Staff

Carlyne is currently the Vice President of Finance and joined KABOOM! as Controller in January 2013.  Prior to joining KABOOM! Carlyne worked at International Baccalaureate (IB) as Head of Finance Schools Division where she was responsible for the school's division finance staff with her teams based in Bethesda, Hague, and Singapore.  Carlyne is an experienced professional with over 20 years, specializing in accounting and finance.  Carlyne started out her career with Ernst & Young and during her career; she has worked in a variety of industries, including Bristol Myers-Squibb (pharmaceutical), Sotheby's (auction), and Philip Morris Companies/Altria (consumer products).  Carlyne holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany and is a certified public accountant in New York State.  

Joy Hathaway is the Interim Vice President of Programs at KABOOM!, serving in this role since January 2021. She provides leadership and oversight to our programmatic work in communities. From 2018 to 2021, Joy Hathaway was the Vice President of Strategy Alignment and Implementation, driving alignment across all levels of the organization to advance KABOOM! strategic priorities to achieve playspace equity. Joy joined the organization in 2011 as the Director of Community Outreach.

Prior to joining KABOOM!, Joy was the Director of Resident Services at Jubilee Housing, an affordable housing provider that provides wrap-around community services in Washington, DC. At Jubilee Housing, Joy oversaw all of the organization's resident programming, including adult educational programming, financial literacy, English as a second language, homeownership training, resident leadership and youth and family services that consisted of K-12 after-school programming.

In addition to Joy's nonprofit experience, Joy has a variety of business background in marketing and human resources, such as her work at Red Peg Marketing and Pronto Wash International. Joy is fluent in Spanish, has spent time working abroad and teaching English in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Joy holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the George Washington University.

In her free time, Joy keeps quite active with long distance running, practicing yoga and chasing around her two young kids.

Amy S. Levner is the Vice President of Marketing & Communications for KABOOM!, the national non-profit driven to give children the childhood they deserve filled with balanced and active play, so they can thrive. She leads the communications, marketing, digital strategy and research efforts for KABOOM!. Previously Amy led the Livable Communities agenda for AARP where she was responsible for AARP's work on issues related to creating livable communities for people 50+ and their families.

Amy serves as a spokesperson and thought leader, and has a background in social change marketing, program management and strategy development. She's led successful healthcare, aging-in-place, and community design programs and campaigns throughout her career at agencies and non-profits alike. Amy most delights in playing with her 3-year-old daughter, most often at their local playground.

Gerry has served as the Chief Financial Officer of KABOOM! since 2006. Previously Gerry served as the CFO of U.S. Foodservice, a large publicly held broad line foodservice distributor and prior to that he served as the Chief Accounting Officer and Controller for Strategic Planning Associates, a publicly held international management consulting firm. He began his career as a certified public accountant with Price Waterhouse after graduating from the College of William and Mary with a Business degree.

Gerry has been a very active volunteer in youth sports in the McLean, Virginia over the past 20 years including service on three youth sports boards. He has coached all three of his children in soccer, softball and basketball and is still coaching. He serves as a commissioner and treasurer for McLean Youth Basketball and is very active in the McLean Little League softball program.

In early 2021, Lysa M. Ratliff became the newest CEO of KABOOM!, the national non-profit that works to end playspace inequity. For good.

Throughout her career, Ratliff has served as a champion for kids and their resilience, leading efforts to connect partners and make change for communities and kids across the country, and around the world. She was the Vice President of Partnership Development at KABOOM!, has held senior leadership roles at Habitat for Humanity International, Save the Children, and spent more than a decade in international marketing communications at several large corporations.

Lysa has led both public and private fundraising teams, cause marketing and communications campaigns with large global corporations. When not spending time with her own kids and husband, Lysa enjoys all things home, with most of her playtime being spent in the garden growing organic fruits and vegetables.

James Siegal is Senior Fellow for KABOOM!, advising the organization dedicated to putting an end to playspace inequity through strategic partnerships. Siegal served as KABOOM! CEO for five years, during which time he accelerated the organization’s work through public-private partnerships, extended its reach with philanthropy, drove innovation in playspace design, and sharpened its focus on racial equity.

Prior to KABOOM!, James served as Chief of Staff for the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency that supports citizen engagement to address community challenges through AmeriCorps, the Social Innovation Fund and other programs. James has broad experience in the public, private and non-profit sectors, including serving as Vice President of Nonprofit Programs and Practice at the leading non-profit coalition, Independent Sector. He also served as Registration Section Chief and Assistant Attorney General at the New York State Attorney General's Charities Bureau and associate at the global law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. He is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School. James and his wife enjoy spending time playing with their three daughters.

Ronda Jackson joined KABOOM! in April of 2017. In this role, she is working to galvanize nonprofit allies and build partnerships with federal, state, and local government officials to achieve playspace equity. Prior to joining KABOOM!, Ronda was the Assistant Director of Public Sector Innovation at Living Cities where she worked with cross-sector leaders in cities across the nation to build a new type of urban practice aimed at dramatically improving the economic well-being of low-income people.

Prior to joining Living Cities, Ronda worked in the youth violence prevention field as the Project Manager for the Sacramento Safe Community Partnership Ceasefire Initiative to reduce street gang and gun violence. Prior to working for Sacramento Ceasefire, Ronda was the Senior Program Associate for the Public Health Institute's Safe Community Partnership where she provided technical assistance to eight Northern California cities implementing the Ceasefire violence prevention model. In addition to the youth violence prevention work, Ronda managed the cutting edge smart on crime Back on Track reentry initiative created by former San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris providing education and employment services to first-time non-violent drug offenders. She also served as a Program Associate at the UC Berkeley Law School Center for Criminal Justice focusing on juvenile justice reform and recidivism.

Ronda began her career in politics working in the Clinton Administration as a Public Affairs Officer at the US Department of Transportation and as a Special Assistant to the Cabinet Secretary at the White House. She also worked in the corporate world as a Communications Manager at Mobil Oil Corporation and as a Vice President of Corporate Giving at the Fleet Bank Foundation. She holds a master's degree in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a bachelor's degree in Communications from Howard University.