Voices Public Service

Humans at the heart of better outcomes

May 19, 2021

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Accenture’s Child Welfare team had made a critical pivot. We articulated a keystone goal – better outcomes for families and their children – to guide everything we do.

As the pandemic introduced new challenges to child welfare agencies’ day-to-day operations, we remained steadfastly focus on that North Star vision. It drives every decision and recommendation we make. As child welfare organizations navigate this new era in public service, we continue to make investments to help improve outcomes.

We also continue to keep humans at the center of everything we do: the families and kids served by our clients, as well as the humans on our own Child Welfare team.

We’ve assembled a team of people who have walked for miles in the shoes of our Child Welfare clients. I spent 25 years in the field, including a decade leading a child welfare agency where we reduced the number of kids in foster care by 72% and the number in group homes by 89%.

Now we are welcoming two other smart, experienced and committed humans: Nancy Blackwell and Leila Pree. Both have spent time on the frontlines of child welfare, and they wholeheartedly embrace our North Star vision. Now they’re at Accenture, helping us strengthen and extend the ways in which we support and empower our clients.

Nancy joins us from the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, where she served as executive director. Previously she was executive director of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Baltimore and a special assistant within the DC Department of Human Services. Although Nancy brings great expertise in federal, state and local policy, she’s much more than a “policy wonk.” She excels at creating policy in a way that’s both practical and mindful of the people that a policy will affect. Empathetic policy ideas are exactly what we need to support better outcomes.

We also have a strong commitment to equity – an area of expertise for Leila. She’s come to us from the NYC Administration for Children's Services, where she was director of strategy, innovation and planning. In addition to leading the agency’s work on COVID-19 response, she served as a thought leader – with an equity focus – to support development of robust child welfare analytics. That work reflects her experiences as a prestigious Foster America fellow starting in 2016. Leila also led a $60 million statewide systems improvement project – all with an eye on better matching children in care with adoptive families.

<<< Start >>>

<<< End >>>

I’m excited about how Nancy and Leila will help us help our child welfare clients – and, more importantly, the people you serve. We understand the journey to better outcomes can be challenging. We’re here to walk alongside you and support your success.

I invite you to get in touch with any or all of us to explore your opportunities to strengthen families for the good of children.

Molly Tierney | email Molly | LinkedIn | Twitter

Nancy Blackwell | email Nancy | LinkedIn | Twitter

Leila Pree | email Leila | LinkedIn | Twitter

<<< Start >>>