Deborah Lowe Vandell, Ph.D., is the Founding Dean of the School of Education at the University of California, Irvine, where she is a Professor of Education and of Psychology and Social Behavior. The author of more than one hundred fifty articles and three books, Dr. Vandell studies the effects of afterschool and summer programs on children's academic, social, and behavioral development.

Charles Smith, Ph.D., is the founder and Executive Director of the David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality, a division of the Forum for Youth Investment, and Senior Vice President at the Forum. The Weikart Center currently provides technical supports to a portfolio of more than eighty-five quality improvement systems and quality intermediary organizations in thirty-eight states, including several thousand direct service organizations. Dr. Smith leads the measures and analytics team at the Weikart Center. His current areas of focus include design and implementation of lower-stakes performance accountability policies and integration of afterschool systems with schools.

From 1988 to 2015, Carla Sanger, M.Ed., served as president and chief executive officer of LA's BEST (Better Educated Students for Tomorrow) After School Enrichment Program. 

Shannon Rudisill is Director of the Office of Child Care (OCC)— formerly the Child Care Bureau (CCB)—where she has focused on raising the bar on quality in childcare across the country, particularly for low-income children.

Karen J. Pittman, president and CEO of Forum for Youth Investment, has made a career of launching organizations and initiatives that promote youth development—including the Forum for Youth Investment, which she co-founded with Merita Irby in 1998.

A sociologist and recognized leader in youth development, Pittman started her career at the Urban Institute, conducting numerous studies on social services for children and families.

Top 25 Most Influential People in Afterschool

Terry K. Peterson, PhD, is the executive editor of Expanding Minds and Opportunities: Leveraging the Power of Afterschool and Summer Learning for Student Success, a Senior Fellow at the College of Charleston, and a consultant to the CS Mott Foundation. Dr. Peterson has taught at all levels of education and been a parent and community organizer. He has served as chief education deputy for an education reform governor and the U.S. Secretary of Education, both for eight years, and in those leadership capacities helped launch and implement a number of successful nationwide and statewide initiatives, such as the 21st Century Community Learning Centers, E-Rate, Advanced Placement course expansion, early childhood program growth, family engagement strategies, teacher quality and recruitment enhancements, and school-community-business partnership growth.

Gil Noam, Ed.D., PhD, is the founder and director of Program in Education, Afterschool and Resiliency, at Harvard University. Dr. Noam has a strong interest in translating research and innovation to support youth resilience in educational settings. He has published two hundred-plus papers, articles, and books on child and adolescent development- and risk and resiliency-related topics.

Neil Nicoll was hired as president and CEO of YMCA of the USA in May 2006 and is the thirteenth person to lead the YMCA movement in the United States. He joined Y-USA following fourteen years as president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Seattle. Nicoll previously was the president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Worcester (Massachusetts) for twelve years.

Judy Nee is the executive vice president and general manager of AlphaBEST Education—one of the nation's fastest-growing extended-day programs and the preferred choice for school districts in ten states. Prior to joining AlphaBEST in 2011, Nee served as president and CEO of the NAA, where she led the organization's growth in membership, affiliates, and presence in Washington, D.C. Nee has served as president of the Florida Afterschool Alliance and as executive director of Prime Time Beach County, the state's only local afterschool intermediary. She is the chair of the Coalition for Science After School, a member of the Florida Afterschool Network's board of directors, and a member of Child Trends' national board of directors. Nee has an M.A. in Community Psychology and is pursuing a PhD in Leadership and Education.