James Arana
Senior Trainer, MERGE for Equality
James Arana is a social worker, facilitator, mediator, and community organizer with 35 years experience working with people of all ages and diverse cultural background. James inspires and challenges individuals, youth programs, community organizations, and international NGO's to strengthen their work in transforming masculinity, domestic violence prevention, gender equality, organizational visioning and program development, and cultural competence.
As a MERGE Senior Trainer, James supports the development of men’s initiatives to reduce gender-based violence and promote a healthy, compassionate, and responsible model of masculinity. James facilitates a consciousness-raising process, using a popular education methodology, to assess and analyze the privileges and challenges of traditional masculinity with communities all around the world.
http://mergeforequality.org
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Senior Trainer, MERGE for Equality
Jeff Arciero
Grants Management Officer, ACF Region 1
Jeff Arciero is the Grants Management Officer for all Discretionary Grants in Region I. He has a degree in Business Administration – Finance from Merrimack College. He has worked in the regional office for over 15 years and truly enjoys the personal connection that the Head Start grants allow for at both the grantee level and family level.
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Grants Management Officer, ACF Region 1
Barbara Baldwin
Senior Coordinator of Site Management and Assistant Director of Early Learning, A.B.C.D. inc.
Barbara A. Baldwin is the Assistant Early Learning Director at A.B.C.D Inc. She has been working for the agency for 12 years. Prior to being employed with A.B.C.D Inc., she worked for Hall Neighborhood House for 24 years. During her time at Hall she held several positions such as Child Development Director, Head Start /Day Care /Director, Supervisor of Infant/ Toddler, After School Supervisor and Teacher. Ms. Barbara received her associate degree in 2011 from Charter Oak State College. Ms. Baldwin is currently enrolled at Ashford University pursuing her Bachelor’s in administration in Early Childhood. Ms. Barbara has experience in the Montessori program and has been trained in the philosophy of this practice. Ms. Barbara has her Head Teacher Certificate, State of Connecticut Director’s Credential, and the National Administrator Credential. Ms. Barbara is CLASS certified. She is a trained Practice Based Coach. She continues to use her experience and knowledge to support growth and development of children and families, staff, and peers in our Head Start program.
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Senior Coordinator of Site Management and Assistant Director of Early Learning, A.B.C.D. inc.
Paul Behrman
VT Head Start Association Chair
Paul Behrman is an administrator and human services advocate with expertise in leadership, management, strategic planning and organizational development. Since 1999, Paul has been the Director for Champlain Valley Head Start / Early Head Start in Northwest Vermont, serving over 300 children and families. Since 2000, Paul has served as Chair for the Vermont Head Start Association. Paul has also served in consultant and mentor roles at the Federal, state and local level. For the National Head Start Association, Paul served on: NHSA’s Performance Standards Revision Workgroup; NHSA’s State Engagement Leadership Group; and on the NHSA Monitoring Redesign Task Force. At the State level, Paul served on: the VT Governor’s Office, Blue Ribbon Commission on Financing High Quality, Affordable Child Care; Building Vermont's Future Think Tank; the VT / New Hampshire Head Start T/TA Advisory Board; and the VT Early Childhood Program Licensing Regulations Revision Project. Prior to Head Start, Paul worked as an attorney on Federal Indigent Defense Panel criminal appeals, and provided pro bono work on behalf of low-income clients. Paul was a Johnson & Johnson Management Program Fellow at Anderson School of Management at UCLA. Paul received a Juris Doctorate degree from UCLA School of Law, and Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Communication from State University of New York at Albany.
http://vermontheadstart.org/
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VT Head Start Association Chair
Deborah Bergeron
OHS Director
Dr. Deborah Bergeron is the director of the Office of Head Start. Known as "Dr. B" to former students and teachers, she has been a teacher at heart her entire life and has spent three decades in pre-K–12 public education as a classroom teacher and elementary and high school administrator. In the course of her career, Dr. B also started, grew, and ultimately sold her own educational services company. During her tenure as a school administrator, she specialized in school improvement. In three different school systems, Dr. Bergeron used strategies around school climate and effective instruction to inspire staff. In turn, staff were able to provide students with programming and instruction that yielded significant gains, including reading, math, discipline and graduation rates.
