WHO WE ARE

Miho Awazu, MSW, LICSW

Born in Tokyo, Japan. Moved to the U.S. in 1978. After graduating from California Polytechnic University, worked at Jiji Press Los Angeles Branch as a staff reporter. In 1988, became a freelance writer and wrote about American children and women for various Japanese periodicals. In 1990, began volunteering at a DV shelter and at a youth counseling program. In 1995, graduated from University of Southern California with a Master's Degree in Social Work and interned for the Ventura County Mental Health and Juvenile Justice Programs. From 2001 to 2005, worked for Ventura County Children and Family Services as a group care social worker. From 2006, working as a social worker for the Washington State Children's Administration. Lives in Seattle. Author of two published books in Japan.

Miyako Shirakawa, M.D.

In 1989, graduated from Hamamatsu University. In 2000, became the head of psychiatry at Tenryu National Hospital. In 2007, became the first director of the Hamamatsu City Center for Mental Health and Welfare. In 2010, worked at Showa University as a special duty associate professor. In 2011, became a freelancer and started working with various populations including survivors of the Great East Japan Earthquake, and child abuse and domestic violence victims.
In 2012, with IFCA, invited Monica Fitzgerald, Ph. D. (Kempe Center-Univ. of Colorado) as the first official TF-CBT trainer to Japan. In 2013, founded Kokoro to Karada, Hikarinohana Clinic in Tokyo.

Kathryn Goldfarb
Board President

I am a cultural anthropologist and faculty member at the University of Colorado Boulder, and I have been doing research in Japan since 2008. My research focuses on how interpersonal relaMonships impact well-being, specifically for people connected to child welfare systems in Japan and North America. In Japan, I have conducted ethnographic research at a child welfare insMtuMon, with self-support groups for alumni of insMtuMonal care, with foster and adopMve families, and with mental health professionals. I am excited to contribute to IFCA's work as a board member.

Eric Warner
Board Vice President

Eric Warner grew up in the United States in Arkansas. He first entered into care when he was 8 years old and had spent 8 months in Arkansas' foster care system before he was reunified with his mother. He then re-entered foster care at age 11 and remained in care until his 18th birthday when he transitioned out of foster care. During this time, he was in 11 different placements (including experience with congregate care, traditional/therapeutic foster homes, emergency shelter, and behavioral hospital settings). 

After graduating high school and transitioning out of foster care, Eric moved to Arizona where he attended and graduated vocational/technical college for Massage Therapy, as well as attended Culinary technical training. He also has studied at Arizona State University to achieve a B.A. in Sociology. While in college he has served as Senator for the ASU Undergraduate Student Government and has involved himself in the community to help foster youth transition to college. Other accolades Eric has been able to achieve have been; serving as Outstanding Young Leader by FosterClub, attending the Congressional Foster Youth Shadow Day, and participating as an All-Star for FosterClub’s Internship in 2017.  In addition, Eric was able to serve term on the National Policy Council for Foster Youth and Alumni, working with American legislation to affect change for the foster care system. He looks forward to the collaborative efforts that he and the IFCA team will create together.

In his spare time he thrives on mentoring and teaching youth and children. He hopes to be the person in their lives he felt he needed in his. His passion for helping others realize the power within themselves to create positive, lasting change was sparked by the quote, "Be the change you want to see in the world"-(Mahatma Gandhi). In addition, Eric enjoys writing poetry, researching, education, and traveling. His goal, currently, is to establish a non-profit organization dedicated to housing and assisting homeless/drug addicted youth to allow them the opportunity to create and sustain passion for helping others. 

