Adoption Agency Executive Salaries-Then and Now UPDATED
Pound Pup Legacy put together a great chart of executive salaries from 2005 and 2006. See it here . We thought it would be interesting to look at how salaries at these agencies have changed. We also wanted to look at other agencies and organizations that have been in the news.
We looked at information from Guidestar premium listings including 990s. Some agencies are paying less and some have increased their executive salaries and other compensations substantially.
The Winner for the Most Money Doled Out to Executives goes to Buckner International(affiliated with Dillon). Those executives are swimming in the 
!
Buckner is COA/Hague-approved. Its affiliate, Dillon (who has Buckner members on its board), is a JCICS member. Buckner is an NCFA member and a Christian Alliance for Orphans member.
Here is a chart that lists the same agencies and organizations that Pound Pup Legacy looked at as well as other agencies and organizations in the news. This is in descending order of salaries/compensations.
| Organization | Year | Position | Income | Name and Other Info |
| Buckner International | 2009 | CEO | $931,313 | Kenneth Hall $347,144 in salary BUT 990 lists all compensation |
| Buckner International | 2009 | VP & Secretary | $482,780 | Jack H Davis $222,741 in salary BUT 990 lists all compensation |
| Gladney Center | 2009 | CEO and President | $466,899 | Mike McMahon |
| Buckner International | 2009 | President | $375,164 | Albert L Reyes |
| Adoptions from the Heart | 2010 | Pres/Exec Director | $362,543 | Maxine Chalker; (base was$234,412 and her retirement plan $142,103) Other deferred compensation of $63,572 in addition to the 362K$48,848 was paid to Maxine’s janitor organization; $311,758 to Yellow Pages advertising and $422,092 to Facenda Advertising aka “independent contractors” |
| Buckner Adoption & Maternity Services INC | 2010 | VP | $298,446 | Felipe Garza |
| Buckner International | 2009 | VP & CFO | $280,312 | Tony Lintelman $222,383 in salary BUT 990 lists all compensation |
| Frank Foundation Child Assistance International INC | 2009 | President | $276,000 | Nina Kostina |
| Children’s Home Society & Family Services | 2010 | Pres/CEO | $240,431 | Madonna King $197,997 in salary BUT 990 lists all compensation.Independent contractors: Social Welfare Society 493 Changchon in Seoul $1,615,004 andSocial Welfare Society Central Post Office 24 $353,860;Oleg Klimkovsky of Limassol, Cypress $233,258Gary Cohen, San Diego:$ 229,749Ximena Gonzalez Davalos of Quito, Ecuador $190,300 |
| Buckner Foundation | 2009 | Executive VP | $222,659 | David Slover |
| Gladney Center | 2009 | CEO | $222,073 | Frank Garrett |
| Buckner International | 2009 | VP Facilities Management | $207,834 | Lloyd McWilliams $166,219 in salary BUT 990 lists all compensation |
| Buckner International | 2009 | VP communications | $207,154 | Scott Collins $160,848 in salary BUT 990 lists all compensation |
| Buckner International | 2009 | VP information services | $200,677 | Steve Ingram $158,758 in salary BUT 990 lists all compensation |
| Bethany Christian Services | 2009 | CEO | $193,685 | William Blacquiere $149,461 in salary BUT 990 lists all compensation |
| Spence-Chapin | 2010 | Executive Director | $190,000 | Katharine Legg |
| Family & Children’s Agency, Inc. | 2010 | President and CEO | $182,761 | Robert Cashel |
| Illien Adoptions International | 2009 | Executive Director | $180,840 | Anna Belle Illien |
| Gladney Center | 2009 | Executive VP | $176,711 | J Scott Brown |
| Bethany Christian Services | 2009 | COO | $173,363 | Mervin Auchtung $136,142 in salary BUT 990 lists all compensation |
| Buckner International | 2009 | Controller | $171,448 | Bruce Johnson $131,855 in salary BUT 990 lists all compensation |
