Staff Members

Courtney Sullivan, MBA is the Executive Director of the Arizona Center for Afterschool Excellence. Coming from a family of educators, Courtney has always been passionate about education, students and the importance of supporting youth as they become the next generation of leaders and teachers. Courtney’s early professional career was focused on marketing and communications in the nonprofit sector. After getting her MBA from ASU, she moved into management and advocacy. Courtney is excited to bring the vast network of out of school time providers and supporters together to help Arizona youth succeed and thrive.

Ryan is a production specialist by training and an event manager by trade. She has worked with Hollywood productions, arts festivals, and several education foundations. With over 10 years event management and communications experience she is a great asset for leading the efforts for AZ CASE professional development workshops, out of school time resource distribution, and coordination of our Fall Schools Out, Make it Count Conference.

Susan is a graduate of The University of Michigan and comes from a background in sales, marketing, and customer service.  She has always been passionate about education and helping children. She founded a local charity in 1997 to redistribute gently used goods to needy children and families resettling in the United States. Susan spent many hours hands-on helping in classrooms and being a reading mentor. She has also worked in marketing and development at a private K-8 school, was Director of Customer Service for a strengths-based peer tutoring educational organization, and spent several years at a nonprofit in a variety of roles.

Jessica (she/her) has been creating quality, empowering programming for children and youth for over 25 years.   Her work began as an out-of-school time practioner for performing arts programs around the country.   Most recently Jessica spent 15 years designing and directing programs for Free Arts for Abused Children of Arizona.  In 2017 Jessica was selected one of 22 national Change Leader through the Ashoka Children’s Wellbeing Initiative.  She is a certified trainer in the Youth Quality Programs Assessment tool, Adverse Childhood Experiences and Trauma Informed Care, Kids at Hope, and Strong Communities Raise Strong Kids methods.  She teaches and presents nationally on the intersection of arts and resilience.   Jessica holds a BA in theatre from Arizona State University with advanced studies from the University of London.  She loves puppets, hip hop dance, backpacking, googly eyes, exploring new places, and hearing people’s stories.

Michael (he/him) graduated with his bachelors in Psychology followed by a masters in Education from Arizona State University. He spent 3 years teaching within the classroom before transitioning out of the classroom to help create an impact on a larger scale. He has spent countless hours volunteering with youth as well as providing resources to many different communities. Outside of work Michael spends his time staying active, reading, or spending time with his cat, Rupert.

Amber Folkman is the Manager of School Relationships and Impact for the SARSEF team. She loves engaging with SARSEF’s young learners by facilitating science and engineering-based workshops which lay a foundation for a scientific mindset of lifelong learners. Amber brings a global and multi-cultural experience to her work at SARSEF. Her education career began with a bachelor’s degree in special education from a small university in Hawaii and continued for the next decade teaching in Washington, Utah, Manila, Philippines, Texas, and now Arizona. While in Manila, she taught at Korean International School of the Philippines and International School Manila, which represented over 52 countries. She was involved in several dignified outreach programs to create equitable support for mothers and children in economically disadvantaged urban communities. Amber also ran a social media company to support place attachment, a concept in environmental psychology that defines a relationship between a person and a place. Her work helped foreign and local community members love where they live. Since relocating to Arizona in 2021 she has found her home in STEM education and bringing opportunity to all. Amber has a firm belief that young people have the power and ability to make their world a better place now.