2015-2017 Cohort

Cecelia Auditore joined the Massachusetts Promise Fellowship (MPF) in August 2008 as an AmeriCorps fellow, where she she served at Mass Mentoring Partnership and Adoption and Foster Care Mentoring. She joined the MPF staff in July 2012 as their evaluation and volunteer manager.

In her role at Mass Promise, an AmeriCorps program housed at the Center of Community Service at Northeastern University, she supports and evaluates 30 Corps members as they implement OST interventions in the form of mentoring, academic enrichment, or college and career readiness for youth in grades six to twelve. Their mission is to decrease the incidence of drop-out by implementing evidence-based OST interventions in low-income communities and schools. She trains Corps members to adhere to their assessment protocol and coaches community partners around evaluation procedures.

Before joining the staff at MPF, she also worked as a research assistant at the University of Chicago, supporting their urban health initiatives. She graduated from Emmanuel College with a B.A. in history and a minor in political science, and in 2010 earned her M.S. in global studies and international affairs from Northeastern University. Her research capstone explored the impact of conflict in oil regions of Colombia, particularly the negative health and education outcomes of displaced populations. Currently, she is pursuing an Ed.D, also at Northeastern, and her goal is to pursue research in how OST programs can foster engagement as well as lower the incidence of drop-out.

During his more than a decade in OST, Devan Blackwell has developed, facilitated, supervised, and evaluated a number of educational programs and expanded learning opportunities that supported the academic, artistic and social-emotional development of youth. He has created many arts-based initiatives, including: Resilient: A Learning Experience, an urban landscape photography and writing initiative for youth that resulted in a museum installation; and, The SPE@K Project, an award-winning film and teaching curriculum that cultivated artistic strategies for encouraging youth voice.

Olutosin "Olu" Burrell is an education and change management professional who hails from Washington, D.C. He has worked in the field of education at both the secondary and post-secondary level for the majority of his professional career, including more than five years as an English Instructor at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School (also his alma mater). In addition to his work as a program development specialist in the Office of Youth Programs at the D.C. Department of Employment Services, where he develops training and program modules that connect the classroom to the boardroom, he also serves as an adjunct professor of English at Trinity Washington University. Olu holds a B.A. in English from Howard University, an M.S. in organization development from American University, and is currently pursuing a certification in comprehensive evidence-based coaching from Fielding Graduate University.

As the vice president of youth development for the YMCA of Greater Rochester, Sara Cole works with a team of creative youth and community development innovators to provide a spectrum of high-quality programming to serve thousands of youth in the Greater Rochester area, from cradle to career, each day. In addition to being one of the key architects of a nationally-replicated afterschool model, Cole develops and deploys collaborative strategies which have led to increased Association capacity and new programming pathways with local school districts and community agencies. Her grant-writing results have led to more than $2 million in new program improvements and revenue in 2015. Additionally, Cole serves as the regional food program facilitator for the YMCA of the USA and guides large YMCAs throughout the East Coast as they expand food access and enhance food quality.

Previously, Cole served as the director of OST for the Community Services YMCA in Cincinnati where she led 21st CCLC partnerships for Cincinnati Public Schools through CincyAfterSchool programs. She also advised on YMCA Community Learning Center development, served as regional director of the Building Futures Mentoring Program, acted as Director for Walnut Hills Childcare Center, and offered guidance in operating Educational Service tutoring programs.

Before joining the YMCA, Cole served as the assistant director of education for the Department of Youth Services, and provided program management for 63 residential schools and 20 Community Re-entry Centers throughout the state of Massachusetts. Managing over $14 million in educational services, Sara interacted with LEAs as well as faith and community based organizations throughout the state. A former college professor, she brings a personal commitment to promoting youth development, educating youth, and eradicating the achievement gap to open access to educational and workforce pathways to all.

Dare Dukes is the executive director of Deep Center in Savannah, Georgia. Deep Center takes an in-depth approach to literacy and creative youth development by challenging young people to engage with language and their stories through writing, reading, and performance. Deep also strives to raise the voices of diverse young people in to ensure their perspectives, stories, and aesthetics are part of Savannah's rich cultural fabric, and to afford them the opportunity to engage in critical debates and the development of new cultural forms and movements.