| Holt International | 2009 | CEO | $164,585 | Kim Brown Several independent contractors, but the one that stood out was performance artist Newsong Ministries Inc of Ball Ground GA: $1,191,307.Newsong is “a religious, non-profit, non-stock organization whose mission is to provide biblically-based, high quality, and useful sheet music, recordings, and other music supplies to fundamental Christian churches, schools, families, and such other institutions desiring the use of such materials.” |
| Holt International | 2009 | Senior VP | $162,367 | Phil Littleton(current pres in 2012): $116,290 in salary BUT 990 lists all compensation |
| Chinese Adoption with Love INC | 2009 | CEO/Director | $157,726 | Yunyi Zhang |
| Cradle Foundation | 2010 | President | $152,534 | Brooke Voss $135,183 in salary BUT 990 lists all compensation |
| Pearl S. Buck International, Inc | 2010 | Pres& CEO | $152,416 | Janet Mintzer $134,742 in salary BUT 990 lists all compensation |
| Dillon | 2010 | VP | $151,996 | Deniese Dillon (Buckner is affiliated and has several officers on their board including Albert Reyes who made $375K from Buckner) |
| Gladney Center | 2009 | Executive VP/Chief Development Officer | $151,058 | Mark Melson |
| Holt International | 2009 | VP Advancement | $149,076 | Dean Bruns |
| Great Wall of China aka Children of all Nations | 2010 | Pres/CEO | $148,053 | Snow Wu |
| Chinese Children Charities (CCAI) | 2010 | President | $145,353 | Joshua Zhong (married to CEO) |
| Chinese Children Charities (CCAI) | 2010 | CEO | $145,038 | Lily Nie (married to Pres) |
| Wide Horizons for Children, Inc | 2010 | CEO | $143,359 | Peter Leppanen $131,025 in salary BUT 990 lists all compensation |
| Holt International | 2009 | VP Finance | $141,083 | Kevin Sweeney $116,850 in salary BUT 990 lists all compensation |
| Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute | 2010 | Exec. Director | $135,000 | Kathleen Strottman |
| Evan B Donaldson Adoption Institute | 2010 | Exec. Director | $134,971 | Adam Pertman |
| North American Council on Adoptable Children | 2010 | Exec. Director | $134,389 | Joe Kroll; Child Focus consulting received $186,653 as independent contractor (policy lobbyists) |
| JCICS | 2009 | President | $131,310 | Tom DiFilipo |
| MAPS | 2010 | Exec Director | $129,952 | Stephanie Mitchell $116,141 in salary BUT 990 lists all compensation |
| Family & Children’s Agency, Inc. | 2010 | VP & CFO | $127,765 | Rocky Rossetti |
| Adoption Associates Inc Washington | 2010 | Exec. Director | $126,880 | Merrily Ripley |
| Children’s Home Society & Family Services | 2010 | Director of Africa Programs | $125,521 | Asnake Amanuel Ayasie |
| Family & Children’s Agency, Inc. | 2010 | Senior VP | $125,349 | Mary Ellen Haas |
| Spence-Chapin | 2010 | Director of development | $124,810 | Linda Wright |
| International Adoption Net (IAN) | 2010 | Executive Director | $124,500 | Joan Strauss |
| The Children’s Aid Society | 2008 | Executive Director PA | $123,704 | Maurice Cogan |
| Children’s Home Society & Family Services | 2010 | VP Finance/admin | $121,680 | Daniel Smith |
| Beacon House Adoption Services INC | 2009 | CEO | $120,500 | Anne Hughes |
| Nightlight Christian Adoptions | 2009 | President & CEO | $119,860 | Ronald Stoddart $114,566 in salary BUT 990 lists all compensation |
| Children’s Home Society & Family Services | 2010 | VP, advancement | $118,942 | Kathleen Kukiela |
| Family & Children’s Agency, Inc | 2010 | VP | $118,839 | Lois Fahey |
| Frank Foundation Child Assisance International INC | 2009 | VP | $116,500 | Natasha Mishina |
| Carolina Adoption Services | 2009 | Executive Director | $115,911 | Rosemary Martin |
| The Children’s Aid Society | 2009 | Executive Director, AL | $114,968 | Gayle Watts |
| National Council for Adoption | 2010 | Training Director/Acting CEO | $114,000 | Chuck Johnson |
| Sunny Ridge | 2010 | CEO/President | $109,944 | Gary Longman $89,003 in salary BUT 990 lists all compensation |
| Cradle Foundation | 2010 | VP | $108,232 | Jennifer Merdinger |
| Holt International | 2009 | COO | $107,834 | Gary Gamer |
| Spence-Chapin | 2010 | CFO | $105,962 | Christine Schwegel |
