Elizabeth oversees the Forum’s work related to state and local policy and manages various national partnerships and networks of legislators, advocates and youth councils. She is the Forum's primary contact for their partnership with NCSL. Elizabeth joined the Forum in 2005. In her four years at the Forum she has focused on building the Forum’s relationships with both executive and legislative policy makers interested in improving youth policy. She has co-authored the YOUTH COUNT report, the Adding It Up Guide to Mapping Public Resources for Children, Youth and Families and the series on State Children’s Cabinets and Councils: Getting Results for Children and Youth. Before coming to the Forum, Elizabeth served as the volunteer coordinator for America Coming Together in Missouri. Prior to that work, Elizabeth was the youth policy analyst for Citizens for Missouri’s Children (CMC), a child and youth advocacy organization. She lobbied extensively and convened a youth development network that made significant headway in creating systems change in the state of Missouri. While at CMC, she also authored the Missouri Youth Development Policy Handbook and contributed to an amicus brief, petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the Juvenile Death Penalty. Elizabeth also led the “Invest in Missouri’s Children” Campaign, which secured tobacco settlement dollars for early childhood and youth development. Elizabeth has made advocating for youth the focus of much of her career, beginning with direct service efforts in community-based youth programs and advocacy work on the state and federal level.
