Dr. Natalya Bannister Roby

President & Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Natalya Bannister Roby is President and CEO of Episcopal Children’s Services (ECS4Kids), one of the Southeast’s largest providers of high-quality early learning and family services. Founded in 1966, ECS spans 24 counties in Florida and Georgia through Head Start and Early Head Start, VPK, School Readiness, and its Coach Jax coaching model, serving roughly 30,000 children and families.

Only the third leader in the organization’s 60-year history, Dr. Bannister Roby has driven its most significant growth to date. She leads a $130 million-plus operating budget and more than 1,100 employees across a multistate footprint. Under her leadership, ECS won multiple competitive multiyear federal grants totaling more than $100 million and launched its first-ever Georgia expansion, establishing the organization as a multistate operation. She secured the largest and longest contract in the organization’s history and landed the largest private gift ECS has ever received to advance its ECS4Ward: 2030 strategic plan, a vote of confidence in the organization’s vision.

Dr. Bannister Roby also designed the organization’s first comprehensive philanthropic strategy, established its first Special Needs and Wellness department, broadened the organization’s advocacy and policy work, and grew Coach Jax into a sought-after teacher-coaching model contracted into more than 100 centers beyond ECS’s own network. ECS earned 2026 Top Workplaces recognition, and Dr. Bannister Roby was named a 2025 Jacksonville Business Journal Woman of Influence. She holds an EdD in Educational Leadership, with a concentration in Organizational Leadership, from the University of North Florida.