Press Releases

WASHINGTON Children’s Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman has announced Paula Jameson, an attorney with over 25 years of corporate management experience, as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Jameson is the first in a series of executive additions to CDF staff as the organization prepares to celebrate its 30th anniversary by launching a bold new agenda designed to address the needs of children in a national political climate of proposed tax cuts for the wealthy and budgets cuts in social programs that benefit the nation’s poorest children. Jameson will manage the daily operations of the Children’s Defense Fund’s 164 full-time staffers in 15 offices.

“We must build a bold movement to Leave No Child Behind so that every child has a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities,” said Edelman. “We cannot do that without a strong organizational infrastructure that supports the challenging work ahead of us. I am proud to welcome Paula Jameson to our leadership team.”

Jameson, who has served as Senior Vice-President and General Counsel of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in Washington, D.C., said she is honored to be working with Marian Wright Edelman and the Children’s Defense Fund.

“Marian Wright Edelman and the Children’s Defense Fund staff have worked for 30 years to ensure that every child in America has the necessities essential to a healthy and successful childhood. I cannot think of a more important organization or mission. I am delighted to have the opportunity to make a contribution to this critical work.”

Jameson, a native of New Orleans, has held senior management and counsel positions at Jameson Legal & Consulting Services, Gibson Guitar Corporation, the Washington office of Arter & Hadden law firm, Dow Jones & Co. in New York, and the Fairfax County Attorney’s Office. Jameson lives in McLean, Virginia, with her two sons.

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The mission of the Children's Defense Fund is to Leave No Child Behind and to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. CDF provides a strong, effective voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby, or speak for themselves. We pay particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities. CDF educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventive investment before they get sick, into trouble, drop out of school, or suffer family breakdown. CDF began in 1973 and is a private, nonprofit organization supported by foundation and corporate grants and individual donations. We have never taken government funds.