First Spaulding Staff Member to Graduate from the MPLD Program

Stacey Oakes, IPP Program Manager for Child and Family Services, was among the graduates of the 2024 class of the Minority Professional Leadership Development (MPLD) program.

Administered by Spaulding for Children as part of the AdoptUSKids program, Ms. Oakes is the first member of Spaulding’s professional staff selected for an MPLD Fellowship. Ms. Oakes is shown making a presentation to her MPLD cohorts in the photo above.

“I am excited to be part of the Cohort 6, MPLD family,” Ms. Oakes said. “The journey was a great experience and the best opportunity to grow as a transformational force of change in the child welfare field.”

As part of their MPLD course work, Ms. Oakes and her cohorts created an Action Research Project to address issues related to adoption, guardianship, or kinship. Fellows received expert, individualized guidance to help them complete their projects.

“My action research project focused on revitalizing the Inter-Agency Community Adoption/Foster Family Recruitment Exchange (I-Care) 365 Project,” Ms. Oakes added. “It had a specific focus of Wayne, Macomb and Oakland counties highlighting the marketing plan and the Community Ambassador Program to recruit more licensed foster homes for teens. I am looking forward to sharing information about my ARP and growing more licensed foster homes for teens.”

The MPLD program is a 12-month course of study and work designed for emerging leaders serving in the child welfare field. The structured program includes hands-on experience, exposure to national experts, and mentorship opportunities to assist and further the MPLD cohorts in their careers of service to children and their welfare.

Each year, emerging leaders are selected through a competitive process. The program is now in its seventh year. To find out more about applying for the program visit here.

Congratulations to Stacey and to her fellow MPLD graduates!