Kristen Brennan, Executive Director, has been with Fairfax Partnership for Youth since 2002, first as a community member of the Mentoring Task Force, then as a staff program manager beginning in March 2004, and finally, as the Executive Director, in 2010. Kristen began working with and for under-served youth and families in 1998 as a family advocate for a Head Start program serving 300 low-income families in New York State. At Head Start she went on to manage family and community partnerships which involved supervision of family services, and child abuse and maltreatment recognition training and reporting. After moving to VA and before joining the staff of FPY, she worked as a program coordinator for FACETS, where she oversaw community center programs, including youth mentoring, in a subsidized housing community. Kristen enjoys advocating for families with limited resources as a result of her own background coming from a single-parent, low-resource family. Kristen recognizes the role that caring mentors and meaningful educational opportunities played in her own life, and is committed to improving access to these resources for all youth.
Kristen earned her B.S. in Psychology with honors from the University of Kansas in 1997. She is also a trained community mediator, and has been responsible for effectively training colleagues in a variety of areas, including Recognition and Reporting of Child Abuse and Neglect, Cultural Competency, Client Confidentiality, and Mentoring. She also has an art/design background which allows her to bring an element of creativity to her work. She is the mother of two children who attend Fairfax County Public Schools.
Mary Beth Waite joined FPY in August 2011. As Community Education Coordinator, she focuses on training, lectures, and workshops related to key FPY initiatives, including youth mental wellness, bullying prevention, mentoring, and more. Mary Beth has begun working on our Mental Wellness Workshop Series as well as an upcoming Youth Mental Wellness Handbook. Mary Beth brings a background in counseling and a passion for helping others to FPY.
Mary Beth has a B.S. degree in psychology from Virginia Tech. She also earned a master’s degree in community counseling from George Washington University in 2008. Mary Beth has experience working for both non-profit and government agencies with an emphasis in serious mental illness. She interned at Suburban Hospital, Arlington County, and PRS, Inc. After graduating with her M.A., she continued to work for PRS, Inc. until she came upon the opportunity to work for the City of Alexandria in their Clubhouse setting. A Nationally Certified Counselor, Mary Beth hopes to become licensed in the future.
Betty Harvey is a retired Federal employee after serving 36 years. During that time, she was also busy raising two daughters and going to college to finish her BA degree in Accounting. However, her career took her in the direction of software development and project management. As a result, Betty was responsible for leading many projects in her job plus continued to handle her regular work as she learned 36 plus payment applications maintained in operations and the changes required meeting legislative requirements or assisting in developing enhancements to these systems. She worked for the Department of Treasury, Financial Management Service (known as the Government’s Financial Manager) and held several positions over the years as she worked her way up to Project Manager/IT Specialist.
Since retiring in January of 2009, Betty has been interested in working part-time for a non-profit organization where she could keep up her skills and learn new business lines. She joined the FPY staff in January, 2010, as our Office Manager. Betty was also interested in doing community work and stay busy, and being employed with FPY allows her to do both. Thus far, her retirement has been really enjoyable as the FPY folks she works with are truly great and that makes her ‘second’ career that much better.
