Gretchen Ames joined the Gateway to Quality team in August 2006 as the Project Coordinator.  She holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Hampshire College, where she concentrated in Education and Conflict Resolution. She has been a preschool teacher, a child care center director, an afterschool teacher and a grassroots organizer in the early childhood education field.  She was also the statewide coordinator for the Massachusetts Leadership Empowerment Action Project (or MassLEAP) for 3 year before relocation to the Bay Area.