Executive Director: Meghan Guerra Lyons
A New Jersey native and Latina, Meghan comes to the Downtown Ithaca Children’s Center with experience in government, education, and community engagement. The College of New Jersey graduate (with degrees in Elementary Education and English) brings her passion for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. When not at DICC, Meghan can be found with her husband (Patrick) and two children (Jacob and Doumarien). As a family they enjoy participating in local festivals, hiking on trails, performing with many theatre groups and bands throughout the tri-state area, and giving back to the community. Meghan currently sits on the Family Reading Partnership Board of Directors.
Executive Director of Operations: Krista Tripp
Krista moved to the Finger Lakes region over 10 years ago and has been a member of the administrative team at Downtown Ithaca Children’s Center since 2015. She brings her communication and administrative experience to DICC along with dedication to children and families, evident in her passion to ensure ALL families have access to high quality education and her wholehearted commitment to the DICC mission. Outside of the center, Krista and her husband, Jason, are parents to four children and grandparents to a beautiful toddler. They enjoy time together supporting their children’s sporting endeavors, as well as the outdoors camping and boating.
Program Manager: Heather Harbot
Heather grew up in Elmira, NY. Living there, she found her call to work with children. She began with an internship at The Gingerbread House Daycare and after a few years, she moved to Ithaca. While in Ithaca, she worked at the YMCA for six years with infants. Following this, she worked at Tompkins Community Action. Heather started out as a cook, but soon found her way back into the classroom at Head Start in a preschool room. She transitioned to DICC in 2018 because of the mission of the organization. Heather loves the community feeling at the center. Outside of work, Heather is a loving wife and mother of two teenagers. She loves to spend as much time with her family as possible by going on small road trips to different places.
