From Personal Experience to Professional Passion: Karen Brach’s Commitment to Child and Family Well-Being

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For Sellers Dorsey Managing Director, Karen Brach, child and family well-being work has been a professional priority, but it’s also a very personal one. Karen is the proud mom of two teenagers adopted out of foster care. Katie Renner Olse, Senior Director for Child and Family Well-Being, recently asked Karen about what adoption means to her and the importance of ensuring children and families have access to quality healthcare. Watch the video below to hear Karen’s story and glean valuable insights for children in foster care, and their families brought together through adoption.

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Katie Renner Olse
Katie Renner Olse

Katie Renner Olse’s impactful leadership in child and family well-being for both the public and private sector has left an indelible mark on communities across the country. Before joining Sellers Dorsey, Katie served as the CEO of the Texas Alliance of Child and Family Services (TACFS) where she supported the work of community organizations serving children and families in the child welfare system. There, she spearheaded critical initiatives and championed system reform efforts including oversight of the nation’s largest state network of child, youth, and family-serving provider organizations. Under her leadership, she launched the Texas Center of Child and Family Studies (TCCFS), which has become a model for supporting private child and youth-serving providers in other states and has grown to support hundreds of providers within the mental health, juvenile justice, and child welfare arena.

Katie also served as the President of the National Organization of State Associations for Children (NOSAC) where she worked with top leaders in state child welfare, juvenile justice, and mental health associations. Prior to her experience at NOSAC, Katie served as Deputy Commissioner for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), a state-based agency with over 12,000 employees responsible for protecting Texas children from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. DFPS operates five major programs including Child and Adult Protective Services, Child Protective Investigations, Prevention and Early Intervention, and Statewide Intake.

Additionally, Katie was the Chief of Staff for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (THHSC), an agency within the Texas Health and Human Services System that has hundreds of programs helping more than 7.5 million Texans each month live healthier lives. THHSC provides a wide range of services to Texans including assistance with aging, finances, food, mental health, substance use, and more. Before her tenure at THHSC, Katie was the Senior Policy Advisor to the Executive Commissioner for DFPS, and the former Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services.


Current Responsibility

Katie serves as Senior Director within the Firm’s National Consulting Practice. Katie utilizes her leadership experience across the full continuum of child and family well-being to offer innovative solutions to clients and increase impact on children and families nationwide. Her expertise resides at the intersection of child welfare and healthcare as she provides a wide range of insights to support clients including drivers of child protection involvement, community-based services and approaches to serving families, key state and federal child and family well-being initiatives, implementation of complex, cross-system initiatives, and more. She has a strong track record of forging, maintaining, and strengthening relationships with critical child welfare stakeholders including legislatures, providers, state associations, advocates, and public sector professionals. Her critical connections in this space help open doors for clients and support them in fulfilling their unique missions.

Education

    • Indiana University Bloomington

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