Young Hearts Open Minds is pleased to announce the appointment of Arielle Handevidt, MA, as its new CEO. She will join the organization in late July 2026.
Arielle comes to YHOM from the Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ) where she served as Senior Director of Early Education and Innovation and Director of Collective Impact for Early Childhood over the past five years. She also is an instructor in the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Child Development where she mentors graduate-level students and prepares scholars for work within the infant and early childhood mental health field.
Prior to her work at NAZ, Arielle served as the Infant and Early Childhood Director for the Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health and a Relationship-Based Professional Development Specialist for the Center for Inclusive Childcare in the Twin Cities. She earned her Bachelor of Science from the Minnesota State University, Mankato, and her Master of Applied Child and Adolescent Development with an emphasis in infant and early childhood mental health from the University of Minnesota. Arielle and her spouse, an educator, are the parents of four children, ages 4-13.
“Our search committee was impressed by Arielle’s deep knowledge of early childhood and her strong alignment with the mission of Young Hearts Open Minds,” said Dr. Sheila Williams Ridge, board chair of YHOM. “She will bring wonderful experience and many connections in the early childhood field to our organization as we continue expansion of our work.”
YHOM was founded in 2020 on the fundamental belief that reaching and teaching young children at their very early stages of social-emotional, cognitive, and language development helps prevent the development of bias and race bias for the long-term. YHOM works alongside early childhood professionals and parents to help children ages 1-5 recognize, embrace, and appreciate differences so they can have greater academic, social, and career success. Currently, YHOM is fully integrated into more than 35 childcare and preschools, with more than 400 teachers trained who are impacting nearly 3,000 children daily.
“Young Hearts Open Minds reflects the culmination of my experience and what I care so much about,” says Arielle. “I’m eager to build the capacity of this organization to serve more educators and families as they support our youngest children and help build inclusive communities.”
