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Meet Families First....
Our Director
Our Staff

Our Executive Director

 

Beth Winson
Beth became the Executive Director of Families First in June of 2007.

 

A personal note:

Life is full of surprises. The fact that I am the Director of Families First was as much a surprise to me as it was a natural and intentional progression. While serving in a board position at my son's preschool, I wanted to use the knowledge and experience I'd gained to work in the non-profit sector. One day, knowing about Families First and its history in the neighborhood, I met with Linda Blyer and offered to help out. I volunteered to put a "Donate Now" button on our website.Once involved, I fell in love with Families First and the community it has created over the years. I wanted to get more involved. So, I offered to help with a major technology grant and I joined the Families First board. In short, I was excited about the prospect of helping.

 

With 20 years experience owning and operating small businesses, combined with my experience from the preschool board, Families First was a natural extension of my professional and personal work. I am the mother of two school-aged boys, and at work, I have been a marketing and business planning consultant, a technical writer, and a writer of educational materials. This was a perfect resume for this wonderful place. But there was more. As I became more involved with Families First, I was struck by the profound love and sense of community that Families First has created and fosters. It was that sense of community, along with an opportunity to use my professional skills for a truly worthy cause, that made Families First a home for me.

 

I'm no longer surprised by this turn of events, just very excited to be here and energized to move our little haven for families into a surprising and exciting future.

 

 

Our Teaching Staff

Sarah Aller
Sarah Aller is a sculptor and illustrator residing in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. She holds a BA from SUNY Purchase and has been teaching arts and crafts to children of all ages for over six years. Previously she taught with the South Street Seaport Museum and in the children's oncology ward at Brooklyn Hospital Center through The Creative Center. Sarah has been teaching both Arts and Crafts and Little Scientists at Families First for four years. Her approach to teaching children is to offer them a varied assortment of materials and allow them to make choices and practice fine motor skills while exploring the wonders of the world around us.

Amie Keys Block, LCSW

Amie Block, LCSW, is a mother of two children and an individual and group psychotherapist who conducts the Newborn Discussion groups at Families First. Her parenting services include support groups at the Children's Museum Of Manhattan. Past experiences include work with chemically dependent parents at the Educational Alliance. She has a private practice treating both individuals and groups at Broadway Psychotherapy Associates in Manhattan. Ms. Block received her master's degree from the New York University School of Social Work. She is graduate of the NYU Psychoanalytic Institute.

 

 

Dinna Alexanyan

Dinna is both a dancer and a marriage and family counselor and she uses her expertise in both fields to create special movement classes for children. She began her dance training at a young age, with the formal study of ballet, jazz, and theater. During her undergraduate years at UC Santa Cruz she traveled to East and West Africa, learning the traditional dances while teaching Street Jazz to the students at Nairobi University. Dinna entered the world of hip hop when she joined Dee Merideth's dance company in Santa Cruz and performed and choreographed with them for over a year.

  

Danielle Glanvill
Danielle Glanvill, a native New Yorker, has been a teacher of young children for the past decade. Danielle has a BA from Brooklyn College in Early Childhood Education, with a minor in Fine Arts. Her teaching is informed by the Bank Street philosophy, which is a child-centered approach to teaching.  Danielle started her career as a preschool teacher in Park Slope and has gone on to teach at various cultural institutions around the city and abroad, including the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens and the Transit Museum, which are among her favorites. A Teaching Artist, Danielle enjoys making art with children and has used art to teach ESOL during a summer abroad in China. She can now effectively communicate in Mandarin Chinese. Danielle and her son Matias also enjoy being members and part of the family at Families First.

 

Laura Hays

Laura Hays graduated in 1997 with a BS in Social Work from Abilene Christian University. While she was at ACU she had the privilege of singing with several professional groups. She earned an MA in Teaching from The College of New Jersey in 2001. Laura taught first grade until the birth of her daughter in 2003. Since then Laura has attended (approximately) 1000 music classes of all types with her daughter around the city. She created her "Musical Mayhem" class as an answer and alternative to existing music classes.

   

 

Rachel Malinowitzer, M.Ed

Rachel Malinowitzer, M.Ed., is a licensed psychotherapist working in the field for 20 years. Her focus and expertise centers around the potent emotional relationship between children and custodial adults (parents, caregivers and teachers). She is a consultant within many day care centers, pre-schools, private and public elementary schools, family programs and residential treatment facilities in the tri-state area, offering assistance to children, parents and educational staff. She lectures and provides workshops for the Board Of Jewish Education, Families First Inc, and the Board Of Education of NYC. She has a private practice in Brooklyn Heights treating children, adults, couples and groups.

 

Atsushi Ohashi

With over 20 years of experience as an art educator and an artist, Atsushi Ohashi encourages children to continue to express themselves creatively and open their minds to the beauty of life and nature around them. Atsushi’s instruction methods ensure that children can use simple, powerful techniques to produce creative, good-looking, and satisfying results in 30 or 40 minutes. Before moving to New York in 1996, Atsushi was a Tokyo-based artist and a lecturer at the prestigious Tokyo National University of Fine Arts.

                                      

Ellynne Skove

Ellynne has a background in dance, Orff music education, yoga, and developmental movement. A New York State licensed creative arts therapist, Ellynne has developed numerous dance/movement therapy programs in local schools. She has created specialized curricula for children with special needs and for those who are more typically developing.

Jane Heaphy, Vice President grew up in Cobble Hill and brings a wealth of non-profit management experience to Families First. Jane is a Program Director at the OPTIONS Center for Educational and Career Choice at the Goddard Riverside Community Center.

Katherine Rosin-Green has worked as a publicist and marketing expert in the film and entertainment industry since 1995. Katie lives in Cobble Hill with her husband, Omri Green, 14 year old brother-in-law, Orin Conn, and 15 month old son, TJ.

Jacqueline McMahon Smith is the mother of four children; Daniel, Patrick, Clair and Carolyn. Her family has benefited from the programs, friendships and community provided by Families First since the twins were little. Now that the children are all in school, Jackie is working as a Special Assistant Attorney General to prosecute welfare fraud for the NYS Office of the Welfare Inspector General. Jackie was an active member of Families First for many years, and served two terms as president of the Board.

Denise Tilles lives in Cobble Hill with husband Douglas Hanau, daughters Leigh, 4 and Honor, 2, and two cats. Both girls have been taking advantage of Families First and all of its offerings since their (very) early days. Denise is the managing editor of CondeNet's magazine Web sites. This is her third term on the Board of Families First.

Serena Winters lived in Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill for 9 years and now lives in Windsor Terrace. She and her husband Jeffrey joke about opening a Families First annex in Windsor Terrace, but until then Serena and her son William, born in 2001, are happy to commute to us by bus. Serena has enjoyed Families First since William was in utero and has served as a board member since 2001.