Brittany is a new member of the Sellers Dorsey Child and Family Well-Being team, having previously served as the Firm’s Associate Director for Government Relations. She is an experienced policy professional who has worked nationwide, gaining a national perspective on the diverse policy landscape of health and human services. Brittany is passionate about promoting family stability and child welfare. She has lived experience in kinship care and adoption, and we are excited for her to bring that passion and experience to support our child and family well-being clients.
I grew up in rural Texas in a family deeply impacted by poverty and non-medical drivers of health. I knew I wanted to have a career that would change circumstances for families like mine. Initially, I planned on being a clinician, but once I realized my skills were better suited for policy and systems change than bedside care, I pursued a Master of Public Health instead of an MD.
I had subscribed to the Sellers Dorsey Digest and appreciated their thought leadership in Medicaid. When an opportunity opened, I reached out to a former colleague who had also come to work at Sellers Dorsey, who could not speak highly enough about the organization. The rest, as they say, is history!
When I heard that Sellers Dorsey was launching a Child and Family Well-Being (CFW) division, I was immediately drawn to the opportunity to support such meaningful work. I then learned that we were bringing on Katie Renner Olse to lead this team, whom I’d met advocating for children and families in Texas. I knew what a dynamic leader she is, and I reached out to her to learn how I could contribute to building this new division.
I am incredibly grateful for my time on the Government Relations team, helping clients and consultants navigate state and federal government engagements related to Medicaid financing and policy. Following budget reconciliation, it felt like the right moment to jump into a new focus area at Sellers Dorsey, bringing my background and expertise in the child and family well-being arena from previous work with home visiting models.
I am honored to now be in an Associate Director role on the CFW team and have been able to blend my government relations and CFW experience together to support clients. It’s deeply rewarding to help clients navigate policy change and build responsive strategies to support children and families.
From the lens of our Child and Family Well-Being Center of Excellence, impact means healthy children and thriving families. Sellers Dorsey supports clients in creating meaningful change by helping prevent involvement with the child welfare system and by helping families who are already involved access services that promote family stability and safety. Supporting children who are involved with or at risk for involvement with the child welfare system can break cycles of trauma and is one of the most powerful impacts we can make in our society.
My superpower is my ability to clearly draw connections. Whether it’s between two seemingly separate ideas, projects, or clients, I can determine how these things can draw on one another and create action plans and strategies that are ultimately stronger.
I was deeply engaged across multiple divisions at Sellers Dorsey to support clients during the development and passage of the budget reconciliation bill signed into law in early July. I monitored daily news, collaborated with our DC consultants, and ensured our internal teams and clients had timely updates and strategic insights. I look forward to continuing to support clients as the federal government implements policies from the bill.
The most rewarding part of working within the Firm’s Child and Family Well-Being team is hearing directly from our clients about the families they serve. Real stories of their impact help ground our work and keep the mission front and center in our day-to-day efforts.
Aligning funding, programs, and policy across Medicaid, child welfare, prevention, and other related areas is a clear opportunity, but one that’s often difficult to realize due to systemic barriers. Given Sellers Dorsey’s expertise, we can help states and other partners seize on this potential. Structuring funding and policy in ways that reflect the real needs of families can lead us to a better and brighter future.
I have never been a great singer or worked in the music industry, but there’s a song on Spotify that I wrote when I was 9 years old you can listen to, called “Chicken in a Cloud!” One of my childhood friends’ dads is a country music singer and put it to music. It’s not too bad, if I do say so myself.
My first job was at a local branch of a major insurance company, where I worked alongside my sister. We were both adopted and/or raised in kinship care by my great-grandparents. Her boss saw me one morning in an academic challenge competition on a local news station and asked her to bring me in for an interview. I learned a lot about office management and even health insurance basics as a 16-year-old there!
I love to spend time with my five-year-old, who’s starting kindergarten this year. She is so funny and wise beyond her years! We love to check out local parks, libraries, and play places together.
My favorite book is The American Health Care Paradox: Why Spending More is Getting Us Less by Elizabeth Bradley and Lauren Taylor. It examines how a lack of investment in human services drives up the cost of healthcare and contributes to poor outcomes. It’s a good read for anyone who wants to work with policymakers to invest in child and family wellbeing, amongst other human services!