Director of Programs

As Director of Programs, Renée manages a growing portfolio of maternal and child health grants. She guides the grantee identification, review, and evaluation processes and partners with our leadership to ensure that we invest our resources into programs and policies that will have the highest positive impact on New Jersey’s children and families.

Throughout her career, Renée has remained passionate about promoting health, education and economic equity for children and families in under-resourced communities so that they can thrive. She deeply values the importance of listening to and learning from the perspectives of diverse stakeholders. Renée also has a high regard for approaching policymaking, systems change and investing resources using thoughtful analysis and a social justice lens.

Renée served at various not-for-profit organizations in Washington, D.C. and spent time in the classroom teaching English to preschool and elementary students in Japan. After graduate school, she honed her appreciation for mixed-methods research while at Mathematica Policy Research and contributed to various state and federal evaluations of early childhood, nutrition, and after-school programs. For over a decade, Renée shepherded the development, implementation, and sustainability of an evidence-based maternal and child home visiting model in the Northeast. As a public health consultant, she then led a feasibility study to develop a coordinated intake system for maternal and infant home visiting services in New York City. Prior to joining the Burke Foundation, Renée cultivated strategic partnerships for a national non-for-profit dedicated to promoting early language development and nurturing interactions between young children and their caregivers.

Renée graduated with a degree in English from Haverford College and holds a master’s degree from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. She is also an alumna of the New York Community Trust Leadership Fellows Program.