A passionate advocate for children and increasing awareness about the foster care system, Liz is the author of The Extraordinary Story of No Ordinary Liz—her latest children’s book—as well as No Ordinary Liz (now in its second printing) and Growing Up in The Care of Strangers, which together tell her remarkable journey as a foster child. A passionate advocate for children and raising awareness about the foster care system, she has been a frequent motivational speaker for various organizations and has shared her story on numerous podcasts, radio shows, and TV programs. She actively volunteers within her community and serves on the board of Fostering Success. In her free time, Liz enjoys spontaneous road trips to new and adventurous destinations, blogging, meeting new people, exploring the open water, and embracing all that life has to offer.

Timothy J. Eirich is an honors graduate of the Loyola University of Chicago School of Law. At Loyola, Tim was as a Philip H. Corboy Fellow (member of the National Trial Team), a Curt N. Rodin Fellow in advocacy, and a Civitas Childlaw Fellow. Tim was also an associate editor for the Children's Legal Rights Journal. Tim received his undergraduate degree from Santa Clara University where he majored in English and was a captain of the NCAA Division 1 Crew Team. Tim focuses his practice on adoption, child welfare, and guardianship cases. Tim represents prospective adoptive parents, foster parents, relatives, birth parents, and juveniles charged with delinquent acts. Tim is an experienced litigator who has tried over twenty-five jury trials, litigated dozens of contested hearings, and has argued in the front of both the Colorado Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. Tim litigated the ground-breaking case, both at the trial level and before the Colorado Supreme Court, that addressed the rights of foster parents and other caregivers in dependency and neglect cases. Tim has also received a number of awards recognizing his work. In 2012, Tim received the Excellence in Practice Award for a Juvenile Law Attorney at the Colorado Summit for Childen Youth and Families. In 2014, the Colorado State Foster Parent Association honored Tim with the Champion Award for work and efforts on behalf of Colorado’s foster parents. Also, in 2014, the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute awarded Tim the prestigious Angels in Adoption Award for his work in adoption and positive child welfare practices. Tim has handled dozens of private, public, and contested adoptions and has been recognized as a Fellow with the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. Tim has lectured frequently on the rights of foster parents and the child welfare system and is a regular presenter for the Colorado State Foster Parent Association. In addition to training foster parents and relative caregivers, Tim teaches trial skills to fellow attorneys as an instructor for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA). Prior to joining the Grob & Eirich, LLC, Tim was the Deputy Director of the Rocky Mountain Children's Law Center where he litigated some of the center's highest profile cases; represented foster parents, prospective adoptive parents, relative caregivers and juveniles; and supervised a multi-disciplinary staff of attorneys and social workers who served as guardians ad litem for abused and neglected children in Denver Juvenile Court. Prior to his time with the Children's Law Center, Tim was a trial attorney with the Office of the Colorado Public Defender where he represented adults and juveniles charged with felony offenses.

Melissa Corkum is a neurodevelopmental parenting coach, Safe and Sound Protocol Practitioner, and co-founder of Rise to Regulation. As an adoptive parent who has navigated the complexities of blocked care firsthand, Melissa equips caregivers with practical, brain-based strategies to move from chaos to connection.

Through her work at Rise to Regulation, Melissa helps parents understand the nervous system’s role in behavior, guiding them out of guilt and into grounded, regulated responses—even in the face of challenging behaviors. Her compassionate, relatable teaching style empowers caregivers to rediscover purpose and possibility when parenting feels impossibly hard.

Melissa lives in Maryland with her husband, their six children by birth and adoption, and a rotating cast of furry and scaly pets.

Stacey spent ten years as a Case Coordinator and Dependency and Neglect Program Manager at Advocates for Children-CASA. Stacey is a strong and passionate advocate for youth in foster care, especially separated siblings. Stacey truly enjoys educating stakeholders, families, and care providers about the importance of the sibling relationship and how every person involved with a family can help maintain and sustain the sibling bond.

