The MOVE Conference

Brett A. Loftis, JD

Brett Loftis graduated from Furman University with degrees in Sociology and Political Science and in 2001 from Wake Forest University School of Law. After spending numerous years working in ministry and child advocacy, including as the Executive Director of the Council for Children’s Rights in Charlotte, NC, Brett came to Crossnore in 2013 as Chief Executive Officer. In this role, Brett leads all initiatives of the organization, including programs, advancement, facilities, finances, advocacy, and organizational growth. In his spare time, he enjoys coaching youth soccer and basketball. Brett is married to Sally, and the couple has three sons.

Sarah Norris, Ed.D.

Sarah Norris holds a B.S. in Psychology from Gardner-Webb University, a Master of Education in Counseling and Development from Winthrop University, an MBA from East Carolina University, and an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership from Gardner-Webb University. Sarah has worked in child welfare for almost 20 years, holding positions with the NC Department of Health & Human Services, as well as at the county level in social services. Sarah joined Crossnore Communities for Children in 2018 as the Child Welfare Division Director and became Chief Program Officer in 2020, where she oversees all child welfare programs and clinical programs and leads programmatic growth and development. In her spare time, Sarah loves to run, work on her art, and spend time with her family. She is married to Steve and the couple has two daughters.

Jon Katov

Jon is a social enterprise builder and former senior advertising and marketing executive with thirty years of experience developing and expanding community service and commercial innovations. As the founder and CEO of Open Table, Jon has spoken to thousands of people in the United States and from countries around the world about the Open Table story and how we can invest our relational and social capital in each other to help us all live the better lives we envision for ourselves.

Through the Open Table model, Jon has partnered with faith communities and agencies of the state and federal governments, as well as businesses, education, and healthcare, to lead the development of a national shared purpose movement to grow the common good in communities. Jon recently founded the Center for Community Convening™, an organization of Open Table that convenes multiple community sectors in shared purpose initiatives. Through the Community Convening model, businesses, faith communities, foundations, government, healthcare, media, service clubs, universities, and other sectors co-invest their relational and social capital assets to expand Tables and develop innovative models to help solve social challenges.

Jon has a B.A. from the University of Illinois – Chicago, where his studies focused on Latin American literature and advertising. His most important gift on the Open Table journey is his relationship with Ernie, through which he discovered the human purpose: to be for each other. Jon and his wife of thirty years live in Phoenix, Arizona.

Mark Washington

Mark serves as the Executive Director of the Child and Family Specialty team of BCBS NC Healthy Blue, and remains driven by a vision to be the wellbeing partner of families, communities and stakeholders. He’s passionate about improving the System of Care and the North Carolina child welfare system. More importantly, he is the father of four amazing humans – four daughters ranging in age from 14 to 26, two of whom will be married by the end of 2023 (applause!!).

Mark’s career combines both public and private sector roles in executive leadership. His private sector experience serves as bookends of an ongoing focus in helping to strengthen organizations that deliver services to meet the needs of families and citizens served by the state and community health and social services agencies. Mark has devoted two decades to focus on making lives better for children, youth and their families in marginalized communities. His experience encompasses leadership of state government agencies administering Medicaid, SNAP and TANF eligibility, Child Support
Enforcement, Child Care, Child and Adult Protective Services, Foster Care and Adoption. He was appointed by the Kentucky and Georgia governors to lead these respective agencies and has published nationally on the successful deployment of innovation and system transformation within the realm of government service delivery. Notably, he believes in the power of listening to the customer and the citizen to better understand their respective needs, and the potential of operationalizing improved models of coordination, treatment, and support to close the gaps between illness and injury, and treatment and recovery.

After leaving the government sector, Mark worked in strategy and business development executive roles in technology and data analytics firms, driven by the desire to see greater integration of the “whole person” engagement and “no wrong door” experience. His leadership and vision in the public sector initiated statewide programs that centered on increasing the program capacity of early intervention and prevention responses. His driving enthusiasm is grounded in the mantra of – “how can we serve our communities’ sons and daughters, and their families… better, sooner.”