The Children’s Guild has named Kelly Schwalbert Chief Strategy Officer and Organizational Effectiveness (CSO), effective July 1, 2026. The newly created role reports directly to President and CEO Jenny Livelli.
Kelly Schwalbert
The role brings integrated strategic leadership to TCG, with a clear growth mandate for the organization, built on systems and processes that make progress measurable and data-informed.
Kelly was recruited to The Children’s Guild in 2020 as the Manager of Mission Advancement to help build the infrastructure behind big ideas. She has since grown into the Chief Strategy Officer role, earning each step through her work. Her strength is working alongside leaders to shape a vision for what’s possible, then building the structure, data, and intention behind it so that vision becomes something the organization can achieve.
As Chief Strategy Officer, Kelly will lead organizational strategy, organizational effectiveness, strategic communications, board governance, continuous quality improvement, and admissions and enrollment strategy across TCG’s schools, clinical programs, and family services. She continues to serve as Corporate Board Secretary within her expanded scope.
Kelly’s promotion reflects something we hold deeply at The Children’s Guild: that growth happens from within, and that our people deserve the chance to rise into roles worthy of their talent. Over the years, Kelly has led across multiple departments and consistently shown herself to be a trusted partner to me, to our Board of Directors, and to leaders throughout this organization. Her approach to leadership is teaching others, building capacity in the people around her rather than simply directing them. She has a rare gift for taking a vision and translating it into a clear strategy, then carrying that strategy all the way through to execution, always holding our organization to the highest standard of quality along the way. What has never wavered is her passion for serving our children and families, and that passion, paired with her ability to turn vision into results, makes her exactly the right person to lead our strategy and organizational effectiveness work as we move into this next chapter,” said Jenny Livelli, President and CEO of The Children’s Guild.
Programs/affiliates of The Children’s Guild include The Children’s Guild School of Baltimore, The Children’s Guild School of Prince George’s County, Monarch Academy public charter and contract schools, The Children’s Guild DC Public Charter School, The Outpatient Mental Health Clinic, Treatment Foster Care, The Children’s Guild–Transformation Academy, and Monarch Preschool College Park.
