STAFF
Kathleen Guy - Executive Director and Board President, Global Action for Children
Kathleen Guy is a not-for-profit executive, author, speaker and consultant on children’s issues, social innovation, and domestic and international poverty. Her 30-year career in social change has involved initiating large-scale campaigns designed to mobilize people at the community, state, national and international levels.
Kathleen served as Midwest Director at Bread for the World and Director of Religious Affairs at the Children’s Defense Fund before moving to Ottawa where she founded the Healthy Child Development Initiative and served as a senior policy consultant for the Canadian Government on vulnerable children. She also was the Executive Director for the Child Welfare League of Canada and a consultant with UNICEF on early childhood development issues.
A graduate of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, Kathleen got her start as an international anti-hunger and poverty advocate in Portland, Oregon. Since then she has developed and implemented child advocacy campaigns for organizations with 14 million members; authored books on child advocacy and early child development; provided speeches, media interviews, and leadership training in over 30 states.
Her expertise and recognized leadership in child health and early child development has garnered her invitations to consult governments and present to international conferences and meetings sponsored by UNICEF and the World Bank.
As Executive Director of Global Action for Children, Kathleen aims to build on the significant achievements of GAC to mobilize greater public support and political action for the world’s most vulnerable children and their families. Contact Kathleen at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
JoAnn Kane - Director of Operations
JoAnn joined GAC in October 2008. JoAnn is an experienced executive with in-depth knowledge of nonprofit financial, legal and governance requirements and an extensive background in program management, resource development and advocacy. Prior to joining GAC, JoAnn worked on issues affecting women and their families, development finance, and national advocacy campaigns to secure basic rights to housing, health care, and life-long education. In her work to support local women leaders, Ms. Kane secured over $30 million in loans and grants to revive neighborhoods and increase the impact of innovative grassroots organizations in underserved communities. Her work includes early investment in housing for people with HIV/AIDS, international efforts to lower the cost of basic shelter, application of development principles to disaster relief initiatives, and empowerment programs for indigenous women leaders. Contact JoAnn at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Leila Nimatallah - Policy Director
Leila Nimatallah serves as Policy Director for Global Action for Children (GAC), leading advocacy and legislative efforts to improve the lives of children in the developing world. Prior to joining GAC, Leila managed successful legislative campaigns at RESULTS’ on global health and microfinance and shaped and supported grassroots advocacy efforts at local and state levels for over a decade.
She served as a Judiciary Committee aide for U.S. Representative, Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and as a legislative associate for Representative Marty Meehan (D-MA). She was also a former co-chair of the Orphans and Vulnerable Children Task Force.
Leila earned a B.A. from Boston College and a law degree from Villanova University in 1993, and is a member of the Pennsylvania, Maryland, and District of Columbia Bar Associations.
Leila is also the proud but tired mother of two beautiful boys, Mathew and Jamie. Contact Leila at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Allison Grossman - Policy Associate
Allison joined Global Action for Children in April 2009 as a Policy Associate, contributing to GAC’s advocacy and legislative efforts to improve the lives of children in the developing world. Prior to joining GAC, Allison worked in the advocacy department at American Jewish World Service where she focused on global health issues, including United States global HIV/AIDS and reproductive health policy, as well as advocacting for U.S. foreign assistance programs and an end to the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Allison also served as an Eisendrath Legislative Assistant at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, working on foreign policy, international development, and human rights. She previously worked to empower and engage young girls and women with disabilities with the knowledge and skills to become leaders and mentors. She holds a B.A. in political science from the University of Arizona. Contact Allison at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Aaron Eske - Communications Director
Aaron Eske is Global Action for Children’s Communications Director, spreading the word about how to give every child the chance to grow up safe and healthy. Before starting at GAC, he served as Senator Ben Nelson’s Press Secretary for two years on the Hill.
While studying on a Marshall Scholarship, Aaron circled the world visiting orphanages and community centers in Ethiopia, India, China and Korea. Following his research, he received a Masters degree in Global Politics & Development from the London School of Economics and a Masters in Creative Nonfiction Writing from City University London. He also holds a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, his hometown.
Aaron is the eldest brother to four internationally adopted siblings from India and Korea. Contact Aaron at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Stacy Carkonen - Grassroots Organizer
Stacy Carkonen joined the staff of GAC as a part-time consultant in August 2009. Prior to joining GAC she spent 10 years as a volunteer and staff member with RESULTS and RESULTS Educational Fund, a Washington D.C. based citizen’s lobby. As a staff member for RESULTS Stacy trained and supported a vast network of volunteers as a Grassroots Organizer and national Grassroots Manager for their global campaigns.
She holds a B.A. in International Studies from the University of Idaho with an emphasis on political violence, revolutions, and economic development, and finished her degree at the University of Birzeit in Palestine. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in theatre and music from Washington State University.
She came away from her experience living and studying in Palestine understanding very little Arabic, but with a much greater knowledge of the complexities of international conflict, conflict resolution and the role that citizens can play in creating safe, healthy, thriving communities around the world.
Her love of theatre, music and politics made her a perfect candidate for a grassroots organizer and general rabble rouser. Over the past 10 years, Stacy has organized on a plethora of issues including microcredit, orphans and vulnerable children, global education, and the diseases of poverty.
She lives in Sumner, Washington with her husband, two children, four cats and two hamsters. She is a very proud board member of Mothers Acting Up and TB Photovoice. Contact Stacy at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Allison Shuffield - Outreach Manager
Allison Shuffield joined Global Action for Children in June, 2008. A native of Miami, Florida, Allison invested her first six months after graduating from Florida State University teaching English in two Ecuadorian grade schools. In addition to living in Quito, Ecuador while teaching and furthering her Spanish language skills, she has also lived in Romania and Spain. She spent one summer in Targus Mures, Romania, where she was an intern in a Romanian orphanage affiliated with the Buckner Orphan Care International organization and she studied for one semester in Valencia, Spain while in college. Allison received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies from Florida State University in 2007.
Following her passion for international children’s issues, she moved to Washington, DC in early 2008 to pursue a career with a children’s organization with global outreach. GAC provided the ideal outlet for her to grow her skills and make a difference in the lives of disadvantaged children across the globe. Contact Allison at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
