About Us
We are a community-driven coalition in San Mateo County bringing together public agencies, families, providers, advocates, businesses, and community partners to improve outcomes for children and families.
Born from partnerships strengthened during the COVID-19 pandemic, The Children’s Collective has grown into a coordinated effort to address the interconnected systems that shape childhood and family wellbeing.
Together, we align around shared goals, elevate children and families as a central priority, and advance solutions that strengthen our communities, support working families, and create the conditions for every child to thrive.
Building a Brighter Future for Our Children
Our Mission
The Children’s Collective works to improve outcomes for children and families by aligning community voices, advancing policy solutions, and driving coordinated, system-level change across San Mateo County. Through collaboration, connection, and community leadership, the Collective mobilizes families, providers, public agencies, and cross-sector partners to strengthen the systems that support early childhood, family stability, and long-term opportunity.
Mission Statement:
Uniting communities to champion children and families and build a thriving future for every child.
Our Vision
The Children’s Collective envisions a future where every child and family in San Mateo County has access to the care, resources, and opportunities they need to thrive. In the near term, the organization will guide implementation of the Child Care Blueprint while expanding collaboration across public agencies, community organizations, and business leaders. Over time, the Collective aims to become a permanent organization, driving bold initiatives, strengthening systems that support families, and shaping policies that improve outcomes for generations to come.
Vision Statement:
A just and thriving community where every child and family has the support they need to flourish.
Our Purpose
The Children’s Collective exists to ensure that children and families are centered in the systems that shape our communities. By bringing together voices from across sectors—families, educators, advocates, government leaders, and businesses—the Collective transforms shared priorities into coordinated action. Its purpose is to advance children and families as a foundational investment in community wellbeing, economic stability, and long-term opportunity, while building the partnerships and momentum required to drive meaningful, system-wide change.
Visualizing The Collective
Our Team
Andrea Jones
DIRECTOR, THE CHILDREN'S COLLECTIVE
Andrea Jones brings more than 20 years of experience in philanthropy, nonprofit leadership, education, youth development, and community building to her role as Director of The Children’s Collective. She is a values-driven leader who believes communities can create lasting change by working together around a shared vision.
Andrea has led teams, built public-private partnerships, and developed community-driven strategies across philanthropy, education, and nonprofit sectors. She brings deep experience in collective impact, fundraising, evaluation, and organizational growth, grounded in a commitment to equity, collaboration, and measurable impact.
She holds a Master’s degree in Education and spent 10 years teaching expressive arts, creative writing, and photography. Andrea lives in Redwood City with her husband and daughter, is a member of the SMC Arts Commission and was inducted into the San Mateo County Women's Hall of Fame in 2026.
Operations Support
Dayna Chung (She/Her)
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COMMUNITY EQUITY COLLABORATIVE
Dayna Chung is Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Community Equity Collaborative, a nonprofit incubator that connects people, ideas, and resources to build resilient communities so children and families can thrive.
Her work, from workforce development and climate action to advancing the San Mateo County Child Care Blueprint, focuses on strengthening early childhood systems. Dayna also serves on the San Mateo County Commission on the Status of Women, co-leads KQED’s Community Advisory Panel, and serves on the boards of Canopy and the Brazelton Touchpoints Center. She earned her MBA in International Management from the University of London.
Jennifer Sheldon
DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNITY EQUITY COLLABORATIVE
Jennifer Sheldon is Director of Program Development at Community Equity Collaborative, where she works with partners to advance initiatives that improve outcomes for children and families. She brings extensive experience in strategy, program design, business development, and organizational growth across the nonprofit and private sectors. Previously, Jennifer led new initiatives at Partners in School Innovation, a nonprofit focused on strengthening schools by empowering educators. She has also served on the boards of Windmill Preschool and There With Care and continues to volunteer in San Mateo County schools. A Bay Area native, Jennifer earned her B.A. in Psychology from Stanford University and her MBA from the Yale School of Management.
Action Roundtable
The Action Roundtable is a community-focused accountability and thought partnership body guiding implementation of the San Mateo County Child Care Blueprint. Bringing together systems leaders, providers, community leaders, direct-service practitioners, and parent leadership, the Roundtable helps track progress, identify challenges and opportunities, strengthen alignment, and keep the work focused on meaningful outcomes for children and families.
