Our staff and consultants lead the work of the Initiative
Staff
Sherry Amen
Administrative Associate
314-863-7000 x118
View bioSherry Amen is an Administrative Associate for the Initiative. A Certified Public Accountant, she has over 20 years of experience in the areas of accounting, project management, and customer service. Sherry has worked for a variety of companies, including consulting and manufacturing firms, a public utility, and local government. A native of St. Louis, she has degrees in Accounting and Music, and serves as the organist for her church.
Stephanie Ball
Receptionist
314.863.7000 X100
View bioStephanie Ball is the Receptionist for the Initiative. Originally from Arizona, she has several years of experience working in administrative support. Stephanie was introduced to the Initiative as a temporary employee when she first moved to the St. Louis area.
She received a Bachelors of Music degree from Northern Arizona University, and recently a Master of Music degree from Washington University in St. Louis. Both degrees are in Vocal Performance. In addition to working for the Initiative, Stephanie performs locally, teaches voice lessons, and is preparing to begin a professional operatic career.
Sarah B. Greenblatt
Senior Associate Director
203.228.4823
View bioThroughout her 30 year career, Sarah has worked with community groups, public human service and housing organizations, child welfare agencies and private foundations across the country to passionately improve permanency practice and promote sound public policies.
In 2010, Sarah Greenblatt joined the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative to improve systems outcomes for older youth and young adults leaving foster care. In 2001, Sarah was hired to launch the Casey Center for Effective Child Welfare Practice at Casey Family Services, which has assisted public and private agencies to improve permanency outcomes for children and youth in foster care. Under Sarah's leadership, the Casey Center published influential white papers on post-adoption services and other permanency-related topics, served as a lead organizer of two national youth permanency convenings, and helped develop and support implementation of the Casey Family Services Permanency Teaming practice model.
Earlier, Sarah directed the National Resource Center for Foster Care and Permanency Planning at Hunter College School of Social Work, where she was also an adjunct faculty member. She worked with public, non-profit, and tribal agencies to promote quality child welfare services and improve permanency outcomes. She also managed grants that funded community organizing and social services with formerly homeless families. She earned an MS in social work from Columbia, graduating with the Dean's Award of Distinction, and was inducted into the social work school's Alumni Hall of Fame in 2008. She also holds an MS in educational administration from Leslie College, and a BS in child development and family relations from the University of Connecticut. She is an adjunct instructor for child welfare policy at Smith College School for Social Work. Sarah also serves as a reviewer for the journal Child Welfare.
Sarah is president of the board for Information for Families, which publishes a bilingual newsletter for homeless and relocating families in New York City; board secretary of New Haven's New Life Corporation, Inc.; and board member of Lawyers for Children America.
Dianna Walters
Associate
(314) 863-7000 x 107
View bioDianna Walters joined the Initiative as an Associate after relocating to Missouri in the spring of 2011. Prior to her relocation, she was involved with the Initiative's work in Maine in various capacities through the Youth and Community Engagement Team at Muskie School of Public Service in Portland. During the summer of 2009, Dianna interned in Senator John Kerry's Washington, DC office and participated in efforts to raise awareness on Capital Hill about issues facing youth in foster care. Dianna delivered five workshops at the National CASA conference with her fellow professionals from across the country and has developed training sessions for various state and national child welfare events.
Dianna received a Bachelors of Arts in Social and Behavioral Sciences from the University of Southern Maine and is nearing completion of an Masters of Science in Public Policy and Management with the Muskie School of Public Service. In her role with the Initiative, Dianna's focus is on policy work and assisting with evaluation and youth engagement components. Dianna's passion is improving outcomes for youth in foster care which is directed toward permanency for older you, and she is excited to be able to expand these efforts to a national level with the Initiative.
Kent Berkley
Senior Associate Director
314-863-7000 x102
View bioKent Berkley, Esq. is Senior Associate Director at the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative in St. Louis, Missouri. The Initiative is a national foundation working to improve outcomes for young people in, and exiting from, the child welfare system. Mr. Berkley has dedicated nearly three decades of work as a lawyer representing children and youth, a national consultant advocating improved system performance for children and youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, and as an implementer of promising and evidence-based practices and policies.
As Senior Associate Director, Mr. Berkley leads the Initiative's development of evidence-based standards and best practices for connecting older youth to family supports. He helped develop the Initiative's Toolkit, a series of implementation manuals for youth engagement and leadership, community partnerships, and increased opportunities for youth transitioning to adulthood.
