At the end of last year, we introduced Executive Director, Trey Caster. Now we’d like to tell you about the rest of the team and how they work together to support families who step forward in faith toward adoption!
THE ADOPTIONS TEAM
Ellen Vaughn, Adoptions Director of Operations
Ellen first began volunteering at a local fundraiser in Dallas-Fort Worth in 2015 and served as the chair for the Dallas fundraiser for 9 years. Now she is excited to be the primary point of contact for families and the agencies who reach out to Sacred Selections, looking for prospective adoptive families.
Currently living in Arlington, TX with her husband and 3 kiddos, Ellen loves popcorn, mac & cheese, and coffee – or maybe, rather, she loves the things you add to coffee to make it sweet. Ellen typically has at least one audiobook going and would go back to Israel in a heartbeat!
Ellen spent 10 years teaching before coming to Sacred Selections and is eager to carry on the mission and vision built by Dana & David to support families on their adoption journey! Reach out any time by calling or texting 615-777-3946 or emailing ellen@sacredselections.org.
Lauren Bassford, Adoptions Support Director
While living in Illinois, Lauren first started volunteering for Sacred Selections with a fundraiser in Chicagoland. Currently back in her hometown of Houston, Lauren has worked for Sacred Selections since 2022. Her primary role is to provide support and education to adoptive families.
Lauren loves a good sushi restaurant and is happiest when on a trip or planning the next one! So far, Yellowstone National Park has been her favorite location. Lauren homeschools her kiddos and is thankful to be able to answer the phone from anywhere, so they enjoy taking advantage of her traveler’s spirit together throughout the year.
Also having published 2 books, Lauren is enjoying putting her Master’s Degree in Social Work to use as she supports our families.
THE FINANCE TEAM
Tami Tacker, Chief Financial Officer
With over 20 years in teaching and Master’s degrees in both Math and Accounting, Tami loves all things numbers and spreadsheets! She considers it a blessing to put her skills to use for Sacred Selections. She has been tracking the numbers for about 2 and a half years and also volunteers with the Texas Hill Country fundraiser.
Tami and her husband live in Georgetown, TX and are enjoying the empty-nester life! As a teen, Tami’s dad owned a franchise of Baskin-Robbins and she says ice cream for dinner is a legitimate meal plan! In fact, ice cream is still her favorite food – HEB’s Intense Chocolate Ice Cream to be exact.
She loves traveling and if you ask her if she’d rather go to the mountains or the beach, she would say, “Both!” Skiing and snorkeling are favorites and she tells a good story about wrestling a nurse shark on a dive in Belize…but we’re not sure whether we believe her or not!
Tami is a whiz with Excel and does an amazing job supporting fundraisers, managing accounts, and more! We would be lost without her.
Erin Sullivan, Donor Relations Director
While her official title is “Donor Relations Director,” we affectionately call Erin “Doer of All the Things” because she has the experience and skills to support all of us in our different roles!
Erin has worked in one capacity or another with Dana and Sacred Selections since 2010 and worn many hats in that time. Erin has a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and Computer Information Systems. With her skills she has helped over the years with graphic design, website management, bookkeeping, mailings, newsletters, and more! Today her primary focus is on maintaining records of donations from our donors that are sent independently or as part of the Future 500 campaign, though we still depend on her for much more.
Erin and her husband live in a small town outside Wichita, KS with their three kids: Josiah (Sacred Selections child #26), Lydia, and Corban (who is also ROCKIN’ an extra chromosome!). She has lived in 6 different states, and she loves to meet the families that she has worked with over the years through Sacred Selections.
Liz Wunderly, Fundraising Director
Liz started working with Sacred Selections in 2020 as the point of contact for local chapters who autonomously plan and carry out local fundraisers! She manages the schedule, creates the donor and auction event pages, and shares resources – some built by the team and many built by chapters over the years!
A lover of the breakfast-all-day menu, Liz grew up in Alabama and now lives north of Atlanta with her husband and two toddlers. They love spending time outside whether it’s hiking, taking the kids to the park, or just sitting on the porch for a conversation with friends. The love of the outdoors extends to Liz’s favorite trips as she says she will be happy at any National Park!
Before coming to Sacred Selections, Liz spent 4 years in marketing for Chick-fil-a where she loved getting to work closely with the corporate office. Now she is thankful to be able to support Sacred Selections and to be in a role that allows her to be home with her babies!
THE CREATIVE TEAM
Emily Clark, Creative Director
Whether it’s the logo for the year’s theme, a post on social media, or slides for a presentation, Emily takes an idea and makes it a beautiful reality. Specifically, Emily serves as social media manager and graphic designer, creating and maintaining all branded collateral.
Emily lives in North Atlanta with her husband, Dion, and their two kids. The family loves and appreciates good food – so much so that she says you might even call food their collective hobby! But they also love to hike, especially when traveling. Emily says the best burger in the US is found at Tommy’s Burger Stop in Anchorage, AK and her favorite hike to date was not far from there at Bodenburg Butte.
Emily has worked with Sacred Selections for 7 years. It all started when she – very apprehensively – presented a t-shirt design to Dana. Dana loved it and asked “What else can you do?!” From that point, they began to work together learning the nuances of creating adoption profiles for hopeful adoptive families. Emily now designs profiles for families through her own business, Woven & Chosen, and we highly recommend her as a great source to families when they begin preparing to adopt. Emily loves working directly with families through their profiles and by supporting Sacred Selections.
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This group shares a common sentiment that it is a privilege to put their time and skills to use in a way that both supports their own families financially and supports Christian families doing the kingdom work of adoption.
Note: All administrative expenses for Sacred Selections come from corporate sponsors, a portion of Future 500 donations, and individual donations that are expressly given for the purpose of funding Sacred Selections’ administrative expenses. All individual donations and net proceeds from fundraisers continue to directly fund adoption-related expenses for our families. To learn how you can give toward the administrative fund or an endowment to fund the future, contact Trey Caster at trey@sacredselections.org or 479-831-8224.