| Celebrate Children International (CCI) | 2009 | employee | $105,039 | Susan Hedberg $70,808 in salary BUT 990 lists all compensation |
| Spence-Chapin | 2010 | Director of communication | $104,347 | Sabra Larkin |
| Adoptions Together | 2009 | Executive Director | $104,100 | Janice Goldwater $95,952 in salary BUT 990 lists all compensation |
| Adoptions Together | 2009 | Associate Director | $102,305 | Dawn Musgrave |
| Family & Children’s Agency, Inc | 2010 | VP | $101,703 | Irene Cronkright |
| Spence-Chapin | 2010 | Assoc. Exec Director | $101,631 | Helene Lauffer |
| Buckner International | 2009 | Dir. Communications | $100,834 | Russell Dildey |
| All God’s Children International | 2010 | President | $99,726 | John Blanchard; Brian Beazley Design, founder’s son paid $80,344 for consulting; $729,595 wired to Ethiopia for orphanage support |
| European Adoption Consultants | 2010 | Exec director | $99,461 | Greenway Consulting (contractor) received $238,763 (401K plan) -her daughters were made Treasurer and SecretaryJoseph Carbone , agent of Greenway was lawyer to EAC and represented Project Sunshine, inc in 2005 according to Poundpup-he is not listed on current Project Sunshine site |
| Christian World Adoption(CWA) | 2009 | CEO | $99,100 | Tomilee Harding(married to CFO) |
| Bethany Christian Services | 2009 | CFO | $97,125 | Marjorie Dood |
| Bethany Christian Services | 2009 | VP Marketing | $96,943 | Marc Andreas |
| Christian World Adoption(CWA) | 2009 | CFO | $96,700 | Robert Harding(married to CEO) Anita Thomas is also listed as CFO making $73,000. Serge Zevlever of Baldwin MO is facilitator /independent contractor was paid $305,145; The Bostic Law Firm of Charleston SC was paid $189,845 |
| Cradle of Hope Adoption Center INC | 2010 | Exec. Director | $95,991 | Linda Perilstein $75,364 in salary BUT 990 lists all compensation |
| Alliance for Children INC | 2010 | Exec. Director | $95,072 | Nancy Hagan $93,072 in salary BUT 990 lists all compensation |
| Wide Horizons for Children, Inc | 2010 | COO | $95,009 | Janice Hoffman |
| Adoption Associates Inc Michigan | 2009 | VP/Exec Director | $90,827 | Jane Bareman |
| Buckner International | 2009 | Asst Secretary | $90,638 | Pat Williamson |
| Frank Foundation Child Assistance International INC | 2009 | VP | $90,500 | Julie Hogan |
| WACAP | 2010 | Exec. Director | $90,348 | Lillian Thorgersen |
| Foreign Adoption Associates LTD (Alternate and better-known Name Madison Adoption Associates) | 2010 | President | $80,640 | Aleda Madison |
| Christian Adoption Services | 2010 | Exec. Director | $79,950 | James Woodward |
| All God’s Children International | 2010 | Exec. Director | $74,676 | Holly Frazier |
| Faith International | 2009 | Exec. Director | $73,500 | John Meske (married to Secretary/Treasurer) |
| Adoption Avenues | 2010 | Director | $72,000 | Radu Baila (other relatives Andrea and Nicoleta have small salaries of $21,600 and $16,000 |
| International Adoption Guides (IAG) | 2010 | Executive Director | $56,250 | James HardingMary Mooney VP $3,500 |
| Families Through International Adoption | 2010 | Program Director | $51,631 | Salome LaMarche |
| Hopscotch | 2010 | President | $50,108 | Robin Sizemore |
| Families Through International Adoption | 2010 | Director, Social Work | $46,669 | Cindy Scheller |
| Faith International | 2009 | Secretary and Treasurer | $44,750 | Heather Meske (married to Exec director) |
| Families Through International Adoption | 2010 | Executive Director | $42,430 | Keith Wallace |
| Little Miracles | 2010 | President | $25,875 | Admin is 63.9% of expenses |
| Lifeline Children’s Services, Inc. | 2009 | All | $0 | 1 year of data |
Notable Finances
Holt paid Newsong Ministries Inc., a Christian sheet music and recording company a staggering $1,191,307 in 2009.
Adoptions of the Heart president paid her own business extra money and had two ad agency payments in 6-figures.
CHSFS paid three contractors 6-figure salaries-one in San Diego, one in Cypress and one in Ecuador.
