! Tori became an advocate by working on Colorado's first sibling bill in 2008, since then she has advocated for sibling connection nationally and helped get Colorado's Sibling Bill of Rights passed. Tori loves Sib-Link, FGI's sibling connection program in South Carolina and volunteers at Camp Connect in Colorado and Camp Catch Up in Nebraska! In her free time you can catch her in the garden or decorating a cake!
This network matters to Tori because she has 7 sisters and a brother and foster care kept them apart, she never wants another child to wonder where their siblings is, or who their sibling is, sibling connection is a protective factor.