Mr. Berkley's national consulting has been on the full spectrum of child welfare and juvenile justice issues, and has developed agency-specific best practices models, curricula, and strategic plans to achieve organizational goals and improved outcomes for children and families. He was Assistant General Counsel in the Tennessee Department of Children's Services (DCS), and represented the Department in settlement negotiations of Brian A. v. Bredesen. He then worked with DCS to create the Standards of Professional Practice for Serving Children and Families: A Model of Practice.
Mr. Berkley has authored and co-authored numerous articles and reports addressing key issues in child welfare and juvenile justice policy, most recently Supporting Youth in Transition to Adulthood: Lessons Learned from Child Welfare and Juvenile Justicefor the Georgetown University Center for Juvenile Justice Reform. He has provided national and state training for continuing legal education programs on juvenile law, and conducted workshops and onsite technical assistance for the purpose of increasing system performance and improving outcomes for children and youth.
Mr. Berkley graduated Summa Cum Laude from William Jewell College and is a graduate of Vanderbilt Law School, which awarded him the Gustavas Hamner Public Interest Fellowship for exemplary work as Assistant Public Defender/Juvenile Division, Metropolitan Nashville Public Defender's Office.
Leonard Burton
Chief Operating Officer
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View bioLeonard D. Burton is the chief operating officer of the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative (Initiative). The Initiative was created in 2001 by Annie E. Casey Foundation and Casey Family Programs as an ambitious national effort to ensure that young people who experience foster care make successful transitions to adulthood. The Initiative brings together the public and private sectors to help youth make the connections they need for permanence, employment opportunities, education, personal and community engagement, housing, and health care.
Prior to working for the Initiative, Mr. Burton held several senior management and leadership positions with the Tennessee Department of Children's Services (DCS). During 1996-2002, Mr. Burton rose through the ranks at DCS to the position of Assistant Commissioner of Child Welfare and Regional Field Services. He also served as the Director of Policy Development, Title VI Coordinator, Director of Foster Care, and Executive Assistant to the Commissioner assisting in the management of daily operations and a $500 million annual budget.
Mr. Burton was a key leader in laying the foundation for reforming Tennessee's child welfare and juvenile justice systems. He was directly involved in reducing reliance on congregate care, qualitatively improving engagement with families and instituting a new model of casework practice.
Mr. Burton's career in human services spans two decades. In 1989, while on active duty in the US Army, he served as a part-time community worker with "at-risk" youth. In 1991, he received an honorable discharge and returned home from Operation Desert Storm to become the first Program Director of a new community-based, grass roots program for "at-risk" African American youth. Working to eradicate disparate treatment and disproportionate minority contact has cut across many of Mr. Burton's work experiences. He was the director of the Daniel Payne Christian Child Care Center, Vice President of Business Development for RCI Holdings Inc., a senior level consultant with M&B Consulting LLC, and supervisor of the quasi governmental Assessment and Care Coordination Team in Tennessee. These professional experiences have provided him with functional expertise in areas such as organizational management, youth development, family centered practice, operations, and policy analysis.
Mr. Burton possesses a Masters of Education in Administration and Supervision from Tennessee State University. He also has a diploma in Patient Administration from the U.S. Army - Academy of Health Sciences and a Bachelor of Arts in Public Management from Austin Peay State University. He is a graduate of the Tennessee Government Executive Institute and holds a certificate from the Center for Creative Leadership. He has drafted numerous governmental policies and is co-author of the publication Supporting Youth in Transition to Adulthood: Lessons Learned from Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice.
Mr. Burton has established himself as an effective, high energy, visionary manager with exceptional administrative and leadership skills. A man of high ideals and integrity, he holds memberships in several organizations, has served on numerous councils and boards and has received a variety of honors and awards. He has been invited to speak at venues nationally and internationally, including venues in South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Jim Hoke
Chief Financial Officer
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View bioJames Hoke holds the position of Chief Financial Officer for the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative. With a career spanning nearly forty years, Jim has extensive experience in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. Among his various assignments, Jim has experience in executive management positions including strategic planning, operations analysis, cost and general accounting, internal audit and systems analysis. Among his not-for-profit experiences, he has worked with the Association for Retarded Citizens, United Cerebral Palsy and Goodwill, where he served as executive director and chief financial officer of those agencies serving physically and mentally challenged individuals.
