CASA Services
#FosterKidFierce
Beacon’s Dedication to Court Appointed Special Advocates
CASA has always held a special place in the heart of our Founder, Theresa Collins. Her connection to the organization is deeply personal—growing up in foster care, she had two CASA volunteers who made a lasting impact on her life and success. That experience fueled her passion for advocacy.
During college, Theresa interned with the local CASA office for two semesters before joining the team as staff. The moment she turned 21, she became a CASA advocate herself, dedicating eight years to supporting children in need. Her journey took a new turn when one of her CASA kids needed a foster home—she stepped up, became a licensed foster parent, and began her role as both a foster and respite home provider. While she could no longer serve as a CASA advocate, she remained deeply involved, joining CASA’s board of directors and continuing to shape the program’s impact.
Theresa’s passion for CASA didn’t stop there. From the very beginning of Beacon, she built services tailored specifically for CASA programs, ensuring they have the tools and support to thrive. Today, Beacon partners with CASA programs nationwide, offering one-on-one Executive Strategic Coaching, specialized workshops, strategic planning aligned with National CASA standards, and inspiring keynote presentations. Theresa’s dedication to CASA is woven into everything we do, and we’re honored to support the incredible work of CASA programs across the country.
Keynote & Workshops
Our Founder, Theresa Collins, is passionate about spreading the #FosterKidFierce message far and wide. Elevate your next event by having her deliver a keynote that will show the community that CASA is indeed the ‘secret sauce’ to making every child in care #FosterKidFierce.
Our highly interactive bootcamp-style workshops are customized to your CASA's strategic needs. They are developed using the SAVI (Somatic, Auditory, Visual, Intellectual) and Accelerated Learning for Adults methods to optimize the experience for every individual participant. You will leave inspired to immediately implement what you have learned.
Highlighted Workshops:
Build Your Grants Team 101
Capital Campaign Planning
Strategic Planning for CASA
Powerhouse Board of Directors
Executive Strategic Coaching
Leading a CASA program is not for the faint of heart. Your job is essential, and you have to get it done without enough time nor resources. Your focus shifts from fundraising to volunteers to staff on a minute-to-minute basis. You need support!
Investing in an Executive Strategic Coach specializing in CASA will help you move the needle on your strategic goals. You’ll get a loyal accountability partner providing you with constant inspiration and plenty of CASA expertise and tools.
This program is designed as a one-on-one six session series, meeting every other week.
A Strategic Coach will help you get that ball rolling again. Our Executive Strategic Coaching sets CASA programs up for success and guides them in keeping their team on track for transformational implementation so they can best serve the most vulnerable children in the community.
Strategic Planning
You are likely painfully aware that Strategic Planning is a requirement by CASA National Standards. Do you have an active strategic plan, but regrettably it has been primarily to check the box? This comprehensive and interactive Strategic Planning (SP) package is designed specifically for CASA programs that have the goal of growing their program to meet their community’s needs and are ready to launch into the next chapter of their expanded impact. Our SP development process is created with a DEI lens, ensuring all people and cultures are respected and valued. We meet you where you are in your planning process and build upon the work you have already achieved, guiding your team to the fruition of a transformational strategic direction.
Includes training on:
National Standards Adherence
Focus Groups, Surveying, & Interviewing
SWOT & Internal/External Research
Conducting Case Studies
Facilitating Strategy Sessions
Retreat Planning
Strategic Plan Document & Summary
Strategy Coach
Founder Bio
Theresa Collins is the Founder and Principal Strategist at Beacon Organizational Consulting. She brings two decades of experience in the nonprofit and organizational development industries. She holds a Master’s degree in Management & Organizational Development with a Training emphasis and a double Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Social Change & Development with a Law & Justice emphasis.
After growing up in foster care from age 7, and then aging out of the system, Theresa has dedicated her life to making the world a better place. She has extensive professional and personal experience specifically in the areas of foundations, homelessness, child abuse and neglect, foster care resources, youth services, mental health clubhouses, recovery, community action programs, and business development. She has raised millions of dollars to fund community projects, events, and services across the country. She coined the term and lives the life of #FosterKidFierce, demonstrating that foster kids have tools beyond their awareness that they can use to positively alter the currently bleak statistics.
Community service and involvement are key values for Theresa. She was a Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) volunteer for 8 years, a foster and respite parent, a national and chapter member of the Grant Professionals Association and the Association of Fundraising Professionals, a board member of Foster Families & Friends, founding board member with the Boys & Girls Club of Manitowoc County, a mayor-appointed member of the Citizen Advisory Council for the city of Manitowoc, a Future 15 Award recipient of the Chamber of Manitowoc County’s Young Professionals, and has also served on the boards of a mental health clubhouse, social justice organizations, and CASA, among others. Theresa is an active member of the Council on Foundations and the Chamber of Commerce.
Due to her background as a foster child, Theresa has moved around the county and lived in several states as a child. She spent her early adult life in Arizona and Wisconsin, and recently moved to her forever home on a beautiful horse ranch hobby farm in Rolla, Missouri, where she is settling into a country life with horses, chickens, ducks, bunnies, and their new beloved ‘stray’ dog, Rexy. She enjoys a beautiful family with a deeply supportive husband and three kids, two younger boys and a daughter in college!
