Meet the Team

Kim Eckel
Founder and CEO

Kim Cauley Eckel is the CEO of Footbridge for Families and founded the organization in order to fill a much needed gap in our society’s safety net.

In addition to her work with Footbridge, Kim is the Manager of Strategic Initiatives at Allegheny County’s Office of Children, Youth and Families. She was previously the state’s Young Child Wellness Coordinator for Project LAUNCH (Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children’s Health), and earlier, a Senior Advisor in the Office of Data Analysis, Research and Evaluation at Allegheny County’s Department of Human Services. Kim spent nearly a decade in management consulting at the beginning of her career.

Mrs. Eckel holds a B.A. in Ethics, Politics and Economics from Yale University, an M.Sc. in Comparative Social Policy from the University of Oxford, and is pursuing a Ph.D. in Political Science from Boston College.

KimberlyEckel@afootbridge.org

Julie Klasen
Director of Operations

Julie directs the operations of Footbridge for Families because of her belief in the organization’s potential to strengthen families and their support systems, inspire compassion and generosity in our communities, and fill gaps in our systems.

Prior to joining the Footbridge team, Julie was a program manager for a corporate philanthropic initiative that supports early childhood education with grants, volunteerism and advocacy efforts. Earlier in her career, she managed youth and adult programming in an affordable housing community; conducted science education outreach, research and evaluation; and taught middle school science.

Julie holds a B.S. degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.A. degree in Teaching from Duke University.

JulieKlasen@afootbridge.org

Deb Stuligross
Director of Technology

Deb coordinates technology and related areas for Footbridge for Families. She became enamored with the mission of Footbridge to help families stay together, particularly in times of acute need, and is looking forward to helping Footbridge achieve that goal.

Along with her Footbridge role, Deb serves as an Executive In Residence with The Forbes Funds, where she helps non-profit executives improve how they prioritize and implement investments in technology. Deb also serves on the working group of the Corporate Equity & Inclusion Roundtable and on the boards of the Pediatric Palliative Care Coalition and Fine Art Miracles.

Deb’s prior career included many years building a software startup, then stints in corporate IT, followed by helping to launch Holy Family Academy (now Nazareth Prep). She has a B.S. in industrial engineering and M.S. in operations research from The Pennsylvania State University.

DebSadowski@afootbridge.org

Jeff Wolstoncroft
Director of Fiscal Services

Jeff joined Footbridge for Families, as he feels everyone needs a path across the turbulent waters of life. Jeff ‘s role as Director of Fiscal Services for Footbridge is to help ensure Footbridge is capable of providing all families that footbridge across to a more stable stage in life. 

In addition to Jeff’s role at Footbridge, Jeff is a senior manager at H2R CPA where he advises organizations or all types including his passion, nonprofit organizations.

Jeff is a Certified Public Accountant and received his B.S. in accounting from Westminster College.
JeffWolstoncroft@afootbridge.org