Dukes is a musician, writer, and a nonprofit leader with more than 20 years of experience working in arts and social-justice nonprofit settings, both as an artist and leader. As a nonprofit professional, he worked for more than eleven years as development and communications director for Global Action Project (GAP), a New York City nonprofit that provides award-winning media-arts and leadership training for marginalized and low-income youth. There he directed fundraising and related organizational communications and strategy for one of the nation's leading youth media-arts nonprofits. Dukes has also consulted extensively for nonprofits across the country, and prior to his tenure at GAP, he was the manager of foundation and corporate relations for the Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law, where he oversaw an institutional-giving portfolio for a leading public-interest law firm working to strengthen democratic institutions, protect the poor, and ensure fairness in the U.S. criminal justice system.

As a musician and composer, Dukes has written, arranged, and produced two critically acclaimed indie rock and folk records and performed across the country. As a writer and performance artist, Dare wrote numerous plays and performances presented in traditional and nontraditional venues in Boston and New York City; articles for periodicals; and two novels (one unpublished, another a work-in-progress). He earned an MFA in creative writing from The New School, a second MFA in theater from the University of Minnesota, and a B.A. in English literature from the College of the Holy Cross.

Dukes has attended the Summer Institute at the Red Clay Writing Project, the National Writing Project's site at the University of Georgia, Athens, and he is a Red Clay Writing Project teaching consultant.

Briana Flannery is director of development at For Kids Only Afterschool (FKO), a nonprofit organization that provides year-round OST programming in partnership with families, school and communities north of Boston, and now serves over 1,200 children in partnership with 18 schools within six communities. She has been with the organization since 2007, and her current role, manages fundraising, board development, program planning, budgeting and evaluation. She has extensive experience in grant writing, assessment and data analysis and collaboration with school districts, and knowledge of Massachusetts’ policy, procedure and implementation of the Child Care and Development Block Grant and 21st CCLC grant programming. She is involved with many local and statewide policy teams, advocacy groups and community organizations working to improve the lives of children and families and has participated at numerous local, state and national conferences as both a trainer and attendee.

Andrew Fletcher is the program director for 21st CCLC Afterschool Program in the Cassia County School District in Idaho. He have degrees in English and philosophy and is currently finishing a secondary teaching certificate in English. Since 2011, he has been directly involved with afterschool program operations in 18 different schools across eastern and southern Idaho, and has provided statewide presentations and trainings on incorporating STEM education into afterschool. He has also provided local and regional afterschool educators with professional development opportunities in service learning, technology integration, and quality program standards. He also coaches a high school cross-country team.

Rachel Katkar majored in biology, but realized her passion was in youth development. Her first job was at the Science Museum of Minnesota, hiring high school youth to work in the Cell Laboratory. Later, Rachel enrolled in an M.Ed. program specializing in natural science and environmental education.

Now, Katkar coordinates community education classes for 16,000 youth in preschool through grade 12. She combines youth and family feedback with the passions of her instructors and curriculum development. In the summer of 2015, she created a camp for 30 youth called Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse, which involved theatre makeup, an Aikido self-defense workshop, fishing, archery, and the anatomy of the human brain. Additionally, she facilitates the Youth Leadership Team, a group of high school youth who choose and implement community impact projects. In her spare time, she teaches cello lessons over Skype to a student in Seoul, South Korea, and trumpet to a non-traditional learner in person.

Andrea Magiera-Guy is the principal of Youth Development Solutions. She has an M.S. in social administration and planning from Columbia University’s School of Social Work and has been working in youth development and cultural exchange programs for the past 17 years.

Working as a program director, a funder, a policy maker, and a consultant, Magiera-Guy has:

• Revitalized and redesigned an afterschool program in Washington Heights, New York. Supported and supervised the implementation of 119 OST Programs in the Bronx and Manhattan that served New York City youth ages five to 21.
• Managed the design of a contract database system used across four DYCD program areas to track attendance, participation, program design, and implementation.
• Launched the Teen ACTION Service Learning initiative, part of the Center for Economic Opportunity’s anti-poverty programming.
• Coached after-school programs in program planning and design and program management.

Kendra A. Moore received both her Bachelor and Master of Social Work from Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University. She has over 10 years of experience in youth programs, strategic planning and teen development. Her professional experience includes serving as a director of the Bellemeade Community Center for the City of Richmond in Virginia and currently working for the City of Tallahassee as interim executive director for the Palmer Munroe Teen Center. Ms. Moore is a proud and loyal member of Gamma Sigma Sigma National Service Sorority and Divine Light No. 6 Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, Prince Hall Affiliated.

