About | The Spitfire Club

“The Spitfire Club. Changing the world, one book club at a time”

What We Do

The Spitfire Club is an extracurricular book club built around a collection of children's literature featuring strong, diverse, female protagonists. By creating demand for and building an inclusive community around diverse girl-positive books, The Spitfire Club enhances literacy and social-emotional skills, nurturing each Spitfire's love of reading, love of self, and love for Spitfires across all communities.

Graphic that includes 5 sections in a circle. From top left to bottom left: to the left of “Learning from Mentors”, it says “Program leaders serve as role-models and are volunteers from within the community”. To the right of “Enriching Curriculum”, it says “Carefully curated (and fun!) curriculum leverages best practices in literacy enhancement, reading comprehension and critical thinking, all centered around girl-positive, diverse books”. To the right of “Creating the Space”, it says “Programming takes place in a safe environment that is conveniently co-located with existing afterschool and summer programming”. Below “Living the Culture”, it says “Spitfire’s foundation is a deliberately designed culture that embodies the core values of tenacity, authenticity, curiosity, resilience, and empathy”. To the left of “Building Community”, it says “Participants build strong relationships with peers while also strengthening ties to their community through service”.

Spitfire partners with outside of school time programs (schools, affordable housing communities, recreation centers, libraries, and similar groups) to offer Spitfire Clubs on a weekly basis, with a focus on Spitfires who face structural and systemic barriers to literacy, visibility, opportunity, and liberation. We are a trusted, authentic, culturally responsive partner that embodies the Spitfire values of curiosity, resilience, empathy, authenticity, tenacity, and empowerment.

Learn more about our commitment to equity, our ambitious vision, and the impact we strive to have in our Organizational Documents.

Who We Are

woman with a flower blouse and brown hair facing the camera and smiling. There are books behind her on shelves.

AMANDA HAZELWOOD

Executive Director

Amanda is the founder and Executive Director of The Spitfire Club, an innovative nonprofit book club and empowerment community for girls. Amanda launched Spitfire in Alexandria, Virginia in 2017 and has since built Spitfire to serve over 450 girls in the DC-metro area and beyond. Amanda offers her experience of over a decade working in nonprofit management, fundraising, and strategic planning, while also bringing to bear nine years’ experience in the classroom, including four years with a literacy nonprofit working in DC Public Schools and over five years leading ESOL instruction for members of the immigrant community. Amanda is Chair Emeritus of the Alexandria City Children Youth and Families Collaborative Commission and 2021 Alexandria Chamber of Commerce "Forty under Forty" recipient. She is a graduate of American University's School of International Service and of Georgetown University’s Nonprofit Executive Management Certificate Program.

woman with black hair and black shirt facing the camera and smiling. There is a brick wall behind her

LESLIE FIGUEROA

Program Manager

As Program Manager, Leslie Figueroa utilizes her vibrant energy, creativity, and deep experience leading out-of-school-time programs to oversee Spitfire's reading and empowerment programming. Leslie is a seasoned mentor who facilitated and managed after school mentoring programs for five years. Subsequently, Leslie was promoted to Mentor and Training Director for a national nonprofit, where she led recruitment, training, and placement of volunteer mentors from George Mason University. Leslie is bilingual in English and Spanish and she holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Human Development from Virginia Tech. Leslie is also certified in TEFL and EMT/First Aid. Fun fact: Leslie spent two summers during undergrad working as an EMT at a summer camp in upstate New York.

Our Board of Directors

woman with black hair, necklace, and suit jacket facing the camera and smiling. There is a blurry gray background behind her

DR. SAUNJI D. FYFFE

Chair, Board of Directors

Saunji brings to Spitfire her deep expertise in monitoring and evaluation, nonprofit management, and research. Saunji is a Monitoring and Evaluation Analyst at General Dynamics Information Technology. Previously, Saunji worked as a researcher at The Urban Institute's Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy and she has taught classes on nonprofit leadership and management. She holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration and Policy from Virginia Tech and a B.A. in sociology from the University of Virginia.

