Foundation Welcomes 13th Class of Children and Family Fellows

The Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion has select­ed 16 lead­ers for its 13^th class of the Chil­dren and Fam­i­ly Fel­low­ship^®. These accom­plished pro­fes­sion­als will use the 23-month Fel­low­ship to work with­in their agen­cies, orga­ni­za­tions and com­mu­ni­ties toward spe­cif­ic, mea­sur­able improve­ments for young peo­ple and families.

The 13^th Class of the Chil­dren and Fam­i­ly Fellowship

Now in its third decade, the Fel­low­ship is an inten­sive exec­u­tive lead­er­ship pro­gram designed to give child- and fam­i­ly-serv­ing pro­fes­sion­als the con­fi­dence and com­pe­tence to lead major sys­tem reforms and com­mu­ni­ty change ini­tia­tives. The 10 women and six men cho­sen for the 2025–2027 class rep­re­sent the pub­lic, non­prof­it and for-prof­it sec­tors and work in dis­ci­plines such as edu­ca­tion, health, youth devel­op­ment and afford­able hous­ing. The new Fel­lows are based in eight states and the Dis­trict of Columbia.

In addi­tion to spe­cif­ic indi­vid­ual objec­tives, this group of Fel­lows aims to ensure that all youth ages 14 to 24 have the nec­es­sary con­nec­tions to school, work and fam­i­ly to have bright futures.

“Lead­ers from every cor­ner of the Unit­ed States have used the Fel­low­ship expe­ri­ence and the sup­port of the Fel­low­ship net­work to lead with pur­pose,” said Lisa Law­son, pres­i­dent and CEO of the Casey Foun­da­tion. ​“We have seen Fel­lows move into posi­tions of greater influ­ence, scope and scale over their careers and deep­en their com­mit­ment to cre­at­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties for all kids and fam­i­lies to suc­ceed and thrive.”

“Sys­tem trans­for­ma­tion and com­mu­ni­ty change on behalf of chil­dren, youth and fam­i­lies is a ​‘long game’ that requires vision, deter­mi­na­tion and an unshak­able belief in the abil­i­ty to achieve results,” said Leslie Boissiere, vice pres­i­dent for Exter­nal Affairs at the Foun­da­tion. ​“Casey Fel­lows embody those skills and walk in that truth.” Boissiere over­sees the Fel­low­ship as part of a port­fo­lio of results-based lead­er­ship devel­op­ment initiatives.

Since the Foun­da­tion began the pro­gram in 1993, 155 lead­ers have par­tic­i­pat­ed in the Chil­dren and Fam­i­ly Fel­low­ship. They stay con­nect­ed through the Casey Fel­lows Alum­ni Net­work, which sup­ports rela­tion­ships among the Fel­lows and sig­nif­i­cant­ly con­tributes to sus­tained momen­tum to improve out­comes for chil­dren, fam­i­lies and communities.

Alum­ni include Doug Ammar, exec­u­tive direc­tor of the Geor­gia Jus­tice Project; Fred Black­well, CEO of the San Fran­cis­co Foun­da­tion; Grace Bonil­la, pres­i­dent and CEO of the Unit­ed Way of New York City; Ryan Chao, pres­i­dent of the Rails-to-Trails Con­ser­van­cy; Rafael López, sec­re­tary, Mary­land Depart­ment of Human Ser­vices; Glo­ria O’Neill, pres­i­dent and CEO of the Cook Inlet Trib­al Coun­cil; Esther Shin, pres­i­dent of Urban Strate­gies, Inc.; and Tony Thur­mond, super­in­ten­dent of pub­lic instruc­tion for the State of California.

The new class of Fel­lows will attend its first exec­u­tive sem­i­nar in May.

Read a book that com­mem­o­rates the 30^th anniver­sary of the Fellowship