The Funding Love Podcast with Mal + Kate

How PairTree is Modernizing Adoption with Jess Nelson + Erin Quick

October 10, 2022 Mal and Kate Episode 28
The Funding Love Podcast with Mal + Kate
How PairTree is Modernizing Adoption with Jess Nelson + Erin Quick
Show Notes

Listen in as Mal + Kate chat with Jess Nelson + Erin Quick, from PairTree. They talk about how PairTree is modernizing the adoption process and how Jess + Erin are connected to the adoption community.

Erin's Bio: Erin Quick is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of PairTree. With more than 20 years of global brand marketing experience, and more importantly, as a two-time adoptive mother, Erin is a leader in the movement to modernize adoption in the U.S. With an expert first-hand understanding of the challenges of the domestic private adoption industry and a drive to increase access and opportunities for all involved in the adoption process, Erin brings a wealth of knowledge and business experience to helping families navigate their unique adoption journeys. 
As Chief Executive Officer at PairTree, Erin leads in areas of the business including strategy, business product development, and marketing. Erin, in partnership with company co-founder and CTO, Justin Friberg, is responsible for the business's day-to-day decision-making and implementation of the company’s short- and long-term plans. 
Previously, Erin co-founded Stoke Strategy, a Seattle-based brand marketing strategy firm, which she led for 12 years. While there, Erin led brand initiatives for Bluetooth, Weyerhaeuser, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the University of Washington, to name a few. Erin began her marketing career at Addison in San Francisco and New York, where she worked on the global branding for Domino’s Pizza, Merrill Lynch, and The Make-a-Wish Foundation. 
Erin is a recipient of Puget Sound Business Journal’s 40-Under-40 award and most recently, PairTree, under Erin’s leadership, was selected to participate in the 2021 TechStars Seattle Accelerator – a highly selective and successful global startup accelerator program. Erin is currently a Visionary Voices Member and Speaker with All Raise, a nonprofit on a mission to accelerate the success of female founders and funders. She is a guest lecturer on Technology Entrepreneurship at Brown University and the University of Washington.
Erin lives on Bainbridge Island with her husband and two children.

Jess's Bio: Jess is a two-time birth mother who works at PairTree as an adoption assistant and birth mom advocate, providing a first-hand perspective on the birth mom experience. Jess has placed twice - first in 2011 while in college via self-matching (which was supposed to be an open adoption, but ended up closed) and then in 2018, again via self-matching (which resulted in open adoption). After two placements and two very different adoption relationships, Jess, as she says, decided to "make my mess, my message". Jess reached out to the adoption attorney she placed through and basically begged for a job. And it worked; she quit her well-paying, consistent job to become an adoption assistant and she says it was the best move she has ever made. Jess learned the legal process of adoption and became fascinated with the laws, regulations, and processes. In that position, Jess educated prospective adoptive families on the adoption process and open adoption relationships, all from a birth mother's perspective. And, she began a birth mother support group to offer much-needed post-placement support. 
After a move back to Seattle, Jess came across PairTree and founder Erin Quick. Not many adoption professionals value birth mothers post placement, but Erin saw the importance of having a birth mom’s voice and that is where Jess is today, working closely with PairTree's birth mothers. Highlighting this commitment, PairTree donates 5% of net profits to organizations that provide lifetime support for birth moms.

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