Since joining the Office of Head Start in April, 2018, Dr. B has used her experience as an elementary principal and her strong background in PK–12 instructional leadership to provide unique insights into how Head Start can support our most vulnerable children to become school ready. She has focused her energy on improving the relationship between Head Start and the public school system and continues to work at both the national level and with education influencers at the state and local levels to affect change.
In January, 2019, Dr. Bergeron was asked to broaden her leadership to include the Office of Early Childhood Development in the Administration for Children and Families. Her vision for ECD in conjunction with the work for the Office of Head Start is to transform how the nation prioritizes early childhood programming and to create a more collaborative, cohesive environment for early childhood.
Dr. Bergeron holds a bachelor’s degree from Texas State University. She earned a master’s in education leadership and doctorate in education policy from George Mason University.
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OHS Director
Brandi Black Thacker
Director of Training, Technical Assistance, and Collaboration for the National Center for Parent, Family and Community Engagement
Brandi Black Thacker, Director of Training, Technical Assistance, and Collaboration for the NCPFCE, has served communities as educator, case manager, advocate, director, trainer, technical assistance specialist, and consultant for over 15 years. She began her career in the mental health field, supporting children ages five to twenty-one with serious emotional disturbances. After moving to Virginia, she became a Head Start Director where she served 138 children and families. Brandi advanced to a position within the Region III Head Start Technical Assistance system where she provided extensive, ongoing, individualized attention to grantees in each of the six states. She also worked on the monitoring contract where she assisted in updating the protocol using the Monitoring 360 approach, and subsequently trained Federal and review team staff on its implementation. As the Director of TTA and Collaboration, Brandi oversees the development of materials and delivery of all NCPFCE training and technical assistance nationwide.
https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/about-us/article/national-center-parent-family-community-engagement-ncpfce
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Director of Training, Technical Assistance, and Collaboration for the National Center for Parent, Family and Community Engagement
Donna Brown
Supervisory Program Specialist, Region 1 OHS
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Supervisory Program Specialist, Region 1 OHS
Kristen (Tarr) Bullard
Teacher, Educare Central Maine
Kristen Bullard (Tarr) is an infant and toddler teacher at Educare. She holds a B.S. in Early Childhood Education and has a minor in visual arts from the University of Maine at Farmington. Kristen is an advocate for connecting children to nature. She has been sharing her research, experiences and ideas about this topic at conferences across the United States.
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Teacher, Educare Central Maine
Beth Bye
Commissioner, Connecticut Office of Early Childhood
Beth Bye was appointed as Commissioner for the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood by Governor Ned Lamont in January 2019.
Bye, who served in the Senate from 2011 to the present and in the House from 2007 through 2010, will lead an office created in 2013 to coordinate and enhance various early childhood development programs and create a cohesive early care system.
In 2013, Senator Bye led the effort to create The Office of Early Childhood (OEC), one of the first such offices in the country. Her work as champion for the creation of the office is informed by her own, long-term experience since 1980 as an early childhood professional.
Beth’s experience includes leadership positions at Auerfarm/Wintonbury Early Childhood Magnet School, Great by 8, the Capitol Region Education Council, and she also helped to open two early childhood magnet schools. Beth was the director at both the Trinity College Community Child Center and the University of St. Joseph School for Young Children, which was named a State of Connecticut model pre-school.
Commissioner Bye received her BA and MA in Child Development from the University of New Hampshire.
https://www.ct.gov/oec/site/default.asp
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Commissioner, Connecticut Office of Early Childhood
Mikyle Byrd-Vaughn
Executive Director, Lulac Head Start, Inc.
Dr. Mikyle Byrd-Vaughn has served as the Executive Director of LULAC Head Start Inc. in Connecticut (East Haven and New Haven) since August 2016. She originally joined the organization as the Early Head Start Director before being promoted to Co-Director of Programming and Operations. Mikyle has over 15 years of experience in supervision and education administration in early childhood education, highschool education and higher education. She received a BA (Behavioral Biology, Public and Community Health focus) from Johns Hopkins University, and a Master's Degree and Doctorate from the University of Bridgeport. Mikyle holds a CT Director's Credential in Early Care and Education and an MBA from Southern Connecticut State University. She is currently completing a UCONN Fellowship in PK-3 Leadership. Mikyle is the Co-Chair of the Connecticut Head Start Directors' Association and is on the Board of the New England Head Start Association as the Connecticut Director Representative.