The Roundtable works alongside Blueprint lead agencies, CCPC committees, and The Children’s Collective to support coordinated implementation while ensuring community voice and lived experience remain central to the work.
Laura Armanino
RECREATION MANAGER, SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO PARKS AND RECREATION
Laura Armanino is a Recreation Program Manager for the City of South San Francisco, bringing 33 years of dedicated City service and extensive leadership and expertise in childcare and recreation. She spent 30 years in the City’s Childcare Division, advancing from Recreation and Community Services Program Coordinator to Childcare Supervisor, where she oversaw three preschool and six after-school programs serving more than 700 children daily. Her extensive experience spans program development, staff leadership, grant-funded services, inclusive recreation, event planning, and operational management. A longtime advocate for inclusive recreation, Laura also helped establish the City’s Full of Fun program for teens and young adults with disabilities. She holds a B.S. in Recreation from Cal State Hayward and has dedicated her career to creating welcoming, high-quality programs where people of all ages and abilities can participate, connect, and thrive.
Michelle Blakely
INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FIRST FIVE SAN MATEO COUNTY
Michelle Blakely, Deputy Director provides executive leadership in all aspects of F5SMC’s work, including strategy, program development, evaluation design, budget planning, advocacy, and Commission/Board engagement. She works closely with the Executive Director, to implement the vision and mission, and serves on various steering committees and advisory groups. Prior to joining First 5, Michelle worked as an early education consultant and board member for a variety of projects and agencies in the SF Bay Area and in Texas. She has extensive experience in direct service, child & family supports, facilitation and collective impact having worked in Early Head Start, Early Intervention, and private philanthropy for over 30 plus years
YuFang Chien
DIRECTOR OF INCLUSIVE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, ABILITY PATH
YuFang brings more than 20 years of experience in Early Childhood Education, specializing in Early Childhood Special Education and inclusion. Since 2005, she has dedicated her career to supporting and advocating for young children of all abilities and their families, with a particular focus on autistic and neurodivergent children. She began her career as an early childhood special educator at Learning Links’ first preschool in Burlingame, teaching in both special day and inclusive classrooms. Her work focused on creating inclusive learning environments, integrating Non-Public School services, and collaborating with Special Education Local Plan Areas to expand opportunities for children with disabilities to learn and participate alongside their peers. YuFang currently serves as Director of Inclusive Early Childhood Education at AbilityPath’s Learning Links Preschools, leading inclusive education across five programs in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. She works closely with families, educators, and multidisciplinary professionals to build responsive environments where every child can meaningfully participate, connect, learn, and thrive.
Karen Corzine
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COASTSIDE CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER
Karen Corzine has served as the Executive Director of Coastside Child Development Center since 2001. She has more than 30 years of experience in childcare, early intervention, and the education of children from birth through age six. She also has more than 25 years of experience working in the mental health field, addressing issues related to child abuse, trauma, domestic violence, families, and infant and early childhood mental health. Karen holds a B.A. in Psychology from Western Washington University and a B.A. in Human Development, with a concentration in Child Development, from California State University, Long Beach. She also earned an M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Golden Gate University and a certificate in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation from Georgetown University.
David Fleishman
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 4Cs OF SAN MATEO COUNTY
David has served as Executive Director of 4Cs of San Mateo County for 12 years, following six years as Early Learning Program Specialist with First 5 San Mateo County. After arriving from the East Coast in 1999, he spent many years in San Francisco, where he helped redesign San Francisco Unified School District’s special education services, served as a preschool site director, developed and implemented assessment protocols for Preschool-for-All, and was Director of Provider Services with Wu Yee Children’s Services. David has served as an officer and committee chair with local planning councils in both San Francisco (CPAC) and San Mateo (CCPC) Counties. He currently serves as Board President of the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network. David says it all began many lifetimes ago, in a far-off land, when he walked into a preschool as part of a psychology class in college and thought it was the coolest thing he had ever seen.
