Our Staff

The Forum for Youth Investment was founded in 1998 by Karen Pittman and Merita Irby, two of the country’s top leaders on youth issues and youth policy. The Forum’s diverse staff includes researchers, educators, policy analysts, youth work practitioners, business professionals, advocates and communications specialists.

Executive Staff

Partnerships & Communications Team

Operations Team

Policy Team

Program and Field Services Team

Strategy and Fund Development Team

Community Planning and Evaluation

  • Paul Evensen, PhD.
    Senior Vice President of Community Planning and Evaluation, The Forum for Youth Investment; President, Community Systems Group
  • Bryce Jones
    Manager, Community Evaluation
  • Shannon Weatherly
    Managing Director for Community Field Services

David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality

The Weikart Center is a division of the Forum. The Weikart Center is charged with positioning point of service quality as a powerful public idea that drives the out-of-school time field toward higher levels of understanding, expectation and action about the quality of experiences available to children and youth.

SparkAction: For children. For youth. For change.

SparkAction is a one-stop site for stories, news and interactive advocacy tools, that covers the range of child and youth issues and gives organizations, leaders and young people themselves a place to share their knowledge and ideas, and together raise a stronger voice for change. Whether you're looking for the latest research on early childhood or college access, first-hand stories from foster care, a way to tell your Representatives what you think about school reform and anything in between, SparkAction.org can help.