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Executive Director, Lulac Head Start, Inc.
Laurie Conrad
Early Childhood Specialist, Region 1 TTA
Laurie Conrad is an Early Childhood Specialist with the New England Head Start T&TA network. Her experience includes training and technical assistance as well as working as an Early Head Start program specialist, Head Start director, and center manager at the University of New Hampshire Child Study and Development Center. She has taught college-level courses in early childhood leadership, child development, early childhood education and conflict resolution. Laurie received her bachelor’s in art education from the University of Southern Maine and her master’s in early childhood education from Wheelock College.
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Early Childhood Specialist, Region 1 TTA
Lynn Cote
Assistant Teacher, Educare Central Maine
Lynne Cote is currently an Assistant Teacher at Educare Central Maine. She holds a B.S. in Library Science from Central Connecticut State University.
She has an interest and passion for Maine's flora and fauna and is enrolled in the Certificate in Native Plants and Ecological Horticulture Program at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. She enjoys discovery and hands on learning experiences with the children in the natural playground at Educare.
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Assistant Teacher, Educare Central Maine
Jamie Chandler
Chief Operations Officer, Aroostook County Action Program
Jamie Chandler earned her Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences degree from Husson College. She currently works at Aroostook County Action Program as Chief Operations Officer. She is a certified poverty coach through the Dr. Donna Beegle Poverty Institute and has obtained her Certificate in Management from the American Management Association. Jamie has worked in community action for 6 years and over the last year has focused on ACAP’s transition to a Whole Family Approach to service delivery. In her spare time, Jamie volunteers with the Mapleton Pack 170 Cub Scouts, enjoys spending time with her family, and attempts to play golf on occasion. Jamie lives in Mapleton with her husband Derrick, their two sons Ryder and Peyton, and their rescue dog, Mulligan.
https://www.acap-me.org/
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Chief Operations Officer, Aroostook County Action Program
Rosa DeLauro
United States Representative
Rosa DeLauro is the Congresswoman from Connecticut’s Third Congressional District, which stretches from the Long Island Sound and New Haven, to the Naugatuck Valley and Waterbury. Rosa serves in the Democratic leadership as Co-Chair of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, and she is the Ranking Member on the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, where she oversees our nation’s investments in education, health, and employment. Rosa also serves on the subcommittee responsible for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, where she oversees food and drug safety.
At the core of Rosa’s work is her fight for America’s working families. Rosa believes that we must raise the nation’s minimum wage, give all employees access to paid sick days, allow employees to take paid family and medical leave, and ensure equal pay for equal work. Every day, Rosa fights for legislation that would give all working families an opportunity to succeed.
https://delauro.house.gov/
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United States Representative
Rosario Dominguez
Regional Training and Technical Assistance Coordinator
Rosario Dominguez has over 25-years experience in the nonprofit field as a leader, manager, director and board member. For the past 8 years, she has been working in training and technical assistance (TTA) with the Office of Head Start (OHS). She started, as a specialist for OHS’ National Center on Program Management and Fiscal Operation, developing resources and leading trainings around the country. Next, she supervised management systems specialists and provided TTA support to leaders of Head Start programs in the American Indian and Alaska Native Region. Her most recent post is overseeing a team of 16 TTA specialists serving all programs throughout New England. Prior to her OHS work, Rosario developed and managed a wide ranges of community-based programs including a teen program on pregnancy prevention, a job training program for people transitioning out of prison, and a food program for individuals with life-threatening illnesses. She also travelled to South Africa to provide TTA for a program providing meals to people with HIV/AIDS. Rosario attended Carleton College in Northfield, MN and received a BA in Political Science with a concentration in bilingual secondary education. She also earned an MPA from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and while there was a course assistant for management courses. Rosario has expertise in all aspect of management and leadership with a focus on development and growth of programs, strategic planning, oversight and monitoring, data, marketing & communications and human resources.
