Meet the Staff
Randie Bencanann, LCSW
Co-Director
FirstnameLastinitial(at)adoptionconnection.org
Randie has been co-director of Adoption Connection for over 23 years, and her work continues to be challenging. She enjoys guiding adoptive parents and birth parents through the adoption process to a successful outcome. Prior to her work in adoption she provided health education to teens and young adults.
Lynne Fingerman, MSW
Co-Director
FirstnameLastinitial(at)adoptionconnection.org
Lynne is the co-director and co-founder of Adoption Connection. There have been many changes in adoption law and practice since the agency's inception 25 years ago, and Lynne is proud to have created a model for Identified Agency Adoption, now a nationwide standard. Lynne loves leading agency workshops and helping create families. She and her husband have two children, one of whom was adopted at birth.
Tamara Hernandez, MA
Domestic Program Homestudy Manager
FirstnameLastinitial(at)adoptionconnection.org
Tamara assists adoptive families during their domestic homestudy, making sure this important first step of the adoption process runs smoothly from assignment to approval. She also answers questions from birth parents that call us from throughout the United States.Tamara continues to enjoy learning new aspects of the adoption process while working with pre-adoptive parents and birth parents.
Rachel Herndon, MSW
Birthparent Services Coordinator
FirstnameLastinitial(at)adoptionconnection.org
Rachel is our newest adoption case manager. She comes to Adoption Connection with many years of experience working in both the domestic open adoption and foster-adoption field.
Shelly Helstowski
Domestic & International Administrative Manager
FirstnameLastinitial(at)adoptionconnection.org
The adoption process doesn't end once a baby is placed with a family. Shelly ensures that the adoption runs smoothly from the beginning to the very end, when the adoption is finalized. As the interstate compact placement administrator, Shelly ensures that all legal requirements are met and documentation is complete for out-of-state adoptions. She works closely with our regional caseworkers and attorneys during post-placement, and she answers the questions families ask as they finalize their adoption.
Malia Kane
Assistant Manager of Communication and Outreach
FirstnameLastinitial(at)adoptionconnection.org
Malia works in both our international and domestic programs organizing our numerous pre- and post-adoption workshops. She makes sure that Adoption Connection is known throughout Northern California through our outreach to clinics, hospitals, and social service agencies. She also works in our growing Stepparent / Domestic Partner program.
Administrative Assistant
FirstnameLastinitial(at)adoptionconnection.org
Naomi is the newest member of our team. She is excited to learn about the field of adoption and contribute her skills to support Adoption Connection's Birthmother Outreach Program, among others. She comes with over 9 years of non-profit and corporate administrative and accounting experience, most recently at the San Francisco Clean City Coalition. Naomi is an adult adoptee.
Leah Sheldon
Communication/Marketing Director
FirstnameLastinitial(at)adoptionconnection.org
Leah oversees the agency’s domestic Birthmother Outreach Program, which helps match the agency’s adoptive families with birth families throughout the country. Leah enjoys learning about the ever-changing landscape of adoption to create the most effective marketing and outreach strategies tailored to each individual family. Before coming to AC, Leah worked at women's health organizations in direct service, volunteer management, and program development capacities.
Nan Toder, LCSW
Assistant Director
FirstnameLastinitial(at)adoptionconnection.org
As an Adoption Coordinator, Nan works directly with birth and adoptive parents to facilitate open adoptions. She also completes domestic partner/stepparent adoption evaluations. In independent adoptions, she manages the Adoption Service Provider program, providing counseling to birthmothers. Nan enjoys all aspects of her job but takes particular pleasure in seeing newly created adoptive families formed through open adoption. She has worked at Adoption Connection for over 18 years.
Adoption Connection’s staff also includes 14 licensed social workers (LCSW/MSW) or marriage and family therapists (MFT) who provide counseling and support to birth families and complete domestic and international homestudies and post-placement reports for adoptive families throughout Northern California.