Lizeth A. Hernandez
EDUCATION DIRECTOR, PUENTE DE LA COSTA SUR
Lizeth A. Hernandez possesses a powerful combination of strategic organizational leadership, high-level advocacy, and community-embedded practice designed to advance educational equity. They excel at building and directing comprehensive, cradle-to-career pipelines, with specific expertise in early childhood education supported by a Site Supervisor Permit. Their skillset spans rigorous, equity-focused research—honed at UCLA—as well as regional collaboration to strengthen educational infrastructure and accessibility for marginalized and immigrant families in San Mateo County's rural South Coast. Grounded by a Master’s in Education from Stanford University, Hernandez effectively translates complex systemic research and policy into impactful, bilingual community programming.
Belen Martinez
VICE PRESIDENT, ORGANIZING - BAY AREA, INNOVATE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Belén brings 20 years of experience in community organizing and secondary education, with a deep commitment to educational equity and grassroots leadership. She began organizing with the PICO Network (Faith in Action) in Berkeley, where she worked on immigration, health care, community safety, and educational success for students of color. She led efforts to end car impoundments of unlicensed drivers, resulting in a City of Berkeley ordinance that became a state model, and collaborated with the Mayor’s Office and youth from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds to reduce youth violence. At Innovate, Belén led efforts to advance language equity, partnering with parent leaders to secure unanimous support from the San Francisco School Board for transformative translation and interpretation policies. This work contributed to Senate Bill 445, with potential statewide impact for students and families. During the pandemic, she coordinated a parent-led campaign that brought high-quality tutoring to more than 2,000 low-income students. Today, Belén continues advancing educational equity through grassroots organizing across the Bay Area.
Jennifer Mayman
CHILD CARE PARTNERSHIP COUNCIL COORDINATOR, SAN MATEO OFFICE OF EDUCATION
Jennifer Mayman is the Coordinator of the Child Care Partnership Council (CCPC) at the San Mateo County Office of Education. Jennifer has worked in early childhood education in several different capacities – from the classroom to nonprofits to local government. Most recently, she worked for WestEd E3 (Excellence in Early Education) as the QRIS Coordinator for Santa Clara County. Her previous experience includes working on Child Care and Head Start budget and policy issues at the New York City Office of Management and Budget, and on UPK implementation in New York City. Jennifer holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy and a Bachelor’s degree in history, both from the University of Michigan.
Christine Padilla
DIRECTOR, BUILD UP SAN MATEO COUNTY
Christine Padilla is the Director of Build Up San Mateo County, a cross-sector initiative working to expand, preserve, and improve child care and early learning facilities. Since 2018, Christine has brought together early childhood leaders, local governments, philanthropy, developers, and community partners to advance policies and investments that recognize child care as essential community infrastructure. Her work has helped leverage millions of dollars for child care facilities, integrate child care into local planning and development, and advance climate resilience in early learning environments, including San Mateo County’s Early Childhood Climate Action Plan. Christine serves on the San Mateo County Child Care Partnership Council and is a founding advisor to Build Up California. Her work is grounded in the belief that equitable access to child care requires supporting children, families, and educators while also transforming the systems and communities in which child care operates.
Jennifer Pifeleti
DEPUTY DIRECTOR, IZZI EARLY EDUCATION
Jennifer Pifeleti is the Deputy Director for Izzi Early Education. With over two decades in the Early Education field, she leads the day to day operations of the Head Start/State Preschool program, including the innovative EarlySpark CDA pathway to recruit staff into the ECE profession and address the teacher shortage that has widely affected the field. Jennifer began as a preschool teacher in 2001, transitioned into management roles in 2013, and has worked in both public and private child care settings. She has taught Leadership and Administration in ECE at SFSU. She holds a B.A. in Child and Adolescent Development, and an M.A. in Early Childhood Education from San Francisco State University. Her studies focused on the effectiveness of coaching as a professional development tool.