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Regional Training and Technical Assistance Coordinator
Jackie Downing
Director of Grantmaking and Nonprofit Effectiveness
Jackie Downing is the Director of Grantmaking and Nonprofit Effectiveness for The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. She has been on the staff of The Community Foundation for eight years. She divides her time between supporting the competitive grantmaking process and strengthening nonprofits through capacity building programs, workshops, giveGreater.org® and technical assistance. A graduate of Southern Connecticut State University, Jackie started her professional career at the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. She went on to be Development and Program Director at the Dixwell Community “Q” House, and Development Director at her alma mater Sacred Heart Academy. She spent four years the Deputy then Chief Administrative Officer for the Town of Hamden in the Amento administration, and five years in Fund Development at the Greater New Haven Community Loan Fund (now Capital for Change). Jackie has served on the Advisory Board of Sisters’ Journey, co-chaired the Hamden School Readiness Council and has served on the Board of Directors of the Hamden Land Conservation Trust and the Hamden Arts Commission. She volunteers with Hamden’s Whitney Players, Center Stage in Shelton and the New Haven Ballet.
www.cfgnh.org
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Director of Grantmaking and Nonprofit Effectiveness
Walter Gilliam
Director, Edward Zigler Institute
Walter S. Gilliam is the Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor of Child Psychiatry and Psychology at the Yale University Child Study Center, as well as the Director of The Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy. He is a member of the board of directors for ZERO TO THREE, Child Care Aware of America, the Irving Harris Foundation; All Our Kin, and First Children's Finance; a research fellow of the National Institute for Early Education Research; and former Senior Advisor to the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Dr. Gilliam is co-recipient of the prestigious 2008 Grawemeyer Award in Education for the coauthored book A Vision for Universal Preschool Education. Dr. Gilliam’s research involves early childhood education and intervention policy analysis (specifically how policies translate into effective services), ways to improve the quality of prekindergarten and child care services, the impact of early childhood education programs on children’s school readiness, and effective methods for reducing classroom behavior problems and preschool expulsion. His scholarly writing addresses early childhood care and education programs, school readiness, and developmental assessment of young children. Dr. Gilliam has led national analyses of state-funded prekindergarten policies and mandates, how prekindergarten programs are being implemented across the range of policy contexts, and the effectiveness of these programs at improving school readiness and educational achievement, as well as experimental and quasi-experimental studies on methods to improve early education quality. His work frequently has been covered in major national and international news outlets for print (e.g., New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, LA Times), radio (e.g., NPR), and television (e.g., CNN Headline News, NBC TODAY Show, CBS Early Show, ABC Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, FOX News). Dr. Gilliam actively provides consultation to state and federal decision-makers in the U.S. and other countries and is frequently called to provide U.S. Congressional testimony and briefings on issues related to early care and education.
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Director, Edward Zigler Institute
Jan Gilpin
Data System Specialist
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Data System Specialist
Anne Hemmer
System Specialist for the New England T/TA Network
Anne works with HS Collaboration State Directors and other partners on state-level systems initiatives. These include trainings and round-tables, to support grantees, on topics such as “I Am Moving I am Learning” and substance misuse. In the past, she has served as a health manager, a homebased and family childcare options manager and a nutrition manager for Head Start in Massachusetts. She has also been a nutrition consultant for Early Head Start in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. She has worked for the MA Department of Public Health with the MA Children at Play program and MA Department of Early Education and Care with the Quality Rating and Improvement System initiative. Ms. Hemmer graduated from Framingham State College with a bachelor's degree in food and nutrition. She has a master's degree from Wheelock College in family support/parent education. She is a registered dietitian.
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System Specialist for the New England T/TA Network
Kristen Holzinger
Executive Director, New England Head Start Association
Kristen joined New England Head Start Association in the Executive Director role in September of 2019. Prior to her position with NEHSA, Kristen’s passion for supporting young learners in the context of their families led her to a long-term position with Kennebec Valley Community Action Program’s Early Head Start and Head Start programs based in Waterville, ME. In this role she led system and professional development for program goals and objectives, data utilization, family services, disabilities and mental health. Additionally, she supported the broader Community Action Program through leadership on whole-family initiatives. Kristen supports embraces life-long learning through her own continued professional development and through facilitation of other adult learners, including an adjunct faculty position with Kennebec Valley Community College.
