Rebecca Christner, M.S., will serve as the Executive Director of the Eastern Region Technical Assistance Center. Rebecca has been involved in school district and community improvement efforts and in executing professional development and technical assistance to educators and school-based Family Resource Center coordinators for over 12 years on the Community Schools model Yale Schools of the 21st Century. Through monthly meeting with Family Resource Center coordinators, she has coordinated and delivered professional development on evidence-based programs and practices on family engagement, including addressing barriers and strength-based approaches to family engagement; engaging families of English Language Learners; engaging families in schools at the secondary level; community engagement; protective factors; the role of the Family Resource Center coordinator; early childhood development and educating the whole child; outcome and evaluation and how to identify and support program quality; evidence-based health services and programming; cultural competency; needs assessments; partnerships; and other community school-related topics.

Rebecca has a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership and an undergraduate degree in Elementary Education.Rebecca actively serves on the Steering Committee of the New York State Community Schools Network of which she has been a member since its inception. She has honed her leadership skills in a variety of positions, most recently serving as the executive director of Rockland 21C and previously, as director of refugee programs for the non-governmental organization Church World Service for which she liaised with the Department of State and other federal departments as an official representative at meetings and an active partner in tackling complex national and international refugee and immigration issues. Rebecca also served as an adjunct professor for Nyack College.