Our Staff

Nia West-Bey

Executive Director

Nia West-Bey is the Executive Director of the National Collaborative for Transformative Youth Policy. She is a community psychologist with expertise in youth development, qualitative and quantitative data interpretation and analysis, and the intersection of psychology, social policy, and program evaluation. Prior to leading the TYP Collaborative, she was CLASP’s director of youth policy. In this role, she led a team that sought to advance a vision for policy and systems change co-created with youth and young adults, ages 16-25, that centers safety, healing and well-being, and economic and racial justice. Previously, Dr. West-Bey was a senior policy analyst with CLASP’s youth team, where she focused on youth and young adult mental health, two-generation policies and strategies to support young parents of color earning low incomes as well as girls and young women of color. Dr. West-Bey co-founded and spent 10 years as executive director of a community-based nonprofit organization offering youth development programming to young people in foster care in Washington, D.C. Dr. West-Bey earned an M.A. and a Ph.D. in community psychology from New York University and completed her undergraduate degree at Swarthmore College.

Kayla Tawa

Policy Strategist

Kayla Tawa is a policy strategist focused on youth mental health and state/local technical assistance. Her areas of focus include climate mental health, youth peer support, equitable school-based mental health, ending forced treatment, and funding for non-Western practices. Prior to joining the TYP collaborative, she worked as a Senior Policy Analyst on the Youth Team at the Center for Law and Social Policy and was a Senior Global Writing and Speaking Fellow at NYU Shanghai. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a degree in English and Anthropology and is currently pursuing an Executive Masters in Environmental Policy from Vermont Law and Graduate School.

Noel Tieszen

Policy Strategist

Noel Tieszen is a policy strategist focused on youth economic justice. Noel joined NCTYP after seven years as an independent public policy and nonprofit management consultant. During that time, she consulted with the CLASP youth policy team on projects such as developing the Youth and Young Adult Development and Economic Opportunity blueprint, co-leading the Communities Collaborating to Reconnect Youth Network, and researching Summer Youth Employment Programs. Noel’s consulting work with nonprofit clients has included youth program design and evaluation, nonprofit leadership development, strategic planning, grant writing, and related services. Prior to starting her consulting business, Noel led WIA Youth programs at Covenant House Greater Washington, directed a youth development nonprofit and an adult workforce center, and taught in DC and Boston Public Schools. She holds an MEd from UMass Boston and a BA from Oberlin College.

Madison Trice

Policy Strategist

Madison Trice is a strategist for youth economic justice and legislative affairs. Prior to the formation of the TYP collaborative, she worked as a policy analyst on issues of economic justice with CLASP for a year. She formerly worked as a legislative assistant in the office of Congresswoman Pressley, on issues from immigration and reproductive health to agriculture/food insecurity and senior justice. She is an alumna of Harvard College, where she studied Government and testified on behalf of the NAACP LDF in favor of holistic admissions. A fun fact is that she worked as a hip hop archivist for three years at Harvard as well. She is excited to be a part of TYP’s original team!

Kathy Tran

Power Building Strategist

Kathy Tran is a power building strategist focused on youth economic justice. Her areas of focus include education equity, workforce development, community organizing, youth participatory action research, and Opportunity Youth. Prior to joining the TYP Collaborative, Kathy worked at the Center for Law and Social Policy and on a variety of education issues in California. Kathy holds a Master of Education Policy and Management from Harvard School of Graduate Education. She also received her Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and Asian American studies, with a minor in education from the University of California, Berkeley.

Emily Kim

Operations Strategist

Emily Kim is the operations strategist for TYP, with a focus on supporting A New Deal for Youth. As an operations strategist, she is responsible for making sure day to day functions run smoothly and that TYP's team has their needs comfortably met, whether that's helping with project support or providing administrative tasks lifts. Prior to TYP, Emily worked at CLASP where she worked primarily on youth engagement but also supported in the youth team's mental health work, primarily through the research of youth peer support services. Emily graduated summa cum laude from Lafayette College with a bachelor's degree in anthropology & sociology and government & law.