Shelley Waters Boots

Shelley Waters Boots is a senior consultant with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, bringing over 30 years of experience as a writer, researcher, and policy expert on issues affecting children and families. She has worked extensively on two-generation approaches to alleviating poverty, advising philanthropy, the public sector, and nonprofits on aligning family services. She has also been a key advisor on bipartisan policy strategies and cross-sector collaborations aimed at improving outcomes for women, youth, and families. She has been a senior research associate at the Urban Institute, writing on issues of children, work, and family. She was the founding director of the Early Education Initiative at the New America Foundation and directed child care and development policy at the Children’s Defense Fund. She has worked as a research director in California for a statewide resource and referral association. Waters Boots earned an MA in public administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University.

updated 2025