As chief executive officer of the newly formed Partnership Support Organization, JoEllen Lynch leads a key component of Chancellor Klein’s system-wide Children’s First initiative. With over twenty-three years of leadership experience, Ms. Lynch is a nationally recognized expert in youth development, education, and community change. Previously, she served as the executive director of the Office of Multiple Pathways to Graduation as well as the executive director of Youth Development. On the community-building frontlines, Ms. Lynch has functioned as the assistant executive director for community-based programs at Good Shepherd, where she pioneered and implemented a variety of community-strengthening and revitalization programs. She has also been a director of South Brooklyn Community High School (a national model for excellence in recuperative education), led the restructuring of the New Century Schools initiative, and developed both a middle school as well as one of the first of ten Beacon Centers in the Red Hook Community of Brooklyn. Ms. Lynch holds a master’s degree in psychology from New York University.