NACAC paid a policy lobbyist group a 6-figure salary.
EAC paid a consultant a 6-figure salary.
CWA paid a facilitator in Missouri a 6-figure salary.
Little Miracles had 63.9% of expenses as administration costs.
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Update: Claudia Corrigan D’Arcy adds some interesting salary information about two of the recently closed international adoption agencies in her February 2013 post. Kudos!
See the post at http://www.adoptionbirthmothers.com/two-adoption-agencies-closed-down-last-week/
Are you able to find out how much UNICEF staff gets paid? This is unbelievable! Adoption is a multi-billion dollar business! I feel SICK!
You can look it up online. UNICEF is part of the UN system and staff salaries are a matter of public record.
Lifeline at zero? They are in several states. Impossible.
The first few years they are in business, they do not have to disclose their financial information, so that is how I interpreted that number.
They have been around sine the early 1980s
Hmmm…I see and they expanded to international in 2003. I had pulled the AL one -which I believed was the headquarters and their revenue was $1,653,270 in 2010 yet they list 0 compensation for their execs.Sounds fishy.
While I usually find your blog to be distasteful, I have to give you a thumb’s up for this post. If only you were less hateful towards families that are adopting….
I needed a laugh today. Thanks! We are not hateful. We just are tired of hearing of bad outcomes that could have been prevented. No one has listened for the past decade, so now we are sharing the raw stories with the public on all fronts.Real stories with real issues. There is no “nice” way of sharing that. The candy-coating era is over.
Rally, no, you misunderstood. I still find a majority of the entries in no way helpful to the adoption community (and even hateful). You continually attack innocent families and really do *nothing* to help. At least not that I am aware of. Just what “reform” have you truly brought to the table? Sarcastic entries with distasteful animated cartoons? I truly do not understand how that helps anyone, especially the children.
But, I will give credit where credit is due. This entry is spot-on.
For the sake of disclosure I will confess that I am an AP of one one child. So I have some understanding of adoption and all that it entails.
LOL. The majority of my 2000+ entries! oh..ok…LOL. Our resources help the adoptive community. Like I said before, the rest are to clean up the adoption system. You may not think that is “helpful” to clean things up, but we do and awareness of the issues comes first…which is why we are here. We are not here to be “loved” by people like you.
Looking for REAL Reform – Not Here,
I agree there’s a lot of sarcasm and mockery, which may alienate some of the people who most need to to hear the message.
However, there ARE legitimate points that have to be raised in any discussion of adoption reform, even if APs and PAPs don’t like it.
The belief that the APs desires trump the interests of any other member of the adoption triad, for one. The belief that because a PAP has decided that God wants him to adopt a child, it’s okay to violate any laws, ethics or child-centered policies which stand in the PAPs way, for another.
Again, you misunderstood.
And I never said that you had to be loved. You apparently are already aware that you are not. The positive organizations are also not out to be loved by you 😉
Curious, what do you define as a “positive” organization? What is “positive” adoption reform to you?
Looking, I don’t think it is anyone’s intent to be “hateful.” There is so much that is wrong with how adoption is practiced! I can’t understand how those who love vulnerable children can’t see a snow job for what it is – agency-run or supported orphanages are permitted to look run-down for the sake of PAPs. Adoptees grow up and find that the records of their birth and parentage are often -usually- falsified. Children are being stolen for the adoption pipeline. Adoptees are silenced or marginalized. How many internationally adopted adults do yoi know?
What is wrong with you people?
The only “positive” adoption “reform” the anonymous poster wishes to see is a return to the way things were – no information, no questions asked, souls all available for adoption, cash in hand, no questions asked.
Looking For “real” Reform sounds like, not an AParent to one one child, but an ASP. What – have you lost lots of income this past year? Keep feelin’ the love Looking For Real Reform. They’ll do their job here – obviously, this website has twisted somebody into knots.
I dont understand your response to Real Reform’s post…what does income have to do with it? Are you suggesting she adopted the child for some kind of payment from a state?
Elizabeth: I am an actual AP to a child and have a total of 4 children. I agree that things need to be more stringent. No doubt. With regards to my income, no, in fact my husband’s income has only increased and I am a stay at home mom. All bills paid, no subsidies.
I am not in knots by any stretch, but if you want this blog to make a difference, then stop using the sarcasm and graphics. Write logical, coherent sentences that are not so caustic. You just may get the attention and reform you are looking for.
