ShawnSmallWe want to bring you, our readers, into the day-to-day of our agency by sharing more about the people you get to work with through each phase of the process! To kick it off, we sat down with Shawn Kane, the agency’s Executive Director who just celebrated a huge milestone in his service to our agency. Read on to learn more about his job at American Adoptions!

What is your name and position?

Shawn Kane, Executive Director

How long have you been working for American Adoptions?

15 years! Since January of 2000.

What are your tasks at American Adoptions?

My job responsibilities are to develop and maintain the vision and mission for the agency.  As such, I oversee client services and staff training and development. I also seek business opportunities and strategic alliances with other agencies and organizations, helping to create a strong professional network for American Adoptions.  Via the Board of Directors, I implement policies, objectives and an annual operational budget. Day to day, I oversee the business interests of the agency so that our social work staff can focus on providing our clients with the best services.

What does a typical work day look like?

Lots of meetings with staff and departments on helping to improve our services

How has adoption impacted your life personally?

I’m an adoptive father. My wife, Amy, and I have one biological son, Harper. But after facing secondary infertility, we adopted Claire in 2012. We can’t imagine our lives without our children or our lives without adoption. We’ve also been blessed to have an ongoing relationship with Claire’s birth mother. Learn more about our adoption story in the video below.

What is your favorite part of working for American Adoptions?

The constant change and challenges that completed adoptions on a national level provides.

What is your favorite time of year at American Adoptions?

Holidays because of all of the updates from the families and watching the kids grow up each year.

How many adoptions have you been a part of?

AA has completed about 4,000 adoptions since 1991. I have been on staff since 2000, so I have probably been around for many of them – I would guess 3,500 of them.

What has been your biggest accomplishment in your position?

This one is really hard. But I think I’m proudest to help with managing the growth of the agency while maintaining a good reputation nationally, expanding and improving services and hiring the best adoption staff around.