Stacey is also passionate about helping youth post-emancipation find their voice and speak their truth through spoken word, song, comedy and art. Stacey is recognized by the Office of the Child Representative (OCR) as a subject matter expert for the sibling relationship. Stacey worked and testified with the incredible young people from project Foster Power who created the Sibling Bill of Rights to ensure that the sibling relationship is maintained and supported by all the adults in their lives.

Stacey has two sisters who remind her every day how important the sibling relationship is to our overall well-being. She is the aunt of four — a niece and three nephews — who are the absolute light of her life. Stacey was born and raised in Colorado and is a die-hard Broncos fan, regardless of their record!

Tori Shuler is the Denver Director for Fostering Great Ideas, a non-profit organization that reimagines foster care. Tori also serves on the Board of Directors for The Colorado Child Protection Ombudsman and The Office of The Child's Representative. Tori experienced foster care multiple times in her childhood and exited the system on her 18th birthday through emancipation. Motivated from her foster care experience Tori is dedicated to improving foster care and elevating the voice of people with lived experience. Tori is a graduate of University of Colorado-Denver and lives in Aurora with her family. Tori enjoys decorating cakes as a hobby and is an avid lover of basset hounds.

Sarah Sullivan (she/they) is an educator and doctoral student at the University of Denver. Her educational seminars cover topics of weight stigma, body image, embodied discrimination, and weight-inclusive care. Her doctoral research concerns how health is defined within the current social and political American landscape and the consequential exclusions (based on ability status, body size, citizenship status, class, gender, race, sex, etc.) that are built into its construction.

I am an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics with a dual appointment in general pediatrics and the Kempe Center where I serve as the Founding Medical Director for the new Children’s Hospital Colorado specialty primary care clinic in affiliation with the Kempe Center, the Kids In Care Settings (KICS) clinic. KICS serves children and youth in out of home placement (foster and kinship care). 

Prior to coming to Colorado in 2021, I worked at Evanston Regional Hospital in Evanston, Wyoming. There I served as the Medical Director of Pediatrics and Chief of Medical Staff.  I currently serve as a Co-Investigator for the Pediatric Integrated Post-trauma Services SAMHSA grant working to disseminate the pediatric traumatic stress care process model and to develop enhanced implementation strategies for trauma screening and treatment referral in rural settings and adaptations for the unique needs of children in foster care.  I served on the executive committee for the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Child Abuse and Neglect from 07/2018 - 06/2024. In 2019, I was the recipient of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Child Abuse and Neglect’s award for Outstanding Service to Maltreated Children. 

My professional areas of interest are foster care health, health disparities, cross sector collaboration, systems level innovations, infants prenatally substance exposed, and trauma informed care.

My personal hobbies are spending time with my family, reading, camping, skiing, and I love the beach!

Julia Palozzi received her doctorate degree in school and clinical psychology at Roberts Wesleyan University. Currently, she is working as clinical faculty at the University of Colorado. Her passions are supporting foster involved youth, families with trauma histories, and caregivers in feeling confident and competent when caring for their families and children. Over the course of her career, she hopes to have a hand in both intervention and policy that addresses the social determinants of mental health for underserved populations, specifically those involved in with foster care. Outside of dreaming up ways to bring equitable care to families, she loves hiking with her partner and their miniature australian shepherd! 

Sarah has her degree in social work from Metropolitan State University with an emphasis in child and adolescent mental health.

She has worked for Denver Department of Human Services Child Welfare for over 3 years as an ongoing social caseworker and currently holds a senior caseworker position in placement navigation. She has worked as a counselor at a residential treatment program for youth corrections, as a counselor for dual diagnosis adult men at a halfway house, and an independent living specialist for the disabled community/outreach specialist for individuals experiencing homelessness.

Sarah writes:

In my spare time, I spend most of my time with my two teenage daughters. I am a huge advocate for social justice issues which I spend a lot of my time supporting through peaceful protests, education, volunteer work, etc. I love camping, crafting, karaoke, road trip adventures, and dancing in my living room. My favorite place in the entire world is the Mojave Desert.