Mary Jo (MJ) joined the team at Community Idea Stations, the PBS affiliate for the greater Richmond, VA region, as the Ready to Learn Project Manager in the fall of 2015. Ready to Learn is the PBS Kids outreach program designed to empower parents and childcare providers to use PBS resources to get their children ages 2-8 ready for success in school. In this capacity, Mary Jo oversees all the outreach and community partnerships for Central Virginia.

Prior to her current role, Mary Jo’s most recent appointment was with the Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Young Children. There she served as a policy field organizer working with volunteers and community partners to advocate for high quality Pre-K in Pennsylvania.

Mary Jo has a BS Summa Cum Laude in Elementary/Early Childhood Education from Gwynedd Mercy University and is a certified Early Childhood/Elementary teacher. She taught pre-school and ran afterschool programs for many years before becoming founder and Director of Germantown Academy’s Early Childhood Program for 13 years and then Director of St. Andrew’s Nursery School for five.