Every Child Ready Advisory Board

HyeSook Chung
DC Action for Children

HyeSook Chung is the Executive Director of DC Action for Children. For the past 13 years she has worked to improve the lives of children through direct service, advocacy and program management. HyeSook has worked for various nonprofit organizations focusing on the areas of child care, early childhood development, welfare-to-work and school readiness.

In the fall of 2007, she began consulting for Washington Area Women’s Foundation to support the Early Care and Education Funders Collaborative and the DC State Board of Education. While supporting the Collaborative, she worked with corporations and foundations to design and implement goals, programmatic design and grantmaking strategies for the Collaborative. For the DC State Board of Education, she conducted a preliminary Birth to Three Needs Assessment.

Before beginning a career in consulting, HyeSook worked at the National Association of Counties managing two grant-funded educational and technical assistance projects in the areas of early childhood development and school readiness. In addition, she coordinated activities for the presidential task force on early childhood development, which included working with a special task force of county commissioners.

Earlier in her career, much of HyeSook’s work was training and assisting family support workers, home visitors and outreach workers in community-based programs in the greater Boston area. In addition, HyeSook worked with the Head Start Quality Improvement Center and the Early Head Start Resource Center supporting the Early Head Start programs throughout the country.

HyeSook serves on numerous boards and commissions focused on young children, including the Early Childhood Advisory Council and the Statewide Commission on Children, Youth and Their Families and the Voices for America’s Children Member Leadership Council.

As a volunteer, HyeSook is extremely active at her children’s DCPS school.

She is the proud mother of Lindsay and Brady.

Harriet Dichter
First Five Years Fund

Harriet Dichter joined the First Five Years Fund as its National Director in September, 2010. In this role, she oversees FFYF’s policy and advocacy work in Washington, D.C. Previously, she served as Secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare and as the state’s founding Deputy Secretary of the Office of Child Development and Early Learning. In that role, she led efforts focused on implementing quality early education systems and initiated new programs and supports that included Early Learning Standards, a data system for comprehensive accountability, child outcome tracking across programs, and rigorous approaches to professional preparation and development. During her tenure, Pennsylvania increased the number of children with access to quality early learning and gained national attention for its commitment to innovation.

Dichter is a summa cum laude graduate of Yale University and a cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Her husband is an attorney, and she is the mother of two young adult children.

Dr. Rick Fiene
Penn State

Dr. Rick Fiene has spent his professional career in improving the quality of child care in Pennsylvania and nationally. He has done extensive research and publishing on the key components in improving child care quality through a model of training, technical assistance, mentoring, licensing, monitoring, and accreditation.

In addition to Dr. Fiene’s academic appointments at Penn State (Program Head, Human Development & Family Studies, & Professor in Charge, Psychology Program, Penn State Harrisburg/The Capital College; and Graduate Faculty, Human Development & Family Studies Department, University Park), he has been a Special Assistant to both the Deputy Secretary for the Office of Children, Youth and Families and the Secretary of Public Welfare during the 1990’s in which he was the Research Director and Policy Analyst for the development of the licensing and training systems in the Department of Public Welfare for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Susan J. Kimmel, Ph.D.
Center for Early Childhood Professional Development, University of Oklahoma

Susan J. Kimmel, Ph.D., is the Director of the Center for Early Childhood Professional Development (CECPD) at The University of Oklahoma. The Center delivers professional development to early care and education child care providers, Head Start and public school teachers, child care directors, and administrators throughout Oklahoma and the nation.

Dr. Kimmel has implemented large projects and led change efforts across the state to promote school readiness and early literacy and works extensively in culturally diverse urban and rural communities. In addition, Dr. Kimmel is a former early childhood classroom teacher, lead literacy coach in Heidelberg, Germany, and the principal investigator and director of multiple Early Reading First grants. She has served on the USDOE site review team for three years. Her most recent projects include the development of The Literacy Coaching Institute and the Literacy in Action professional development early literacy series for teachers of young children. Among her areas of expertise are early childhood education, organizational leadership, and emergent literacy and school readiness in preschool-age children. Dr. Kimmel has presented the research data and outcomes from the Center’s early literacy grants at several national and international conferences, including the International Reading Association, NAEYC, Association of Teacher Educators, and the National Reading Conference (NRC).

Dr. Kimmel holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership from the University of Oklahoma, a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from National Louis University, and a Bachelor of Science in Education, Early Childhood Education, from Columbus State University.

Dr. Kimmel serves on the following committees: State Professional Development Workgroup (Oklahoma), Oklahoma Head Start Early Childhood Collaboration, Early Childhood Professional Development Council, Smart Start, and Child Care Oklahoma.

