Reigniting a Culture of Improvement with Afterschool and Summer Enrichment Programs Webinar Resources

Webinar Slide Deck

Panelist Short Bios

Katari Coleman is the project director of the National Center on Afterschool and Summer Enrichment, a training and technical assistance center funded by the Office of Child Care, Administration of Children and Families, U.S. Department of Human Services. She is an early childhood education thought leader and expert who directs innovative efforts to advance school and workplace readiness and success. With over twenty-five years of experience, she has expertise in child development, early childhood and afterschool workforce development, family engagement, parent education, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), strategic planning, and systems change. A highly experienced trainer and instructional designer, she has a deep understanding of learning sciences, adult learning, product development, and traditional and virtual training. Dr. Coleman has over fifteen years of successful experience with state and national project/program management.

Jillian Luchner is the policy director at the Afterschool Alliance. She identifies policy trends and aims to share best practice across states and districts toward achieving equitable, high-quality, accessible afterschool and summer opportunities for all youth. Her work looks closely at policies in regard to school-age child care, including licensing, quality systems, professional development, and planning, to help ensure federal child care funding supports families and youth at least up to age 13. Jillian has her Master’s in Public Policy specializing in Education from the University of Maryland College Park and a degree in economics from the University of Rochester. Prior to her policy work, Jillian taught nineth grade algebra in a Washington, D.C. high school and worked as an afterschool and summer educator.

Amaris Knight serves as the Network Lead for the Nevada Afterschool Network at the Nevada Institute for Children’s Research & Policy within the School of Public Health at University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). She advocates for out-of-school time programs in Nevada and develops opportunities to enhance quality and increase access to programs for all Nevada families. She graduated with her Ph.D. in Public Health and M.Ed. in Health Promotion from UNLV with a focus on youth mental health and suicide prevention. She received a degree in anthropology from Fordham University.

Jennifer Smith is the program coordinator at the Center for Community Health Advancement. She has been working with children and adolescents for over twenty-five years. She believes all youth deserve fully present adults in their lives who are genuinely interested in their success and well-being. She began her career as a special education teacher supporting youth with learning and emotional-behavioral disabilities after earning her M.Ed. from University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She has since worked in community-based organizations, afterschool programs and now Marshfield Clinic Health System. In her current role, she supports youth-based initiatives in communities throughout the clinic service area and provides training and technical assistance to youth serving organizations statewide through the Wisconsin Afterschool Network. In recent years, Jennifer has expanded her knowledge around Adverse Childhood Experiences, the impacts of trauma and the interventions youth serving organizations and community agencies can implement to help youth build a more positive future.

Kelly McMahon is the chief executive officer of the New York State Network for Youth Success Capital Region housed out of the Capital Region office. She oversees the growth, development, and day-to-day operations of the network and capacity building of regional afterschool networks. Additionally, her duties focus on staff management, budget oversight, and development and fundraising. Prior to joining the Network for Youth Success, Kelly was employed by the Capital District YMCA for over ten years and served in her final capacity as operations director for the Albany Branch. Prior to her role in Albany, Kelly was the associate executive director for the Schenectady Branch. She began her career at the YMCA as an afterschool site director then quickly rose to childcare director and was then promoted to district childcare director overseeing school-age programs in six school districts. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a Minor in Criminal Justice from Russell Sage College, an Associate Degree in Early Childhood Education from Hudson Valley Community College, and a certificate in Leading Remote Teams from eCornell. Kelly also went through the School-age Childcare (SAC) Credential Program and later became an accreditation coach and endorser for the Network for Youth Success. She was also one of the Riley Institute’s 2016-2017 White-Riley-Peterson Policy Fellows.

Ben Trentelman has served as the executive director at the Utah Afterschool Network (UAN) since 2021 where he supports the continued growth and expansion of afterschool programming throughout the state. He has been serving youth and communities in various capacities since 2002 and entered the afterschool field in 2006 where he has run afterschool programs all along the Wasatch Front for three different organizations and operated eight afterschool programs, impacting thousands of youth along the Wasatch Front. Ben joined UAN as the director of operations where he led efforts to expand and develop a comprehensive statewide continuous quality improvement system and has worked to develop numerous tools and resources. He has provided training and workshops on quality improvement, data collection, leadership, parent engagement, and more throughout the state and nationally. He is also a national consultant on data collection and continuous quality improvement.

Additional Resources

• A Year of Quality Improvement 2022-23
• About the Child Care Quality System
• Quality Self-Assessment Tool Area 1: Continuous Quality Improvement HP
• Quality Self-Assessment Tool Area 2: Be Safe HP
• Quality Self-Assessment Tool Area 3: Develop Meaningful Relationship Fillable HP
• Quality Self-Assessment Tool Area 4: Learn New Skills Fillable HP
• Quality Self-Assessment Tool Area 5: Administration Fillable HP
• School-age Program Fact Sheet
• The Utah Afterschool Quality Self-Assessment
• The Forum for Youth Investment
• State School-Age Data Profiles Database
• National Center on Afterschool and Summer Enrichment Resource Library
• Quality Standards for Nevada OST Programs
• Wisconsin Afterschool Network
• Wisconsin Afterschool Network Quality Courses
• New York State Network for Student Success: Quality & Sustainability
• New York State Network for Student Success: Quality Self-Assessment Tool
• New York State Network for Student Success: SAC Credential Training Options
• New York State Network for Student Success: Afterschool Program Accreditation