Kimberly Newberry was educated in Detroit Public Schools and graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. She also studied on the graduate level at Wayne State University and Central Michigan University. She has held key leadership positions within various organizations, including serving on the board of directors of the National Association for Child and Youth Care Practice. Kim is the program director for youth development at Don Bosco Hall, a leadership member on the Detroit Youth Development Alliance and a trainer of the Academy of Competent Youth Work. She serves as the founder, president and CEO of Developing Kingdoms In Different Stages (Developing K.I.D.S.) Developing K.I.D.S. has served more than 700 youth and their families since its inception in 2006.

Ashley Peters has worked in the field of afterschool for the past 25 years. Her personal journey has given her the opportunity to lead a program through National Accreditation, becoming the first non-military based afterschool program in South Carolina to become nationally accredited by the National Afterschool Association (NAA). Her career started as a part-time counselor in the “Adventure Club” afterschool program, while attending the College of Charleston. Eight months later, her supervisor was promoted and moved to a different school, and Ashley became the site coordinator.

Advancing through the ranks of the school district has given her the opportunity to work as a program manager, overseeing eight afterschool programs, to her current position as program officer in the Office of Expanded Learning and Community Education, for the Charleston County School District. She has served as an endorser and endorsement application reviewer for NAA, and currently serves as a reviewer of 21st Century Grants going through the CIPAS process. She has been active in promoting afterschool at the state and national level, holding positions with the South Carolina Afterschool Association and the South Carolina Adult and Community Education Association, as well as servings as a regional representative for the National Community Education Association, where she earned a national fellowship.

Since 2003, Pamela Prevost has worked with the Maine Roads to Quality Professional Development Network facilitating cohorts of Maine OST programs seeking national accreditation of their OST programs (through NAA and COA accreditation). She was also trained as an afterschool accreditation endorser for NAA and the Council on Accreditation.

She has been active in Maine’s Afterschool Network as a member of their leadership team and has facilitated a cohort of OST practitioners statewide who are interested in obtaining Maine’s Youth Development Credential.

She written, co-written, and revised curricula related to school age care for the Maine Roads to Quality Prpfessional Development Network. She wrote a course that was delivered as a series of afterschool classes at one of Maine’s community colleges in the spring of 2016.

She has written two articles for the Youth Today Hub:

• "Professional Development in Out-of-School Time: A case study in Maine"
• OST Programs in Rural Maine Make a Difference

She is currently completing her studies for a Ph.D. in education and human development at the University of Maine. Her research interests include the impact of professional development and technical assistance supports (such as coaching/mentoring) in providing engaging learning experiences for youth in OST programs.

Elana Rosenberg is the senior project manager of expanded learning at United Way of Rhode Island. She joined the team in September 2014, with a background in higher education and program development, and is responsible for the overall management and growth of the statewide afterschool network: RIASPA. Prior to coming to United Way, she spent five years providing direct service to 13- to 23-year-olds at Youth Pride, Inc., where she coordinated center programming, provided professional development to Rhode Island school educators and administrators, and helped facilitate both statewide and national networks. She enjoys working with diverse populations, striving towards a community conscious of social justice, and working collaboratively with colleagues. She is particularly interested in exploring the intersection between afterschool and the school-to-prison-pipeline. Rosenberg received her Bachelor’s degree in sociology from Smith College and a Master’s degree in college student personnel from Miami University of Ohio.

Julia Rugg is the chief strategy officer at WINGS for Kids, a nonprofit organization focused on developing social and emotional learning skills in at-risk elementary school age youth during the after school hours. In July 2011, she launched WINGS’ expansion efforts across the Southeast with the CEO, and has worked alongside the senior team to ensure the WINGS model has been replicated with fidelity and quality through internal and external evaluations. She evaluates current and future growth opportunities for WINGS, develops partner relationships, and builds the necessary internal infrastructure and resources necessary to support growth. Rugg’s experiences range from the nonprofit to small business industries, and includes work as a federal government attorney. She has an undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law.

