Meredith Rose
Director
My name is Meredith Rose and I am the Director of Open Arms Adoption Network. Working with our Open Arms team, JFCS and our birth and adoptive families is an honor and pleasure that I feel grateful for each day. I am the mother of two. My first child joined our family through birth and my second child joined our family through adoption. We have all always enjoyed and benefited from our relationship with my daughter’s birth family. I have been working with families in the field of social work for over 20 years and happily found my place in Open Adoption in 1996. I hold an MSW and an MPH in Maternal and Child Health from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. You can reach me at mrose@openarmsadoption.net.
Meredith Rose
Director
My name is Meredith Rose and I am the Director of Open Arms Adoption Network. Working with our Open Arms team, JFCS and our birth and adoptive families is an honor and pleasure that I feel grateful for each day. I am the mother of two. My first child joined our family through birth and my second child joined our family through adoption. We have all always enjoyed and benefited from our relationship with my daughter’s birth family. I have been working with families in the field of social work for over 20 years and happily found my place in Open Adoption in 1996. I hold an MSW and an MPH in Maternal and Child Health from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. You can reach me at mrose@openarmsadoption.net.
Lisa Walters
Adoption Coordinator
Hi, my name is Lisa Walters and I am an Adoption Coordinator for Open Arms, working out of our Philadelphia/South Jersey/Delaware office. I work with both women considering adoption as well as adoptive families. I also assist adult adoptees who were adopted under the system of confidential adoption with searches and reunions. I am a parent by adoption, and I myself was adopted as an infant as well. l have worked in the field of social work for more than 25 years in both healthcare and adoption, and I began working at JFCS in 2001. I earned an MSW from Temple University. I can be reached at lwalters@openarmsadoption.net.
Michele LeMasney
Adoptive Family Support & Training Coordinator
Hello! My name is Michele LeMasney, and I am the Adoptive Family Support & Training Coordinator at Open Arms. I coordinate educational workshop programming, support forums and all events for our families. Additionally, I coordinate trainings for professionals who work with clients facing unplanned pregnancies. I facilitate our Coffee Talk sessions and support our families as they navigate all areas of the adoption process. Adoption greatly encompasses my life as I am an adopted individual and a mother of five children, two of whom joined our family though open adoption! I have been with Open Arms since 2008 and feel truly blessed to work in a field that I love so much! You can reach me at mlemasney@openarmsadoption.net.
Portia Cooper
Adoption Supervisor
Hello! My name is Portia Cooper and I am the Adoption Supervisor at Open Arms working out of our Philadelphia/South Jersey/ Delaware office. I primarily provide counseling for expectant parents who are considering adoption. Additionally, I work with adoptive families providing support throughout the adoption process including completing their home study and post placement visits. I have worked in social services since 2003 in the fields of child development, drug and alcohol counseling and mental health case management. I joined Open Arms in 2011 and I am passionate about Open Adoption and thrilled to be part of this team.You can reach me by email at pcooper@openarmsadoption.net.
Jenny Sved
Outreach Coordinator
Hi, my name is Jenny Sved, and I joined Open Arms as Outreach Coordinator in 2012. My primary responsibility is handling our outreach and marketing efforts, both for potential adoptive families and expectant mothers considering adoption. I have been in the nonprofit sector since graduating with a BA in English Communications in 2007. Post-graduation, I was responsible for the marketing efforts in the Office of Alumni Affairs at my alma mater. I am thrilled to have entered the world of Adoption, as it is an incredible journey for families that I love being a part of! I can be reached at jsved@openarmsadoption.net.
Cheryl Schmid
Adoption Coordinator
Hello, my name is Cheryl Schmid and I am an Adoption Supervisor at our North Jersey/ New York office. I joined Open Arms in 2014 and work with expectant parents considering adoption as well as adoptive families. I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Fairleigh Dickinson University and a Master’s degree in Social Work from Rutgers University. My background includes working in the fields of foster care, adoption, mental health and with children with special needs. I have two children who joined our family through adoption and I am honored to share the journey of adoption with both expectant parents and adoptive families. You can reach me at cschmid@openarmsadoption.net.
Alexandra Wallis
Administrative Assistant
Hello! My name is Alexandra Wallis and I am the part-time Administrative Coordinator for Open Arms, working out of our Philadelphia/ South Jersey/ Delaware office. I joined Open Arms in February 2018, after receiving my B.S. in Criminal Justice from Penn State. I am excited to bring my many years of administrative experience in a variety of health and social service settings to the world of adoption! I can be reached at awallis@openarmsadoption.net.
Dori Kavanagh
Adoption Coordinator
Hello! My name is Dori Kavanagh and I am an Adoption Coordinator in our North Jersey/ New York office. I work with expectant parents, birth parents and adoptive families. I am passionate about adoption and it is a privilege to be helping Birth Parents, adoptees and parents navigate through their journeys and become the narrators of their stories. I have worked with children and families for over a decade and specialize in complex family building, foster care, infertility, post-partum mental health, transracial adoption and LGBTQ+ families. I am a parent of three girls, one of whom joined our family through adoption. I have a BA in Psychology and a MSW from Hunter College. I also have Post Graduate certifications in both Clinical Social Work from Hunter College and in Adoption from Rutgers University. I can be reached at dkavanagh@openarmsadoption.net.
Susan Meeker
Adoption Coordinator
Hi, my name is Susan Meeker and I am an Adoption Coordinator at our Philadelphia/South Jersey/Delaware office. I work with expectant parents considering adoption as well as adoptive families. My background includes 25 years of working in the fields of women’s reproductive health/human sexuality, parenting education and child welfare. I received my MSW from Widener University. I am committed to helping women make empowering decisions as well as supporting families in their open adoption journey. I can be reached at smeeker@openarmsadoption.net.