You ask what sort of positive reform I am looking for, there you have it. Less sarcasm and ridiculous graphics, and more coherent and respectful discussion.
Thank you for sharing this particular bit of information.
Looking, you refer to 2 columns on my blog as “sarcasm and graphics” Do you have a clue what those are for? Do you have a clue that adoption reformers have ALWAYS been thinking this about these types of people but were too afraid to speak out because people like you might not like them? Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but no real reformer has ever liked the activities that we highlight in those columns. Every single situation that we highlight is linked to one of 9 parts of reform that we stand for. This is a blog with our opinions. If you want “real reform” without “graphics”, then get off your lazy butt and blog about it. Due to the number of hits we get, we are acheiving OUR goal of awareness. I really don’t care what *your* goal is or what you want my goal to be. You are a stereotypical AP that needs to be in such control of everything that you want to control MY blog. Hilarious!
Your comment just proved my point.
Awareness is great and I do have a blog as well as a network with government officials.
As for my need for control? All you did was make me laugh. I wish you well. Have a nice day.
You never answered my question about what real reform is, so you must not have an answer. YOu don’t ike our 9 parts of reform, so what are yours? And while you are at it to get back on the topic of this post, WHY do you think this post is good?
Rally,
FYI: The new pope is alleged to have known about child-trafficking under Argentina’s junta.
“…Bergoglio also was accused of turning his back on a family that lost five relatives to state terror, including a young woman who was five months’ pregnant before she was kidnapped and killed in 1977. The De la Cuadra family appealed to the leader of the Jesuits in Rome, who urged Bergoglio to help them; Bergoglio then assigned a monsignor to the case. Months passed before the monsignor came back with a written note from a colonel: The woman had given birth in captivity to a girl who was given to a family “too important” for the adoption to be reversed.
Despite this written evidence in a case he was personally involved with, Bergoglio testified in 2010 that he didn’t know about any stolen babies until well after the dictatorship was over.
“Bergoglio has a very cowardly attitude when it comes to something so terrible as the theft of babies. He says he didn’t know anything about it until 1985,” said the baby’s aunt, Estela de la Cuadra, whose mother, Alicia, co-founded the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo in 1977 in hopes of identifying these babies…”
http://www.rr.com/news/topic/article/rr/1103/82713999/Pope_Francis_Simple_image_complex_past
Interesting link ..I will look into that as a post, though I would appreciate that this thread not get more off topic than it already is-this doesn’t have to do with exec salaries 😉
I am a poster to this blog, not one of the compilers of information. Not my blog, although I agree with much of what is written. Therefore I comment.
FWIW back when I ignorantly began the pursuit of a Russian adoption, circa early 1999, I would NOT have believed what was being written on this blog. That was then.
Fast forward to 2013. I’ve lost my innocence and gained knowledge through the corruption of the adoption industry thanks to the American agencies, their foreign facilitators and the useless regulations which govern(ed) international adoption.
I’ve done what I can do and would do it all again if I had to relive it all.
Okay – I’ve gone way off topic here – what about the salaries of adoption agency executives and officers again?
I pointed out that Lifeline can’t be zero. They employ a large staff, are in several states and have been around since the ’80s.
On today’s FacePalm, I learned that Christian World Adoption has filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. If it’s for the corporation itself, this allows CWA owners to protect their own nest eggs from creditors of the business. If it’s personal bankruptcy for the owners, then in North Carolina, if you can show that 51% percent of your debt is business-related, you can file for Chapter 7 regardless of how high your personal income is.
http://www.nationalbankruptcyforum.com/chapter-7-bankruptcy/should-my-corporation-file-for-chapter-7-bankruptcy/
http://www.nationalbankruptcyforum.com/chapter-7-bankruptcy/small-business-debt-and-bankruptcy/
Either way, it looks like the Hardings and their pals’ lifestyles shouldn’t suffer too badly from their adoption agency going bankrupt. That’s more than can be said for some of the PAPs who cleaned out their savings accounts to “rescue” an “orphan”.
Is anyone tracking what happens after adoption agencies close and/or go bankrupt? Could the same people start ANOTHER adoption agency under a different name, pay themselves cushy salaries for running a non-profit NGO, and then declare bankruptcy to shelter their assets once the profit flow falters? Then repeat the process a few years later?
Is there an updated chart for 2019?
No. Sorry.