Kristi Burre, MA
Kristi began her professional career over 20 years ago in local and state government, community partnerships, and system transformation. Most recently, she served as the Director of Children’s Initiatives for Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, focusing on child well-being and driving improvements with communication and coordination across all state agencies providing services to children and families. In this role, she prioritized system enhancements and advancing policy with early childhood education, early intervention and prevention services, maternal and infant health, child physical and mental health, and children services. Kristi has vast experience collaborating with local, state, federal, and private sector partners to align efforts and investments to have the largest possible impact on improving outcomes for children, families, and communities.
Kristi has worked extensively in the child protection and foster care system in the capacities of caseworker, supervisor, manager, and director. In addition to her public service work, she has held various roles teaching, training, and coaching for the last 22 years, including as a social and behavioral sciences adjunct instructor at Columbus State Community College and a trainer and executive coach with the Ohio Child Welfare Training Program.
Kristi has been a Safe & Together Institute Senior Faculty and Certified Trainer since 2011 and is committed to guiding child and family serving agencies to become more domestic abuse–informed. She has trained professionals in North America, Australia, and the United Kingdom from various disciplines, including child protection, domestic violence advocacy, law enforcement, education, behavioral health, juvenile justice, healthcare, and the legal community. She also coaches and mentors professionals from across the world involved with the Safe & Together Trainer Certification Program and observes training sessions for evaluation, feedback, and approval for certification.
Additional leadership roles have included chairing the Ohio Governor’s Children Services Transformation Advisory Council and Eliminating Racial Disparities in Infant Mortality Task Force. Kristi has also held leadership positions and appointments for many other state and local entities committed to protecting children and strengthening families, including the Alcohol, Drug Addiction, and Mental Health Board; Ohio Children’s Trust Fund Regional Prevention Council; Ohio Intimate Partner Violence Collaborative; and Ohio Early Childhood Advisory Council. She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology, criminology, and psychology from Capital University and a master’s degree in sociology from Ohio University.