Aaron Lieberman
Acelero Learning

Aaron has a strong track record of entrepreneurial successes in the social sector. After graduating from Yale, Aaron became a Head Start teacher and founded Jumpstart, an organization that pairs college students with preschoolers to develop literacy, language and social skills. What began as an idea in Aaron’s dorm room went on to become a national organization and leader in early childhood education; today Jumpstart engages 4,000 college students in service to nearly 15,000 children in 20 states, and the District of Columbia and more than 75 communities across the country. While at Jumpstart, Aaron also founded and served as Chair of Schoolsuccess.net, a venture-backed for-profit spin off of Jumpstart that created the first on-line versions of the High/Scope COR and Creative Curriculum’s Developmental Continuum. The company was acquired by Pearson in 2000. Aaron founded Acelero in 2001 and helped develop its programmatic approach, working side by side with Head Start leadership teams from Acelero’s first management contact partners.

Arthur McKee
National Council on Teacher Quality

Arthur joined NCTQ in January 2011 to head up its national review of education schools. From 2000 to 2010, Arthur worked at CityBridge Foundation, a family foundation dedicated to creating and sustaining great public schools in Washington DC. While there, he oversaw the foundation’s Early Years Education Initiative, an $8M, five-year effort to expand high-quality early childhood education services in the nation’s capital. Arthur received his AB in history from Princeton, and a Ph.D. in Russian history from U.C. Berkeley.

John McKoy
Fight for Children

John “Skip” McKoy joined Fight For Children as Director, Programmatic Initiatives in May 2007. Mr. McKoy, who brings a strong background in urban planning and community development, oversees Fight For Children education and healthcare initiatives. McKoy works closely with local community, business, education, and government leaders to develop collaborative strategies aimed at improving the quality of life of underserved children and youth in the Washington metropolitan area. He is a member of The D.C. Public Charter School Board (PCSB), which has primary oversight of public charter schools in Washington, DC.

Mr. McKoy has extensive experience in community development leading major public, private and non-profit sector organizations. Prior to joining Fight For Children Mr. McKoy was responsible for managing various real estate and community development projects along the Anacostia River as Executive Vice President at the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation, an organization dedicated to revitalizing the riverfront communities. Prior to the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation, Mr. McKoy served as a management consultant, President and CEO of DC Agenda, in several executive capacities at Lockheed Martin IMS and Director of the District’s City Planning Department.

Mr. McKoy earned his Masters of Public Administration at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School and his Masters of City Planning at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his Bachelors at Hamilton College. He currently resides in Washington, DC with his wife Andrea Gay.

Susan B. Neuman
University of Michigan

Susan B. Neuman is a Professor in Educational Studies specializing in early literacy development. Previously, she has served as the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education. In her role as Assistant Secretary, she established the Early Reading First program, developed the Early Childhood Educator Professional Development Program and was responsible for all activities in Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Act. She has directed the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA) and currently directs the Michigan Research Program on Ready to Learn. Her research and teaching interests include early childhood policy, curriculum, and early reading instruction, prek-grade 3 for children who live in poverty. She has written over 100 articles, and authored and edited 11 books, including Changing the Odds for Children at Risk (Teachers College Press, 2009) “Educating the Other America” (Brookes, 2008) and “Multimedia and Literacy Development (Taylor & Francis, 2008), Preparing teachers for the early childhood classroom: proven models and key principles (2010), and the Handbook of Early Literacy Research (Volumes 3), 2011. Her research and teaching interests include early childhood policy, curriculum, and early reading instruction for prekindergarten through Grade 3.

Nina Rees
Knowledge Universe

Nina Rees joined Knowledge Universe in 2006 and currently serves as Senior Vice President for Strategic Initiatives. Knowledge Universe is a leading global education company with investments in early childhood education, before and after school programs and online instruction. Rees oversees the company’s public policy and government relations portfolio in Washington DC and assists with business development.

Before joining Knowledge Universe, Rees worked for over 15 years in Washington, D.C., most recently as the Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement at the U.S. Department of Education. In this post, she oversaw the administration of 28 grant programs (which supported 1,300 projects around the U.S.) and coordinated the implementation of several provisions of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. Prior to joining the Education Department, Rees served as a domestic-policy adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney.

Prior to joining the White House, Rees served as the senior education analyst at the Heritage Foundation where she authored more than two dozen policy briefs and served as the foundation’s chief spokesperson on education. She has appeared on various news outlets including CNN, C-Span and PBS’s NewsHour and her articles and opinions have been published in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

Rees currently serves on the board of directors of Charter School Development Corporation, the Greater Educational Opportunities Foundation, the Education Industry Association as well as the board of advisors of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and the review board for The 2011 Broad Prize for Urban Education.

Rees holds a B.A. in Psychology from VA Tech and a master’s in International Transactions from George Mason University. She is fluent in French and Farsi.

