Pictured from left to right: Tam Markowski, Bridget Luzecky, Dana Martin, Yelena Kogan, Serge, Katia Johnson, Mary Ellen Scheetz

The Small World staff is led by the Directors;Yelena Kogan, M.D., Executive Director - Foreign Country and Dana Martin, MSW, LCSW - Executive Director - U.S.A.  Yelena and her late husband Dr. Slava Platonov are founders of Small World Adoption Foundation.  Yelena and Dana are eager to meet with every client and to share with them their passion for international adoption.  Yelena continues to travel abroad several times each year in order to maintain our strong professional relationships with foreign authorities and orphanages.  She is a qualified physician who reviews all potentially adoptive children's health to assess their appropriateness for adoption.  Yelena is committed to the children, the families, and the agency.  Out of her love for these children came the foundation of SWAF and the mission to continue such humanitarian work for children and families.

Dana Martin, Executive Director - U.S.A. has been affiliated with Small World Adoption Foundation since 1993 in one capacity or another.  Many past clients knew Dana as their homestudy social worker or their post-adoption coordinator.  Dana was pleased to move into the position of Director of Operations before reaching her current position of Executive Director - U.S.A.  Dana has a masters degree and license in clinical social work as well as previous experience in managing social service agencies.  Dana enjoys meeting clients individually and getting to know all families during their adoption process. She welcomes communications from all families, both past and present.

The Case Managers are Mary Ellen Scheetz and Katia Johnson.  Mary Ellen has been with the agency for over four years.  Mary Ellen is our lead Case Manager and is dedicated to being a resource to our clients, taking them step by step through the requirements of international adoption.  Mary Ellen is there to listen, provide guidance, and answer questions that may arise throughout the process.  Katia is not only a Case Manager, but also our Foreign Country Liaison.  She has been with the agency for over seven years.  Katia came to our agency after working in the adoption field in St. Petersburg, Russia.  Katia is very knowledgeable of the international quirks that may occur in the foreign countries and she passes that knowledge along to us.  She reviews all client paperwork for accuracy and communicates with foreign country representatives to insure the adoption process goes smoothly.  Both Mary Ellen and Katia are team players and we are lucky to have them on our team.

Tamatha Markowski, M. Ed., NCC, LPC, Supervisor of Social Services has been with the agency for over a year.  Tam joined the team to serve as our Post Adoption Coordinator and one of our home study providers.  Tam is also a licensed professional counselor, she offers mental health support to all SWAF children and families.  Tamatha is available to answer any questions you may have regarding child development, family adjustment, questionable child behaviors, and surprising parental reactions and feelings, just to name a few.  Tam is also a certified parent coach, who is here to offer parenting tips and suggestions that may work within your individual family.  These services are free of charge.

SMALL WORLD SAYS GOODBYE TO OUR DEAR FOUNDER AND FRIEND

Small World Adoption Foundation fondly remembers and pays tribute to one of our founders, Dr. Viacheslav “Slava” Platonov.  Slava suddenly passed away on September 15, 2009.  Slava was not only our Executive Director, but our leader and our friend.  He devoted his life to saving orphan children from Russia and Ukraine, as well as creating families all around the world.  It was out of his insight and genuine love for the children that he and his wife, Dr. Yelena Kogan (current Executive Director of the Foreign Country), founded Small World Adoption Foundation of Missouri back in 1992.  Since then, SWAF has brought home over 2,100 children from Russia, Ukraine, and Vietnam. 

Slava was a special man in so many ways.  Even though he was a successful business owner and anesthesiologist, he always put Small World first.  For 10 out of the 17 years of the Foundation, Slava worked without a salary as our Executive Director, and not a day went by that he did not conduct some sort of Small World business to ultimately benefit another Small World family.

Slava touched so many people and so many families with his warm heart, genuine love for the children, extensive knowledge, and true celebration each time a child came home.  His death was a tremendous loss to all of us who knew him, both professionally and personally.  Although we still continue to grieve the loss of this wonderful man, the staff at Small World are committed to keep his legacy alive and to continue to unite children and families through international adoption.  Slava’s last wishes were “to please keep SWAF alive” and that is exactly what we all intend to do.  Thank you Slava, for your teachings, for your kindness, and for your true dedication to our mission of saving children, uniting, families, and taking care of the orphans left behind.  May you rest in peace and know that you were loved and respected by so many people around the world.

The Small World staff remains very dedicated to the mission of helping orphaned children, while assisting the adoptive parents to have the best possible adoption experience.