Elizabeth R. Berkowitz, Esquire is an attorney with an extensive and exclusive practice in the area of adoption law, based in Palm Beach County, Florida. Besides her duties as a treasurer, Ms. Berkowitz is the committee head chair for the Mentoring Committee and sits on the Grievance and Legislative Committees . Her memberships include the Palm Beach County Bar Association, Cuban Bar Association, Florida Association of Woman Lawyers, Craig S. Barnard Inns of Court and The Federalist Society. She is certified as a Guardian Ad Litem and a certified Justice Teacher for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit. She was admitted to the Federal Bar which allows her to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court. Ms. Berkowitz was honored in 2011 as Woman of the Year for the National Association of Professional Women. She was also awarded the Adoption Star Award in 2019 by the Florida Adoption Council.

Ms. Berkowitz owns her own practice and provides representation to adoptive families in domestic private placement adoptions. Her practice is dedicated to adoption of children of all ages. She also provides representation in step-parent adoptions, relative adoptions, adoptions that involve intervention in the dependency jurisdiction, and contested adoption litigation. She has been honored to be the keynote speaker at several hospitals, pregnancy clinics, health departments and organizations. Ms. Berkowitz has been the keynote speaker for multiple adoption courses offered throughout the state of Florida to adoption professionals. She has been involved on a legislative level by assisting with revisions of the Florida Adoption Statute in 2018.

Ms. Berkowitz earned her Doctor of Jurisprudence from St. Thomas University. Her undergraduate studies were at Michigan State University, earning a B.S. in International Relations. Ms. Berkowitz is very involved in her community and proactive in servicing organizations that promote permanency and stability for children. Ms. Berkowitz is married and has two sons. Her family is her greatest accomplishment.

Alice H. Murray has been handling domestic, non-relative infant adoptive placements for over 30 years as an attorney at The Adoption Center. A longtime active member of the Florida Adoption Council, Alice has worked to organize educational programs and obtain CLE credits for them. Currently Alice holds the position of Secretary on FAC’s Board of Directors.

Ms. Murray received her undergraduate degree from and completed her first year of law school at the University of Georgia (GO DAWGS!!) She completed her J.D. at the University of Dayton after her husband’s military orders required a move to Ohio. After a stint at a large law firm in Dayton doing business and litigation work, Alice moved to the Florida Panhandle when her husband received orders to Eglin Air Force Base. There she met attorney Rob Harrell, the “boy attorney” at The Adoption Center, and embarked on a challenging and fulfilling practice concentrated on adoption.

Adoption impacts Alice’s personal life as well as her professional life. She has a nephew adopted domestically from Florida and a niece adopted internationally from China. Alice combines her love for adoption with her passion for writing. She is a staff writer for adoption.com where she has articles published regularly. Although she does not handle international adoptions, Alice cares about children needing a forever home wherever they are located. She is an officer and a founding director of Hope Global Initiative, a faith-based non- profit organization which advocates for the needy members of our global family, particularly children in Guatemala.

Mark Livings is a seasoned IT executive with a strong strategy and technical orientation. He demonstrated global expertise in strategy and operations. Mark has been involved with several successful startups in the Financial Services, IT Services, and Child Adoption, and Digital Marketing industries. Mark has been on the executive team responsible for the successful IPO of a Global Consulting organization. Mark is an adoptive father of two boys.

Mark's prior experience includes serving as CIO/CTO for PMSI responsible for PMSI's Worker Comp systems; Vice President, E-Business for Tech Data, responsible for executing Tech Data's e-business strategy; Vice President of Cash Access at Fidelity National Information Services; Vice President of Global Information Systems at ASAP Software/License Technologies Group; Chief Information and Technology Officer for Kanbay, a global IT services firm; and other IT positions at CitiCorp, Sara Lee Corporation, and The Quaker Oats Company.

Mark has a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Ball State University.

MADONNA is a Florida Board Certified Adoption Attorney who limits her practice to adoption law. She is a founding member of the Florida Adoption Council and serves as a Director and the Legislative Chair. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys, and a past President of the Florida Association of Adoption Lawyers. Madonna works closely with her social work staff to provide women facing unplanned pregnancies a full range of services. Her firm maintains offices in Tallahassee, Pensacola and Franklin County Florida.

Angela Quick, MPA is the Executive Director of Adoption & Family Support Center, LLC. The Center, with locations in Volusia and Orange Counties, has been serving the adoption needs of Floridians since 1992. This Licensed Child Placing Agency’s mission is to encourage an environment of trust and respect in which each member of the adoption triad can define their journey and fulfill their adoption goals. In this position she has participated in excess of 2000 adoptions, partnering with over 90 different agencies and private attorneys throughout the world.

Ms. Quick has been a Board Member of the Florida Adoption Council for over 10 years. She is a Certified Adoption Mental Health Professional, through the Rutgers University School of Social Work, as well as a Certified Child Custody and Family Assessment Evaluator through the Nova Southeastern University Center for Psychological Studies. Ms. Quick is also a Certified Family Mediator and Expert Witness in matters including adoption and custody in the State of Florida.

She began her career in social work with the Department of Children and Families in 1988. Ms. Quick provided MAPP, pre-placement training and was a Child Protective Investigator. It was during this time that Ms. Quick developed a deep respect for the families that she served. This lead her to establish one of the only active birth parent support groups in the state of Florida, Placement From the Heart. It is through this support group that Ms. Quick is able to honor the courageous and often selfless birth parents who are its members.