Keynote Address:
Valorie Burton
Valorie Burton is founder and CEO of the Coaching and Positive Psychology (CaPP) Institute. Her message helps you build resilience and happiness and has a research-based emphasis in the pioneering field of applied positive psychology – the study of what happens when things go right with us.
Valorie is the author of over a dozen books, including the USA Today Bestseller Rules of Resilience, Successful Women Think Differently, and Brave Enough to Succeed. Valorie has been a regular guest on the Today Show and numerous media outlets and has spoken for hundreds of organizations, ministries and government entities, including Google, Apple, NASA, Bank of America and the US military.
She was named to the "Coaches50," a list of the 50 most influential executive coaches in the world by Thinkers50, a global ranking of leadership thinkers. She founded The CaPP Institute in 2010, and the company has served clients and coaches worldwide with coach training and resilience training. Her innovative coach training methodology has been translated into eight languages and used by Maxwell Leadership with its nearly 60,000 team members in more than 150 countries. She is a Master Certified Coach (MCC), a credential granted by the International Coaching Federation to about 4% of credentialed coaches worldwide.
Valorie has a master’s degree in applied positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree in journalism from Florida A&M University and a BA from Florida State University. She and her husband Jeff have three children and live on a horse farm near Atlanta, Georgia.
Gaelin Elmore
Gaelin Elmore is a former NFL athlete turned nationally recognized keynote speaker and belonging expert. He has worked with fortune 500 companies, state agencies, and small locally run non-profits, all with the same mission - to create environments where EVERYONE can thrive: teams, leaders, AND clients. And thriving is only possible when we belong. Gaelin’s keynotes are a perfect blend of humor, practicality, and hard truth that challenges, connects, and changes every audience he shares space with. Gaelin’s message, passion, and story has led him to stages in 39 different states and multiple different countries in the last calendar year alone. Even still, the most important stage where Gaelin gets to “practice what he preaches” is at home, with his superstar wife, Micaela, and their superstar children (depending on the day), Laniah, Gideon, and Tatum.
Justin Jones-Fosu
Justin Jones-Fosu is a proud husband, father of four, and occasional negotiator with the Labradoodle who thinks he's in charge. He's also an award-winning keynote speaker, social entrepreneur, and Founder and CEO of Work. Meaningful, where, for more than two decades, he has helped thousands of organizations Create Meaning by building more engaged employees, stronger leaders, and workplace cultures where people thrive.
Known for his immersive, multi-sensory keynote experiences, Justin blends research, storytelling, humor, audience participation, and practical application to create unforgettable experiences that inspire lasting change. Whether speaking to Fortune 500 companies, healthcare organizations, associations, or educational institutions, he equips audiences with practical strategies to strengthen leadership, build resilience, elevate workplace culture, and create meaning in the moments that matter most.
Justin is the author of the business fable Stop Chasing, Start Creating, the 6x award-winning I Respectfully Disagree, and Your WHY Matters NOW. He is also the creator of the National Study on Meaningful Work in America, one of the most comprehensive studies exploring what helps people create greater meaning in their work and lives.
A 2x TEDx speaker, Justin's insights have been featured in TIME, Forbes, Fast Company, Business Insider, Oprah Daily, HR Magazine, the Associated Press, and NPR's The Takeaway. He also holds the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation, the speaking profession's highest earned international designation.
Away from the stage, Justin serves as Chairman of the Work. Meaningful. Foundation, helping expand educational opportunities in Ghana through schools, technology labs, and clean water initiatives. Through the success of Work. Meaningful, every partnership helps create impact far beyond the keynote stage.
Whether he's speaking to thousands, hiking a mountain, or cheering from the sidelines of his kids' activities, Justin believes we don't have to wait to find meaning—we can Create Meaning through intentional choices that positively impact ourselves and others.
