Avo Makdessian is the Executive Director for the First 5 Association of California, where he leads the strategy and direction of the Association, which represents the 58 county First 5 commissions, as well as its complementary Foundation, and the First 5 Center for Children’s Policy. In his prior role, Avo was Vice President of Silicon Valley Community Foundation where he led a team focused on connecting philanthropists to community investment opportunities, funding actionable research, impact investing, and multi-sector collective impact initiatives. Avo is the founding director of the foundation’s Center for Early Learning – a comprehensive center of grantmaking, research, and state/local advocacy for young children and families. He also led the foundation’s regional grantmaking for COVID-19 response providing millions of dollars to support families with affordable housing, food, and financial assistance. Prior to joining the foundation, Avo was Policy Director of First 5 Santa Clara County where he implemented First 5’s research agenda, public policy advocacy, and community outreach efforts. Earlier in his career Avo served as the Director of Education and Neighborhood Services for the San Jose Mayor’s Office focusing on early childhood development, neighborhood revitalization, gang prevention, K-12 education, and public health. Avo serves on the Ad Council’s Advisory Committee on Public Issues and volunteers for several local causes in the Bay Area. Avo attended San Jose State University where he majored in political science.

Siana Amos is the Administrative Coordinator for First 5 Association of California. Prior to joining the Association, Siana supported communications, community outreach, and regional sustainability initiatives with the County of San Diego, and volunteer management and advocacy efforts through her work with Voices for Children. She brings expertise in program coordination, project management, and nonprofit development as well as a deep passion for supporting children and families. Siana received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies with an emphasis in Public Service and Community Engagement and her Master of Nonprofit Administration degree from University of San Francisco.

Courtney Armstrong is the Director of Government Affairs for First 5 Association. Prior to joining the Association, Courtney worked in HIV, hepatitis C and STD policy and advocacy, serving as the Senior Policy Officer at the LA County Department of Public Health’s Division of HIV and STD Programs and before that as the Vice President of Policy at San Francisco AIDS Foundation. In those roles, she was responsible for directing local and statewide legislative, budget and administrative advocacy work, and aligning the organization with partnership opportunities. She also provided leadership and coordination of the California End the Epidemics Coalition, a coalition of organizations and health departments from across the state calling on the Governor and Legislature to end the HIV, viral hepatitis, STD and overdose epidemics. She received her Master of Public Health degree with an emphasis on Health Policy from the School of Public Health at the University of California at Berkeley.

For the past 20 years, Tiana has been known as a behind-the-scenes, secret weapon for small to large companies, local to national non-profits, and industry associations. She’s worked with organizations such as March of Dimes and Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors to help achieve their goals through strategic branding, digital marketing, project management, and graphic design. When she’s not working, she enjoys collecting any and all cat things, karaoke, music theory, Star Trek, and continuous improvement.

Kristine Dobson is the Director of Finance and Operations for the First 5 Association of California. Kristine oversees budget and fiscal processes for the organization and projects. Kristine plays an integral role in the organization’s REDI (Race, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) initiative and other operational goals. Kristine brings expertise, experience and energy across a range of areas including nonprofit operational management, fiscal and grants management, IT, marketing, HR and contracts management. She is a collaborative, proactive systems builder and a creative problem solver with a continuous improvement mindset and skillset. Kristine has a background in operations executive leadership in technology startup companies and recently completed her law degree and passed the California State Bar Examination.

Melanie Flood is the Director of Communications for the First 5 Association of California, as well as its complementary Foundation, and the First 5 Center for Children’s Policy. Prior to joining the Association, Melanie was the Director of Development & Communications for Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services. Previously, Melanie was the Director of Communications for Social Enterprise UK (a strategic partner of the Cabinet Office) and the UK Fashion & Textile Association (a trade challenge partner of the Department for International Trade). Melanie is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles and the American Conservatory Theater’s Master of Fine Arts program in San Francisco. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Co-Chair for The National Organization for Rare Disorders Policy & Advocacy Task Force.

Jaren has experience as a health policy analyst at the MITRE Corporation in Washington, D.C.

At MITRE, he worked on multiple projects supporting the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, including working to implement a health equity component into federal quality reporting and value-based care programs. Jaren also previously worked at the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, where he focused on state economic and family supports policies.

Jaren holds Bachelor’s Degrees in Economics and Political Science from the University of California, Davis and a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs from The LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

Shelby is the Senior Executive Administrator of the First 5 Association and CA Children & Families Foundation. Her solution-oriented approach and skillful handling of communications, schedules, and details keep Association projects on track and executed seamlessly. Before working at First 5, she was a financial assistant for clients through a Bay Area CPA firm. During the 0-5 years with her son, she remotely assisted entrepreneurs with their start-up office management needs.

Alexandra leads the implementation of research and policy analysis work for First 5 Center.

Before joining First 5 Center, Alexandra was a program officer at First 5 LA. In L.A. she supported local implementation of Help Me Grow, a national model to improve developmental screening rates and service coordination for children with developmental and behavioral delays. Alexandra previously worked at MDRC, a social policy research organization, on a national evaluation of the effectiveness of home visiting programs.

Alexandra holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Fairfield University and a master’s degree in public affairs from Princeton University.

As Managing Director, Sarah leads the First 5 Center for Children’s Policy in establishing and implementing its strategic direction. She collaborates with early childhood thought leaders to study and design innovative policy solutions to entrenched challenges in California’s early childhood systems.

Prior to her role at the First 5 Center, Sarah was the Strategic Information and Planning Manager at First 5 Contra Costa County, where she led data collection, management, evaluation, and advocacy efforts to improve developmental outcomes for young children. She has also held leadership positions in early childhood research and advocacy at Bay Area nonprofits The Opportunity Institute and Next Generation.

Sarah holds a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature from Oberlin College and a Masters of Public Policy from the University of Michigan. She lives in Berkeley with her husband and two fabulous kids.