Staff

Executive Director: Courtney Jones-Vanderleest

Courtney joined Invest in Youth as its first part-time Executive Director in late February,  2011. Courtney’s recent work experience includes six years at the Wingspan Community  Center in Tucson, AZ where she held her first position as the Center’s Homeless Youth Project  Advocate/Coordinator then moved to become the Youth and Family Programs Manager and  finished as Program Director. Prior to this, Courtney had many work experiences with youth  including being a Americorps Service Member for two years assessing the literacy ability of  Native American and Latino/a youth.

Her most rewarding experience in her new job has been visiting the schools and witnessing  the students’ excitement as their tutors arrive and they start working together. She holds two  masters degrees, MBA and MSW, and is especially intrigued by the challenges of transitioning Invest in Youth from a grassroots program led by an inspirational founder to a stand alone non profit with two paid part-time staff.

Program Director: Meredith Barrett

Invest in Youth is pleased to introduce Meredith Barrett, the new part-time Program  Director for Invest in Youth who began working in August, 2010. Meredith is a  Port Townsend native who left the Northwest to attend Smith College and also teach  for a year in Japan. She returned to the Northwest in 2009 to obtain a Masters in Teaching at Seattle University. After ten years of working in education, Meredith came to the conclusion that real educational advances are often reached when there  is a 1:1 connection between an adult and student. The Invest in Youth program gives  her the opportunity to pursue this personal vision.