Sean Hughes has more than two decades of experience working on a broad range of public policy issues with a particular focus on children, youth, and families. As a Congressional staffer, he helped write and pass the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-351), which established the federal extended foster care and subsidized guardianship programs. Following his decade on Capitol Hill, Sean served for several years as Director of Congressional Affairs for the Child Welfare League of America before transitioning to consulting.

Sean possesses significant expertise in county, state, and federal policy and government affairs, including the legislative, budgeting, and regulatory processes as well as the Congressional appropriations process. He has extensive experience developing and executing policy and funding agendas and campaigns, both within government and as an advocate. 

Through his Congressional service and continued federal policy engagement, client work in several states, and ongoing participation in the Aspen Institute Opportunity Youth Forum as well as the American Bar Association Commission on Youth at Risk, Sean maintains a robust network of experts and partners throughout the country. 

Connect with Sean on Linkedin or send him an email at sean@socialchangepartners.com.

Reed Connell began his career working as a counselor to children in foster care, and for over 10 years provided direct service to young people in various settings—foster care, special education, transitional housing, and mental health programs.

He transitioned to policy work while earning a Master of Social Work degree at UC Berkeley. From 2009 to 2013, Reed served as the Executive Director of the Alameda County Foster Youth Alliance, an effective and highly visible local advocacy agency in the Bay Area.

Reed has worked with statewide and national coalitions to design, pass, and implement a range of important children's legislation, and has worked with numerous nonprofit organizations and government agencies on resource, program, and capacity development. Reed’s work at Social Change Partners focuses on developing and implementing advocacy initiatives, nonprofit and coalition capacity building, program design, and strategic planning.

Reed also currently serves as the Director of External Affairs for the California Children’s Trust, a statewide initiative that seeks to improve child well-being through policy and systems reform, and the Executive Director of A Home Within, a nationwide network of therapists who provide pro-bono services to foster youth. 

Connect with Reed on Linkedin or send him an email at reed@socialchangepartners.com.

Jessica Haspel has worked in a variety of public policy, advocacy, and legal roles focused on children and youth for more than 20 years. After receiving her Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School, Jessica provided direct legal representation to children and youth involved in child abuse and neglect proceedings in Cook County, Illinois, for nearly eight years. She also handled appeals and co-founded a nonprofit benefiting children in the Illinois child welfare system. 

In 2013, Jessica transitioned into public policy work in California. She led statewide advocacy and policy projects intersecting the child welfare and health fields for nearly a decade at Children Now, a nonprofit. While at Children Now, Jessica created and directed the Coveredtil26 project, which focused on effectively implementing a provision in the Affordable Care Act that benefits former foster youth; in its first three years, this project led to a fourfold increase in former foster youth enrollment in Medicaid in California. She also led implementation projects focused on the Family Urgent Response System and the Family First Prevention Services Act, among others. Jessica served for several years as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) in Alameda County.

Jessica has extensive experience collaborating and cultivating strong relationships with state and county agencies, youth, providers, and other stakeholders; providing technical assistance; developing tools, guidance, and recommendations; reviewing and analyzing policies, research, and legislation; synthesizing complex information; and writing and editing materials.

Katie Hubner brings over 20 years of experience to SCP working across the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Katie first became involved in child welfare and public agency work when she joined Santa Clara County’s Social Services Agency (SSA) as a Foster America fellow. While at SSA, Katie worked with executive leadership to design, implement, and evaluate multiple cross-system initiatives intended to improve outcomes for children and families involved in the child welfare system, including the county’s Comprehensive Prevention Plan to implement the Family First Prevention Services Program. In her later years at the county, she also led a team of Foster America fellows working across four Bay Area counties on child-welfare focused systems change projects as part of Tipping Point’s Better Futures Initiative

Prior to becoming a fellow, Katie’s work focused on strategy and operations for rapidly growing organizations, including an Africa-based nonprofit providing financing and training to subsistence farmers, multiple Bay Area tech companies, and an academic research organization that used randomized control trials to evaluate the effectiveness of various social welfare programs. She cares deeply about addressing systemic and institutionalized poverty. Katie holds a M.A. in International and Development Economics from the University of San Francisco, and a dual B.A. in History and International Economics from Boston College.

Ashley De Alba has nearly a decade of experience working on complex long and short-term research projects and specializes in project and data management. Ashley worked at the University of California, Davis where she helped implement and manage all aspects of grant-funded research projects focused on the implications of stressful family context, child and parent stress physiology, and predictors of mental health problems during adolescents using brain, behavior, and social contexts. Ashley also worked in non-profits where she managed main research publications and contributed secondary data from California’s public data sources. 

Ashley has both professional and first-hand experiences with child welfare issues, services, policies, research, and data. Additionally, she has been a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) and a youth advocate at the California Department of Social Services. Ashley is passionate about improving child well-being. Ashley holds a B.S. in Human Development and a Minor in Sociology from the University of California, Davis. She graduated with highest honors and was awarded the prestigious Charles E. Hess Community Service Award for her dedication and commitment to serving her community.

Mitch Findley began his career in the social services field at the age of 17 when his lived experience in foster care made him eligible to become one of the Founding Members of VOICES, the nation's first youth-led community center serving current and former foster youth in Napa, California. While at VOICES, Mitch helped to implement and develop three additional youth-led community centers in Santa Rosa, Santa Clara, and Monterey Counties.

Nearly two decades later, Mitch has continued his professional career through a handful of meaningful consulting opportunities, including serving as the Director of the Sonoma County Coalition for Foster Youth, supporting various youth-serving organizations such as A Home Within, Foster Youth in Action, California Youth Connection, and The Center for Transformative Healing. Mitch has his Bachelor's Degree from Sonoma State University, has served as a member of the National Foster Care & Alumni Policy Council, and has previously been recognized as Napa County's Youth Leader of the Year and Napa County's Red Cross Hero - Good Samaritan Hero.

Most recently, Mitch spent five years at Tipping Point Community as a Senior Planner supporting their five-year, $100 million Chronic Homelessness Initiative in San Francisco and in his final year in the role of Program Officer, Youth Homelessness, he developed, implemented, and supported 30+ organizations to participate in a Community of Practice focused on Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties. Mitch specializes in community and constituent engagement, project management, and program development.

Eliza comes to SCP with professional experience in public relations and project management; works on a variety of projects across many of our clients. As our program associate, she works with clients across all our focus areas on a variety of projects, ranging from research papers to workgroup facilitation. In addition to client work, she manages day to day operations and administration for SCP.

In her undergraduate studies at UCLA, she conducted extensive public policy research in their Economics department, specifically focusing on international finance and development aid. She also worked as a student journalist for the Daily Bruin, reporting on news around the local Los Angeles community.