Jamie Dyce is the Executive Director of Pajama Program and an attorney. She practiced trusts and estates law for 11 years in New York City, specializing in wealth planning and estate litigation. While at her former law firm, Duane Morris LLP, Jamie began volunteering at Pajama Program in 2009 and organized visits to the NYC Center for her fellow colleagues to volunteer at Storytime. As the daughter of a Buffalo public schoolteacher who taught pre-k for more than 30 years, and an avid reader and lover of children’s literature herself, Jamie believes in the power of sharing a story to support children, no matter their circumstances. Jamie joined the Board of Directors at Pajama Program in 2011 and served as Board Chair before stepping down to assume the role of Associate Executive Director in 2016, and Executive Director in 2017.
During her legal career, Jamie led her firm’s pro bono partnership with GEMS, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that assists young American girls who have survived commercial sexual exploitation. That experience was life-changing for Jamie, both professionally and personally. Through her work, she learned that the population of children served by Pajama Program is identical to the population of children at risk for trafficking, among other dangers. By supporting and connecting with those children, a positive difference could be made in their lives, helping them to fulfill their own dreams and aspirations. Jamie sees her work at Pajama Program as preventative to unfortunate circumstances that could befall a child through no fault of their own. She advocates for every child’s right to a comforting bedtime routine and healthy sleep, and says it is a privilege to support the children of Pajama Program.
Jamie was recognized by the New York Law Journal as one of its “Lawyers Who Lead by Example”, and by the City Bar Justice Center of New York City for her pro bono work with the Justice Center’s Elderlaw and Cancer Advocacy Project, both in 2012. She graduated cum laude from SUNY at Buffalo School of Law (J.D., 2005) and cum laude from Binghamton University (B.A., 1999), and earned her Certificat des Etudes Internationales from the Université de Paris-Sorbonne (1999). Jamie received also her Advanced Professional Certificate in Taxation and Estate Planning from the LL.M. program at New York University School of Law in 2016.