The Vermont Center for Afterschool Excellence is a statewide partnership organization guided by a Steering Committee and Partner Advisory Council and staffed by a dedicated group of afterschool educators and professionals.

Meet the Staff

• Holly Morehouse, PhD-  Director
  Holly brings 15 years experience to the Center in project management, community-based decision making, communication and collaboration processes, and leadership. She is passionate about community service and working with young people and has run a variety of afterschool and out-of-school programs. Holly earned her doctorate from Clark University, Graduate School of Geography, in Worcester, MA. She also hold a Master’s in Systems Analysis and Economics for Public Decision Making from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor’s degree in Geography and Urban Studies from Boston University. In the course of her career, Holly has worked with schools and communities throughout Vermont, with all levels of government (local, state, and federal), and has supported decision making efforts in communities throughout the United States and in South America and Africa. Her research and publications include work on afterschool programs and school culture change, shared vision models for community-based decision making, and the spatial mapping of indicators for risk and vulnerability. In her previous position, Dr. Morehouse was Vermont’s State Coordinator for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers at the Vermont Department of Education. Prior to her work with the department, Holly was the Director of 21st CCLC Afterschool Programs in Winooski, VT, and also held a position as a Research Fellow for the George Perkins Marsh Institute at Clark University in Worcester, MA.

• Lynne Feal-Staub, MSW
  Senior Consultant
  Lynne Feal-Staub is the former director of Wings Community Programs, a 21^st CCLC project in southern Vermont, and led the growth of Wings from a one-school program operating on an annual budget of approximately $100,000 to a supervisory-union wide project serving seven schools with an annual operating cost of over $400,000.  Lynne has secured $1.9 million dollars in grant funds and has developed comprehensive systems for tracking multiple funding sources.  Lynne has presented numerous workshops and trainings around afterschool sustainability throughout the state.  In addition to her work around program development and sustainability, Lynne has worked with afterschool and ATOD prevention programs as an independent evaluator and consultant. Lynne holds a MSW from the University of Wisconsin.

