Afton Partners

Marissa Ortiz is an Early Care and Education Policy Associate at Afton, where she supports the Early Childhood team in various policy and practice initiatives. Her interest in education and early childhood led her to pursue a Montessori Infant and Toddler teaching certificate. As a result, she brings first-hand experience in early childhood having previously worked as a classroom teacher, as well as leading parent-child classes. Most recently, she worked as a project coordinator at the Center on the Developing Child, where she supported a capacity-building program for policymakers working towards improving early childhood systems.

Marissa recently completed her Master’s in Education Policy and Analysis at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and also holds a Bachelor’s in International Relations from American University.