A framed painting of tiny green hearts sits atop Laura “Ali” Caliendo’s office desk. A 6-year-old gave it to her while the child was being cared for by grandparents. The child was one of the first Caliendo assisted through the foster kinship system, and the picture serves as a daily reminder of why she has dedicated her career to supporting children living with extended family or trusted adults.

Caliendo founded Foster Kinship in 2010, drawing on her personal experience as a foster and adoptive parent to give relative caregivers the same support traditional foster parents receive. The nonprofit has since aided nearly 24,000 Nevada children. Caliendo later stepped down as CEO and moved into a strategic advisory role, helping states such as Utah, Minnesota, and South Carolina replicate the organization’s model. This fall, she joined UNLV full-time as an assistant professor of practice, teaching in both the master’s and doctoral programs in the UNLV School of Public Policy and Leadership.

What does being selected as the Greenspun College of Urban Affairs Honoree mean to you?

UNLV has been part of so many different chapters of my life. I came here as a working nonprofit leader and a mom, trying to better understand the systems I was working within and how I could make a greater impact. 

To be recognized by the same college that helped prepare me for that work, and to now be back at UNLV teaching the next generation of public service leaders, feels very full circle. I am especially grateful for the faculty and mentors who invested in me and for all of the families, colleagues, community partners, and students who have shaped my work along the way. 

I see this recognition not just as a reflection on what has already happened, but as encouragement for what comes next; continuing to use research, policy, and public service to make systems work better for people.

What brought you to UNLV for your Ph.D. in Public Affairs?

When I went back to graduate school, I was already working in the nonprofit world and raising a family. I was not looking for another credential just to have one. I wanted to understand the systems around the work I was doing, become a stronger leader, and figure out how to make a bigger difference in Nevada.

That education changed the way I thought about organizations, policy, leadership, data, and public systems. I used what I was learning almost immediately in my nonprofit work, and I still use it every day.

It is a little surreal, and really meaningful, to now be on the faculty at the UNLV School of Public Policy and Leadership and helping other people figure out what their own next step might be.

What prompted you to start a nonprofit for kinship caregivers?

When I came to Vegas in 2009, I was working with children in our foster care system, and they all were living with their relatives. That was just wild to me. These children have experienced parental separation, and we want them to stay with their family members, if possible. So why would we not provide that family member with training and financial support to care for that vulnerable child? 

Witnessing that and seeing the huge difference and disparity between kinship families and traditional foster families, I thought, I've got to do something about this. It was a sense of wanting to right the injustice. That's what I spent the last 16 years working to change in Nevada — making sure that kinship families have access to equitable support — because the kids need it.

What motivates you to teach students?

What I have always been really, really passionate about is improving outcomes for our children and the community and families here. I feel like being here at UNLV, this is the opportunity to continue the mission and the work. Getting to teach others how to do what I've done so that they can have an impact in their fields and their area of interest is very exciting. 

The things I'm excited about teaching are the policy process. How do you actually take an idea and actually get something passed in the legislature and then implement it so that you're actually changing outcomes.