Krysta Grangeno

Krysta Grangeno is the Family Partnership Director at SouthSide Early Childhood Center, designing, implementing, and evaluating all parent partnership and leadership programs for families enrolled in the center. The program brings together parents, staff, and administration to equitably design and implement programs and policies that reduce parenting and financial stress, enhance parent advocacy skills, and assist parents in becoming active participants in their child's development. During her eight years at SouthSide, Krysta has also guided Racial Equity work within the organization, eventually leading the Racial Equity Task force that directly influenced the new direction of the organization’s five-year strategic plan. In addition, Krysta has built in parent feedback loops, ensuring parent voice is heard at all organizational decision-making tables. Outside of the organization, for the past year and a half, she has been a Tomorrow Builder Fellow with the organization WePower, and was instrumental in developing The Playbook, a guide filled with solutions that will lead to a re-designed, equitable early childhood system in the St. Louis Region. Through this, she was a member of the steering committee for the Ready by Five Campaign. Before her work in the early childhood field, she was a community organizer and worked on the issues of immigration reform and transportation access. Krysta graduated with her bachelor’s in Social Work from St. Louis University in 2007 and her Master’s in Nonprofit Management from Fontbonne University in 2015. Krysta is passionate about building bridges among diverse communities and finding equitable, community-led solutions to the problems we face. In her spare time, she loves to spend time with her husband and children, exploring the city and traveling.