2024-25 White-Riley-Peterson Fellows

Casey Agena is with the Hawaii Department of Education, working on statewide policy and strategy focused on extended learning opportunities (including summer and afterschool learning). Previously he was a consultant for the Santa Clara County Office of Education. Casey also worked in the non-profit space with Silicon Valley Education Foundation (with funding through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). He has worked with independent schools and charter schools. He is a graduate of Purdue University (BA), Boston College (M Ed.), and the University of Southern California (Ed. D)

Caitlin Brown is the Executive Director of Alexandria Beyond the Classroom, an expanded learning intermediary consisting of more than 100+ K-12 youth-serving providers in Alexandria, Virginia. Caitlin currently serves on the Virginia Partnership for Out-of-School Time’s Leadership Advisory Council, and she has had a multi-faceted career as a professional musician, non-profit co-founder, classroom teacher, and program director. Having experience teaching in the classroom and leading out-of-school time programs, Caitlin is passionate about the intersectionality of education and expanded learning.

Maggie Dickson is the Director of Public Policy for the Alliance of New York State YMCAs. In this role and throughout her career in the nonprofit sector, Maggie has cultivated a passion for advocating on behalf of policies that strengthen and support youth, families, and communities. She strongly believes in the power of a holistic approach to the continuum of early childhood policy and the role of creative partnerships in building supportive systems.

Becky Eberhardt is passionate about collaborating to implementing innovative strategies to expand learning opportunities for children and families. Over the past 19 years, she has been in the fields of early education, after-school and expanded learning. Currently she is a Director of School Relations at Waterford.org After work hours you will find her and her husband staying busy with sporting events for their two children.  

Daniel Gage, a consultant for the Wisconsin OST Alliance, specializes in advocacy, education, and outreach. With experience in public education and organizing, Dan focuses on empowering communities to influence policymakers and improve out-of-school time (OST) educational opportunities.  

Nikki Gillani (she/her) is the School Partnerships Manager at ACT Now Coalition, the Statewide Afterschool Network in Illinois. Nikki specializes in supporting school-based afterschool programs in offering high-quality, sustainable, and responsive services to their communities. Her main project priorities include professional development, policy advocacy, and sustainability methodology.    

Kim is the VP of Youth Development at the YMCA in Raleigh, NC, and has 25 years of service. She holds a BS in Child Development from Meredith College and a graduate certificate in Nonprofit Management from Duke University. Kim is on the Advisory Board for the NC Center for After School Programs and has received several recognitions, including the TBJ 40 Under 40 Award and the Distinguished Alumnae Award from Meredith College.

Dr. Pam Lange is the Deputy Executive Director of Black Hills Special Services Cooperative (BHSSC). Pam oversees 10 OST programs in the state’s highest-need communities and is spearheading a statewide initiative to unite OST leaders and shape the vision for the next five years of OST growth in South Dakota. In her free time, Pam enjoys spending time with her husband, also an educator, their three adult children and their partners, and her five granddaughters.  

Ken Livingston is the Senior Director of Student Success with United Way of Delaware (UWDE), and State Lead for the Campaign for Grade Level Reading. His focus is collaborating with partner agencies, educators, administrators, and parents to implement the Early Student Success Initiative, which promotes reading proficiency by the third grade, primarily in Wilmington and in UWDE’s Eight Promise Communities across the state.  

Anna McGovern joined the Alaska Afterschool Network team in 2019 as an Afterschool Program Specialist, focusing on Professional Development for OST providers across Alaska. With over 17 years of experience in the youth-serving field, Anna has worked in various roles, including education, afterschool programs, and public health. At home, you can find her playing every sport imaginable with her two kids, reading, cooking, and finding any excuse to be outdoors. 

Kasey T. Morgan, Chief Strategy Officer of the MyCom Network (MyCom), serves over 20 Greater Cleveland communities. Kasey serves as the Ohio Representative for the Afterschool Alliance and Chairperson of the Ohio Afterschool Network for Northeast Ohio. During her leadership of MyCom, the network has increased afterschool and expanded learning opportunities, promoted a youth voice through youth councils, and created funding models to promote solutions to youth challenges.

Lupita Perez, a Senior Specialist at the California Afterschool Network (CAN), is a dedicated advocate for equitable practices and community health. With experience in education and crisis response, holding a B.A. in Sociology & Feminist Studies, she focuses on positively impacting youth as a Youth Mental-Health First Aider and Healing-Centered Practitioner. Committed to creating safe spaces and transformative conversations, Lupita believes in the lasting impact of forging deep connections to enrich live  

Sarah Pratt is the Director of Operations for the New Mexico Out-of-School Time Network (NMOST). Sarah is committed to supporting youth, especially young women, in STEM through out-of-school time programs and is passionate about equity, inclusion, and access. Outside of work, Sarah serves on the board of Autism Society of New Mexico and enjoys spending her time with family and friends, her dog, or reading a good book.     

Angie is a Utah native and came to UAN straight from kid wrangling at an afterschool program in the Salt Lake Valley. She has a strong passion for making childcare and afterschool programming accessible, affordable, and enriching. In high school, Angie started volunteering for local youth organizations and soon realized the awesome power and importance of having safe spaces for kids to explore themselves and the world around them. Since then, she has worked with every age group from the tiniest of humans to the practically adults as a teacher, mentor, group facilitator, and role model.

Angie received her Masters Degree in Human Development and Social Policy from the University of Utah. She loves people-watching and has a ferocious curiosity about life. She especially loves talking with kids about how they see the world and hearing the hilarious things they have to say.

In her free time, Angie loves writing, baking, horror movies, and going on adventures with her husband and son.

As a Program Director since 2016, Nick Washington has led the Original Six Foundation in providing impactful afterschool programs and literacy initiatives. During his time, the organization expanded its reach and improved educational outcomes for hundreds of children across South Carolina, allowing him to lean into his passion for community development and education. Nick is dedicated to making positive impacts on youth of all backgrounds. He is also a SCALE Fellow and Riley Fellow with The Riley Institute at Furman. 

Anita Winkis is a Senior Quality Advisor at Prime-Time Palm Beach County, where she provides coaching and support to targeted afterschool programs and expanded learning opportunities in Palm Beach County to assist them in their quality improvement efforts. Previously, for more than a dozen years, she was an afterschool program site director for the School District of Palm Beach County and, prior to that, was a teacher and team lead for a pre-kindergarten program. Anita earned a bachelor’s degree in art from Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Connecticut, and has continued education in the fields of early childhood, elementary, and afterschool education and has attained coaching certifications as well. She participates with community groups to support public education by canvassing for the election of quality school board members as well as speaking to the board on issues of equity, inclusion, and safety and continues to participate as a voting member on her local school’s advisory committee. She supports her local community by canvassing for GOTV groups and state amendment issues and participates in voter protection activities at polling locations.