Influential Woman · International child welfare
Anna Belle Illien
Founder & Director, Foundation for Our Children
Scottdale, GA
Her Story
About Anna
I started in child welfare in 1980, though my formal education was as a French major and I taught French for several years. My direction changed when I chose to adopt a child from a foreign country, which led me to start an international adoption agency. Through that work, I was able to find families for about 3,000 children from all over the world. My start in international adoption came through a connection with CNN in 1981, when they did a documentary about my first adoption from India. That little clip on cable TV led to responses from all over the United States, and out of that came my agency. When international adoption became politically restricted and I had to close the agency, I shifted my focus to improving the lives of children who are growing up in institutions in their own countries. I founded the Foundation for Our Children to implement programs that help institutionalized children transition into their communities as adults. My main area of expertise is understanding that the needs of children growing up abandoned without family care is universal to all countries, whether it's the United States, or India, or China, or anywhere. Currently, I'm focused on India, developing programs for children who are institutionalized. We've just started the TBRI project with the Karen Purvis Institute, bringing caretakers from India to the United States for training that they will take back to India to train caretakers in the institutions. There are 7,000 orphanages in India, so it's a long-term project, but we're working piece by piece, one thing at a time.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Anna
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to staying with it and never giving up. I just keep trying, and if one thing doesn't work, I just keep trying something else. Someone gave me a wonderful example to remember of Thomas Edison and how many times he had to keep trying over and over before he invented the light bulb. So the conclusion is, there's no such thing as failure. You don't fail at something you do, you just keep trying until you succeed. I wouldn't even say I was successful, I would say I just keep trying and doing something till it works, or just keep trying something else. The other thing is connecting with people, with what are called like-minded people who understand what you're doing. You have to connect with the right people. This is non-profit work, so it's not about making any money, it's about getting goals accomplished.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I don't know if there is any career advice in the traditional sense. I would say never give up. You just never give up. You just keep trying. If one thing doesn't work, you just keep trying. Someone gave me a wonderful example to remember of Thomas Edison and how many times he had to keep trying over and over and over before he even invented the light bulb. And so the conclusion is, there's no such thing as failure. You don't fail at something you do, you just keep trying until you succeed.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I think it comes back to the idea of having goals. Having goals, and seeing where you want to go, and keeping focused on the goals, and just moving forward with the right people. One of my goals is to attract hopefully some young people who are starting out in this field who are willing to take up the mission and move forward with it. This foundation is not about me, it's about the mission. It works when other people join in. It's a team effort. It's not a one-person effort. It's not about anybody, it's about the mission of people who understand it and move forward with the mission. I'm hoping that there will be other people who can come and say, I got it. The way it works is we connect with people who just connect right away. They get it the first time. I learned that in working with people, it's people who get it the first time, and they move on with it. You don't have to teach them, or explain to them, or convince them. They get it. They've got the same mission. It's transmission of a mission.
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