Advisory Board
UFA Advisory Board
Steven A. Sunday - Chair
Steve Sunday has worked in the field of adoption for more than four decades as a caseworker, supervisor, and administrator. Currently, he is the Founder and President/CEO of Forever Bound Adoption, as well as an advisor to the adoption advocacy support organization, United for Adoption.
Since graduating with his MSW in 1981 from Arizona State University, he has worked professionally in Arizona, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma and Utah. He has taught students at the collegiate level in three states. He has also spent hundreds of hours coaching and mentoring young people, largely on a volunteer basis.
Steve was the project lead on the award winning “Adoption, It’s About Love” television and radio commercials in partnership with Bonneville Communications. He spent approximately 30 years of his career with LDS Family Services. In 2009, he was appointed to the board of directors for the National Council for Adoption. Steve also served on the board of directors for the Foster Care Foundation of the State of Utah for six years. He was named the adoption “Professional of the Year” in 2013 by the Utah Adoption Council.
More recently, Steve was selected to represent adoption experts and professionals as part of the April 2020 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services panel on private infant adoption policy in Washington D.C. He is a passionate advocate for the needs of children not only in the United States, but worldwide.
Reflecting on his life’s work, Steve commented that it has been one of the choicest blessings in his life to be associated with the great work of caring for children and building families. Family is central to Steve’s personal life, as well as to his professional life. Steve and his sweetheart, Karen, have been married for over 40 years and have seven children and twenty five grandchildren.
Lance D. Rich, JD
Lance is a shareholder at the law firm of Kirton McConkie in Salt Lake City, Utah and is licensed to practice law in Utah and Wyoming. Lance handles mainly adoption cases for adoptive parents, birth parents, and adoption agencies. Having adopted three children, Lance has a personal as well as a professional perspective on the adoption process. Lance graduated from the University of Michigan Law School where he was a Bergstrom Fellow and executive editor of the Michigan Journal of Law Reform. He earned his B.A. degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Utah. Lance is an active proponent of adoption and serves on boards of directors for United for Adoption, Utah Foster Care, and the Utah Adoption Council. He is also an active member of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys and serves as the chair of the Academy’s agency committee. Lance has been a frequent presenter on a variety of adoption topics for conferences and seminars sponsored by organizations such as the Utah State Bar, the Utah Adoption Council, the National Business Institute, the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, and the International Society of Family Law.
Jennie Sheperd
Director of Foster–Adoptive Recruitment
Utah Foster Care
Tara Romney Barber, LCSW
Tara has worked with children, adolescents, and their families in various capacities for almost 20 years. She graduated with a Master of Social Work from the University of Utah in 2016 and now serves in the College of Social Work as an adjunct professor. Tara is passionate about improving the lives of children and their families and has used her skills supporting those who have experienced trauma, and other difficulties, increase their resiliency. She has considerable experience working as a trauma-informed therapist in a variety of settings, serving primarily child and adolescent survivors of domestic violence, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect. Additionally, Tara has experience as a Forensic Interview Specialist, providing forensic interviewing services, professional training, and expert witness testimony.
Tara is currently the Adoption Program Director at Children’s Service Society of Utah, providing pre- and post-adoption services to birth parents, adoptive families, and their children. In her free time, Tara loves spending time with her husband and two adult children traveling, exploring new places, taking colorful abstract photos, and riding roller coasters.
Lee Raby, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, University of Utah
Lee is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Utah. Lee’s area of expertise involves understanding the long-term significance of early experiences with parents and other caregivers for individuals’ socioemotional, cognitive, and neurobiological development. Lee has been conducting on this topic for 15 years. During that time, he has published over 50 peer-reviewed scientific papers on this topic, obtained grant funding from the National Institutes of Health, and received awards from several scientific organizations. Since moving to Utah in 2016, Lee has been part of team that is seeking to identify the factors that promote the healthy development of adopted children and families. Lee frequently presents on topics related to the attachment, bonding, parental stress at for conferences and trainings sponsored by adoption service providers in Utah.
Hillary Northrup, Birth Mother
Hillary is a passionate advocate for birth mothers’ rights and voices within the adoption community. As a birth mother herself, she intimately understands the complexities and emotions involved in the adoption process.
Her journey began when she made the courageous decision to place her child for adoption 25 years ago, while navigating the ramifications of being an SA survivor.
Hillary aims to inspire compassion, understanding and appreciation for the courageous women who choose adoption. Motherhood has been the main focus of her life, and she has gone on to be a wife and raise 4 beautiful children of her own.
Her experiences help foster hope in birth parents new and old, with ways to heal, persevere and succeed in creating peaceful and joyful lives after placement.
Meghan Anderson, LCSW
Meghan Anderson has been the director of Connecting Hearts (now Adoption Life), since 2018 and has worked in adoptions in various roles for over 12 years. She has a Bachelor of Social Work degree from Brigham Young University and a Master of Social Work degree from Columbia University and thoroughly enjoyed her experiences at both schools. Meghan has loved working in social work in different settings, including mental health counseling, school social work and social work teaching over the course of her career but has been particularly drawn to working in adoption. She loves the connections she is able to make with all the people involved in adoption and appreciates the opportunity and responsibility of being with people in some of their most vulnerable experiences. She is motivated to take great care with all members of the adoption triad and create a more ethical and compassionate adoption experience for all. Meghan enjoys spending time with her family, including her three kids and husband and chasing them to every kind of sporting event imaginable.