Kathy Hamilton
Youth Transitions Director, Boston Private Industry Council
Boston, MA

Andrew Moore
Senior Fellow, National League of Cities' Institute for Youth, Education, and Families
Washington, DC

Marc Spencer
CEO, Juma Ventures
San Francisco, CA

TAD ASBURY
Tad Asbury is a corporate Vice President and Executive Director of the Marriott Foundation for People with Disabilities. Tad leads a national team of more than 70 staff operating Bridges From School to Work; a program that fosters competitive employment opportunities for young adults with disabilities in eight major cities across the U.S, helping to place 1,000 youth annually in paid employment with nearly 300 employers. With responsibility and oversight of Foundation strategic planning, management, operations, budget and finance, fundraising, and communications, Tad has extensive knowledge gained over more than 20 years of professional experience in Foundation management and public affairs, having spent many years with the MCI Foundation, MCI Communications Inc., and Fleishman-Hillard Inc. Tad currently serves on the board of the Disability Funders Network, and Leadership Committee for the National Youth Transitions Center. He holds a B.A. from Albion College and an M.A. from Georgetown University.

EUGENE BELL

Eugene has been the Executive Director for the past 12 years for the Kings View Ready, Set, Go! program located in Madera, California. He has over 28 years of professional experience providing employment and training services to youth and young adults in rural settings. He is a certified vocational counselor and has a Master of Science in Counseling (Marriage and Family Therapy). Over the last five years Eugene has partnered with the Madera County Department of Social Services to develop a model Independent Living Skills Program for foster youth. For the past eight years Eugene has worked as a consultant with the Youth Development and Research Fund, now known as Edward DeJesus Consultants and Seminars, working on youth advocacy issues. He is a member of the California Workforce Association and he has served on the Board of Directors for Madera District Chamber of Commerce, Madera Child Abuse Prevention Council, and the National Youth Employment Coalition for the past 4 years.

MARGIE DE RUYTER

As the Senior Director of Workforce Initiatives, Ms. de Ruyter is responsible for the administration and oversight of the Workforce Partnership's Workforce Investment Act (WIA) job training funds for the San Diego County region.  In addition to serving as a board of director for the National Youth Employment Coalition, Ms. de Ruyter is a member of the County of San Diego Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council and Juvenile Disproportionate Minority Contact Taskforce, a member of the Community Action Partnership Board, an advisory the County Health and Human Services Agency on Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) funding; and board president for ARS Inc., a local foster youth group home for boys. Ms. de Ruyter has a bachelor's degree in Human Services Administration from Springfield College, an Executive Program certification from the University of CA, Los Angeles Anderson School of Management, and a certification in Community and Economic Development from San Diego State University.

GLENN EAGLESON

Glenn Eagleson has worked in the fields of youth workforce development and education for the past 28 years focusing primarily on local approaches to improving the lives of disconnected youth.  He currently works as the Senior Planner and Policy Analyst for the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth & Their Families overseeing youth workforce planning and as the Citywide Lead for TAY-SF, coordinating policy and planning for services for transitional age youth.  Prior to DCYF, Glenn was the Director of Policy and Planning for the Mayor's Office of Economic & Workforce Development where he staffed the Youth Council and helped to develop several education and workforce initiatives for disconnected 18-24 year olds. Glenn has been involved with NYEC for 20 years.  In addition to having previously served on the Board, he chaired the Consortia of Local Coalitions and has been actively involved with PEPNet since its inception.

MELINDA GIOVENGO

Dr. Melinda Giovengo has been the Executive Director of YouthCare since 2006. She has 30 years of experience in developing and implementing re-engagement programs for out-of-school and homeless youth. She holds an M.A. in Clinical Psychology and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and is published on issues surrounding homeless youth and the impact of learning disabilities in hard-to-serve populations. Dr. Giovengo speaks locally and nationally on youth homelessness, adolescent mental health issues, and child sexual exploitation. She is a board member of the National Network for Youth, the Housing Development Consortium, and the National Youth Employment Coalition; she also serves as the Government Relations Chair of YouthBuild USA. 

KATHY HAMILTON

As the Youth Transitions Director at the Boston Private Industry Council (PIC), Kathy works to build systemic connections for at-risk students and high school dropouts.  In that role, she has led Boston's Youth Transitions Task Force over the last eight years.  The Task Force is a cross-sector group including about forty agencies who collaborate on an innovative plan to address Boston's high school dropout crisis.  The group has contributed to a substantial improvement in local and state dropout rates by utilizing a data-driven approach, piloting new practices, recommending policy, and engaging public partners.  In addition to the Task Force, Kathy coordinates the WIA Youth Council.  She leads the PIC's post-secondary team, which provides coaching services for urban, first-generation college students.  Previously, Kathy facilitated youth employment services in the PIC School-to-Career program and provided independent living support to teens in foster care at the New England Home for Little Wanderers.

LISA JOHNSON

Lisa Johnson earned her M.P.A. and B.S. in Business Administration. She began her career in workforce development 18 years ago. Her experience in program planning, development, and implementation comes from a management and a practice lens and from both small and large non-profit organizations. Lisa couples skills in management, strategic planning, facilitation, and qualitative research into all arenas of youth development programming encouraging community stakeholder involvement. She was the director of state, federal, and local funding initiatives in Brockton, MA including: Youth Opportunity Grant, Youth Offender, young parents, and gang involved youth programs. Over the last 5 years at FHI 360, Lisa has offered leadership in corporate sponsored programs in the United States and abroad to infuse youth development principles to practice for young people. She is a founding member of the Communities Collaborating to Reconnect Youth Network where she has served on the executive committee since its inception.

