Leadership
Senior Leadership
Jenny Livelli
President and CEO
An unwavering advocate for children, Jenny applies her visionary leadership and business acumen to build The Children’s Guild’s capacity to positively impact the children and families it serves.
With her considerable expertise in administration, special education, continuous quality improvement and behavioral health, she is uniquely positioned to lead the organization in building a culture that engages students, fosters achievement and meets the needs of every learner.
Prior to being named CEO in March 2021, Jenny served as chief operating officer of the organization. She has also served as director of continuous quality improvement. Learn more…
Elizabeth Garcia, LCSW-C, MSSA, MNO
Chief People Officer
Ensuring the highest quality of clinical care in behavioral health, residential and treatment foster care programs is the focus of Elizabeth’s work as Interim Chief of Children’s and Community Services.
She joined The Children’s Guild in 2011 and previously served as Director of Behavioral Health Services. Her leadership has overseen the growth of the Expanded School Based Mental Health Services to six counties and 90 schools.
Prior to joining The Children’s Guild, Elizabeth was Division Director for Bellefaire Jewish Children’s Bureau in Cleveland.
She is an LCSW-C with more than 25 years of experience providing direct practice clinical services as well as managing behavioral health and out-of-home care for children and families. Elizabeth currently serves on the Board of The Behavioral Health Association of Maryland. Learn more…
Charley Gordon
Chief Revenue Officer
Charley brings 39 years of experience in the private sector to his work as The Children’s Guild Chief Revenue Officer. He is a senior executive with extensive experience in diverse industries such as wholesale distribution; manufacturing; computer hardware, software and services; hospitality; integrated marketing; public accounting; start-up consulting and funding; not-for-profits in human services, music and theater; and real estate development, acquisitions, investing and management.
Charley joined The Children’s Guild in November 2020 as its Chief Financial Officer before moving to the CRO role in July 2022. Prior to joining The Children’s Guild, he held the positions of President of OPS Unlimited; VP Finance & Administration for Calico Industries; Chief Financial Officer for SuiteLinq; VP of Operations for Micros Fidelio Direct; and Chief Financial Officer for Hayman Systems.
Charley is a Certified Public Accountant and earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Boston University.
Hughes Johnson
Chief of Staff; Interim Chief of Educational Services
In addition to his leadership role as Chief of Staff, Hughes fills the vacant position as Interim Chief of Educational Services. Mr. Johnson holds a bachelor’s degree in education and master’s degree in therapy. He has been a classroom teacher and most recently oversaw compliance for schools across three states. Hughes’ 30-year career has focused on serving at-risk youth and children with intellectual disabilities. He brings this experience in education, training, and compliance, as well a clear focus on developing and measuring quality systems, to the new strategic plan and vision set forth by The Children’s Guild Board of Directors and CEO Jenny Livelli, emphasizing effective, efficient, and quality operations across all Guild service areas. Hughes’s expertise positively impacts The Children’s Guild operations as Chief of Staff as he focuses on creating and supporting quality operations across the entire organization, and provides steady leadership as The Guild completes a thoughtful search for a new CES.
Chris Zimmerman
Chief Financial Officer
Chris Zimmerman decided to trade his Board responsibilities for those of the new CFO because he knows, firsthand, how important getting The Guild’s financial team structure in place to support its new direction and goals is a critical piece to the organization’s growth plan. Before joining the board, Chris had been supporting The Guild as a volunteer since 2014. He was as a founding member of The Children’s Guild DC Charter School Board of Directors.
Chris is coming from Diligent Corporation, the leading governance, risk, and compliance SaaS company. As a director there, he partnered with all areas of the organization to institute new policies, processes, and systems enabling the company to scale in five years from $150 million to nearly $600 million in revenue. Learn more…
Advisory Leadership
Lisa Anderson
Program Manager of the Community Collaborative
Learn more…
Desiree Davis
Principal, The Children’s Guild School of Prince George's County
