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.

 

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

As a Public Policy Analyst at DC Action for Children, Bonnie O’Keefe analyzes legislation in the DC Council that affects children, especially the budget. She also contributes policy and data analysis to DC KIDS COUNT. Bonnie rejoined DC Action after serving as an Education Pioneers Fellow in the summer of 2012. During her fellowship, Bonnie contributed to DC KIDS COUNT 2012, and spearheaded reports on third grade proficiency, child care and early intervention.

Bonnie recently earned a master’s degree in public policy at The Johns Hopkins University, with a concentration on education policy. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in English and Women’s and Gender Studies from Williams College in Massachusetts. 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 graduate level statistics courses and coordinated the 2012-13 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, where she worked to increase the number of women in public office. 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. She currently lives in DC’s Edgewood neighborhood.

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