Mark K. Shriver
Save the Children

Mark K. Shriver leads Save the Children’s U.S. Programs, which works to ensure a fair start for all kids in the United States, including the one in five living in poverty. Shriver’s career fighting for social justice in advocacy and service organizations, as well as elective office, has focused on advancing the right of every kid in America to have a safe and vibrant childhood.

An Innovative Public-Private Partnership Model for American Education
Shriver created Save the Children’s early childhood education program and reinvigorated its literacy, nutrition, and fitness work in the United States through partnerships with more than 160 schools in some of the most impoverished regions of the country. Benefiting more than 70,000 children in 14 states, studies reveal that 64 percent of children showed major improvement after participating in the literacy program and the percentage reading at or above grade level nearly doubled during the school year.

To better sustain and fortify these programs, Shriver deepened corporate partnerships with Toys “R” Us, T.J. Maxx, Frigidaire, IKEA, and Scholastic. He also secured Save the Children’s U.S. Programs as one of a handful beneficiaries of American Idol’s social responsibility efforts in 2007, 2008 and 2010.

To ensure even stronger representation for kids’ issues in the nation’s capital and throughout the nation, Shriver recruited Jennifer Garner, Randy Jackson, and Julianne Moore as artist ambassadors for Save the Children’s U.S. Programs. Garner and Moore have both lobbied extensively on behalf of kids in Congress and in state capitals. In addition, Moore and Shriver teamed up to launch an acclaimed kids’ Valentine’s Day project in partnership with the American Federation of Teachers to teach children about the challenges of childhood poverty.

Protecting Kids When Disaster Strikes
Shriver created Save the Children’s domestic emergency response programs in 2005 to ensure that children are protected when disaster strikes and are provided safe haven and reunion with their families during a disaster’s aftermath. He was the chief spokesperson for the organization’s 2009 and 2010 national report card, which has revealed a severe lack of preparedness to protect kids during disasters. He led a national coalition that successfully convinced Congress to create the National Commission on Children and Disasters to ensure better protection of children before, during, and after major domestic catastrophes. Shriver was appointed to the Commission by Senate Majority Harry Reid (D-NV) and was elected as its first chairperson by his fellow commissioners.

A Lifetime Advocating for Kids and Youth
Shriver was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1994 to 2002. He was the first Chair of the Joint Committee on Children, Youth and Families, and was appointed Chair of the Children and Youth Subcommittee of Maryland’s House Ways and Means Committee. He was repeatedly recognized as Outstanding Legislator of the Year by prominent advocacy and civic organizations.

In 1988, Shriver founded the innovative Choice Program, which serves delinquent and at-risk youth through intensive, community-based counseling. Shriver subsequently created The Choice Jobs Program, Inc., a private non-profit that trains, places and supports former Choice clients in jobs, as well as The Choice Middle Schools Program, a model for keeping at-risk middle school children in school.

Shriver has served on a number of boards and commissions, including the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the FEMA National Advisory Commission, the Living Proof Project, and the Cal Ripkin, Sr. Foundation. He was also a recipient of the National Father’s Day Committee’s 2008 Father of the Year award.

Shriver has been widely covered and published in the national media, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, The Times-Picayune, The Washington Times, The Tennessean, Newsweek, NPR, The Shreveport Times, CNN, The Today Show, Fox News, The Detroit News, ABC News, The Birmingham News, and Time. George Will wrote a nationally syndicated column on his work as well.

Shriver’s management, business, and institutional leadership skills were honed in part through his private sector work at a telecommunications firm where he headed a multi-million dollar division. Shriver received his B.A. from The College of the Holy Cross in 1986 and a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University in 1993. In 1994, he received an honorary degree from Loyola College in Baltimore, MD for his work on The Choice Program. Shriver resides in Bethesda, MD with his wife Jeanne and their three young children, Molly, Tommy and Emma.

Marci Young
Pew Center on the States

Marci Young directs Pre-K Now, a project of the Pew Center on the States. Pre-K Now is a campaign that advances high-quality, voluntary pre-kindergarten for all three and four year olds.

The Pew Center on the States is a division of The Pew Charitable Trusts that identifies and advances effective solutions to critical issues facing states. Pew is a nonprofit organization that applies a rigorous, analytical approach to improve public policy, inform the public and stimulate civic life.

Prior to joining Pre-K Now, Marci was the director of the Center for the Child Care Workforce, a project of the American Federation of Teachers Educational Foundation and a deputy director in the AFT’s educational issues department where she was oversaw all of the organization’s early childhood projects and activities to promote high-quality early childhood education. She was the Executive Director of CCW when it was an independent nonprofit agency, where she co-authored several studies about early childhood education with specific emphasis on improving the status and condition of the workforce. Before that, she was a kindergarten teacher at an elementary school in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Marci has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Stanford University and a master’s degree in early childhood education from the University of Pennsylvania. Marci and her husband, Duane Young, have two young sons, Cameron (10) and Drew (7) who are both elementary school students in Montgomery County public schools.