aboutus

Here at Santa's Little Helpers, Inc., we are driven by a single goal; to empower foster children. We were formed in 2017 to help meet the basic needs of foster children while providing activities and materials that promote character building.

Our mission is to help build the self-esteem and confidence of foster children by building a foundation of literacy, personal growth, and development.

Our core principles are generosity, gratitude, hard work, kindness, and respect. Our vision is to help foster children thrive while in foster care and beyond by instilling our core principles through our care packages, programs, and services.

Our organization always appreciates the generosity and involvement of people like you, with every contribution going towards making Santa's Little Helpers, Inc. an even better nonprofit organization. We offer several ways for you to participate.

1. Organize a donation drive with the people in your neighborhood, at your job, or you can host one yourself. Please email us at donate@santaslittlehelpersinc.com to schedule your donation drive today!

2. Select us as your charity at Kroger or on the NextDoor App. Shop our wish list at Carmichael's Bookstore.

3. You can donate a gently used Christmas tree between Sept. 15 and Dec. 1. Call us for more details.

Program Director

Michelle T. Williams

Michelle Williams is a Louisville native. She has a Bachelor's degree in Sociology with a Minor in Pan African Studies from the University of Louisville. She earned a Master's of Arts in Counseling Psychology and a Master's of Education in Higher Education Administration. She worked in higher education for over 15 years.

After counseling a foster child while working on her master’s degree, Michelle gained insight on the special circumstances of foster children, and its effect on academic achievement and personal development. She recognized these special circumstances caused a developmental gap in learning and personal growth in many foster children. After watching a movie about the mistreatment of foster kids in 2017, Michelle decided she could use her education and experiences to help the foster population in her area. She made it her mission to help foster children fill the gaps in literacy and personal development.

As Michelle embarks upon fulfilling her mission, she continues to strive to make the world a better place through her positive projects. She is an author, screenplay writer, actor, entrepreneur, and film producer. She published her first children’s book, Little Max in Santa’s Red Sack, in 2020. She produced a documentary in 2021 and producing a short film in 2023. She launched a line of multicultural puzzles and educational games called Making Spirits Bright Soul of Christmas in 2022.

Board Members

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Angela Thompson Howard

Board President

Passion Works, LLC

Chief Executive Officer

Angela has 30 plus years of experience in all facets of Human Resources with UPS. She retired in September 2021 as Vice President of Human Resources the U.S. East Region. Her responsibilities were strategic and tactical H.R. support to approximately 150,000 UPS employees in 26 states – more than a third of UPS’ global workforce. With five relocations across the country with her tenure, she had become a community champion in every location she lived and worked. Angela has served on boards including, Figure Skating in Harlem Foundation NYC, Women in Trucking Foundation NYC, Girls Inc, Southern California, Inside the Outdoors Foundation California, Urban League New Jersey, and currently serves as Board President for Santa’s Little Helpers, Inc.

Angela holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from William Penn College in IA, and a Master’s degree from Webster University in MO, with a double major in Human Resources and Management. After retiring from UPS, she started her own firm, Passion Works, LLC. which Is dedicated to inspiring organizations to equip leaders to improve their cultural competence by providing them with tangible tools to bring awareness to issues that are creating strain in the workplace and create solutions, with courage and passion to help leaders thrive.

Sharon T. Ray

Board Vice President

S. Thompson and Associates

Chief Executive Officer

Sharon is the Founder and CEO of S. Thompson & Associates a consultancy that partners with senior leaders in small to midsize companies to develop and optimize HR strategies and processes to achieve their business growth goals. She currently serves as interim head of people for several technology companies.

Sharon’s passion is to enable teams to create and implement strategies that develop, engage and celebrate the contributions of all people. Creating environments where everyone can contribute to an organization in their own unique way is what drives success. She has spent over 25+ years in human resources at large, medium and small organizations building the HR infrastructure to drive success across organizations and teams.

Diane Whitlock

University of Louisville

Assistant Vice President for Strategic Initiatives

Office of Diversity Equity, and Inclusion

Diane Whitlock earned a bachelor’s in Organizational Leadership and Learning and a Master’s in Higher Education Administration from the UofL College of Education and Human Development, and serves or has served on various committees on and off-campus. Some examples of her committee work include the university's 2019 Great Place to Work strategic planning committee; as a member of the board of directors for the Business Diversity Network of Kentucky, the Republic Bank Foundation YMCA, and the University Club Board of Directors. She has also served on the UofL Outstanding Community Engagement Award selection committee, Outstanding Performance Awards selection committee, and is a past President of the UofL Black Faculty/Staff Association (2008-2012). She is one of the 2016 recipients of the UofL President’s Outstanding Performance Awards, and other awards include the UofL LGBT Center Ally Award (2016), UofL Outstanding Community Service Staff Award (2011), the 2008 Eleanor Young Love Award presented by the Louisville Commission on Human Rights, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholars Accomplice Award (2021). However, she considers her biggest accomplishment as being the mother of two outstanding daughters, Katina and LaToya Whitlock.

Dustin Delaney

UPS

Finance Supervisor

Dustin Delaney is a Financial & Accounting supervisor with more than two decades of corporate experience. Dustin specializes in planning, forecasting, and reporting expenditures. Dustin holds a bachelor’s degree in Business and Accounting from Sullivan University. Dustin has completed leadership training with SOAR, a program designed for high potential employees.

Channing Palazzo

The Vine Counseling

Owner

Channing Palazzo is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and owner of The Vine Counseling in Louisville Kentucky. She has more than 10 years of experience working with foster and adoptive parents, adoptees, and birth families in various roles and settings including residential treatment centers, nonprofits and outpatient therapy settings. She is passionate about prevention services and empowering families and communities to thrive through trauma-informed, attachment focused training and interventions. In addition to working in private practice, she currently leads a support group in the community for foster and adoptive parents and partners with local churches and community organizations to provide additional training and resources for families.

Advisory Board Member

Jill Mullaney