Brandon Higgins
Secretary

My name is Brandon Higgins. I am a 33-year-old native of Indianapolis, Indiana. I entered the foster care system at 10, where I spent roughly three years with my younger brother Joshua, and we were then adopted in 2022. Once I graduated High school in 2008, I attended Kentucky State University to pursue a degree in education. I graduated in 2013, and after spending a year in education, I realized I wanted to make a difference in another capacity. I completed my master’s in social work from the University of Arkansas in 2016. After finishing school, I decided to go into a Ph.D. program at the University of Minnesota with a focus on Child welfare and the foster care system. I stepped away from my Ph.D. program after a year in 2017. Throughout graduate school, I had the opportunity to publish research surrounding domestic violence, immigrant and refugee experiences in the child welfare system, and identity. I’ve had the chance to travel to Africa to conduct research and to Mexico to present the research. My lived experience has prepared me for Life.

Madison Dao-Whitten
Treasurer

Madison Dao-Whitten is a first-generation Vietnamese-Black American and was in the foster care system for seven years. At 19 years old, Madison had her first legislative win when she led a small team of former foster youth to draft the Nevada Foster Care Bill of Rights. At 20 years old, Madison worked in the U.S. Congress and raised awareness around the overmedication of foster children and youth. She recently co-authored a research brief on the methods and strategies for engaging people with lived experience to inform and improve policy, practice, and research. She is now a leading expert and advisor for a national agency that partners with family and young adult leaders to enhance and improve the child welfare system. Her expertise is expansive, including serving on the federal review teams; providing consultation and technical assistance to states and federal agencies; enhancing programs and services; supporting recruitment and training; facilitating agency and faith-based partnerships; informing the development and implementation of public policies; designing participatory action research; and developing and delivering training and peer learning experiences. 

Miguel Almodovar

Miguel currently lives between California, where he helps build collaborations between community based organizations, public sector agencies, and philanthropy in a SF Bay Area-based collective impact initiative, and Puerto Rico, where he checks on his grandmother and supports local foster youth through mutual aid groups. He had the opportunity to study Japanese at North Salinas High School, which helped him in his most recent trips to visit the IFCA team in Japan. His dog, Kaido, is named after one of the Yonko in the One Piece manga/anime. Throughout his youth, he organized local level campaigns for better systems of care for youth involved in foster care & juvenile justice in places like Oakland and Salinas. He studied Political Science and Communications at California State University East Bay in Hayward. Check out his website at miguelalmodo.com

Christopher Chapman

Chris Chapman is a social researcher interested in caregiving, family dynamics, and inequality. He is currently finishing his PhD in Anthropology at the University of Oxford, where he is researching the multi-sited politics of child welfare in Japan. One of Chris’ goals is to improve equity in the position of youth voice in policy, practice, and research, and he finds that creativity and adaptability with participatory methods—ranging from photography to walking tours—are great solutions. Chris has been affiliated with IFCA since 2017 and joined the Board of Directors in 2021. He previously completed his master’s training in medical anthropology and sociology at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Originally from the United States, Christopher’s upbringing in a family of medical professionals helped expose him to the ways in which medical care is designed and practiced. Before embarking on a career in social research, he worked in a variety of positions in the U.S. and Japan, ranging from probation and parole to wholesale account management.

Carlos Collard

he earned degrees in political science and communications and was resourceful and entrepreneurial to pay his way through college and gain a variety of leadership experiences. Due to his desire to impact local communities, Carlos has spent most of his professional life in public service and currently works for the County of Los Angeles Department of Consumer and Business Affairs. While pursuing this career path, he founded the City of Los Angeles’ South Robertson Neighborhoods Council (SORO NC) within his residential area and served as the City of Los Angeles’ youngest-ever neighborhood council president (a system of nearly 100 councils citywide). He has also been appointed to commissions by a former Los Angeles mayor and Los Angeles city councilmember. Supporting foster youth is Carlos’ life cause, and he has volunteered with a variety of organizations. He supports UCLA’s Bruin Guardian Scholars and is a current board member and former board president of California Youth Connection (CYC). In 2016, he helped launch the first youth advocacy roundtable between CYC and IFCA in Oakland, California and led members of IFCA’s Japan and U.S. teams on a walking tour of San Francisco. Carlos loves cultural experiences and has traveled to over 30 countries.