Our Team

BRITTANY NORMAN

Board Chair
Brittany is an AGCI adoptive parent and mother of 5. Professionally, she is an entrepreneur and investor. She is actively involved in her church, local community and with her husband and family are using their time and capacity to seek sustainable solutions to issues of global health and poverty, abuse, vulnerable children and trafficking.

BRIAN LIVERMAN

Board Vice Chair
Brian joined the board of directors in 2015. He is an adoptive father and an active Ethiopia mission trip participant. Brian is a partner at Peloton Commercial Real Estate in Austin, Texas.

ADAM TODD, CFP

Finance
Adam lives in Austin, TX with his wife and 3 children. He is managing partner and senior adviser for a wealth advisory business specializing in small business owners, and he brings a finance and accounting background to serve AGCI. Adam and his wife are AGCI adoptive parents and advocates for the mission of AGCI.

JERRY STRICKLAND

Board Member
Jerry lives in Austin, Texas and is Vice President and Texas Director for the BGR Group Government Affairs. Jerry leads the firm’s Texas practice and provides lobbying and consulting services at the federal level and in states across the country. Prior to that Jerry was Executive Director of the Governor’s Office in the State of Texas. He brings a wealth of knowledge in the areas of Policy and Child Advocacy. Jerry and his wife have fostered a number of children and adopted one through the foster care system.

LEANNE MESSER

Board Member
Leanne lives in Austin, Texas and is very tied to the adoption community. Leanne is an adult adoptee and her entire family was built through adoption. Leanne’s background is in law and she was instrumental in rewriting New Mexico’s practices for reunification of foster children. Currently, she is the Headmaster at a Christian school where she oversees two campuses.

AMANDA PURVIS

Board Member
Amanda lives in Castle Rock, Colorado with her husband David and their five children, three of whom joined their family through adoption. Amanda is a consultant with the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development (KPICD) at Texas Christian University. At KPICD, her main focus is instructing systems, organizations, and professionals working with children who have experienced trauma, in Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI^®).

SARAH WHITLEY

Board Member

Sarah manages donor relations across the state and country for the Texans for Greg Abbott campaign. Prior to working for Governor Abbott, Sarah worked for Susan Combs, serving as a member of her advisory team, Chief of Staff at the Comptroller’s Office, and managed her various campaigns. Sarah and her husband reside in Austin, Texas, and have two children, one of which joined their family through adoption.

JIM THOMAS

Board Member

Jim is an adoptive father of 6 and longtime supporter of AGCI. Active advocates for vulnerable children, Jim and his wife Lyn have firsthand experience with international and special needs adoptions. Currently, Jim is raising his family in Milton, Georgia and leads a commercial HVAC & Building Automation company serving the Atlanta area.

JULIE PURVIS 

Board Member

A mother of four, two of which joined their family through AGCI’s international adoption programs, Julie is deeply committed to AGCI’s work to break cycles of trauma. Professionally, Julie previously worked in medicine as a Physician Assistant and alongside her husband, Dan, was involved in startup of a medical device company that specializes in active implantable devices.