Meet the Ohala’ Team
Cristen Rios
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Born and raised on the island of Guam, Cristen is a dedicated leader with a strong background in administration, organizational support, and community-focused service. With professional experience as an Executive Assistant, Project Coordinator, Personnel Specialist, and Administrative Assistant, she brings a high level of professionalism, compassion, and operational excellence to her role.
Cristen’s deep love for her island and its people guides her work each day. She is driven by a heartfelt commitment to creating positive, lasting change in the lives of Guam’s children and families. Through her leadership, she strives to ensure that every family feels supported and that every child is given the opportunity to grow in a safe, loving, and stable home.
Her passion, integrity, and unwavering dedication make her a trusted advocate for the island community and a compassionate steward of Ohala’ Adoption’s mission.
Bella Fagota
SOCIAL WORKER
Isabella "Bella" Fagota is a dedicated social worker with a robust academic background, holding both a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Social Work. Bella's career spans a variety of impactful sectors, focusing on early childhood development and care, as well as adolescent prevention and treatment programs.
Her commitment to children and youth mental health has driven her to engage in research and data analysis, contributing to policy advocacy aimed at improving services and outcomes. Bella’s experience extends to geriatric and home health care services, where she has worked to enhance the quality of life for older adults.
Throughout her career, she has excelled in both non-profit and government environments, demonstrating a strong passion for community service and social justice. Bella continues to advocate for vulnerable populations, striving to create a more equitable and supportive society.
Johnathon Lujan-Nucum
SOCIAL WORKER
Johnathon is a diligent Social Worker with a Master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, specializing in child welfare, foster care, adoption services, and protective services for vulnerable populations. He provides comprehensive case management and clinical intervention services, drawing upon a holistic, strengths-based approach that is firmly rooted in family systems theory and trauma-informed care principles.
He guides families through complex and often emotionally challenging processes—from initial adoption assessments and home studies to successful placement and post-placement support. He actively collaborates with multidisciplinary teams, community partners, and resource networks to promote client safety, stability, and long-term well-being, skillfully integrating clinical insight with passionate advocacy to help clients effectively navigate complex care systems while simultaneously building resilience and fostering healing.
Johnathon maintains a deep commitment to culturally responsive and sensitive practice that honors diversity, respects individual and family values, and empowers individuals and families to overcome adversity, strengthen family bonds, and build secure, healthy, and lasting connections.
Breanah Francisco
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Breanah is a committed administrative professional who currently serves as an Administrative Assistant.
With a passion for helping others, she brings exceptional organizational skills, keen attention to detail, and a deep sense of compassion to her work. Her role allows her to support families, streamline processes, and contribute to a mission centered on care, connection, and meaningful change.
Her background in communications strengthens her ability to facilitate clear, thoughtful interactions while supporting the agency’s goals and the needs of the families they serve.
Driven by purpose and heart, she continues to use her skills to uplift others and help create supportive, life-changing experiences for children and families navigating adoption.
We strive to provide a compassionate choice for birthing mothers by bringing hope, love, and a safe and nurturing environment for children through adoption. We work to provide support services for families through preparation, education, guidance, and post-adoption services.
The Ohala’ Board of Directors
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Lori Boss
DIRECTOR
Lori has dedicated herself to working with families in need, specifically mothers and children. As a wife, mother of seven, and a grandmother to eleven, she understands the challenges and blessings of a forever family. From working as a certified birth doula, to opening her home as a foster parent for children in need, she has firsthand experience and expertise in assisting mothers and children during their most challenging times.
Lori believes that women should be empowered by positive choices especially when difficult circumstances arise, such as an unplanned pregnancy, and sees adoption as a selfless gift that a mother can give her child. Her desire to help the children and families on Guam has inspired her to join with equally dedicated women in forming this non-profit adoption service.
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Traci Anderson
DIRECTOR
Traci has had a lifelong love for babies and children. She spent several years as a nanny, provided Montessori education in a day care setting, is a mother of four, and was a nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. All of these experiences have provided opportunities for her to gain a deeper understanding of the needs and support that children require in their growth and learning.
Traci has had the opportunity to obtain foster-to-adopt training, using it when she became a foster mom, adopting and raising an amazing boy. Knowing that adoption is an option and parenting is a joy, Traci will be able to guide mothers in distress to consider all choices before making any decisions. Helping babies and children to have safe and stable, happy homes is her primary goal.
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Kelley Larsen
DIRECTOR
Kelley is a wife, mother, and international adoptee. She has degrees in Therapeutic Recreation and Psychology, and has worked providing mental health treatment to clients of all ages in various clinical and residential settings; including managing the behavioral and emotional resources for infants and children in a crisis center. She also volunteers at her church in programs that serve women and children. For the past three years, she has acted as the executive director of an annual team-building and empowerment camp for girls ages 11-18 from Guam, Saipan, Yap, and Palau.
These experiences have underscored to her the importance of loving families and community-based support networks to individual wellness. Her vision for Ohala’ is one where the women, children, and families of our island can find loving and supportive options where the needs of each person are valued.