KARINE KANIKKEBERG

Karine Kanikkeberg has worked for the Kern High School District for over 18 years. Her responsibilities include the design, implementation and performance of multiple youth/workforce development programs. including In and Out-of-School youth, youth with disabilities, emancipated and youth in foster care and youth identified as habitual truants. During her tenure Kern's programs have received recognition as national models by PEPNet (3 times for 2 initiatives). This led to her mentoring of initiatives nation-wide to assist them in achieving success for our country's youth. Ms. Kanikkeberg serves on various foster youth advisory and program development groups at a state and local level. She has also served on the Board of NYEC for six years, member of the Board of Directors Business Plan Implementation committee, and Chair/co-Chair of the Member's Forum planning committee. Ms. Kanikkeberg has a Political Science degree, teaching credential and administrative credential in education.

JENNIFER BROWN LERNER
As a Senior Director at the American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF), Jennifer Brown Lerner has a range of responsibilities to support the organization's mission of providing timely information to policymakers to bridge the divide that often exists between research, policy, and practice. Recently, her work has focused on ensuring educational reform efforts include a focus on disconnected youth and broadening young people's access to and success in postsecondary education and careers. Prior to joining AYPF in 2005, Jennifer served as a classroom teacher, communications officer, and program administrator in Massachusetts and Georgia. Jennifer is a founding member of the DC Public Education Fund's Young Professional Committee. She received her BA from the University of Pennsylvania and her MA from Teachers College, Columbia University.

JOHN MARTINEZ

As Deputy Director of the Health and Barriers to Employment Policy Area at MDRC, a nonprofit, nonpartisan social policy research and intermediary organization that develops and tests the effectiveness of bold ideas designed to improve the wellbeing of low-income people, John Martinez's responsibilities include designing and providing TA around complex interventions and implementing and directing evaluations.  Through his work on many youth focused projects, including interventions targeted to youth with disabilities, youth aging out of state care, and youth who have dropped out of high school, he has gained a deep understanding of youth development issues and the funding systems (WIA, TANF, SSA, juvenile justice, postsecondary education, etc.) that serve young people. He has nearly 25 years of professional experience, including 16 with MDRC.  He obtained an MPH from Columbia University and a BA (Psychology) from the University of Virginia.

ANDREW MOORE
Andrew Moore's 25 years in the youth employment/youth development field has included 15 years building the national network of youth conservation and service corps, five years as a consultant, and five years as a senior fellow with the National League of Cities' Institute for Youth, Education, and Families. Having launched the YEF Institute's program area around municipal leadership to reengage older disconnected youth, he helps to lead projects on that topic and related topics such as alternative education, postsecondary success, and youth violence reduction. Andrew's expertise spans technical assistance, facilitation, writing, and program and policy development. Andrew has maintained a strong affiliation with NYEC throughout his career. Andrew spent ten months in the United Kingdom as an Atlantic Fellow in Public Policy during 2000-2001, deepening his knowledge of transitional jobs programs and the UK social welfare system.  Currently, he serves on the 21^st Century Conservation Service Corps Federal Advisory Committee.

HECTOR RIVERA

Hector Rivera is a reputable, passionate, Latino professional with over 20 years of non-profit expertise. He earned his bachelor's degree in Human Services from Springfield College and holds a dual master's degree in Management and Business Administration from Albertus Magnus College. He's worked for Our Piece of the Pie, Inc. for the past 13+ years, in increasingly progressive capacities where he's honed his knowledge in the areas of education, workforce development and youth development. He is a proficient in fiscal management, strategic planning, operations and performance management. As a Chief Operating Officer, he is forward-thinking, results-oriented, and compassionate leader who prides himself on making sound/ethical decisions that ultimately advances his organization, cultivates emerging leaders, and improves the lives of disenfranchised youth. In addition he has strong business acumen and my true desire to empower youth.

LAURA SHUBILLA
Laura Shubilla is a co-founder and the Co-President and CEO of the Philadelphia Youth Network, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving educational and economic outcomes for youth. She has overseen the growth of the organization since its inception in 1999 as a small non-profit subsidiary to its current role as an independent citywide entity dedicated to integrating services and building systems that promote positive post-secondary outcomes for young people. Prior to her work in Philadelphia, Laura was based in New York City with the Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation, working on the implementation of a national welfare-to-work demonstration project. Additionally, she designed and developed two projects for a Bronx-based community development corporation: a public high school featuring experiential, project-based learning focused on community development and a demonstration project providing life-skills and case management to homeless individuals living with AIDS.

MARC SPENCER
Dr. Marc Spencer, CEO of Juma Ventures, has 20 years of experience in the nonprofit management sector specializing in fund and program development; contracts and compliance; quality management; and legislative affairs. Marc currently sits on the national board of the Social Enterprise Alliance, Evergreen Lodge, City of Oakland WIB, San Francisco Youth Council, and the Museum of the African Diaspora. He earned his BA from UCLA in Anthropology, and master's and doctorate degrees in education from the University of San Francisco.
 

ELLEN ZINKIEWICZ

Ellen Zinkiewicz has been responsible for Nashville Career Advancement Center's WIA Youth programs since 2001.  A Licensed Advanced Practice Social Worker, Ellen has fifteen years of experience in the field of workforce development.  She is a 2011 Nashville Business Journal 40 Under 40 Recipient, Nashville Emerging Leader Award winner for Government and Public Affairs in 2011, and member of the 2010 Class of the Nashville Emerging Leaders.  She serves on the board for the YBuild program of the YMCA of Middle Tennessee, and currently serves as Treasurer of the board for the National Youth Employment Coalition.  Ellen has an undergraduate degree in International Studies and Political Science from the University of Evansville and spent a year in Debrecen, Hungary as a Fulbright Scholar.