Maxon Becomes Executive Director, Taylor Joins Leadership as Research Director Biddle Remains on NCA

BOSTON, Oct. 9, 2018 – The National Center on Adoption and Permanency announced today that Allison Davis Maxon is being elevated to the position of Executive Director; she succeeds Carol Biddle, who will remain an active member of NCAP as Co-Founder and Executive Director Emerita. At the same time, Joyce Taylor, Ph.D., is joining our leadership team as Research and Evaluation Director.

The changes, which are effective immediately, are being made for two primary reasons.

First, after a distinguished career as CEO of the Kinship Center in California and then as a leader of NCAP, Biddle decided that “it’s time for me to work a bit less – but just a bit, mind you.” She added that “promoting Allison from COO to Executive Director frankly was a no-brainer.”

At the same time, the organization is planning to put a greater emphasis on research and therefore is filling out its leadership team with a Research and Evaluation Director to demonstrate that commitment. Taylor, a highly regarded scholar at Springfield (MA) College and Yale University with a strong background in child welfare, has been chosen to fill that position.

“We’re delighted by these changes and believe they will both enable us to grow organizationally and fulfill our mission in increasingly significant ways,” said NCAP President Adam Pertman. “We’re in the enviable position of gaining from the remarkable skills that Allison and Joyce bring to steering NCAP into the future while keeping Carol – and her wisdom – on board.”

Drawing on his experience heading the Donaldson Adoption Institute from 2002-2014, Pertman plans to work with Taylor and NCAP’s Senior Research Fellows to build NCAP’s research component. Under his leadership, DAI became the pre-eminent research, policy and advocacy organization in its field, contributing to better adoption and permanency practices and, most importantly, to improved outcomes for children and families. DAI closed its doors in January 2018, citing a lack of funding.

“This is an amazing opportunity for us and, most of all, for NCAP,” Maxon and Taylor said in a joint statement. “We’re very proud of what the organization has accomplished to date, of course, but we’re even more excited about what’s to come.”

For more information about NCAP, go to www.ncap-us. If you have questions or want to ask about NCAP assisting your organization, call 617-332-8944 or write to apertman@ncap-us.org. To congratulate Allison or Joyce, their addresses are amaxon@ncap-us.org and jtaylor@ncap-us.org.

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