woman with blonde hair and black blouse facing the camera and smiling. There is a blurry green nature background behind her

KELLY GRIFFIN

Vice Chair, Board of Directors

Kelly Griffin has helped complicated organizations navigate significant strategy and culture changes for more than 20 years. She has served as a trusted advisor and thought partner of C-suite leaders, Board members, and department heads while leading teams through the process of creating strategic plans, driving strategy execution and performance measurement processes, and guiding change management. As a full-time employee, she led processes to identify major strategic shifts and build bridges to successful execution at three national organizations and a government agency. As a consultant, she serves nonprofit clients with missions from ending hunger to solving homelessness to correcting policing inequity to curing life-threatening disease. Her work with them helps clarify their strategies, improve their strategic agility, and drive toward measurable outcomes. She is also certified as an executive coach.

man with blue shirt and blazer facing the camera and smiling. There is a blurry office background behind him

MARCUS STEWART

Treasurer, Board of Directors

Marcus is dad to a phenomenal Spitfire (who LOVES to read) and he is also a strong supporter of our work. During the day, Marcus leads all functions of finance at Phase2 Technology as their Vice President of Finance. We are excited that he can bring to bear his expertise in maintaining healthy financials that align with organizational strategy and vision at Spitfire!

JOANNA PENN

Member, Board of Directors

Joanna Penn brings extensive knowledge in management, finance, and communications. As mom of two, including a young Spitfire, Joanna is passionate about girls' empowerment and the power of reading. Joanna began her career in marketing and communications and later attended law school. Joanna has devoted the past decade to business development work for both law firms and firm service providers, currently serving as Managing Director with Husch Blackwell LLP

woman with clear safety glasses and dark hair facing the camera and smiling. She is holding up a book. There is a classroom whiteboard behind her

LORRAINE RIOS

Member, Board of Directors

We first met Lorraine Rios while operating a Spitfire Club in her library! Lorraine began her education career as a school media specialist and she now teaches fifth grade. Lorraine is currently pursuing her Master of Teaching at The University of Virginia, studying ESOL instruction. Prior to her work in education, Lorraine was a chemical engineer and she is also an artist! In addition to being a real renaissance woman, she grew up in Puerto Rico and is bilingual. Lorraine is also very proud to share that she is "the FUN aunt!" Lorraine may seem familiar to you - in 2020, Lorraine led virtual Spitfire Clubs with our youngest readers, so she brings first-hand knowledge of what Spitfire programming is and could be!

JULIO RAMIREZ

Member, Board of Directors

Julio Ramirez brings a broad range of experience to the Spitfire Club through both his professional and volunteer experience. Professionally, for the past 20 years, Julio has built and developed finance and accounting functions for small and mid-market businesses, and is currently the Sr. VP of Finance at RS&H, a full service architectural, engineering and environmental services firm. He has a passion for helping small and medium-sized firms grow and understand the unique challenges they often face. Julio enjoys staying involved and giving back to the local community. In addition to The Spitfire Club, he serves on the Board of Directors for Arts on the Horizon, an Alexandria based non-profit theater company focusing on performances for children, and has also previously served on the City of Alexandria Budget and Fiscal Advisory Affairs Committee.

Julio lives in Alexandria, VA with his wife and daughter. He is a musician and plays the guitar and the bass. Julio holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, and a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration and Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.

KAYLA SELSKY

Member, Board of Directors

Kayla Selsky is a passionate advocate for libraries, reading, and community-building. As Branch Manager at Alexandria Library, Kayla brings over a decade of experience in libraries, having previously served as the Youth Services Manager at James M. Duncan Library in Alexandria, VA and in various roles in other library systems. Throughout her career, she has focused on fostering a love of reading and learning in all ages, believing strongly in the ability of books to change lives. Kayla also serves on the board of Capitol Choices and on The American Library Association's Leadership Development Committee.

In addition to her professional role, Kayla has been a dedicated volunteer with The Spitfire Club for over two years, where she has led Spitfire Club programming and activities at her library. Her commitment to the organization reflects her deep belief in our mission to inspire and empower girls.

Spitfire is made possible by