Meet the Team
Allison Hamel
Senior Analyst
Adam Nelson
Analyst
Adam has been working in Child Welfare since 2010, and began his career as a domestic adoption case manager for AASK in Phoenix, AZ. He moved to Gainesville, FL in 2013, where he worked at Partnership for Strong Families as a case manager for three years and a supervisor for two years. Adam worked for the Texas Department of Family Services before coming to IAAME. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Family and Human Development from Arizona State University.
Charity Guerrero
Analyst
Charity began her career as a Counselor III with North Central Florida’s largest community behavioral health provider, traveling with adult and adolescent psychiatrists to provide mental health services and resources to rural communities. She then transitioned into the field of child welfare and became a Family Care Counselor. While working with families involved in the state dependency system, she would critically assess for child safety and work to seek family permanency, all while providing support to minimize the risks of abuse and neglect to the most vulnerable of populations. Prior to joining IAAME, Charity worked at Partnership for Strong Families, the local community based care child welfare agency of North Central Florida, as a Family Service Facilitator. Her duties included assessing for appropriate needs, authorizing and coordinating resources, and collaborating with community providers – all in order to provide children and families specialized services during their involvement with the dependency system. Charity holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Family, Youth, and Community Sciences, with a specialization in Human Services, from the University of Florida.
Brittany Tinker
Interim Executive Director
Brittany has been working in the field of child welfare since 2011 and began her career as a Residential Supervisor for a behavioral health overlay services group home housing foster care youth. Prior to starting with IAAME in February 2018, Brittany was an Adoption Program Supervisor where her focus involved reviewing and approving adoptive families, oversight of staff and cases, and monitoring data and outcomes within the adoptions program. While in this role, Brittany led an adoptions unit to enhance best practices, an increase in adoption finalizations, and improvement in overall quicker paths to permanency through adoption for children in foster care. Brittany is a certified trainer of the Rutgers Adoption Competency Training curriculum through the Florida Department of Children and Families and Daniel Memorial, Inc. Brittany received her Bachelor of Science degree in Family, Youth, and Community Sciences with a minor in International Humanitarian Assistance from the University of Florida.
Amy Whitaker
Operations and Quality Manager
Amy has worked in child welfare since 2008 and has a passion for the field of adoption. She worked for several adoption service providers in many capacities including, pregnancy and birth parent counselor, home study social worker, domestic adoption coordinator/manager and international adoption manager/vice president. Additionally, Amy serves as a heritage journey staff with a non-profit. Amy was involved in an adoption services provider’s initial Hague Accreditation and lead another adoption service provider through renewal. She received her Bachelor degree in Political Science from the University of Delaware and her Master degree in Clinical Social Work from the University of St. Thomas. In addition, Amy has completed a Permanency and Adoption Competency Certificate from the University of Minnesota.