Featured Speakers:
Chair Doug Chaffee
Chair Doug Chaffee was elected as the Orange County Fourth District Supervisor in November of 2018 and re-elected in November of 2022. The Fourth District includes the Cities of Brea, Buena Park, Fullerton, La Habra, Placentia, Stanton, portions of Anaheim, and unincorporated communities.
He serves as the Chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, Metrolink, Orange County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, Emergency Management Council and he is a Board member of the California State Association of Counties, Orange County Audit Oversight Committee, Orange County Community Corrections Partnership, Southern California Home Financing Authority, Urban Counties Caucus, Orange County Sanitation District, Foothill/ Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency, and OC Parks Foundation.
Elizabeth Kelly
I grew up in Ventura California and spent every summer in Glenn County (5th Generation) with my grandparents who were rice and cattle farmers in Butte City. I have been in public service since 1986 starting with serving in the US Navy for six years as a Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class, went on to college and received a BA in Political Science with an emphasis in Public Law, and attended Ventura College of Law; served Ventura and Tehama counties as a Deputy Probation Officer, advanced to managing Poverty Programs in Glenn County for almost seven years, and for the last ten years serving as the Director for Colusa County Health & Human Services. I have served within CWDA for those same 15 years in chairing 20 Small Counties, Medi-Cal, Cal-Fresh, Conference Planning, and currently Vice Chair and IT Chair for CWDA. When I started out with probation, the first question that always came up for me with each individual, was how did this person get here and what was my purpose in that. It has been my passion that an individual’s past does not define their future, and wanting to empower and spread that message on to others, and to ensure we collectively provide what we can to anyone who is struggling on their journey. I am extremely grateful for those who have supported and assisted me on my journey, and especially those within CWDA, who challenge, listen, support, and advocate for all of us. It is a real privilege to be part of such an amazing organization such as CWDA and the truest honor to serve as Director for HHS in Colusa.
Carlos Marquez III
Carlos Marquez III comes to CWDA as a seasoned advocate and recognized state association leader with nearly two decades of capitol experience. Against the backdrop of some of the toughest policy fights in Sacramento, Carlos has built a record of major legislative and budget achievements on behalf of large and diverse membership organizations.
In past roles as inaugural executive director of ACLU California Action and senior vice president of the California Charter Schools Association, respectively, Carlos secured legislation and budget investments that target disparities in California’s public safety and public education systems.
Carlos has also served as an advisor to safety net and anti-poverty advocates like the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and Legal Assistance to the Elderly. Other past roles include leading HONOR Fund, a sponsored initiative of the Mexican American Legal Defense & Education Fund and serving as deputy political director of the LGBTQ Victory Fund & Institute. Carlos began his career representing social workers and county eligibility workers while at SEIU Local 221. He is deeply passionate about and understands the transformative power of county safety net programs personally. As a child, Carlos interacted regularly with Tulare County Child Protective Services and narrowly avoided foster care.
Frank Mecca
Frank Mecca served as CWDA’s Executive Director from October 1991 - December 2020. During this time, he helped establish CWDA as a leading advocacy and policy organization in the field of public human services.
Under Frank’s leadership, the association was instrumental in the development of significant human services programs and policies, including helping shape the CalWORKs program, creating the Adult Protective Services program, and advocating for significant child welfare reform efforts such as extending foster care support to youth after age 18.
Frank was Vice Chairman and a board member of the California Budget & Policy Center, as well as a member of the California Child Welfare Council. He is a former president of the National Association of County Human Services Administrators.
Prior to joining CWDA, Frank served as a fiscal and policy analyst for the California Legislative Analyst’s Office, where he had oversight responsibility for most child welfare programs, including Child Welfare Services, Foster Care and Adoptions. He holds a master’s degree in Public Affairs with a concentration in social welfare policy from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin. He earned his undergraduate degree in Government and Economics from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa. After retirement, he founded and serves as a CEO of Mecca Strategies, a public policy and government relations consulting firm, working part time while trying his best to travel the world the rest of the time.
