Our Staff: Choose an office - Richmond / Fredericksburg / Roanoke
At our Richmond Office:
Nadine Marsh-Carter
President/CEO
Nadine enjoys many strong connections to CHSVA because she is a CHSVA adoptive parent, former member of the CHSVA Board of Directors, and attorney who provided legal counsel to families adopting thru the agency. Prior to joining the CHSVA staff, she served as the Executive Director of Volunteer Emergency Families for Children (VEFC). Before working at VEFC, she was an attorney at Hill, Tucker & Marsh Law Firm, where her practice included adoption work and representing youth, and she began working with non profit organizations.
Nadine serves on the Boards of the Richmond Memorial Health Foundation and the Mid-Atlantic Network for Youth (MANY). She is also a member of the Virginia State Bar.Nadine has served on many nonprofit boards, including the National Network for Youth Policy Council, the Old Dominion Bar Association, and Richmond CASA.
She has also served on the alumni associations for both the University of Richmond and the T.C. Williams School of Law. Nadine has been a presenter at the National Network for Youth Symposium in Washington, D.C., the Business Women's Network Leadership Summit, the National Host Homes Conference sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond.
Nadine may be reached by e-mail or by calling the Richmond office at 1-800-247-2888 or 804-353-0191.
Jennifer H. Sgro
Vice President for Advancement
Jenn Sgro joined the Children’s Home Society of Virginia in November 2005 though she was no stranger to the agency. She is one of the more than 12,000 children who have been adopted through CHSVA.
Jenn graduated from Hollins College in 1995 where she was President of the Student Government Association and was a member of the volleyball and lacrosse teams.
Prior to coming to CHSVA, Jenn served for six years as Director of Development at the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges. She also served as Assistant Director of Development at The Steward School in Richmond and Campaign Assistant at Foxcroft School in Middleburg, Virginia. Throughout her career, Jenn has managed annual giving and capital campaign programs, directed alumni affairs, coordinated numerous special events, and administered countless programs. Active in her profession, she has been a presenter at several national conferences and is an active member of the American Association of Grant Professionals (AAGP).
Jenn volunteers for several non-profit groups across the Commonwealth including serving as a Director for the Hollins University Alumnae Board and as a coach for the Geronimo lacrosse league.
Jenn may be reached by e-mail or by calling the Richmond office at 1-800-247-2888 or 804-353-0191.
Rochelle Orr-Lee
Director of Finance and Administration
Rochelle joined the Children's Home Society staff in September 2006.
She is responsible for budgeting, managing our finances, and overseeing other administrative functions. Rochelle graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2000 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting. Her background includes being an auditor with Keiter, Stephens, Hurst, Gary & Shreaves, a regional CPA firm located in Glen Allen, Virginia. While there, she gained knowledge of and experience with not-for-profit organizations. She was also the sole accountant for a local law firm located in Richmond, Virginia.
Rochelle may be reached by e-mail or by calling the Richmond office at 1-800-247-2888 or 804-353-0191.
Kemper Williams Thornton
Stewardship and Special Events Coordinator
After serving on the Board of Directors of Children's Home Society of Virginia from 1995 to 1999, Kemper was approached by a board member and the Director of Development to establish a Community Resource Board (CRB) to increase public awareness and raise additional funds. As CRB founder, she spearheaded the recruiting of 20 members by May 2006. She was Chair of the CRB for its first annual fundraiser in 2006, which raised over $50,000. Kemper held a second term on the Board of Directors from 2002 to 2007. She joined the CHSVA staff as Stewardship and Special Events Coordinator in December 2007 and is excited about sharing her passion for the agency’s mission.
Kemper is a Richmond native and 1989 graduate of the University of Virginia. She has served on the Chapter Board of St. Catherine’s School, volunteered as a Swim Team Representative for Westwood Club’s swim team, and currently is on both the Annual Fund and Capital Campaign Committees of St. Michael’s Episcopal School.
Prior to joining CHSVA, Kemper was a realtor with Long and Foster and a Xerox agent for The Supply Room Companies. She is married and has a son and a daughter.
Kemper may be reached by e-mail or by calling the Richmond office at 1-800-247-2888 or 804-353-0191.
Debra M. Wilson
Child Placing Supervisor
Debra joined Children's Home Society of Virginia in November 2006 as the Child Placing Supervisor. Prior to joining CHSVA, she worked at Catholic Charities of Eastern Virginia, Inc. from 1994 to 2006 as a social worker and then as the Director of Child Welfare. She continuously carried a caseload providing pregnancy counseling and adoption services. In addition, Debra was employed by New York Foundling Hospital in New York City for 14 years as an adoption social worker, supervisor, then Director of the Adoption Unit. There she provided adoption services, worked with birth parents who voluntarily placed their children as well as those birth parents who involuntarily had their rights terminated. The children ranged from toddlers to school age.
Debra is also a member of ADOPT – Adoption, Development, Outreach, Planning Team— a voluntary child advocacy group committed to promoting and assuring the right of children in Virginia to permanent homes through advocacy, education, legislative activities, and examination of practice issues.
