Kispert, Michaelson Honored for Service to Family Centers

Family Centers recently honored two volunteers whose contributions improved the lives of thousands of children and families across Fairfield County. Longtime Family Centers Board member Kim Kispert was presented with the 2022 Helen Gratz Rockefeller Outstanding Volunteerism Award. Traditionally reserved for a current or former member of Family Centers’ Board of Trustees, the award is the agency’s highest volunteer honor.

Kispert is the only person in Family Centers’ history to serve three distinct terms on its Board. In 1994, she was a member of the Family and Children’s Services Board in Stamford, and helped facilitate that organization’s merger with The Family Centers to create the agency now known as Family Centers. A successful career with IBM kept her away from Family Centers for several years, but she returned in 2019 following her retirement.

Kispert has played a pivotal role in advancing Family Centers’ commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). Through her leadership, the agency added a specific DEI-focused goal to its latest strategic plan. Kispert is also passionate about giving all children a strong social, emotional and educational foundation. To help advance that work in lower Fairfield County, she serves on the Board of Stamford Cradle to Career.

As principal of New Lebanon Elementary School in Greenwich, Alley Michaelson has become an important collaborative partner to Family Centers. When Head Start student lost their classroom following a flood caused by Hurricane Ida, Michaelson welcomes them into her school for the entire 2021-22 school year. She has also provided space for the Family First in Education and Literacy Volunteers’ Family Literacy initiative. In recognition of Michaelson’s continued commitment to local families, Family Centers named her its 2022 Anne Firestone Ball Family Champion.