Our Team

Bruce previously served as the Executive Director with the Republic Bank Foundation YMCA with YMCA of Greater Louisville Kentucky, where he played a critical role in launching a new “Community Integrated Health” facility in December 2019. As executive director of the Republic Bank Foundation YMCA, Bruce was responsible for promoting a community integrated health strategy, in partnership with neighborhood groups, non-profits, community leaders and funders. Before joining the YMCA in Louisville, Bruce was first the operations director and then appointed to CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Decatur, Illinois where he spent almost 12 years. In Bruce’s tenure he led the organizations through multiple years of positive financial growth, served a record number of youth and his proudest professional highlight is partnering with the Howard G. Buffett Foundation to build a Teen Center which they opened in December of 2018. His passion for youth and families has allowed him to lead throughout his career with a servant heart.

Angie Okuda serves as Director, Capacity Building. She regularly interacts with a broad, diverse group of education practitioners, system and community leaders, parents and students to determine how effectively institutions and communities are functioning to achieve goals related to School readiness, Reading and Math Literacy, and other critical education outcomes. She identifies interventions that will achieve these outcomes and works hands-on with stakeholders within the ecosystem to execute their implementation. In this capacity, Angie uses her extensive training in Continuous Improvement to support improvement network endeavors and serves as quality improvement coach for Continuous Improvement and the application of CI principles and practices across the ecosystem.

Angie worked for seven years as the Resource Coordinator at Pleasant Ridge Montessori in Cincinnati Public Schools where she engaged community members, parents, program partners, and multiple stakeholders in developing a premier Community Learning Center and showcased her site to the U.S. Department of Education, and National Governors Association Center for Best Practices. She also sits on the board of Community Happens Here.

Christian Davis serves as the Parent Champion's Network Relationship Director. She starts each day with her favorite quote in mind: "When a flower doesn't bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower ( Alexander Den Heijer)". Driven by social theory, community engagement, and educational advocacy, she has a steadfast passion for breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty by creating and supporting life-altering opportunities throughout Cincinnati that support children and families.

Christian most recently served as Founder and CEO of Cincinnati Parent Empowerment Network; an Ohio Non-Profit Organization that leverages social media to streamline information about free/ low-cost community, social, and educational resources to local families. Her previous career experiences focused on K-20 education, case management

(service coordination), and ensuring single mothers successfully complete short-term credentialed workforce training programs.

A native Cincinnatian, Christian graduated from both Cincinnati State and Northern Kentucky University, studying in Human Services and Sociology. She went on to pursue a Master's Degree in Education and a Post-Master's Certificate in K-12 Educational Policy, Leadership, and Management. Christian looks forward to building a strong Parent Champion Network within the Greater Cincinnati area.

Jeffrey Gaver serves as Manager of Research and Impact for Cradle to Career Cincinnati. He supports the team in synthesizing both quantitative and qualitative data to identify opportunities for impact. He believes qualitative data from students, parents, and the community provide the critical context needed to properly frame and understand quantitative data. He supports the team integrating research, best practices, and findings in the work and advises on data collection tools, models and methodologies.

Jeffrey has a Master’s degree in Sociology and is studying for his PhD in Sociology from the University of Cincinnati, where he has also served as a research assistant, a graduate assistant for the Kunz Center for Social Research