Our Staff

The Forum for Youth Investment was founded in 1998 by Karen Pittman and Merita Irby, two of the country’s top leaders on youth issues and youth policy. The Forum’s diverse staff includes researchers, educators, policy analysts, youth work practitioners, business professionals, advocates and communications specialists.


Executive Staff

Program Staff

Information Systems/Office Management Staff

Senior Fellows

Executive Support Staff

David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality

The Center for Youth Program Quality (CYPQ) is a joint venture between the Forum for Youth Investment and the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation. CYPQ is charged with positioning point of service quality as a powerful public idea that drives the out-of-school time field toward higher levels of understanding, expectation and action about the quality of experiences available to children and youth.