Luke Waldo
Podcast Host and Executive Editor
Director of Program Design and Community Engagement
Luke Waldo is the Host and Executive Editor of the podcast Overloaded: Understanding Neglect, and the Director of Program Design and Community Engagement for the Institute for Child and Family Well-Being.
Luke has dedicated his career to child well-being in Europe, South America and his native Milwaukee where he has worked with children and families adversely impacted by forced migration, homelessness, family violence, and abuse and neglect. He has over two decades of experience working in the complex systems of domestic violence, childhood trauma and well-being, homelessness, education and maltreatment prevention, with a particular focus on engagement and innovative solutions to personal and community challenges. Luke has trained hundreds of child well-being professionals in the areas of domestic violence, toxic stress, adverse childhood experiences, childhood resilience, social innovation and systems change. Prior to joining ICFW’s leadership team, Luke led the Family Support Program, which serves families involved with the child welfare system by providing strengths- and evidence-based interventions.
Luke believes in the power of storytelling, scientific evidence, and their potential to catalyze better outcomes for children and families when brought together effectively.
Luke earned his Master of Science in Cultural Foundations of Education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Spanish from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
Gabe McGaughey
Podcast Contributor and Interviewer
Co-Director for the Institute for Child and Family Well-being
Gabriel McGaughey serves as the director of well-being for Children’s Hospital of Milwaukee Community Services. In this role, he hopes to push child welfare and other public systems toward a more holistic approach to working with children with the goal of improving their immediate health and long-term well-being.
Previously, Gabriel served as the director of Children’s Child Welfare program, overseeing the implementation of a new program design. With more than 16 years of experience, he has worked at every level of social work from field work at group homes and prevention programs to data analytics and administration. Gabriel joined Milwaukee Child Welfare in 2003 as a case manager, eventually taking on a supervisory role. In 2007, he moved into quality improvement where he created analytic processes to better understand the needs of children and families in foster care.
Gabriel holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Nathan John Fink
Technical Production for Overloaded: Understanding Neglect
Nathan is the Chief Advancement Officer at Family Connects International, an evidence-based, universal newborn nurse visiting program that supports the parents of newborns in overcoming common challenges. Nathan brings more than 20 years of experience to the role in education, advancement, and social norms change through various media. He received a Master of Fine Arts in storytelling from the University of New Hampshire. A fierce advocate of primary prevention and family support strategies, his work in academia, community mental health, and family strengthening initiatives focuses on elevating the stories of everyday people striving to build connection, shared aspirations, and resilient communities. Nathan can be found forever (re)hammering the floor nail of his old house in Durham, New Hampshire, where he lives with his wife and two feral sons. He has asked explicitly that we include the following message: “If you’re reading this, send help. You’ll know which house from the debris.”