Almitas is a volunteer association working in partnership with Cherokee Gives Back, the charitable outreach effort of Cherokee.

Initially known as Global Orphan Care, Almitas began with a group of concerned businessmen who had adopted children internationally and were struck by the magnitude of the problems facing the children they had to leave behind. Realizing they cannot adopt them all, these individuals now strive to do everything they can to bring attention and assistance to the growing crisis of orphans and vulnerable children in the world. Almitas has extended to include a wide network of child welfare experts, orphan care practitioners, and passionate advocates for children’s rights.

Paul Singer, Board Member 
Paul co-founded Almitas and volunteers his time to lead its board. Paul and his wife have five daughters. Since their first adoption in 2001, Paul has committed himself to raising public awareness of how adoption can provide a safe home and loving family to the millions of orphans in the world, and supporting organizations that are helping these orphans while waiting to be adopted. In 2003, he founded the Target Adoption Network, a networking group for Target team members who have experienced adoption or are interested in learning more about adoption. He is also a board member for the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) and the Joint Council on International Children’s Issues (JCICS).

Paul joined Target in 1984 as a Business Analyst and went on to hold several positions in Merchandising and Merchandise Planning, before moving to Target Technology Services in 1994. Paul became Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President of Target Technology Services in 2000, and retired in 2005. He is currently serving as CIO of Minneapolis based SuperValu.

Amy Vercler, Director of Operations
Amy first became interested in vulnerable children issues during her childhood, when her parents became foster parents and adopted her two younger sisters from the U.S. foster care system. She then expanded her concern to a more global scale, majoring in international affairs and German at Wheaton College (IL) and focusing on human rights law while obtaining her J.D. at the University of Iowa College of Law.

Amy has worked with the International Center for Religion & Diplomacy in Washington, D.C.; the United Nations' International Labor Office in Geneva, Switzerland; the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights in Iowa City, IA; and Interights in London, England. Amy is a member of the Illinois bar.

Sam Whitt, Executive Director
In addition to his volunteer role with Almitas, Sam is the Executive Director of Cherokee Gives Back Foundation.  His background includes a number of operational roles with entrepreneurial companies, as well as practicing law with a focus on general corporate, economic development, M&A, tax and finance matters. He is a founding board member of the Raleigh Charter High School and is active in a local Boy Scout troop. Sam earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Brigham Young University and a Juris Doctor from George Mason University School of Law, where he served on the Law Review. He and his wife Tracy live in Raleigh and have five children.

Lee Roberts, Board Member
Lee Roberts spent nine years with Morgan Stanley & Co. in London and New York, focused on real estate investment banking. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley in 1997, he practiced law in Washington, DC. He earned a Juris Doctor cum laude from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Arts from Duke University. He serves on the Board of Visitors of the Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University. Lee and his wife have three children.

Lyston Peebles
Lyston volunteers his time for advocacy and development for Almitas.Lyston also founded and is the Managing Director of Cherokee Gives Back since 1998.  He has a 30-year history of nonprofit experience.  In 1996, he founded Oak Ranch, a non-profit group home in Sanford, NC, that offers a stable family environment for neglected, abused or abandoned children. Lyston has been a lifelong social justice advocate and was active in the U.S. Civil Rights movement, the South African anti-apartheid initiative and the establishment of financial stewardship education.  Lyston  serves on the Boards of The River Foundation, which funds non-profits globally, and Friends of the Good Samaritans, which funds a school in India for Dalits. Additionally, he serves on the Advisory Board of the NCF, which funds anti-poverty efforts. Lyston earned a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Tom Davis
Tom Davis is the president of Children’s HopeChest (www.hopechest.org), a Christian-based child-advocacy organization helping orphans in Russia, Eastern Europe, and Africa. Tom holds a business and pastoral ministry degree from Dallas Baptist University and a master’s degree in theology from Criswell College. He is the author several books, including Fields of the Fatherless and Red Letters. You can visit Tom’s blog at www.cthomasdavis.com.

Dwain Gullion
Dwain volunteers his time to develop business and relationships for Almitas. After graduating from college, he worked for 10 years with his family’s retail Christian bookstore business. In 2003, Dwain founded Magnet America, an online company that specializes in car magnets and other promotional products.

In 2005, Dwain began working on how to create more awareness on the global orphan crisis. The initiative includes awareness on the adoption tax credit in the United States but also encompasses finding and promoting solutions for orphans and vulnerable children globally.
Dwain met his wife Heidi while in college and they now have 3 children. They first adopted a daughter from China in 2002 and then again in 2004. Their son was born in 2005 and they currently reside in Heidi’s hometown of Bennett, NC.