Staff

HyeSook Chung

Executive Director

For the past 16 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 DC T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood Advisory Board, the Every Child Ready Advisory Board of the AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation, Healthy Families/Thriving Communities Collaborative Council, Voices for America's Children Member Leadership Council, and the Annie E. Casey’s KIDS COUNT steering committee.

She is a proud mother of two DCPS students.

 

Kate Kairys

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.

Gwen Rubinstein

Deputy Director

Gwen has 20 years of experience working on social welfare, economic and public health policy issues affecting women, children and families – from a national, regional and local perspective. Before joining DC Action for Children, she was a Program Officer at Washington Area Women’s Foundation, where she led grant making, research and evaluation aroundthe economic security of low-income, women-headed families. Previously, she was Research Director at The Workforce Alliance (now the National Skills Coalition) and Director of Policy Research at the Legal Action Center, where she specialized in policy issues at the intersection of public systems serving pregnant and parenting women with histories of addiction and criminal justice involvement.

Gwen was a founding board member of Our Place, DC, which assists DC women who are currently and formerly incarcerated. She was a Presidential Management Fellow, serving in the US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, and in the Health Office of the Senate Committee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions. She has a master’s degree in public health from the University of Michigan and the bachelor of sciences degree from Georgetown University. She has lived in the District of Columbia for 20 years – most recently in the Bloomingdale neighborhood.

Shelby Bartemy

Administrative Assistant

An undergraduate student at Georgetown University, Shelby Bartemy joins the staff of DC Action for Children with experience in early child care and education. Her previous work experience as a child care provider during the summers, along with her studies in policy, makes DC Action for Children a perfect fit for Shelby. She joins the office as an Administrative Assistant, assisting the team with the daily operations necessary.

As a student, Shelby has continually been committed to helping children. During high school, she began working at a local preschool center on the Eastern Shore of Maryland as a volunteer teacher. Each summer after, she returned to this center, resulting in promotion to Assistant Director in the summer of 2012. In this position, she worked to improve the center through the updating of curriculum, management of teachers, revival of facilities and persistent efforts to increase student enrollment. This work experience broadened her understanding of the issues affecting children today.

Shelby continues her involvement as a DC resident by volunteering as a kindergarten tutor and serving as Co-President of Adelfi, a women’s community service group. Under her leadership, this group works closely with Georgetown Pediatrics, Assisting Children In Need and other nonprofit organizations in efforts to better the lives of all children. Shelby is excited to continue this goal of improvement through her work at DC Action for Children.

Bonnie O’Keefe

Public Policy Analyst

Bonnie O’Keefe will soon earn a Masters in Public Policy at The Johns Hopkins University, with a concentration on education policy. She brings experience in policy analysis, research and the legislative process gained from her graduate studies, work and internships. She holds a bachelor’s in English and Women’s and Gender Studies from Williams College in Massachusetts.

Bonnie rejoins DC Action for Children after serving as an Education Pioneers Fellow in the summer of 2012. During her fellowship, Bonnie contributed analysis and research to DC KIDS COUNT 2012, and spearheaded reports on third grade proficiency and child care.

During her time at Johns Hopkins, Bonnie conducted neighborhood-focused research on demographic change and school quality in Baltimore. She served as a teaching assistant for statistics and as coordinator of the Social Policy Seminar Series. Bonnie previously interned for Senator Ben Cardin’s (MD) state office, and Senator Jon Tester’s (MT) press office.  Prior to beginning her graduate studies, Bonnie was Political Programs Coordinator at the Women’s Campaign Fund, working to increase the number of women in public office.  She volunteers at the Academy for College and Career Exploration, a “Transformation” public school in Baltimore. Bonnie has lived in the DC/Baltimore area since 2009, and is a native of New York State, where her belief in the power of education began at her local public school.

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