Betsy Starr

Research Associate

A.B. Bowdoin College, M.Ed. Harvard Graduate School

Elizabeth Starr, M.Ed., has been a Research Associate at the National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) at the Wellesley Centers for Women since 2007. Her work has focused on professional development and system-building for the field of afterschool and youth development.

Ms. Starr’s recent projects include the Wallace Foundation’s Next Generation Afterschool System Building Initiative and work with the Wyoming After School Alliance on the Wyoming Afterschool Professional Development System Framework.

Since joining NIOST, Ms. Starr has contributed to a number of projects including: the Career Pathways Project; Youth Work Core Competencies: A Review of Existing Frameworks and Purposes; Credentialing for 21st CCLC Staff: An Overview of the Benefits and Impacts; and an Update on the Status on Out of School Time in Montgomery County.

She and her colleagues at NIOST conducted the research and made the recommendations for the Core Knowledge and Competencies for Afterschool and Youth Development Professionals which were adopted by the National Afterschool Association in 2011.

Ms. Starr has also contributed to other projects at the Wellesley Centers for Women related to early child care and education, including the Massachusetts Capacity Study and the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development.

Before joining the WCW, Ms. Starr enjoyed her work as a child and family advocate at a residential program for survivors of domestic abuse and as a mental health counselor for children and teens in school and clinic settings in Vermont.

Ms. Starr holds a M.Ed. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and an A.B. in Psychology from Bowdoin College.