BOOST Collaborative

For more than 20 years, Tia Quinn has worked at all levels of programming in the field of after school, supporting out-of school time programs throughout the nation via training, technical assistance, quality assurance, and program development. In addition to serving youth through not-for-profits in Hartford, CT and San Diego, Tia spent the first part of her west coast experience working at an after school program and later as a Program Director, overseeing programming at 65 before and after school programs through Harmonium Children’s Services, one of the largest after school providers in California. Tia also served for 5 years as the Co Lead for Region 9 Technical Assistance Center, After School programs at the San Diego County Office of Education. In this capacity, she supported over 600 after school program sites in San Diego, Orange and Imperial Counties, serving over 50,000 students annually. While in this role Tia managed numerous regional and statewide committees and after school initiatives including the well known After School Math website www.afterschoolmath.org and the After School Content Literacy Project for California in collaboration with the California Department of Education and San Diego State University.

In the regional lead capacity, Tia and her team were the 2005 recipients of the California School Board Association’s Golden Bell Award for Partnerships and Collaboratives as well as the Cities, Counties, and Schools (CCS) Partnership Award 2005. Additionally, Tia is the recipient of the 2001 Director of the Year, awarded by Mentor San Diego; and the California School-Age Consortium’s 2006 Award of Excellence, Program Administrator of the Year. A proud moment was having a research paper, Children of Divorce, A Population At Risk, published in Spectrum, an undergraduate scholarly journal, during undergraduate studies in Psychology and Sociology, University of Hartford. Tia serves on the Board of Directors for Eveoke Dance Theatre in San Diego and supports the pursuit of Eveoke’s mission to cultivate compassionate social action. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Center for Collaborative Solutions, Sacramento, CA and believes in the CCS mission to help others discover innovative and effective ways to achieve shared goals. Most recently, Tia is a member of the Mission Hills Town Council in San Diego to directly impact the community where she lives.

As an Out-of-School Time Consultant, Tia presents customized workshops and staff development seminars at numerous local, state and national conferences. Tia works closely with school district administrators, CEO’s, non-profit agencies, program directors, supervisors, and line staff to increase student retention, promote academic achievement, and overall student success through quality staff development opportunities. With contracts throughout the U.S., Tia trains on topics such as No Parent Left Behind, Positive Discipline, Professionalism, Creating Community Partnerships, as well as intensive work in the area of Staff and Program Leadership, and assisting programs serving older youth through student surveys and focus groups.

Tia is the Founder and Executive Director of the BOOST (Best of Out-of-School Time) Collaborative, supporting out-of-school time professionals through quality professional development opportunities, program and resource development, building community partnerships, promoting the importance of quality out-of-school time programming, opportunities to share promising practices, and a variety of consulting services. She is the founder of the Annual BOOST (Best of Out-of-School Time) Conference in Palm Springs, California, one of the nation’s largest conferences for after school and out-of-school time professionals, bringing together all levels of key stakeholders to initiate change and inspire quality programming. Tia is passionate about creating positive change for today’s youth as well as the people, communities, and partners supporting them in the out-of-school time hours.

Kathy Lewis is Vice President and COO of the Center for Collaborative Solutions (CCS) where she has managed the Healthy Behaviors Initiative since 2007.  She passionately supports afterschool programs as key players in the fight against childhood obesity.  Kathy serves on a variety of advisory boards and shares that afterschool programs are ideal venues for improving the health of our children.  She serves on the Leadership Team for the CA AfterSchool Network as well as on its Nutrition and Physical Activity Committee; on the California School Boards Association’s School Health Advisory Committee; as the vice-chair of the CA Action for Healthy Kids executive committee, and on the ASAPconnect Advisory Committee.

Kathy first became involved with CCS when she was Deputy Superintendent for Child, Youth and Family Services at the California Department of Education, where she was responsible for afterschool programs.  CCS served as the afterschool intermediary for the CA Afterschool Partnership, and helped new afterschool programs address all kinds of issues.  After leaving the Department, Kathy joined the CCS Board of Directors.

Kathy’s background includes working in state government for 30 years, overseeing a variety of programs at the CA Department of Social Services and  the CA Employment Development Department.  After retiring from state service and before coming to CCS in 2007, Kathy returned to state government to work on numerous high profile projects at the Health and Human Services Agency and the CA Department of Social Services.  She is passionate about helping government and the private sector work better through collaboration.  Kathy has a BA degree in English from Indiana University and a Master of Arts in English from the University of California, Santa Barbara.  She also completed the course work and qualifying exam for a Ph.D. in English at University of California, Santa Barbara.