Meet Our Team

Amy McDermott

Co-Founder & Executive Director

Amy grew up in Watertown, Massachusetts and received her Bachelor’s Degree from Boston College’s Carroll School of Management. While at BC, Amy became a leader in the PULSE Service-Learning program. While in the program, Amy served with Jumpstart, an early-education program. This work made her a fierce advocate for social justice and education reform.

Following graduation, Amy was accepted into the FAO Schwarz Family Foundation Fellowship, where she continued her work with Jumpstart. She later attended NYU’s Stern School of Business and Wagner Graduate School of Public Service where she completed a dual MBA/MPA. Amy’s graduate career concluded with a thesis that studied the impact of the SNAP benefits program on public health issues.

Most recently, Amy has served as an Operations Fellow and Director of Operations with Uncommon Schools at both Leadership Prep Canarsie Elementary Academy and at Uncommon Charter High School, the network’s largest high school in Brooklyn.

Amy co-founded The Valedictorian Project in 2020 and joined the team full-time as Executive Director in 2021.

Danielle McCourt

Co-Founder, Development & External Relations

Danielle is a Massachusetts attorney, political finance expert, strategic advisor, and fundraiser. She lives with her husband, Mike and dog, Bruin in Charlestown, MA, where she is the Founder & Principal of DLM Strategies.

DLM Strategies is a consulting firm catering to top political, business, and nonprofit leaders by managing a full range of services including project management, policy & regulations, election compliance, non-profit & coalition governance, and development.

Danielle has served as Finance Director to Attorney General Maura Healey and provided consulting services to NARAL MA, the Environmental League of Massachusetts, and various ballot initiatives. She is a veteran of many political campaigns and since launching in 2018 has worked for a number of state and federal elected officials and candidates. In 2020, Danielle helped to co-found The Valedictorian Project.

Upon graduating law school, Danielle practiced regulatory law with a focus on health care policy. She has held leadership positions at Blue Cross Blue Shield MA and MassHealth, the Massachusetts Medicaid agency. Her free time is spent with family and friends, traveling, horseback riding, skiing and running. Danielle is a graduate of Skidmore College and New England Law | Boston.

Jennifer Vasquez

Senior Manager

Program & Operations

Jen Vasquez is a passionate Criminal Justice graduate from John Jay School of Criminal Justice, where she had the privilege of studying social justice issues. She has dedicated her early career to education. She started her journey as a teacher assistant for the Department of Education for two years, where she honed her teaching skills and discovered her passion for helping students succeed. From there, she transitioned into a coordinator position at Uncommon Charter schools, where she had the opportunity to support scholars in achieving their dreams of attending college.

Currently, Jen is ecstatic to be working with TVP as an Operations and Management expert, where she gets to use her skills to make a positive impact in the community. Additionally, She is proud to also be a part of Success Academies, at the capacity of Network Program Manager where she can contribute to shaping the future of education. She is truly passionate about what she do, and is excited to join the team at TVP.