Prior to his career in the not-for-profit sector, Jim held various domestic and international assignments in the controllership functions of Monsanto, NCR and the bio-tech startup, Kinetic Systems. Additionally, Jim served as an adjunct professor of Finance for the University College of Washington University and the School of Psychology of Washington University in St. Louis.
Jim graduated from the University of Notre Dame at South Bend, Indiana with a Bachelors of Business Administration and holds a Masters Degree of Business Administration with major concentrations in Banking and Finance and a minor in accounting from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.
Liz Squibb
Associate Director - Youth Engagement
314-863-7000 x101
View bioLiz Squibb has over ten years of experience working on behalf of children, Families, and communities. Her work at the Initiative includes leading regular technical assistance sessions for Associate Directors, facilitating trainings on the management information system for Individual Development Accounts and on financial literacy as well as workshops for potential co-investors. She project manages large grantee conferences and other Initiative events as well as providing oversight of funding provided to a national advocacy organization focused on children's issues. She also serves as steering committee member for a national collaborative that seeks to ensure that all children and families of color receive fair treatment, support, and achieve good outcomes from the child welfare system.
Prior to coming to Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, Liz administered a federally-funded project designed to prevent alcohol, tobacco, and drug use, especially among young people. Ms. Squibb has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with an emphasis on women and minority studies from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Gary J. Stangler
Executive Director
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View bioIn May 2001, Gary Stangler began as Executive Director of the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, an initiative created by Casey Family Programs and the Annie E. Casey Foundation to leverage resources and public will to help youth in foster care make successful transitions to adulthood. Prior to joining the Initiative, Stangler served as the director of Missouri's Department of Social Services for eleven years. Appointed by Gov. John Ashcroft (R) in 1989, he was reappointed by Gov. Mel Carnahan (D) in 1993. He began his career in the Department of Social Services in 1980 and worked his way up the ranks. He has also served on the board of the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) from 1994-1998 and, on several occasions, testified before Congress on foster care, indigent health care, and family preservation. Stangler also serves on the board of The Center for the Study of Social Policy, is a fellow with the Center for Family and Policy Research at the University of Missouri - Columbia, and has received numerous awards, including the Lewis Hine Award for service to children. Stangler is a graduate of the University of Missouri - Columbia and the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Lynn Tiede
Senior Associate Director
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View bioLynn Tiede is the Senior Associate Director for Policy and Evaluation. She is the lead for the Initiative Self-Evaluation Team, a group that is comprised of staff, consultants, and representatives from each of the demonstration sites. The team comes together regularly to measure and assess progress across the Initiative. Lynn also coordinates the Initiative's public policy work and is the site liaison for the grantee in Maine.
Lynn's career has always focused on improving the well-being of families and children, in the United States and abroad. Her background includes experience in international democracy development, education research, community development and national politics. Lynn has worked in Liberia, Africa promoting democracy through the training of newly elected legislators, through grants and technical assistance to civic organizations, and through the training of citizens around their rights and responsibilities. She has also coordinated the data collection for a W.K. Kellogg Foundation-funded school reform initiative, and was responsible for presenting research findings and their policy implications. Most recently, Lynn led the public policy efforts for a national parent education program. Lynn earned a BA from Millikin University in Political Science and an MA from American University in International Politics.
Barbara Toth
Associate
314-863-7000 x108
View bioBarbara Toth is an Associate with the Initiative, responsible for supporting the executive staff and board of trustees, planning and coordinating meetings, events, and convenings, and assists with editing reports, briefs, and papers. She is also responsible for assisting with the youth engagement portfolio of the Initiative, including the Youth Leadership Institute. She has been with the Initiative since 2003.
Prior to joining the Initiative, Barb managed federal and state grants, recruited and supervised volunteers, and assisted in fundraising at Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Resources, Inc. Before her work there, she worked in the health care and health insurance fields.
Consultants
Shannon Brower
View bioShannon Brower has been a consultant to the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative since 2008, but she began her work in 2002 as state coordinator of the Michigan Youth Opportunities Initiative. In that role she led the Department of Human Services’ demonstration sites in Wayne and ten Northern counties, and as it began statewide expansion. She has also been a consultant to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, working with Family to Family, Families Count: the National Honors Program, and other Casey Initiatives.
