HyeSook Chung

hchung@dckids.org

Executive Director

For the past 14 years, HyeSook Chung has worked to improve the lives of children through direct service, advocacy and program management. HyeSook has worked for various nonprofit organizations focusing on the areas of child care, early childhood development, welfare-to-work and school readiness.

In the fall of 2007, she began consulting for Washington Area Women's Foundation to support the Early Care and Education Funders Collaborative and the DC State Board of Education. While supporting the Collaborative, she worked with corporations and foundations to design and implement goals, programmatic design and grantmaking strategies for the Collaborative. For the DC State Board of Education, she conducted a preliminary Birth to Three Needs Assessment.

Before beginning a career in consulting, HyeSook worked at the National Association of Counties managing two grant-funded educational and technical assistance projects in the areas of early childhood development and school readiness. In addition, she coordinated activities for the presidential task force on early childhood development, which included working with a special task force of county commissioners.

Earlier in her career, much of HyeSook's work was training and assisting family support workers, home visitors and outreach workers in community-based programs in the greater Boston area. In addition, HyeSook worked with the Head Start Quality Improvement Center and the Early Head Start Resource Center supporting the Early Head Start programs throughout the country.

HyeSook serves on numerous boards focused on young children, including the D.C. T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood Advisory Board, the Every Child Ready Advisory Board of the AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation, the Oral Health Work Group at Children's National Medical Center and the Voices for America's Children Member Leadership Council.

As a volunteer, HyeSook is extremely active at her children's DCPS school.

She is the proud mother of Lindsay and Brady.  

Tulli Dobler

tdobler@dckids.org

Operations/Program Associate

Tulli Dobler is a recent graduate of Arizona State University, where she earned her bachelor's degree in child development and political science. During her time at ASU, Tulli worked at a before- and afterschool program for the City of Tempe. At this program, Tulli quickly worked her way up to assistant manager, helping her program achieve national accreditation.

In the summer of 2009, Tulli interned at the Phoenix-based Children's Action Alliance (CAA), where she gained a broader perspective on issues affecting children. She participated in the planning of constituent events and engaged in the complex process of advocacy by writing letters and emails to state legislators, helping with press releases and media events and interacting with legislators and constituents at the state capitol.  She also assisted with a post-legislative analysis of how Arizona children fared in the state budget.

After graduating, Tulli helped the City of Tempe open a brand new preschool. Tulli's responsibilities ranged from ordering provisions and classroom set up and design to creating an enriching curriculum. She went on to serve as the lead teacher of the three-year-old classroom for the first year the preschool was open.

Tulli moved to Washington, D.C., in June 2010 to pursue a career improving the lives of children. She serendipitously found DC Action for Children, where the mission fits her personal and professional aspirations to a tee.  

Lauren Deutsch

intern1@dckids.org

Public Polciy Intern

Lauren Deutsch is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Public Policy at The George Washington University.  She is looking forward to drawing on the skills attained through her courses and applying them to her assignments at DC Action for Children.

While completing her bachelor’s degree at The George Washington University, Lauren worked with The National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) as a public policy and research intern. In this capacity, she researched cost-effective and high quality child care models and compiled Census data to create fact sheets highlighting state-by-state child care information.

After graduation, Lauren worked as a paralegal at an international law firm. Shortly thereafter, she renewed her commitment to the public sector as an intern with the Office of the New York City Public Advocate where she focused on a variety of issues affecting the City’s public school system.

Kate Kairys

Kkairys@dckids.org

Policy Analyst

Kate Kairys is a former teacher, and she recently earned a master’s degree in Public Policy from the George Washington University. Through prior work and internships, she has gained experience in data analysis and program evaluation, as well as knowledge of social and education policies. Kate holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Richmond, where she also studied Elementary Education. Kate’s professional and volunteer experiences have influenced her desire to improve the lives of children, and she has joined DC Action for Children to continue this work.

She brings with her the perspective of an educator, having spent several years teaching fifth grade in Virginia in Prince William and Fairfax Counties. Kate instructed her students in academic subjects but also worked to develop a classroom community, served in leadership roles within the school, and built relationships with students’ families. Her passion for education issues began in the classroom and prompted her to study public policy.

While earning her degree, Kate pursued work related to her interests in education and income security. She worked as an intern at the U.S. Government Accountability Office, where she contributed to a program evaluation of a major social benefit program. As a research assistant at the George Washington Institute of Public Policy she analyzed funding and trends in social programs. Kate has also conducted several consultancy projects in conjunction with her coursework, evaluating special education assessment data for the U.S. Department of Education and making recommendations for improving the secondary transition process at the District of Columbia Public Schools.

Aparna Kumar

akumar@dckids.org

Director of Communications and Development

Aparna Kumar is a former journalist with experience covering Washington for the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times and C-SPAN, among others. She left journalism in 2007 to join the public relations firm GMMB, where she helped direct advocacy and communications for leading foundations and nonprofits working to improve education and child health.

For her major client, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Aparna helped devise and implement messaging, media and partnership strategies to build public and political will for education reform in the United States. She worked with grantees across the country to maximize media opportunities and build community support for the goal of ensuring that all young people graduate from high school with the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in college and the workplace. Aparna also worked on the education initiatives of the National Governors Association, to promote science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, to expand learning through quality before-school, after-school and summertime programs.

Additionally, Aparna worked with global health clients to expand access to affordable, lifesaving vaccines and promote effective prevention measures such as adequate child nutrition and proper hygiene. She also helped steer the launch of the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, an effort by the nation’s leading food and beverage companies to combat childhood obesity.

Aparna earned her master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and her bachelor’s degree in political science from Barnard College. She lives in the District with her husband, daughter, Eva, and dog, Indy.