Our Staff

Brenna Karis

Brenna graduated from New York University in 2011 with a Bachelor’s degree in Italian Culture and Language and a minor in Astronomy. Her exposure to child care began at a young age as she began babysitting and assisting her mother in their local daycare when she was 11 years old. She worked as a camp counselor/division director throughout high school and college. At NYU she was involved in several tutoring and mentoring programs, working with students of all ages. Following graduation, she worked as a full-time nanny for 5 years, working for multiple families with children of all different ages and cultural backgrounds.

She holds her CDA (Child Development Associate), a nationally recognized credential in Early Childhood Development. She also holds certifications in Newborn Care and Sleep Training and her Site Supervisor Permit from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. With her passion for quality care and her adoration of all children, she had dreamed of opening her own daycare for many years and is so excited to bring her experience, love, and enthusiasm to her current facilities.

Andrea Karis

Andrea moved from Boston to LA to work with her daughter, Brenna, at Karis Family Daycare. As a teenager, Andrea worked as the neighborhood babysitter for almost a dozen families in her small hometown in Massachusetts. While in college, she was a teacher in a day care center where she worked in the infant and toddler rooms, and continued as a substitute teacher there for several years. In addition to this, she founded the childcare service at a local church where she took care of hundreds of children over nearly a decade.

She has worked as a pediatric physical therapist assistant for children with significant special needs, as a mentor to young mothers, and as a lecturer to groups of young mothers and high school students. Most recently, she has worked for medical researchers at Boston University, Harvard University, and Fenway Health, the largest LGBT health and research center in the United States. She loves cooking, baking, art, and photography. Her favorite quote about children is from Forest Witcraft, who was a founding member of the Boy Scouts:

“A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove. But the world may be different, because I was important in the life of a child.”

Griselda Espinosa

Griselda “Gris” is a FIDM alumna who majored in Fashion Design. Griselda has been working as a BI (Behavior Interventionist) since February 2020, and provided instructional and behavioral support to behaviorally challenged students in Special Education programs. She’s been working with kids since she was 18, initially watching her nephews, and then babysitting for kids in her neighborhood. Over the years, she’s worked primarily with toddlers & preschoolers, but loves kids of all ages.

Growing up as an only child has taught her to be a patient listener and observer. She encourages all who work with children to see each child as a unique individual and learn from what they know, as you teach them what they have not yet come to learn. Griselda thinks it’s important to provide children with a fun, fulfilling, and enriched environment. She is an enthusiastic and responsible person and looks forward to meeting you and your kids!