Partnership For Children & Youth
Summer Learning and Education


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What We Do: We ignite systems of collaboration, leadership and continuous learning among school districts, government agencies and community-based organization serving low-income children and youth. We do this by supporting community school, after school and summer partnerships through training, assessment, planning, policy and advocacy.

Vision: Communities working together to ensure all children have the learning, health, and social supports they need to succeed in school and life.

Mission: To ignite systems of continuous learning, foster collaboration, and build leadership among school districts, government agencies, and community-based organizations serving low income children and youth.

Accomplishments:
  • Raised over $90 million in public and private funding for youth programs in California’s lowest-income communities
  • Facilitated dozens of new partnerships between schools, local governments, and community agencies
  • Trained thousands of afterschool and summer program staff in program and youth development
  • Spearheaded three successful California legislative measures in support of summer learning
  • Co-authored key federal policy language improving how federal after school funding is administered at the local level
  • Won sweeping policy reforms in California’s after school funding system, vastly improving services to children most in need
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Jennifer Peck was a founding staff member of the Partnership for Children & Youth, and became its executive director in 2003. Since that time, she has developed and implemented initiatives to finance and build after-school and summer-learning programs, and increase access to school meals and nutrition education programs in the Bay Area’s lowest-income communities. Under her leadership, PCY has brought more than $90 million in public funding to schools and their community of partners, enabling thousands of low-income children to participate in these programs.

Jennifer has built PCY into an influential policy-development and advocacy organization that has improved the effectiveness of public funding for youth programs in low-income communities across California.

In December 2010, Jennifer was appointed Transition Team Director and Policy Advisor for Tom Torlakson, the newly-elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction. In this role, Jennifer oversaw the transition planning process and helped ensure that the superintendent’s goals were articulated through policy and organizational development at the California Department of Education. Jennifer continues to serve as an advisor to the Superintendent on Expanded Learning and Community School issues.

In 2006, as California prepared to launch Proposition 49’s substantial new investment in after school programs, Jennifer led the development and advocacy for state legislation that dramatically reformed the initiative and prioritized funding for schools in the lowest-income communities. For this work, then-State Senator Tom Torlakson named Jennifer “Woman of the Year” in 2008.

Jennifer created the California Afterschool Advocacy Alliance, the state Legislative Task Force on Summer Enrichment, and she leads a coalition of California organizations advocating for new federal policies to improve the effectiveness of after-school and summer-learning programs.

Prior to joining PCY, Jennifer spent eight years as an appointee of President Bill Clinton at the U.S. Department of Education, where she supported implementation of numerous initiatives including student loan reform, School-to-Work, and 21st Century Community Learning Centers. Jennifer has a B.A. in Sociology and Women’s Studies from Colgate University.

Jennifer serves on the boards of the West Contra Costa Public Education Fund and the Californian’s Dedicated to Education Foundation which supports high priority initiatives of the California Department of Education.