Meet Our Team

Under the leadership of Mishaela Durán, a recognized leader and champion in the youth development field, the Forum’s diverse team includes researchers, educators, policy analysts, youth work practitioners, advocates, and communications specialists.

Office of the CEO

Mishaela Durán
President & CEO

Mishaela serves as President & CEO of the Forum.

Tiffany Erickson
Executive Vice President, Strategic Communications

Tiffany Erickson is the Forum for Youth Investment’s first Executive Vice President, Strategic Communications.

Shanell Harriday
Meetings and Operations Manager

Shanell provides comprehensive meeting planning and logistics management for the Forum’s convenings, including the annual Ready by 21 National Meeting.

Improving & Aligning Policies

Gerod Blue
Senior Policy Manager

Gerod manages the development of policy programs, agendas, & various campaigns focused on decreasing the Opportunity Gap & furthering the mission of the Forum.

Shaquana Boykin
SparkAction & Opportunity Youth United Digital Engagement Fellow

A passionate youth organizer, Shaquana works with SparkAction to coordinate digital communications for our partner, the youth-led Opportunity Youth United.

Thaddeus Ferber
Executive Vice President and Co-Founder, SparkAction

Thaddeus works to promote evidence-based policies that help communities achieve equity for all youth and that incorporate youth voice.

Caitlin Greenleaf Johnson
Director of Strategic Storytelling and Co-Founder, SparkAction

A writer and journalist passionate about digital movement building & youth leadership, Caitlin runs the Forum’s SparkAction.org and LeaderStories.org networks.

Jaizyha Jones
SparkAction Youth Justice Policy Fellow

Jaizyha is a member of the Forum’s SparkAction youth-led storytelling, narrative expansion, and social media collective.

Jo Ann Paanio
Director of Advocacy

Jo Ann works to advocate for policies that advance racial equity and social justice by connecting with policymakers & directly impacted youth and young adults.

Jordan Pineda
Senior Policy Manager, Children’s Cabinets

Jordan works to ensure that government and non-government stakeholders engage in policies that are horizontally and vertically aligned to promote equity.

Mary Ellen Wiggins
Director of Policy & Research

Mary Ellen works with stakeholders inside and outside of government to use policy and evaluation as tools to promote equity and help youth thrive.

Planning and Partnering for Impact

Edith Hawkins
Executive Vice President, Cross-Systems Consulting

Edith Hawkins is Executive Vice President for Cross-Systems Consulting.

Laura Jahromi
Acting Director, Big Picture Approach Training & Consulting

Laura brings extensive on-the-ground experience coordinating & supporting community change efforts to her role managing in-house operations for the BPA team.

Strengthening Practices and Programs

Jacqueline Banda
Administrative Assistant

Jacky will be assisting the Weikart Center as an administrative assistant.

Adrienne Bard
Senior Manager

With an enthusiasm for details, Adrienne provides training and technical assistance to partners across the country engaged in continuous quality improvement.

Joe Bertoletti
Senior Director, Field Services and Vice President, The Forum for Youth Investment

Joe coordinates a team of field consultants and trainers to deliver training and technical assistance to support the development of quality improvement systems.

Krista Collins, Ph.D.
Director, Research and Evaluation

Krista uses research & evaluation opportunities to partner with youth development organizations to identify, understand & communicate their pathways to impact.

Trevor Davies
Senior Manager

Trevor provides coaching and consulting services to the Weikart Center’s clients, including Michigan’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CLCs).

Taylor Davis
Learning & Development Specialist

Tay’s work centers around delivering training and technical assistance in support of continuous quality improvement.

Edgar Gomez
Learning & Development Specialist

Edgar provides support in coaching and training to clients in Michigan.

Jennifer Harris
Field Consultant
Amanda Heckenkamp
Communications & Engagement Specialist

Amanda coordinates & supports communications work at the Weikart Center and provides training and technical assistance supports to OST networks engaged in YPQI.

Barbara Hillaker, Ph.D.
Training Content Specialist

Barbara Hillaker’s work centers on developing or improving measures, assuring that they are aligned with developmental science and are valid & reliable.

Nadia Jabbar
Administrative Assistant

Nadia supports the Statewide portfolio team at the Weikart Center.

Paige Kennedy
Learning & Development Specialist

Paige facilitates engaging training sessions that build and strengthen adult skills and provides coaching and technical assistance on CQI efforts.

Donna Lloyd
Business Systems & Engagement Specialist

Donna provides leadership, coordination, and support in the design, maintenance, and implementation of the Weikart Center’s internal & external business syste

Steph Love
Senior Learning & Development Specialist
Dave Martineau
Director of Design & Innovation

Dave returns to the Weikart Center as the Director of Design & Innovation with more than 20 years of experience in youth development and facilitation.

Sheely Mauck
Director, Equitable Quality Improvement Systems

Sheely is the Director of Equitable Quality Improvement Systems for the Forum for Youth Investment.

Kimberly Howard Robinson, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President, Youth Program Quality

Kim works to strengthen programs and practices that nurture the potential of youth with continuous improvement approaches that marry research and practice.

Tiffany Walker
Research and Evaluation Specialist

Tiffany provides technical assistance and evaluation support in partnership with youth development organizations focused on continuous quality improvement.

Leah Wallace
Learning & Development Specialist

Leah provides coaching, training, and technical assistance to Weikart Center clients around the country.

Ben Washington
Data Associate

Ben is in the 21st CCLC and MDE projects. His role as a data associate is to support the ongoing efforts of many Weikart programs and data analysis efforts.

Internal Services & Administration

Paul LaMacchia
Manager, Business Systems

As the Manger of Business Systems at the Forum, Paul oversees our online systems and provides guidance to the users of those systems.

Julie Guerrero Schor
Chief Operating Officer

Julie Guerrero Schor is the Forum for Youth Investment’s Chief Operating Officer.

Ora Shamley
Finance Specialist

Ora is a financial specialist, working on accounts payable, accounts receivable, and many other financial matters for the organization.

Kathy Turner
Director of Budget and Finance

Kathy works on budgeting, internal controls, policies & procedures, financial system implementation, & leading the team on financial reporting & analysis.

Changing the odds for young people has never been more important

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