Nora Razon
PROGRAM DIRECTOR | SAN MATEO COUNTY, RENAISSANCE ENTREPRENEURSHIP CENTER
Nora Razón is the San Mateo County Program Director at Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, where she works alongside entrepreneurs and small business owners to build businesses that create greater stability and opportunity for themselves and their families. Her work has long centered on children, families, and economic opportunity, and today includes supporting family child care providers as both caregivers and small business owners. Nora is also a mom, which brings another layer to how she understands the realities families face in finding child care, balancing work and family, and building financial stability. She brings both lived and professional experience to the Action Roundtable, along with a belief that the people closest to these challenges should have a meaningful voice in shaping the solutions.
Fred Slone
SENIOR DIRECTOR OF INSTITUTIONAL GIVING, BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF THE PENINSULA
Fred Slone serves as a Senior Director at Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula (BGCP), the largest expanded learning provider in San Mateo County, serving over 6,000 youth per year. Fred brings more than 30 years of leadership experience across the nonprofit, government, education, and workforce sectors. Previously, he served as Executive Director of the San Mateo County Workforce Investment Board, leading countywide workforce and youth initiatives and working closely with public agencies, educational institutions, employers, and community-based organizations. He also spent a decade as Director of Operations at Benetech, where he helped significantly expand the reach of technology-based services for people with disabilities. Fred holds an MBA from the University of Michigan and bachelor’s degrees in Mathematics and Economics from Indiana University.
Christine Thorsteinson
SENIOR DIRECTOR, COMMUNITY IMPACT AND POLICY, SILICON VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
As Silicon Valley Community Foundation's Senior Director, Community Impact and Policy, Christine Thorsteinson works to ensure that all young children in Silicon Valley have access to the care, education, and resources they need to grow and flourish and that our early care workforce is well-prepared and fairly compensated. Recognizing the critical importance of the first years of a child’s life, and the subsequent impact on future success, Christine strives to support local, state, and federal efforts to dismantle the systemic barriers that stack the deck against our youngest, particularly those in under-resourced communities. Christine joined SVCF in 2016 and her earlier work included efforts to bridge the gaps between preschool and TK – 12 education systems and develop early learning leadership competencies.
Hayley Village
CEO/OWNER, IT TAKES A VILLAGE CHILDREN & FAMILY SERVICES
Hayley Village is the CEO and Founder of It Takes a Village Children & Family Services, bringing more than 45 years of experience in Early Childhood Education and a deep commitment to supporting children, families, and educators. A respected advocate and systems leader, Hayley serves on seven boards, including SMFCCO, BAPFCCN, CFCCN, 4Cs of San Mateo County, the 4Cs Director Support Network, the CACFP Community of Wellness Steering Committee, and the Child Care Partnership Council. She also chairs the national Home Grown Advisory Group, elevating authentic provider voices and advancing equitable policy for home-based educators. Hayley created the Glenys Village Humanitarian Awards to honor her late mother’s legacy of compassion and community service. She is an active member of the Catalyst Group, collaborating to strengthen quality systems across San Mateo County. Her work focuses on ensuring equitable access to high-quality care, meaningful representation, and a voice in decisions affecting children, families, and educators.
Linda R. Wolin
EXECUTIVE POLICY AND PROGRAM MANAGER, SAN MATEO COUNTY, OFFICE OF THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE
Linda R. Wolin has more than 25 years of experience in policy and strategy development across federal, state, and local government, including 10 years with San Mateo County. As a senior legislative aide and chief of staff to then-Supervisor Dave Pine, Linda helped develop and advance policies supporting children and families. Her work included spearheading an emergency program that supported learning hubs for children of first responders during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, helping establish a Gun Violence Prevention Program to ensure firearms are relinquished by individuals prohibited from possessing them due to civil restraining orders or felony convictions, and strengthening resources for the LGBTQIA+ community. Linda currently serves as Executive Policy and Program Manager in the County Executive’s Office, supporting implementation of the County’s Women and Children’s Action Plan, including its $10 million childcare initiative. She holds an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins SAIS and a BA from the University of Michigan.
Our Members
The Children’s Collective brings together families, providers, educators, advocates, public agencies, businesses, funders, and community partners working to strengthen support for children and families across San Mateo County. Download the current membership roster to see the organizations and individuals helping move this shared work forward.
Featured Funders
We are proud to collaborate with providers, schools, nonprofits, businesses, agencies and funders across San Mateo County who share our commitment to children and families.
