In 2007, Jennifer Rodriguez joined the Youth Law Center (YLC), a national public interest law firm that has worked for 4 decades to transform foster care and juvenile justice systems so every child and youth can thrive, and has served as Executive Director since 2012. Jennifer is the recipient of the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform Janet Reno Women’s Leadership Award, the Juvenile Law Center’s Leadership Prize, and was recognized in 2021 as a federal Children’s Bureau Champion for her national impact in transforming foster care to support families.
Paul began working in financial services in 1993, founding Mallard Asset Management, which became Mallard Financial Partners in 1996 and was acquired by Mercer Advisors in 2023. Paul grew up in Bel Air, MD, and received his B.S. from the University of Delaware and his M.S. from Villanova University.
Tracey’s focus as First Lady of Delaware is to support efforts that, in a foundational way, help give children a chance to succeed. With funding and operational support from Casey Family Programs, she coordinates those efforts under the umbrella of the First Chance Delaware initiative. First Chance has three pillars – ending childhood hunger in Delaware; promoting early language skills toward healthy brain development and school readiness; and advancing effective recognition of, and response to, childhood trauma. Tracey seeks to use the convening and outreach powers of the First Lady’s office to bring organizations together to work collaboratively toward those goals.
Honorable William L. Chapman, Jr. earned with law degree from the Georgetown University Law center and currently is the Chief Diversity Officer, Director of Pro Bono Services and Senior Counsel at the Potter Anderson: Delaware Law Firm. At Potter Anderson, he leads the firm’s diversity and inclusion initiatives while spearheading the firm’s pro bono program and commitment to community outreach, including mentoring associates in connection with these programs. Prior to joining the firm, Judge Chapman served as a Family Court judge for the state of Delaware. He also served as Deputy Attorney General for the Delaware Department of Justice.
Kenneth A. Dodge is the William McDougall Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. He is also the founding and past director of the Center for Child and Family Policy, as well as the founder of Family Connects International.
Mallory received her undergraduate degrees in Biology and Psychology from Bloomsburg University, her Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from West Chester University, and her Ph.D in Psychology from the University of Delaware. She is broadly interested in how poverty and other forms of early adversity impact child development and family functioning.
Carole Shauffer became Youth Law Center’s Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives in 2012 after serving as Executive Director since 1994, and before that, as a Staff Attorney since 1981. Carole’s work has focused on improving outcomes for foster youth through developing better services for infants and young children in the child welfare system, working with faith communities to provide support and services for at-risk youth, and reducing the use of shelter care for foster youth, particularly for infants and toddlers.
Charles H. Zeanah, Jr. is the Mary Peters Sellars Polchow Chair in Psychiatry and serves as Vice Chair for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, and Director of the Institute for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health at the Tulane University School of Medicine. He received his bachelor’s degree in English and his M.D. from Tulane University. He completed a pediatric internship at the University of Virginia, a residency in general psychiatry at Duke University, and a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry and a research fellowship at Stanford University.