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Executive Director, New England Head Start Association
Amy Hunter
Assistant Professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Child and Human Development
Amy Hunter, MSW, LICSW oversees the mental health section of the Head Start National Center on Early Childhood Health and Wellness. Amy is also faculty on the SAMSHA funded National Center of Excellence on Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation. Previously, Amy served in many positions at ZERO TO THREE including as the Director of Program Operations for the Early Head Start National Resource Center and the Project Director for the Infant Toddler Center on the Social Emotional Foundations of Early Learning (CSEFEL) project. For twenty years Amy has been involved in early childhood mental health including providing training and technical assistance on early childhood mental health consultation to individuals and groups around the country.
https://gucchd.georgetown.edu/
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Assistant Professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Child and Human Development
Melisa Jaen
Senior Training and Technical Assistance Specialist
Melisa Jaen is a Senior Training and Technical Specialist with the National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning (NCECDTL). She has a Master's degree in Early Childhood Educational Administration from the University of Denver. She has worked over 18 years in the early childhood education field with children birth to 5 from diverse backgrounds and various settings. Her experience includes providing training and technical assistance to EHS and Head Start grantees, coaching, dual language learner practices, and she is an Affiliate Pre-K CLASS trainer.
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Senior Training and Technical Assistance Specialist
Linda Laliberte
Vice President Head Start/EHS East Bay Community Action Program
Linda Laliberte has been working in early childhood programming for over 28 years beginning her career as an Early Head Start Home Visitor providing direct services to families of infants, toddlers and pregnant women. She was project director of a federally funded 5-year research project, a partnership between HHS-ACF and the state of Connecticut Department of Human Services to support Head Start and Early Head Start families to prepare for employment through educational and training opportunities. Ms. Laliberte joined East Bay Community Action Program (EBCAP) in 2002 as the Associate Director of Early Childhood Services and became Vice President in 2016. Ms. Laliberte attended Rhode Island College and received her BA Psychology with concentration in developmental research and business management.
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Vice President Head Start/EHS East Bay Community Action Program
Scarlett Lewis
Chief Movement Officer & Founder
Scarlett Lewis founded the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement after her son was murdered during the Sandy Hook tragedy in December 2012. Shortly after his death, Scarlett decided to be part of the solution to the issues that we're seeing in our society—and that also caused the tragedy. She created the Movement and became an advocate for social and emotional learning (SEL) that teaches children how to manage their emotions, feel connected, and have healthy relationships.
Scarlett works to promote the Choose Love Enrichment Program, a no cost, next generation SEL program that empowers educators and their students to choose love for themselves and others. This program teaches children how to handle adversity, have courageous conversations, and to respond with love. The Choose Love Enrichment Program has been downloaded more than 30,000 times in all 50 states and in nearly 80 countries. This program includes the best of what is statistically effective and being taught in classrooms today that can reduce and prevent mental illness, substance abuse, bullying and more.
Since the tragedy, Scarlett has spoken all across the US and internationally to diverse audiences urging everyone to become part of the solution to the issues we’re experiencing today. Scarlett has spoken in national, statewide and community based events including hundreds of talks in schools and to educators and administrators.
https://www.jesselewischooselove.org
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Chief Movement Officer & Founder
Maureen McDonald
Early Childhood Specialist, Region 1 TTA
Maureen McDonald, MEd. has been a member of the New England Training and Technical Assistance Network for sixteen years. Prior to joining the TA Network, she worked at a Massachusetts Early Head Start/Head Start grantee as an Education Specialist, Center Based Services Director and Education Services Manager. For six years, she has been the Region 1 liaison to the Parent, Family and Community Engagement Content Implementation Team (CIT). She is a nationally trained regional facilitator for I Am Moving, I Am Learning – Head Start’s childhood obesity program. She has been a certified Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) trainer since 2009. Ms. McDonald has extensive experience training at state, regional and national Head Start conferences.
Ms. McDonald earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Boston College and a Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education from Salem State University.
