Consultant to the Commission

Debra McLaughlin, Managing Partner of The Kunnusta Group, is the Consultant to the Commission. She has nearly 20 years of experience working in the afterschool and out of school time field both in the public and private sectors.

Most recently, she was the Managing Director for Boston's After-School for All Partnership, the largest public/private partnership that invested over $26 million in the city's afterschool sector. Prior to that she directed a number of afterschool and youth development initiatives to serve for at-risk children and youth in high-risk neighborhoods for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

She staffed the Commonwealth's 15 member interagency task force dedicated to coordinating state agency services and policy that served children and youth when they were not in school. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Communications from Ohio University.

The Kunnusta Group is based in Boston and New York City. It specializes in promoting public/private partnership models and practices to affect social change in the areas of afterschool, community development, youth development, arts, and education.