Kenya Haynes is a program specialist focused on public policy, equity, community planning, and cross-systems partnerships. Ms. Haynes joined SERVE after sixteen years at the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) where she focused on vulnerable student populations. During her tenure at WDE she served as State Coordinator of homeless education, neglected or delinquent student programs, gender equity, homeschooling, and gifted education as well as State Liaison to the Office for Civil Rights, and part of the school accreditation and state system of support teams. She served as interim president of the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth and as liaison to the National Expert Panel for the Education of Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent or At-Risk.

Kenya has a demonstrated commitment to growing individual and organizational capacity. During her six years as state coordinator for the education of homeless children and youth, Ms. Haynes reduced the rate of under-identification of students experiencing homelessness from 66% to 26%. As state coordinator of the Title I, Part D program, she was selected by the American Institutes for Research to mentor new state coordinators, and developed and implemented a new monitoring and technical assistance protocol for LEAs and youth serving agencies which resulted in a 59% decrease in program findings and corrective actions. Ms. Haynes has experience conducting needs assessments and accreditation evaluations of local education agencies in the United States and for the Department of Defense Education Activity schools in Europe.

Growing up on a cattle ranch in Wyoming, Kenya knows how to build a barbed-wire fence but is glad she doesn’t have to anymore. A former kindergarten teacher, five-year-olds are her favorite.