June 6, 2016: CDI is delighted that our founder and previous Chair, Katherine Zappone, has been appointed as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs.
Katherine has a long established history of working to reduce poverty and educational disadvantage, and her role in developing and leading An Cosan, a community education centre in Tallaght West. It was from this work that the need for innovative and targetted responses to improve outcomes for children was identified.
In 2004, Katherine began the consultation process which led to the establishment and funding of the Childhood Development Initiative (CDI) in 2007. Katherine’s vision for a better place for children, her leadership in maximising buy-in and resources, and her ability to balance “the science and the spirit” of evidence-informed interventions, has shaped not only CDI’s work, but a great deal of the prevention and early intervention space.
This is a positive move for children and families, and we look forward to continuing to work with Katherine in her new role.
(First official engagement as Minister – the Childrens Rights Alliance AGM)