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

  • Karen Pittman

    Karen is the Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Forum.
  • Merita Irby

    Merita is the Co-Founder, Executive Vice President and Chief Program Officer of the Forum, which she co-founded in 1998 with Karen Pittman.
  • Rob Schamberg

    Rob is the Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of the Forum.

Program Team

Partnerships & Communications Team

  • Kris Minor

    Kris is the Vice President of Partnerships & Communications.
  • Bob Bowen

    Bob is the Director of Corporate Partnerships.
  • Ian Faigley

    Ian is a Senior Manager of Partnerships & Communications.
  • Kiley Bednar

    Kiley is a Program Manager.
  • Nalini Ravindranath

    Nalini is a Senior Program Associate.
  • Andrea Felix

    Andrea is a Senior Program Associate and the Special Assistant to Karen Pittman, President and CEO.
  • Laura Mattis

    Laura is the Designer and Communications Associate.

Operations Team

  • Galen Irby

    Galen is the Information Technology and Facilities Manager.
  • Harold Chandler

    Harold oversees the Forum’s finance office, budget management and leads in reporting and compliance with financial requisites for funders; he also manages contracts with Forum clients, vendors and consultants.

  • Shanell Meredith

    Shanell is the Administrative Assistant at the Forum.
  • Patricia Martin

    Patricia is the Finance Associate.
  • Rosa Pittman

    Rosa is the Information and Facilities Associate.

    Rosa joined the Forum in 2002. She is responsible for entering incoming publications into the electronic library catalog, as well as organizing and shelving such publications in the Forum library. Rosa also helps to maintain the cleanliness and smooth operation of meetings at the Cady-Lee.

Policy Team

  • Thaddeus Ferber

    Thaddeus is the Vice President of Policy.

    Thaddeus is a leading national voice on aligning inter-agency policy efforts for children and youth, infusing youth voice into public policy, and utilizing online communications and advocacy.
  • Elizabeth Gaines

    Elizabeth oversees the Forum’s work related to state and local policy and manages various national partnerships and networks of legislators, advocates and youth councils.  She is the Forum's primary contact for their partnership with NCSL.

  • Danielle Evennou

    Danielle is a Policy Associate.
  • Emily Jensen

    Emily is a Policy Associate.

Research & Development Team

  • Larry Pasti

    Larry is the Director of Field Services.
  • Stephanie Randall

    Stephanie is a Program Associate.
  • Raegan Williams

    Raegan is the Executive Assistant to Merita Irby, Exective Vice President and Chief Program Officer.

David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality

The Weikart Center is a joint venture between the Forum for Youth Investment and the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation. 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.

  • Charles Smith, PhD.

    Charles is the Executive Director of the Weikart Center and the Vice President of Research at the Forum.
  • Tom Devaney

    Tom is the Managing Director of the Weikart Center.
  • Tom Akiva

    Tom is the Senior Manager of Development, Demonstration and Replication at the Weikart Center.
  • Joe Bertoletti

    Joe is the Manager of Field Services of the Weikart Center.
  • Angelina Garner

    Angelina is a Manager at the Weikart Center.
  • Gina McGovern

    Gina is a Senior Program Associate at the Weikart Center.
  • Samantha Sugar

    Samantha is a Research Associate at the Weikart Center.
  • Kynisha Johnson

    Kynisha is the Office Manager of the Weikart Center.
  • Kri Burkander

    Kri is a Senior Program Associate at the Weikart Center.
  • Jerome Threlkeld

    Jerome is a Senior Program Associate for the Weikart Center.
  • Trevor Davies

    Trevor is a Senior Program Associate for the Weikart Center.
  • Leah Wallace

    Leah is a Research Assistant at the Weikart Center.
  • Amber Duddy

    Amber is a Program Assistant at the Weikart Center.

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.