Executive Director
Myriam Avery, MA has traveled to many countries helping adoptive families and is skilled in working with US Embassies and Consulates worldwide. With over 20 years of experience, she's provided direct international adoption services to hundreds of families. She has helped process adoptions from China, Uganda, Bulgaria, Romania, India, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and Nepal. She has also worked with families who have adopted children in the United States.
Myriam is dedicated to the orphaned children of the world who are in need of permanent loving homes. She has extensive knowledge regarding all aspects of the adoption process, and has completed a published thesis on international adoption.
Myriam has two biological boys and two daughters adopted from China. She is honored to be a part of any family’s adoption process.
Director of Social Services
Debby Fields, MS, LMHC, has a Master’s degree in Marriage, Family and Child Counseling and is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor. Debby has worked in the field of adoption since 2006, providing home studies
and post adoption supervision and support.
She is honored to be part of the process of building families through adoption.
Debby lives in Edmonds with her husband and two daughters. What Debby likes best about working at Agape Adoptions is seeing the
delight of parents as they bond with
their children and the joy of children
who know they are loved and cherished.
Debby is a Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) Practitioner and Educator.
Home Study & Post Placement Coordinator
Janie Dickson received her Bachelors of Social Work Degree from Brigham Young University-Idaho in 2019. Janie has a love for helping others and making a difference in the lives of those she serves. She spent 4 months teaching English to young children in Kyiv, Ukraine after graduating from college, and will always have a place in her heart for the children and families she met while abroad. She also has a younger brother who is adopted and is passionate about uniting children with their forever families. When Janie isn’t working she is spending time with her family, shopping or enjoying outdoor activities!
Child Advocacy & Communications Coordinator
Madisen Wilde earned her Bachelor’s in Communication Research with a double minor in Global Engagement and Religious Studies from the University of Washington Tacoma in 2017. Madisen has a strong connection to those with disabilities because her twin brother is on the autism spectrum and believes everyone deserves the opportunity for a loving family. Her desire to work with a globally-minded company led her to Agape. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and four cats, dabbling in special effects makeup, and recently took up competitive rock climbing.
Adoption Program Specialist
Allison Larue received her Bachelor’s degree in Community Psychology in 2015 from the University of Washington. She worked in social services and then joined Agape Adoptions in 2019 because she wanted to be a part of bringing a child home to a loving and permanent family. When Allison isn’t working she enjoys spending time with her family, friends, and cat. She loves to see movies and loves anything Disney related.
Administrative Assistant
Stacie Wallace has had a heart for helping orphaned and vulnerable children since volunteering in orphanages in Guatemala and Malawi in high school and college. She received her Bachelor’s degree in International Human Rights from the University of Washington, and Master of Public Administration from Indiana University. She joined Agape Adoptions in 2019 and is thrilled to help children find loving families. Stacie enjoys spending time with her friends and family, especially her husband and their two children.
Social Services Team
Adoption Social Worker, Washington
Tiffany Didrickson, MEd, has a Master's of Education degree in Guidance and Counseling. She began working in adoption because of a passion for bringing orphaned children into loving families. She has worked since 2011 providing home study and post adoption services to families and joined the staff at Agape Adoptions in 2015. Tiffany and her husband have four active children and have personal experience going through the international adoption process. She and her husband adopted their then 5 year old daughter from Ghana in 2013. Tiffany understands the myriad of emotions that families go through during the adoption process and enjoys helping to prepare families for the journey.
Adoption Social Worker, Washington
Elizabeth Sale, BSW, has worked with children in need of permanent homes and families with a desire to provide permanent homes since 1999. Her own experience as an adoptee led her to decide at an early age to pursue a career as an adoption social worker. She has worked in child welfare for many years and has provided home study, matching, and supervision services to numerous adoptive families. While the bulk of her experience is in foster care adoption and some domestic infant adoption she has a number of friends and relatives who have adopted internationally and she understands the unique challenges of international adoption. She has three teenagers who keep her busy at home and provide endless reminders of why all children need safety, stability, attention, emotional support, and loving care. The longer she works in the field of adoption the more she appreciates the incredible amount of patience, flexibility, and humility it takes to be an adoptive parent.
Adoption Social Worker, Oregon
Alyssa Whitesides , MA, has a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology. Alyssa has worked in the field of adoption since 2004, providing services to both children and families. She developed her passion for adoption while working in the child welfare field helping to identify adoptive homes for children in foster care. Since then, she has worked in domestic infant adoption, foster care adoption and international adoption providing home studies and post adoption supervision and support. Alyssa joined the Agape team in 2014 as the Oregon and Southwest Washington Adoption Social Worker. Alyssa feels truly honored to walk along families as they welcome children into their lives through adoption. Alyssa lives in the Portland, Oregon area with her family.
Adoption Social Worker, Washington
Sarah J Davis, MSW, LSWAIC has a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Washington and is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker Associate. Sarah has worked in the field of Social Services since 2003, providing domestic foster care home studies and post adoption for eight of those years. In addition to her work at Agape Adoptions, Sarah also works with family court and nonprofit organizations, focusing on medical social work, adoption, and court investigations. Sarah is passionate about supporting families navigating their adoption journey. Sarah lives in Olympia, Washington with her husband and two children. Sarah likes gardening, baking pies, volunteering and fundraising for her children's alternative school programs.
Adoption Social Worker, Washington
Bonnie Elson, MSW, joined the Agape Adoptions team in August of 2018. She has worked in the Seattle area since the early 1990’s providing support, education, and case management services for birth parents, adoptive parents, and adopted children. Bonnie has extensive experience writing home studies and post-placement reports for both domestic and international adoptions. She takes great joy in helping and encouraging families on their adoption journey. Bonnie is the mother of two young adults adopted as infants, and has many adoptees in her extended family. In her free time, she loves to hike, swim, read, cook, help with the children’s programs at church, and take in some of Seattle’s great plays and concerts.
Adoption Social Worker, Alaska
Elaine Cordova, M.A. is a longtime Alaskan with 30 years of experience serving adoptive and foster families through the state. She has a breadth of experiencing having worked with private, infant, foster to adopt, and international adoption cases, providing professional social services to equip, prepare, train and support families and children to thrive together. Working with families and being a part of the journey of growth and understanding about building families through adoption has been a tremendous gift to her. Elaine has witnessed the tremendous capacity of adoptive parents for personal growth beyond adoption fantasies , to fear less, and to grow into a hospitality of heart toward a child’s birth history. Elaine is a mother to four children and enjoys travel, reading, art and cooking.