Aspen Institute Ascend Fellows
Tess Abrahamson-Richards
Hummingbird Indigenous Family Services
Director of Data Sovereignty
Washington
Darneshia Allen
ZERO TO THREE
Training and Technical Assistance Integration Manager
Arkansas
Jamal Berry
Educare, DC
President and CEO
District of Columbia
Nia Bodrick
Children’s National Hospital
General Pediatrician
District of Columbia
Clinton Boyd, Jr.
Chapin Hall & Fathers, Families, & Healthy Communities
Researcher & Executive Director
Illinois
Sixto Cancel
Think Of Us
Founder & CEO
District of Columbia
Barbara DiGangi
University Settlement
Director of Community Wellness Initiatives
New York
Dara Eskridge
Invest STL
Executive Director
Missouri
Elizabeth Everett
First Five Nebraska
Deputy Director and Public Policy Manager
Nebraska
Susan Gale Perry
Child Care Aware of America
CEO
Virginia
Shimica Gaskins
GRACE & End Child Poverty CA
President & CEO
California
Ashley Goldon
Blue Meridian Partners
Portfolio Manager
Michigan
Teresa Granillo
AVANCE, Inc.
CEO
Texas
Tanguler Gray
Systems & Methods, Inc.
Executive Vice President of Operations
Georgia
Kai-ama Hamer
Center for Early Childhood Health and Development, NYU School of Medicine
Director, ParentCorps
New York
Keami Harris
Early Childhood Funders Collaborative
Chief of Equity and Strategy
Maryland
Kenn Harris
National Partnership for Community Leadership
Senior Consultant
Connecticut
Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy
American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
President and CEO
Maryland
Jerreed Ivanich
Colorado School of Public Health
Assistant Professor, Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health
Colorado
Priya Iyer
Our Roots
Founder & CEO
California
Kim Janey
Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath)
President & CEO
Massachusetts
Raychael Jensen
Ballmer Group
National Director, Early Childhood and Families
Florida
Sarah Kuriakose
New York State Office of Mental Health
Associate Commissioner, Division of Integrated Community Services for Children and Families
New York
Vance Lewis
Promise Venture Studio
Associate Partner
California
Ascend Fellows are a community of values-driven leaders who share an unwavering commitment to our shared goal of intergenerational family prosperity and well-being.