Ana Thomas has a M.Ed in youth development and has worked in the OST field for 10 years. She is currently certified through the Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality as a qualified Youth Work Methods trainer, Youth Work Management, and a reliable assessor for the Youth Program Quality Assessment tool. In the course of her career she has had a wide range of experiences establishing youth programs both in private and non-profit organizations including the ramp up and implementation of a 21st CCLC where she managed a team of youth development instructors. In these roles she has helped to develop and implement meaningful content, elevate staff practice and create quality learning environments for young people. In her current role as school-age advisor at the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, she has helped build the infrastructure necessary to support quality OST programs. In this role, she manages the continuous improvement processes for school-age directors that gives afterschool staff an opportunity to assess their own programs, reflect on their strengths and growth areas, then build out improvement goals to elevate the quality of their programming. As a part of this process, she facilitates workshops and training for front line staff to introduce best practice, examine new techniques and plan how to incorporate these new skills into their practice.

Thomas has been able to share this work with city, state, and national audiences presenting at numerous conferences on best practices in OST, including the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Youth Development Summit, the Illinois Afterschool Network State Conference and the Ready by 21 National Meeting. In 2015, she was asked to be a contributing writer for the “From the Field” section of Beyond the Bell: A Toolkit for Creating Effective Afterschool Programs designed by American Institutes for Research.

For the past 25 years, Sonia Toledo has worked in the after-school field building quality programming for students in elementary through high school during their out-of-school time. Toledo spent her first 10 years as a hands-on director of Boys & Girls Clubs, YMCA, and Children's Aid Society. In 1995, she created a workshop for after-school staff focused on building children's self-esteem, in order to make a difference in their future successes. Her career in youth development took off, as she became more involved in training and advocacy on a state and a national level.

From conception to institutionalization, she has contributed to the creation of grassroots projects for not-for-profit organizations and public schools. As former President of the After School Works NY (formerly the New York State School Age Care Coalition), she spearheaded a strategic plan with the board of directors to bring the organization to the next level of institutionalization, creating statewide infrastructure to support building quality after-school programs and enhancing professionalism in the field. In 1998, she became a national endorser for the National AfterSchool Association, assessing programs and recommending them for accreditation. Today she is still endorsing after-school programs with the Council on Accreditation.

During her nine years at Child Care, Inc., she streamlined and upgraded the school-age department to deliver nationally recognized standards and best practices to thousands of program directors and staff members of after-school programs throughout New York City.

As a single mother of two sons, she has faced the challenges of raising boys in New York City, and the experience has clarified and energized her passion for making a difference in the lives of whole families—not just children. She founded Dignity of Children, Inc. in 2008 with the vision of creating programs that would support families holistically. She now serves as CEO, and her approach is to educate adults, parents, caregivers, and teachers, helping them to create environments for children that will make them feel emotionally safe and develop their self-worth.

For the past 18 years, Michael Waters has worked in an expanding role within Westlake City School District in Westlake, Ohio. In this suburban public school district on the west side of Cleveland, he is responsible for the development, implementation, supervision, and coordination of all district OST programming for students in eight K-12 schools, along with providing adult community education programming. This programming encompasses content areas including art, music, drama, STEM, world language, physical education and college prep, and serves nearly 1000 students annually. He has presented nationally on multiple occasions at the National After School Association Convention on topics ranging from continuous improvement to multi-site management.

Jocelyn Wiedow works as the network and quality coordinator of Sprockets, the citywide OST system in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The "network" part of her role convenes groups of youth workers on a monthly basis to network and collaborate. Through the "quality" part of her role, she supports network partners through their quality improvement cycle and provides trainings throughout the year.

Prior to working with Sprockets, she engaged in a variety of youth work, most recently managing an afterschool and summer program in St. Paul for eight- to 14-year-olds. She has also worked direct service with young people in OST programs, support groups, probation and diversion supervision, wraparound case management as well as camp settings.

Tinnycua Williams is the director of programs at Homes for the Homeless' Saratoga Family Inn in Queens, NY, where she is responsible for the operational success of multiple programs in the areas of school age and adult education programs primarily in the area of workforce development. In that capacity, Williams focuses on ensuring seamless team management and development, program delivery, and quality control, evaluation and reporting. Previously, Williams managed, oversaw, and organized the education department of the Saratoga Family Inn serving more than 600 residents. By building partnerships with community-based organizations, Williams increased the shelter’s afterschool enrollment rate by over 77 percent over the course of a year and a half. Before joining Homes for the Homeless in 2010, Williams served as program director at the Samuel Field YM & YWHA and as program coordinator at the Harlem Children’s Zone’s Countee Cullen Community Center.

Williams earned her B.A. from Colgate University, where she studied Africana Studies and Political Science.