In the 1990s she served as a member and then chair of the Michigan Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Board, whose statutory responsibility it is to advise the Governor, legislature and law enforcement. She co-chaired with the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan and helped steer the recommendations to adoption by the legislature and Supreme Court.
Ira Cutler
203-831-0810
View bioIra Cutler is the principal of Cutler Consulting, LLC., located in Norwalk, CT, where we has primarily focused on assisting national and local foundations, as well as government and nonprofit organizations, with a focus on public policy analysis, strategic planning and organizational development.. Cutler worked in local government positions in Minnesota and Wisconsin and as Assistant Secretary for Health and Social Services in Wisconsin. As an administrator, he was seen as an innovator and risk taker, often operating against the conventional wisdom.
Prior to the formation of Cutler Consulting, Ira was a founding partner at the Cornerstone Consulting Group. Before leaving to launch Cornerstone in 1994, he was the Director for Planning and Development at The Annie E. Casey Foundation, and helped to establish long range plans to guide the foundation through rapid growth and increasing national involvement.
Ann Jefferson
317-902-2775
View bioAnn Jefferson has worked with public and private social services and child welfare organizations for over 30 years, including direct clinical practice and management and administrative positions. Formerly Director of Child Welfare in Indianapolis, she left the state agency in 2001 to become the Director of Collaborative Transition Services for Casey Family Programs in Indiana. Since 2004 she has served as principal of Jefferson and Associates, offering consulting and planning services to several organizations. Her work for the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative has included serving as the foundation's liaison to grantees in Michigan, Iowa and Florida. Ann is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and holds a Master of Social Work degree from Indiana University. She is the liaison for the Michigan and Indianapolis sites.
Christine Johnson
802-522-3518
View bioChristine Johnson became a consultant with the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative in 2007. She is the site liaison for Connecticut and the liaison to national partners of the Initiative including the National Governor's Association and the American Public Human Services Association. She is also a trainer of the Opportunity PassportTM curriculum. Her career in human services span sixteen years working with young people in juvenile justice and child welfare systems and non-profit organizations in Colorado and Vermont. Christine received her BA in Psychology from the University of Colorado in 1995 and is a 2006 graduate of the Vermont Public Managers program
Kate Lee
314-322-3675
View bioKate Lee has over 30 years of successful educational program development and managerial experience working with children, youth, and families. Prior to joining the Initiative, Lee was a Senior Executive Associate at the Family Investment Trust in St. Louis, MO. Previously, she has also served as a field specialist as well as a 4-H and Youth Leader with Iowa State University Extension in Des Moines, IA. Lee holds a Masters of Public Administration from Iowa State University and a Bachelors of Science from the University of Iowa. She is the liaison for the Iowa site.
Raquel Pfeifer
760-579-3578
View bioRaquel Pfeifer is an independent consultant for Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative. Prior to working with the National Initiative, Raquel worked for the grantee site in San Diego CA where she was the local Self Evaluation Coach for two years. Her focus was on analyzing data and working with youth and young adults to find beneficial solutions to problems facing young people transitioning from foster care. Raquel graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from Santa Clara University and is working towards her Master's Degree in Sociology.
Rita Powell
512-659-7326
View bioRita Powell has over 30 years experience in social and child welfare programs, serving in both public and private agencies with positions ranging from clinical to administrative. Employment settings include adoption agencies, family service organizations, residential treatment center, adolescent psychiatric hospital and state child serving association. Her work has focused on transitional initiatives for youth aging out of foster care since 2000. Rita had significant involvement in the development of the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative and served as Senior Director for the organization, coordinating strategic directions. Rita received a BA Degree in English/Journalism and the Master of Social Work degree from Louisiana State University She is the liaison for the Georgia site.
Kathleen Holt Whyte
215-499-3535
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Kathleen Holt Whyte has been a consultant with the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative since 2005. She is an award-wining speaker, national trainer, curriculum designer and former talk show host. She provides training on numerous topics including communication skills, media training, team building, and organizational redesign. Kathleen's corporate experience includes 10 years with Hallmark Cards, Inc. as a national trainer and human resource manager. Her other clients include Lockheed Martin, St. Paul Insurance Company, Johnson and Johnson, and the State of Missouri. She has a Master of Arts in Human Resources from Webster University and a Bachelor of Science in Communications from the University of Missouri.
