Marsha Porter, MSW

Executive Director

Marsha Porter has dedicated her more than 35 year career to the well-being of Arizona's children. She began her career with Child Protective Services (CPS) and occupied a number of direct service and administrative positions within the state child welfare system.

Since 1994, Porter has served as Executive Director of Crisis Nursery, Inc. providing leadership to help families in crisis.  Under her direction, Crisis Nursery has expanded its programs to include Early Childhood Education, Foster Care, Healthy Families and day respite programs to help Arizona's youngest and most vulnerable citizens.

Natalie Miles-Thompson, MSW

Resource Development Director

Natalie Miles-Thompson joined Crisis Nursery in 1999 as Shelter Director. Miles-Thompson came to Crisis Nursery with over 20 plus years of leadership experience working as a non profit manager/director.

She moved into her current position as Director of Resource Development in late 2005. In this position she is responsible for raising $2.1 million in annual funds through grants, events, communications, volunteering and other fund-raising activities.

Michele Joy, MSW

Shelter Director

Michelle Joy joined Crisis Nursery in 2005. She manages all day-to-day operations of our Children's Shelter (25 beds). She is responsible for 60 shelter employees and an operating budget of over $2 million.

She also serves as the primary liaison with Department of Economic Security (DES), which licenses the shelter and contracts with us for the provision of shelter beds to children in the custody of DES.

Kristin Andrew, MSW

FACES (Families and Children Experiencing Success) Director

Kristin Andrew joined Crisis Nursery in 2002. Her responsibilities include overseeing the day-to-day operations and maintaining primary linkages with Department of Health Services (DHS) representatives who license FACES as a community childcare facility.

Mary Ann O'Connor, MSW, LCSW, LSAC, ACSW

Foster Care Director

Mary Ann joined Crisis Nursery in 1991, providing clinical supervision to the Social Service, Educational and Medical programs at the Children's Shelter.  O'Connor has served as Director of the Foster Care program since its inception in 2006.

Her responsibilities include managing the overall success of the program and recruiting, training and supervising Foster Care Licensing Specialist staff.  Staff, in turn, train and license foster families and monitor foster homes in order to meet the needs of children placed in their homes. They also ensure that each home remains in compliance with the licensing standards through the Department of Economic Security, State of Arizona.   

Lisa Ricci, CPA

Finance & Administration Director

Lisa Ricci joined Crisis Nursery in 2010 as the Director of Finance and Administration. Her prior experience within Big 4 accounting firms as an auditor and in industry has been specialized in the not-for-profit arena.  Ricci is a licensed CPA and coordinates all accounting, financial reporting, human resources, facilities, and administrative functions of the organization.

Damita Curry

Marketing & Communications Manager

Damita Curry joined Crisis Nursery in 2010 as the Marketing and Communications Manager. As a seasoned marketing and communications professional for more than 15 years, Curry is responsible for all marketing, press, and social media for the organization. Prior to Crisis Nursery, Curry advanced through positions of increasing responsibility in the corporate and non-profit sectors. Curry holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration.