Amal Hechehouche
Albany
Summary
Relationship-first public health leader with expertise in directing large-scale early childhood initiatives. Skilled in navigating complex partnerships, overseeing significant budgets, and implementing systems that enhance accountability and transparency. Committed to fostering collaborative environments that support and motivate teams to advance perinatal, maternal, infant and family health outcomes.
Overview
10
10
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Project Director, Preschool Development Birth through Five Grant
New York State Council on Children & Families
Rensselaer
03.2025 - Current
- Direct a statewide, federally funded early childhood portfolio with an approximately $11M annual budget spanning five major workstreams, evaluation, and 17+ projects.
- Coordinated work across eight project leads, 15 contractors, agency partners, and executive leadership to align scope, timelines, and deliverables amid shifting federal direction.
- Supervise staff fully allocated to the grant and serve as a strategic thought partner to project leads navigating implementation, procurement, and stakeholder management.
- Streamlined systems for reporting, file management, forecasting, project charters, and collaboration norms, enhancing consistency, transparency, and accountability.
- Lead an MOU-based partnership with Cornell University to evaluate multiple grant activities.
- Lead reporting processes that communicate grant activity impact effectively to internal and external audiences.
Board Member & Secretary
LifePath
Albany
01.2023 - Current
- Contributed to organizational strategy, planning, and fundraising to enhance services for older adults.
- Evaluated program effectiveness and provided feedback for continuous improvement efforts.
Certified Birth Doula & Volunteer
BirthNet
Capital Region
01.2022 - Current
- Facilitated birth support through attentive listening, evidence-informed guidance, and respect for families' goals and values.
- Support families before, during, and after birth with a focus on helping clients feel informed, prepared, and confident.
- Supported families during labor and delivery processes with empathy and care.
- Educated clients on birth options and comfort techniques to enhance experience.
Director, Program Alignment, Educare Team
Start Early
Remote
03.2023 - 03.2025
- Partnered with research, policy, and field leaders to launch a five-year strategy focused on workforce recruitment, retention, and advancement in early childhood education.
- Led annual planning to align the work of six teams supporting a national network of 25 schools serving 4,000 children directly and 12,000 more through child care partnerships.
- Led bilingual co-design process to gather input from 50+ partners and families, shaping a new high-quality early childhood program in Lake County, Illinois.
- Built and sustained relationships with national, state, and local partners and funders to enhance program impact and facilitate resource development.
- Supported family and staff leaders in advocacy efforts to strengthen food security programs through Capitol Hill visits, media engagement, a virtual town hall, and development of a family leadership microsite and capstone video project.
Volunteer Leadership
Upper Madison Street Fair
Albany
01.2021 - 01.2025
- Led analysis and implementation of technology improvements for volunteer recruitment, assignment, and check-in, enhancing support for 100+ volunteers.
Director, Early Childhood Connector
Start Early
Remote
12.2019 - 03.2023
- Co-designed and implemented three-year strategy with annual planning, budgeting, branding, and team alignment to drive growth of early childhood initiative.
- Managed an annual budget of more than $2M and helped cultivate relationships with prospective and current funders to raise restricted revenue.
- Partnered with 100+ community leaders, practitioners, and systems partners across multiple pilots to design for local early childhood challenges and opportunities.
- Oversaw research, concept development, and design for product MVP to enhance early childhood systems mapping and improvement.
- Shaped product direction, partnership strategy, and operational systems during concept testing and growth phase.
- Led sourcing and management of product and marketing consultants on contracts up to $250K.
- Built team capacity for process improvement and reduced person-dependence through structured Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles.
- Promoted from Sr. Product Manager in June 2022
Sr. Program Manager, Healthcare Systems Preparedness
Boston Public Health Commission
Boston
03.2019 - 12.2019
- Facilitated coalition meetings with Boston healthcare partners to identify shared priorities, enhancing preparedness and response capabilities.
- Redesigned the coalition strategic plan to better align with partner needs and agency priorities and served as a 24/7 duty officer supporting response efforts.
Project Manager
National Institute for Children's Health Quality
Boston
09.2016 - 03.2019
- Planned national programming and learning sessions that engaged 100+ stakeholders in early childhood initiatives to enhance collaboration and knowledge sharing.
- Designed orientation, communication, technical assistance tracking, and closeout tools that improved consistency and knowledge capture across projects.
- Facilitated stakeholder meetings to gather requirements and feedback.
- Developed project timelines and monitored progress against objectives.
Education
Master of Public Health - Health Policy & Management
Boston University School of Public Health
Boston01-2019
Bachelor of Arts - International Relations & Economics
Boston University
Boston01-2016
Skills
- Project management
- Program and portfolio leadership
- Community engagement
- Reporting and grant operations
- Cross-sector partnership building
- Contract negotiation
- Process design and improvement
- Stakeholder collaboration
- Human-centered facilitation
- Strategic planning
Earlier Experience
Earlier experience includes operations, volunteer management, research support, and student leadership roles at Boston University, Boston Medical Center, Apple, and in the district offices for Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand and Congressman Paul D. Tonko.
Community Leadership And Additional Experience
- Certified Birth Doula & Volunteer, BirthNet, Capital Region, NY, 2022, Present, Provide birth support grounded in close listening, evidence-informed guidance, and respect for each family's goals, values, and preferences., Support families before, during, and after birth with a focus on helping clients feel informed, prepared, and confident.
- Board Member & Secretary, LifePath, Albany, NY, 2023, Present, Contribute to organizational strategy, planning, and fundraising in support of services for older adults.
- Volunteer Leadership, Upper Madison Street Fair, Albany, NY, 2021, Present, Led analysis and implementation of technology-enabled improvements for volunteer recruitment, assignment, and check-in supporting 100+ volunteers.
Certification
Birth Doula - Mama Glow, Issued January 2026
Timeline
Project Director, Preschool Development Birth through Five Grant
New York State Council on Children & Families
03.2025 - Current
Director, Program Alignment, Educare Team
Start Early
03.2023 - 03.2025
Board Member & Secretary
LifePath
01.2023 - Current
Certified Birth Doula & Volunteer
BirthNet
01.2022 - Current
Volunteer Leadership
Upper Madison Street Fair
01.2021 - 01.2025
Director, Early Childhood Connector
Start Early
12.2019 - 03.2023
Sr. Program Manager, Healthcare Systems Preparedness
Boston Public Health Commission
03.2019 - 12.2019
Project Manager
National Institute for Children's Health Quality
09.2016 - 03.2019
Master of Public Health - Health Policy & Management
Boston University School of Public Health
Bachelor of Arts - International Relations & Economics
Boston University