On September 30, 2025 at The Duke Endowment in Charlotte, NC, the Institute for Family gathered leaders, practitioners, and advocates for the Mission InCommon Summit and 2025 Family Champion Awards, a celebration of the power and resilience of family. The third annual awards luncheon was an intimate yet impactful event, bringing together voices from education, public health, child welfare, and community sectors to honor professionals who go above and beyond to strengthen family well-being.
Former Secretary Kody Kinsley
The Mission InCommon Summit set the stage for the award’s celebration by inviting leaders and practitioners to explore the transformative power of cross-sector collaboration. Keynote speaker Secretary Kody Kinsley delivered an inspiring address that emphasized the urgency and opportunity in recognizing and acting on our common goal of helping every North Carolina Family succeed. Through an interactive session and storytelling activity, attendees experienced firsthand how education, public health, child welfare, and community development can align efforts to disentangle systems – reinforcing that when sectors unite, families thrive.
For the past three years, the Family Champion Awards event has recognized individuals who exemplify courage, creativity, and compassion in their work. These individuals not only meet challenges head-on but also reimagine how systems can serve families more effectively and empathetically. This year’s honorees embody that spirit, showing us what it means to step in when others step back, to amplify voices too often unheard, and to create spaces where families can flourish.
Meet the 2025 Family Champions:
Collaborative Leadership Excellence Award – Gaile Osborne
Gaile Osborne is the Executive Director of the Foster Family Alliance of North Carolina. When Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, leaving foster families stranded without resources, Gaile stepped in. By mobilizing networks, organizing supply drops, and ensuring every child was accounted for within days, Gaile embodied collaborative leadership at its finest, proving that in times of crisis, families need more than policies; they need people willing to act.
Amplifier of Family Voice Award – Beverly Roberts
Beverly Roberts is the Family Engagement Manager with Exceptional Children’s Assistance Center Inc. Few understand the importance of family voice like Beverly. Beverly’s commitment to ensuring that families are at the center of every conversation is a daily practice. Through her leadership in shaping the North Carolina State Improvement Project, Beverly ensured educators and policymakers were guided not just by research but by the lived experiences of families. Her tireless advocacy has built stronger, more trusting partnerships between schools and families, ensuring children with disabilities receive the care and respect they deserve.
Generational Impact Leader Award – Dr. Russell Suda
Dr. Russell Suda is an obstetrician with The Cabarrus Health Alliance. For Dr. Russell Suda, retirement didn’t mean slowing down—it meant digging deeper into service. After decades as an obstetrician with the local public health department, he founded a nonprofit dedicated to families impacted by substance use, continuing to show up for mothers and babies often left behind. His work reminds us that the true measure of a life well-lived is the legacy of healing and hope it leaves for future generations.
Innovative Solutions Award – Delores Hunt
Delores Hunt is the Director of Rutherford County’s Department of Social Services. Faced with a heartbreaking reality—a child forced to live in a DSS office for over 220 days—Delores Hunt refused to accept the status quo. Her vision and leadership birthed “Share for Foster Care,” a dignified, home-like space on campus where children in care can feel safe and cared for, while families reunite in a setting built for healing. Her innovation turned despair into possibility.
Empathy Champion Award – Tayelore’ Dixon
Tayelore’ Dixon is a Permanency Planning (Foster Care) Social Worker with Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services. When others had given up on reuniting a child with her biological family, Tayelore’ refused to lose hope. With persistence and compassion, she located the child’s father, facilitated connection, and shifted the trajectory of the case from adoption back toward reunification. Her story is a powerful reminder that empathy isn’t passive. It is active, relentless, and transformative.
Social Capital Builder Award – Marianne Georgiou
Marianne Georgiou is the founder and President of A Voice For All Foundation. In 2022, Marianne noticed her non-speaking son, who uses an AAC device to communicate, was unable to fully participate in playground interactions at school. What began as a mother’s determination to see her son included on the playground became a movement for equity at Laurel Park Elementary. Through fundraising, she independently raised funds to implement communication boards across the three playgrounds at the school. Marianne ensured that every child—speaking or non-speaking—had the tools to connect and belong. Her efforts illustrate how building social capital can start small but ripple outward to transform entire communities.
These six honorees remind us that systems change begins with people willing to act boldly, listen deeply, and lead with empathy. Whether responding to disaster, amplifying family voices, innovating new solutions, or simply refusing to give up on a child, their work demonstrates that families thrive when communities come together with courage and compassion.
The Family Champion Awards are more than a moment of recognition; they are a call to action. They ask all of us to envision a future where families are not navigating systems alone, but surrounded by champions who believe in their strength, dignity, and resilience.
