Our Team

Amy is the Founder and Executive Director of Foundations for Families. Amy has supported numerous organizations with all aspects of writing Designation Renewal System grants. She works with grantee organizations as a start-up planner, Head Start grant writer, review supporter, and trainer. She is also a consultant for 0-3′s work with ARRA funded Early Head Start programs.

Amy’s tenure at the consulting firms of Arthur Andersen and Ernst and Young established her expertise in business, management and administration. Her experiences as Title One teacher/site manager and child development center director informed her understanding of the day to day practices of early childhood education. At Foundations for Families, Amy brings the best of both worlds together as a consultant, trainer, and project manager.

Amy served on the Board of Directors at Seasons of Hope, an organization which provides community support, education and consulting for issues of grief, loss and transition. She is a past board member of the Board of Directors of Infant Toddler Family Day Care, Inc., the Congressional School and the Ballston Child Care Consortium, Inc., a non-profit group solely dedicated to increasing the availability of high quality, inclusive childcare options for low income families.

Amy is a graduate of Brown University and received a Master’s of Education in Early Childhood Special Education and Elementary Education from Peabody College of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University. She lives in Great Falls, Virginia with her husband and two daughters.

Kelly Schaffer is a consultant specializing in grant writing, research and communications for Foundations for Families. She has written and contributed to many successful, multi-million dollar federal grant applications. This includes Designation Renewal System (DRS) grant proposals, Early Head Start – Child Care Partnership grants, Head Start/Early Head Start baseline and continuation applications, other federally funded initiatives, as well as grant proposals to private foundations and organizations.

Kelly has worked in or supporting the field of early care and education for over 10 years. Prior to joining Foundations for Families Kelly implemented early childhood obesity prevention initiatives at Nemours Children’s Health System. She also worked at the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care, managing multiple statewide initiatives and helping to develop the state’s quality rating and improvement system.

In 2012, Kelly received The Assistant Secretary’s ACF Honor Award – Partnering for HHS Excellence Award from the US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. She has a Masters of Education in Risk and Prevention from Harvard University and a B.S. in Management from Boston College.

Julie is a consultant for Foundations for Families, providing support to Head Start and Early Head Start grantees applying to for new and continued funding. Julie specializes in technical assistance, program design, grant writing and partnerships strategies.

Julie has 20 years of management and leadership experience in child care, Head Start/EHS, and parent support. Previously, she served as Nemours’ Project Director of The National Early Care & Education Learning Collaborative, a Center Disease Control funded initiative.

For six years, Julie worked as the Director of National Child Care Information & Technical Assistance Center and the National Center on Child Care Quality Improvement. These projects were funded by the Office of Child Care and provided support to state and territorial grantees on implementation of the Child Care Development Block grant.

Julie led more than 100 staff in the Early Childhood Division of a community based agency where she developed and operated child care, home visiting, Early Head Start and Head Start programs in a variety of jurisdictions. She has also worked at the National Head Start Association and served on numerous advisory committees related to home visiting and Head Start.

Julie holds a Master of Public Administration in social services and management and a B.A. in political science from Michigan State University.

Amanda Schwartz, Ph.D. is a consultant with a focus on research and grant writing.

Amanda supports the implementation of systems and services within Early Head Start. She helps program solve challenging issues related to building or expanding systems, ensuring compliance with Federal Regulations, and assuring high quality services to children and families in Early Head Start programs.

For nearly two decades, Amanda has served as an educator and federal contractor, providing technical assistance, resource development, research, and monitoring to support practitioners, technical assistance providers, and federal staff in the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Since 2009, she has served as a federal reviewer for the Department of Education, Office of Early Learning and the Office of Innovation and Improvement, as well as the Department of Health and Human Services. Past clients include ZERO TO THREE, American Academy of Pediatrics, ContinuEd, Penn Foster, and other organizations.

Amanda is an Adjunct Professor at The George Washington University. She holds a Ph.D. in Teaching and Learning from The New York University, an M.A. in Early Childhood Special Education from The George Washington University, and a B.A in government and philosophy from Hamilton College.

Jane a consultant specializing in grant writing and communications for Foundations for Families. Jane has been involved with education, conservation and performing arts organizations for the past 20 years as a collaborator, writer, project coordinator and copy editor.

Clients and employers include the Partnership and Community Collaboration Academy, the National Heritage Program of the National Park Service, The Alliance of National Heritage Areas, The Conservation Fund, the National Museum of Forest Service History, and Washington National Opera.

Jane is a graduate of Middlebury College, with a B.A. in Literary Studies.

Julie Weatherington is a Consultant for Foundations for Families specializing in CLASS Observations, training, and technical assistance. Julie is an expert in mission-driven education program assessment, planning and development. She is energizing, collaborative, and committed to consistently delivering high quality early intervention, inclusion, child development and leadership program support that makes the difference.

In addition to being a certified CLASS Observer for infant, toddler, and pre-kindergarten, Julie has has extensive expertise in training adult practitioners in a competency-based context model, in accordance with developmentally appropriate practices. She consistently delivers dynamic, inspiring training that enables educators to consistently perform according to best practices.

She served on the Transition Committee for Pre-K to Kindergarten at Prince William County School. She was also on the Regional Management Team for Minnieland Academy in Woodbridge, VA. Prior to that, she was the Executive Director for Seasons of Hope Center for Grief Loss and Transition and the Community Outreach Director of Point of Hope Camp for Capital Hospice.

Julie has a Masters in Human Service Administration and Leadership and a Master’s Certificate in Preschool Education from Liberty University. Her B.A. in Communications is from Wright State University.