Gretchen Test, MSW

Director of Operations and Development

Gretchen is a collaborative team builder who is passionate about youth and parent power to prevent abuse and neglect, helping families thrive in their communities and ensuring race and gender justice through structural change. She brings to the Alliance team more than 20 years of advocacy with youth and families in grassroots community groups, public agencies, nonprofits and foundations. This work includes developing community-based violence prevention programs and policy for parents, LGBTQ2IA+ youth, relative caregivers, immigrant women and domestic violence survivors.

Most recently, Gretchen was the director of New Program Development with Children’s Community Programs in Connecticut where she developed a new support program for relative caregivers and a parenting support program for parents living in shelters and substance abuse treatment centers. As operations director with Youth Law Center, she helped manage the Quality Parenting Initiative in 10 states. She spent 14 years at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, managing grants and national technical assistance initiatives such as the 20-state Family to Family Initiative (including its Build a Better Future parent advocacy and community partnerships strategies). Gretchen co-founded the Alliance for Racial Equity and the Migration and Child Welfare National Network. She also served as director of the National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators, providing member training and education, model policies and best
practice standards.

Gretchen started her career working with Seattle neighborhoods and immigrant groups preventing substance abuse and violence using the risk and protective factors approach. She has a master’s degree in social work and a graduate certificate in nonprofit management. Gretchen loves to hike with her husband, spend time with her three grandsons and watch women’s basketball.