We partnered with the Couch Family Foundation on the search for its inaugural Executive Director. The mission of the Couch Family Foundation is to be a catalyst for change in the lives of children and their families by creating quality and equitable opportunities to help them learn, thrive, and lead healthy, fulfilling lives.

Our work resulted in the recruitment of Sara Vecchiotti, Ph.D., Esq. to the role.

Vecchiotti previously worked with the Foundation for Child Development in New York since 2015, where as Vice President she was responsible for research, program and grant development and monitoring, and communication strategies.  

Prior to FCD, Vecchiotti was Chief Operating Officer at Lutheran Social Services of New York, overseeing all social service programs including early care and education, special education, child welfare, immigration services, and homeless housing, among other issues.

She also worked with NYC’s Administration for Children’s Services, Division of Child Care, and Head Start — where she helped transform ECE systems and improve the quality of care for the city’s young children.

Vecchiotti was a Society for Research in Child Development Congressional Fellow in the Office of Senator Jeff Bingaman and an Executive Branch Fellow in the Office of Child Care, Administration for Children & Families, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. She was a Putting Children First Fellow at Teachers College, an Urban Education & Child Development Fellow at the Yale Child Study Center, and an Edward Zigler Center in Child Development & Social Policy Fellow.

Vecchiotti holds a BA, cum laude and with honors, in Psychology from Mount Holyoke College. She received her JD, magna cum laude, from New York Law School. She earned a Doctorate in Applied Developmental Psychology from Fordham University.