Debra may be reached by e-mail or by calling the Richmond office at 1-800-247-2888 or 804-353-0191.
Jane Hotchkiss
Program Director
Jane joined Children’s Home Society in September 1996 and supervises the Partnership for Adoptions program. With grant funding from the Memorial Foundation for Children and the Virginia Department of Social Services, she is collaborating with other agencies to place older children for adoption that are in the custody of Departments of Social Services. Specialized adoption training to prepare parents services provided after the adoption help to prevent adoption disruptions in the future.
With a history of working in both public and private sectors, Jane has worked for legislative changes in parental placement adoptions, adoption search and adoption assistance for special needs children. She currently serves on the Court Improvement Program’s Advisory Committee to expedite permanency for all children entering foster care. Jane has also volunteered as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for Henrico County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Jane can be reached by email or by calling the Richmond office at 1-800-247-2888 or 804-353-0191.
Kristy Taylor
Wendy's Wonderful Kids Recruiter
Kristy Taylor joined the Children’s Home Society of Virginia in September of 2007 as a part time staff member conducting the Adult Adoptee Birth Parent searches. Through this position she became familiar with the agency and was able to partake in a greater role as the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids Recruiter. As a Recruiter she focuses her efforts on finding permanent families for children in foster care.
Kristy graduated from Longwood University in 2004 where she was a four- year member of the lacrosse team. After college this interest led her to coach lacrosse for the BRIDGE initiative which focuses on teaching lacrosse to underserved youth. In addition to this position she served as Assistant Lacrosse Coach to the Randolph Macon Women’s team.
Prior to coming to CHSVA, Kristy was employed by Richmond Behavioral Health Authority as a Mental Health Family Case Manager. This position centered on teaching coping skills to families with children diagnosed with various mental health issues.
Kristy may be reached by e-mail or by calling the Richmond office at 1-800-247-2888 or 804-353-0191.
Laura Ash-Brackley
Part Time Social Worker
Laura is a licensed clinical social worker with seventeen years of experience. In the past, she supervised the independent living program in Baltimore County’s Department of Social Services, worked in medical social work, as well as in private practice. She joined CHSVA in October 1999 to work with the grant-funded program, Partnership for Adoptions.
Laura can be reached by email or by calling the Richmond office at 1-800-247-2888 or 804-353-0191.
Ashley Hughes
Social Worker
Ashley graduated from Randolph-Macon College in May 2006 and received her MSW from Virginia Commonwealth University in May 2008. While at Randolph-Macon, Ashley served as a member of the steering committee for Dance Marathon, a fundraiser for Children’s Miracle Network. She served as co-chair for the Fundraising Committee and the Family Relations Committee. While working on her Master’s degree, Ashley completed internships with the Adult Career Development Center and Coordinators 2 Inc. She also spent a summer abroad in the Dominican Republic studying international social work.
Ashley may be reached by e-mail or by calling the Richmond office at 1-800-247-2888 or 804-353-0191.
Fredericksburg Office
Tamra M. McCoy
Social Worker
Tamra became a foster care worker for the Richmond office in June 1990. Her previous social work includes foster care at Newport News Social Services. She also worked as a Medical Social Worker at Norfolk Community Hospital and in a variety of capacities at Brunswick Social Services. She also worked with battered women and at-risk teenagers.
Tamra does adoption and pregnancy counseling work as well as some public relations. She relocated to Fredericksburg when the office was opened in December 2000. Since that time she has been responsible for providing services to clients in the northern Virginia area.
She is a part-time radio announcer and is a school mentor through Rappahanock Big Brothers Big Sisters. Tamra can be reached by e-mail or by calling the Fredericksburg office at 540-226-0583.
Roanoke Office
Sharon S. McGraw
Director of Social Services
Sharon has been the District Supervisor of the Roanoke office since October, 1978. In this position, she is responsible for supervision of the staff in the Roanoke office. Sharon carries a small caseload of each area of service and represents the agency with the United Ways and other community organizations.
Prior to coming to Children's Home Society, Sharon worked for The Achievement Center in Roanoke where she developed a program for providing specialized casework services to special needs children.
The Roanoke office covers a large area including cities and rural communities.
Sharon can be reached by e-mail or by calling the Roanoke office at 1-800-625-2445 or 540-344-9281.
Rita Quam
Database and Adult Adoptee Service Coordinator
Rita joined the Children's Home Society of Virginia Roanoke office in September 1979. She worked as an Administrative Assistant until September 2007 when she assumed the position of Data Base and Adult Adoptee Service Coordinator.
Rita’s work at CHSVA has covered a variety of responsibilities from initiating and completing the adoption legal process to maintaining agency records in compliance with State regulations. Currently, she handles the input of client data for reports and statistical information, and coordinates the Adult Adoptee, Search and Reunion services for both the Roanoke and Richmond offices. Rita finds it rewarding to directly assist those in need of these services. Rita is married with 3 adult children and 3 grandchildren. She also has 2 huge Old English Sheepdogs.
Rita may be reached by e-mail or by calling the Roanoke office at 540-344-9281 or
1-800-625-2445.