Gift of Adoption Welcomes Arlington Heights Resident to Board

Gift of Adoption, a Chicago-based national charitable organization providing financial assistance to complete both domestic and international adoptions, announced the addition of Arlington Heights resident, Tom Southall, to the Gift of Adoption national leadership team. Tom will play an integral role in helping Gift of Adoption grow its ability to unite more children with forever families.

“Our goal at Gift of Adoption is to increase the number of children adopted each year by providing the final funding needed to complete the adoptions of vulnerable children.” says Pam Devereux, Gift of Adoption CEO. “We are thrilled to welcome Mr. Southall to our leadership team and know he’ll make a tremendous impact and be a vital addition to the board.”

Today, there are more than 150 million orphans in the world with 415,000 children in the U.S. alone living without permanent families.1 For many children, it’s the high cost of adoption that stands in the way. Gift of Adoption puts adoption in reach for more parentless children by eliminating financial barriers that prevent many hopeful adoptive families from welcoming a child home. In his role and as part of the national leadership team, Southall will help Gift of Adoption expand its national reach and unite more children with a forever family.

Southall is Vice President of Global Innovation and celebrates 40 years of success working at Illinois Tool Works, Inc. (ITW), a leader in the production of engineered equipment and specialty products based in Glenview, Illinois. He received a bachelor’s degree from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York and an MBA from Loyola University of Chicago. He is an adoptive father of two and resides with his wife in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

Over the past 20 years, Gift of Adoption has awarded $6.2 million in adoption assistance grants to unite more than 2,100 children with families across the U.S. The organization prioritizes grants for those adopting the most vulnerable children facing what is likely their last or only chance at adoption. This includes families who are working to unite or keep siblings together and those adopting children with critical medical conditions or children aging out of orphanages.

For more information on Gift of Adoption, visit www.giftofadoption.org.