Michelle Hughes, Interim Executive Director
Michelle is currently the Interim Executive Director of the Partnership since September 2022. Michelle was Executive Director of NC Child from 2014 to 2022. Michelle has worked in the field of children’s advocacy for almost 20 years in North Carolina. She has served in a number of executive and leadership positions including Project Director of the Partnering for Excellence Initiative at Benchmarks, Executive Vice-President for Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina, and Public Action Director at the NC Child Advocacy Institute, the organizational predecessor to NC Child. Michelle is the 2012 recipient of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families Commissioner’s Award and the 2012 North Carolina Pediatric Society, Tom Vitaglione Child Health Advocacy Award. A graduate of Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland, Michelle holds Master’s degrees in English and Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Contact: [email protected]
Jasmine Jones, Director of Member Engagement
Jasmine joined the Partnership for America’s Children in May of 2019. She is committed to advancing data-driven policies that support the holistic development of children and families. She has had experience within non-profit organizations, such as Save the Children and America Reads*America Counts, as well as within national and state-level political organizations. Jasmine is passionate about contributing to the healthy development of young children by supporting the Partnership’s national network of child advocacy organizations.
Jasmine has a Master of Public Policy from Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy. She is an alumna of the University of Maryland, College Park where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Politics.
Contact: [email protected]
Elissa Glucksman Hyne, Senior Child Welfare Policy Manager
Elissa joined the Partnership for America’s Children in January 2022. She has spent more than 15 years advocating for children and families involved with the child welfare, juvenile justice, education, and healthcare systems, both nationally and in over a dozen states.
Most recently, Elissa spent 10 years at Children’s Rights, a national children’s advocacy organization that champions the legal rights of children impacted by government systems. Her work there included providing policy consultation and producing evidence‐based recommendations for state legislative and administrative reform efforts; working with coalitions to advance legislative agendas in the interest of children and families; and writing myriad reports, white papers, and articles featuring extensive research and quantitative and qualitative analysis in the interest of system-involved children and families. Elissa has prior experience with several organizations including: the Center for Children’s Advocacy in Connecticut, Lawyers for Children America, Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition, and the Connecticut Department of Children and Families.
Elissa received her B.A. in psychology from Brandeis University, her M.S.W. with a concentration in policy practice from the University of Connecticut School of Social Work, and her J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law.
Contact: [email protected]
Zoë Kilbourne, Administrative Assistant
Zoë has assisted with logistics and administration of various Partnership projects since 2017. Over the course of 2020, the scope of their work expanded to include virtual event management and technical support for the Partnership’s online meetings, convenings, and other events. Zoë aims to support child advocates as much as possible in improving policy and support for children and families.
They are also a high level tap dancer with more than twenty years of performance and teaching experience. Zoë currently lives in Connecticut with their husband and kitten.
Zoë identifies as non-binary and goes by the singular “they” for their personal pronouns (they, them, theirs, themself, etc.).
Contact: [email protected]