Our team

FYMH is staffed and facilitated by Afton Bloom.

Becca Furst-Nichols | Senior Manager, Afton Bloom / FYMH Lead Facilitator

Becca Furst-Nichols brings 15 years of experience advancing social change across gender equity, refugees and migration, and youth development. She specializes in funder engagement, strategy, and building collaborative initiatives. At Afton Bloom, she leads national and state-level collaboratives focused on youth mental health, maternal health, and early childhood development and supports funder strategy projects focused on youth and gender equity. Previously, she spent seven years at the UN Foundation leading women’s economic empowerment initiatives and worked at KIPP DC as a Broad Fellow. She holds graduate degrees from The Fletcher School at Tufts University and The Broad Center.

Alexandra Geertz | Founding Partner, Afton Bloom / FYMH Facilitator

Alexandra Geertz has over 15 years of consulting experience advising philanthropic and corporate clients on strategy and impact. At Afton Bloom, she works with leading philanthropists to design innovative funding mechanisms, equitable partnership approaches, and effective strategies for social change, while also supporting nonprofit organizations focused on racial and gender equity to build capacity and scale impact. Prior to founding Afton Bloom, Alexandra was a Director at FSG, where she led the Global Health practice and founded the Gender Equity practice. She holds an MBA from MIT Sloan, a graduate certificate from Johns Hopkins SAIS, and a BA from Hamilton College.

Olivia Meiners | Manager, Afton Bloom / FYMH Facilitator

Olivia Meiners brings over 8 years of professional experience delivering advisory and strategy engagements across global health, international development, and public-sector systems. She specializes in developing strategic frameworks, facilitating multi-stakeholder collaboration, developing learning agendas, and designing impact measurement plans. At Afton Bloom, she leads engagements with funders, governments, and nonprofits, guiding strategy, learning, and evaluation efforts and supporting organizations to strengthen impact. Earlier in her career, she advised multilateral and mission-driven organizations on program effectiveness and monitoring and evaluation. She holds an MSc in Economics from HEC Lausanne at the University of Lausanne.

Shelley Waters Boots | Director, Funders for Adolescent Science Translation Fund & Consensus Fund / FYMH Advisor

Shelley Waters Boots brings over 25 years of experience as a researcher, writer, and policy expert focused on improving outcomes for low-income children and families. She advises leading foundations on investment strategy, research, policy, and communications, with a focus on collaboration and systems change. Previously, she held senior roles at the Urban Institute, New America, and the Children’s Defense Fund. She holds a BA from Furman University and an MPA from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, and lives outside Washington, DC.

FYMH activities are governed by a funder Steering Committee.