Partner Advisory Council   2010-2011

• Emanuel Betz is the Assistant Director for Independent and Federal Programs at the Vermont Department of Education. Emanuel has been involved with the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21C) since Congress first put the funding through for afterschool and summer learning. He was the original director for the 21C project in Burlington, the statewide coordinator for a number of years, and now, at the department, continues to work on afterschool and summer learning as well as a number of other initiatives involving federal programs and education transformation.
• Ginny Burley is the director of the Community Connections program in Montpelier. She is also Vermont’s Afterschool Ambassador Emeritus to the national Afterschool Alliance. Ginny was one of 18 local leaders selected from 15 states for this honor last year. As Vermont’s Afterschool Ambassador Emeritus, Ginny is charged with organizing public events, communicating with policy makers, and building support for afterschool programs.
• Jeff Fournier is the Director of the Burlington Afterschool Programs. Burlington is actively working on a citywide model for afterschool including a diverse group of partners (e.g., teen centers, the school department, the city, B&G Club, community centers). The Burlington Parks and Rec Department has run licensed childcare at the elementary schools for over 20 years and the school district has run a 21C program at all the schools (k-12) for 12 years. Burlington has a Mayor’s Task Force on afterschool and over $425,000 in funding through the local school budget for afterschool.
• David Gibson is a Research Assistant Professor in the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Vermont and Executive Director of The Global Challenge. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the Global Challenge brings high school students from all over the world together via the Internet to work on teams using science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to solve global problems. David’s research and publications focus on complex systems analysis and modeling of education, simulation-based learning, and the use of technology to personalize education.
• Sue Kamp has worked over 28 years in Human Services, from direct service with children, youth and adults to program and organization administration. She is currently the Coordinator of the Vermont School Age Care Network, a Master Instructor with Northern Lights, and a trainer and consultant for groups nationwide. Sue was previously the Executive Director of the Vermont Children’s Trust Foundation and in this role assisted afterschool programs with funding, planning and sustainability.
• Nicole Mace is a Research Coordinator for Voices for Vermont’s Children. Nicole joined Voices in August of 2009, after completing a joint Masters in Public Policy and Law degree in Pittsburgh, PA.  Prior to pursuing her graduate studies, Nicole was the Director of the Essex Teen Center and the Mentoring Program Coordinator for Essex CHIPS.
• Ruth Matthews is the Afterschool Systems Director within the Child Development Division at the Agency of Human Services (AHS). The Child Development Division of AHS is responsible for the oversight and monitoring of licensed school-age care afterschool programs (serving children ages 5-12). Afterschool initiatives that Ruth leads include the core competencies for afterschool, the Career Pathways Project, and the Vermont afterschool professional credential.
• Mike Mrowicki is the Vermont State Representative for the Windham 5 District and the Director of Putney Family Services. From his seat on the House Human Services Committee, Mike has been a strong advocate for children and families-fighting for increased childcare subsidies; more manageable workloads for childcare services staff; stronger protection for children at risk; and a more prominent place on the Vermont political landscape for youth services- most especially afterschool programs.
• MaryBeth Pinard-Brace is the Community-Based Parent Involvement Coordinator for the Parent Information and Resource Center (PIRC Vermont) and Vermont Family Network. MaryBeth has been working in the non-profit arena for 22 years specializing in marketing, communications, advocacy, and public relations. She has worked for a broad spectrum of non-profit organizations from educational institutions to the travel and tourism Industry. She took a short foray into the for-profit arena, but quickly learned that her passion is for causal marketing and youth advocacy. She taught teens and adults for six years and, during that time, became an outspoken advocate for career and technical education throughout Vermont and the United States. She brings a wealth of practical experience to the table including a working knowledge of design, photography, strategic planning, program and promotional development, finance, and fund development.
• Carmel Quinn is the Director of Advocacy for the Girls Scouts of the Green and White Mountains.  Carmel has worked in program development and implementation for twenty-plus years, both in Girl Scouts and in other non-profit organizations.  Carmel has served on several community boards, most recently Outright Vermont and the Vermont YWCA.  She came to Girl Scouting six years ago to direct leadership programs for teen girls.  In her current role, Carmel works with the legislature and other youth serving organizations in both Vermont and New Hampshire to ensure that “how will this impact girls” is part of the discussion prior to decisions being made.
• Barb Russ is currently the director of the 21^st Century Community Learning Center in Winooski. Barb has 30 years experience working within education and much of that work has focused on literacy. Barb is the former director of UVM America Reads and Counts, has taught undergraduate and graduate level literacy courses at the University of Vermont, and presented numerous workshops around literacy and best practices in education throughout Vermont and nationally. Additionally Barb has worked as a classroom teacher, Language Arts Coordinator, and principal within various public schools in Vermont.
• Karen Scott is the Assistant Director of Career and Education Outreach at the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC). Karen is also the State Director of the Vermont GEAR UP project. GEAR UP stands for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs and is a national initiative to help more middle and high school students from disadvantaged backgrounds stay in school, study hard, take rigorous courses, and go to college.
• Rich Tulikangas is the Executive Director of Linking Learning to Life. Linking Learning to Life is a non-profit organization that strives to engage youth (k-12) in diverse community-based learning opportunities in order to improve their educational and career outcomes. Rich has long been involved in school-to-work initiatives and is also the co-author of a book for educators on writing effective proposals and managing successful projects.
• Darlene Worth is the Executive Director of the Champlain Valley Educator Development Center (CVEDC). CVEDC is one of Vermont’s six regional Educational Services Agency (ESA). The ESAs are regional partnerships between school districts or supervisory unions, institutions of higher education and service providers. ESAs provide high quality professional development regionally to meet the needs of individuals, schools and/or supervisory unions to enable educators to improve schools and increase student learning. CVEDC is a valuable educational partner and connects the Center to the other regional ESA’s around the state.