Eddye Vanderkwaak
Senior Consultant
Pronouns: She/Her
Eddye has over a decade of experience working with issues of social justice, racial and ethnic equity, positive youth development, organizing, and community engagement. Eddye worked as the media and marketing coordinator for the W. Haywood Burns Institute (BI) where she served in establishing and promoting BI’s presence, product development and knowledge dissemination through a variety of communication platforms. Eddye served as the Lead Organizer for Foster Youth in Action, a grass-roots national organization seeking to build a movement led by young people to radically transform the foster care system, where she played a critical leadership role in the design, implementation and development of an international Organizer’s Fellowship. Locally in her home state of Iowa, Eddye served as a Child Protective Worker with the State of Iowa Department of Human Services, as well as the Restorative Justice Specialist with Iowa Juvenile Court Services (JCS). More recently, Eddye partnered with Urbandale Community School District and the community as the Facilitator of Family Outreach (FFO) to meaningfully engage and serve children and families in pursuit of academic achievement and success. As a Senior Consultant with Maddy Day LLC & Associates, Eddye contributes to literature reviews and the development of tools and resources to eliminate disparities in the child welfare system. Eddye has been a Fellow with the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative since 2011 and is known for her commitment to uplifting and strengthening the families and youth that come in contact with these systems.