Staff



	*Staff*
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Joint Council STAFF

Thomas DiFilipo, President & Chief Executive Officer
Joelle Ruben, Education & Research Program Manager
Taylor Fleeson, Programs & Services Assistant
Anna Rough, Child Advocacy Program Manager
Rebecca Harris, Government Relations &Communications Manager
Heather Rice, Research Associate

Tom DiFilipo Thomas DiFilipo,
President & Chief Executive Officer

Tom DiFilipo, newly appointed President & CEO, comes to Joint Council after nine years as Vice President for the CASI Foundation and Chief Operations Officer for International Children’s Alliance. Mr. DiFilipo also served the social services community through his roles as a Board member for Joint Council on International Children’s Services, Focus on Adoption and Discovery Ministries. In 2006, Mr. DiFilipo was hired as the Director of International Relations for Joint Council where he was instrumental in forming new relationships and communicating our mission and goals to a world-wide audience.

Prior to his work in children’s services, Mr. DiFilipo held executive positions with a variety of consumer products firms including Sorbee International, Mars Inc and Pace Brokers. Mr. DiFilipo is the father of three children, with two joining the family through adoption.

Joelle Ruben,
Education & Research Program Manager
Email: joeller@jcics.org

Ms. Ruben joined Joint Council in August 2006, to pursue a long-time interest in international adoption. She has also worked at Deloitte Consulting and the Corporate Executive Board in Washington, D.C. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (with majors in Journalism and International Studies), Ms. Ruben has studied abroad twice in Beijing, China and spent many hours in Mandarin classes.

Taylor Fleeson,
Programs and Services Assistant
Email: taylorf@jcics.org

After serving as an intern with Joint Council since September 2007, Taylor Fleeson has officially joined the Joint Council team as Programs and Services Assistant. Ms. Fleeson recently graduated from Tufts University with a degree in Psychology, focusing on developmental issues. She spent her junior year abroad in France and became fluent in French. Ms. Fleeson jumps at any chance for international travel and enjoys exposure to different cultures. Taylor is committed to permanency for all children and is very excited to begin a long career improving the lives of children worldwide at the Joint Council on International Children's Services.

Anna Rough,
Child Advocacy Program Manager
Email: annar@jcics.org

Anna Rough joined Joint Council in March 2008 to pursue her interests in child advocacy work. Ms. Rough graduated from the George Washington University in 2003 with a B.A. in International Relations. She previously worked at the Atlantic Council, also in Washington, D.C. Ms. Rough completed an M.E.S. in 2006 at the University of Krems, in Austria. Her thesis work focused on human rights policies, and she hopes to deepen her knowledge in this area through her work at Joint Council.

Rebecca Harris,

Government Relations and Communications Manager
Email: rebeccah@jcics.org

Rebecca joined Joint Council in September of 2008. Prior to working for Joint Council, she was an International Program Coordinator for Adoption Alliance in Denver, CO. In 2004, Becky earned her B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies, with a focus on Peace & Conflict Studies from Long Island University, Global College. While attending LIU she studied all over the world including Australia, London, and Johannesburg, South Africa. While studying in South Africa Rebecca cared for HIV positive orphans and was a member of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Ex-Combatant Re-skilling Project which transitioned South African veterans into society.

Heather Rice,
Research Associate

Ms. Rice joined Joint Council in September 2007 as Research Assistant for Africa. Ms. Rice is currently teaching university English in Djibouti, East Africa and will also be utilizing her time to work with local orphanages as a volunteer and to collect qualitative research on the status of orphans in the area. In addition, she will be conducting community interviews related to the perceptions of orphans and vulnerable children. Before joining Joint Council, Ms. Rice worked as an intern and then as a policy fellow for the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI). Ms. Rice is a graduate of Colorado State University where she majored in Social Work and Liberal Arts, with a concentration in Law and a Certificate in International Development Studies.