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Early Childhood Specialist, Region 1 TTA
Amy Murchison
Program Coordinator, Aroostook County Action Program
Amy is a Program Coordinator for the Aroostook County Action Program (ACAP), which includes direct supervision of three Family Coaches and two Early Head Start Home Visitors, along with oversight of the Family Engagement Head Start Program Performance Standards. Amy began her career at ACAP as an Early Head Start Home Visitor, then transitioning to several different positions before her current role. Amy became a certified trainer for Family Centered Coaching in June of 2019. Amy is a trained Dr. Donna Beegle Poverty Coach. Amy also has training in trauma, family engagement, 2Gen/Whole Family and Motivational Interviewing. Prior to joining ACAP, Amy worked in children’s mental health services and coordinating services for young children with developmental delays and/or disabilities. Amy graduated from the University of Maine at Presque Isle in 2001 with a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work. Amy resides in Fort Fairfield with her husband, Chris and their two dogs, Bogart and Bentley.
https://www.acap-me.org/
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Program Coordinator, Aroostook County Action Program
Karen Nemeth
Senior Training and Technical Assistance Specialist – DLL
Karen Nemeth has a BA in Psychology and Ed.M. in Learning, Cognition, and Development with specialization in first and second language development. She has provided training and technical assistance to local programs, colleges, and state governments on supporting young children who are DLLs and their families. She is the author of more than 10 books and 40 articles on this topic. At NCECDTL, Karen does in-person and virtual training and technical assistance and collaborates with colleagues on developing resources for supporting children who are DLLs and their families.
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Senior Training and Technical Assistance Specialist – DLL
Carol Nolan
Massachusetts Head Start State Collaboration Director
This workshop will showcase the new videos/resources that have been developed by the NCECHW that include two grantees from Region 1. The NCECHW, along with a Collaboration Director and a T/TA State Systems Specialist will share several activities and initiatives that are supporting programs, families and children impacted by substance misuse. Participants will have an opportunity to learn about effective strategies and share their ideas and insights about how they can use the video and resources in their programs with staff and families.
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Massachusetts Head Start State Collaboration Director
Carol O'Donnell
Executive Director, CT Early Childhood Funder Collaborative
Carol P. O'Donnell, has served as the executive director of the CT Early Childhood Funder Collaborative (ECFC), a project of CT Council for Philanthropy since 2013. In this role, she helps to facilitate the work of 17 funders seeking to improve Connecticut’s early childhood system. She has extensive experience in early childhood and philanthropy having held executive positions with community and family foundations. In her former position as Associate CEO of the Connecticut Community Foundation, she designed and managed its early childhood initiative and was directly involved in the creation of the ECFC serving as one of its first co-chairs. O’Donnell holds an MPA from the University of Connecticut and a BA from the College of William and Mary.
https://www.ctphilanthropy.org
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Executive Director, CT Early Childhood Funder Collaborative
Peg Oliveira
Founding Director, 108 Monkeys
Dr. Peg Oliveira is the Founding Director of 108 Monkeys, a nonprofit yoga service organization and Executive Director of the Gesell Program in Early Childhood at the Yale Child Study Center. She is a developmental psychologist with a career in advocacy and social activism. Peg is a mindfulness author and writes for national publications and education texts. Peg received her doctorate from Brandeis University and has worked with state agencies, national advocacy coalitions and local initiatives to ensure that all children get a high quality early learning experience. Peg is also a beloved yoga teacher in her hometown of New Haven, CT.
www.108monkeys.org
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Founding Director, 108 Monkeys
Jennifer Olson
Senior Training and Technical Assistance Specialist for the National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement
Dr. Jennifer Olson has experience in various settings in the field of early childhood education and care over the past 30 years. She is a Senior Training and Technical Assistance Specialist for the National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement. She worked at the Early Head Start/Child Care Partnership Center with an emphasis upon partnerships located in American Indian and Alaska Native Region XI programs and was part of the Training and Technical Assistance Grant for AIAN programs located at Family Health International (FHI) 360. She has directed numerous state and federally funded projects designed to provide technical assistance to early childhood care and education professionals in the field.
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Senior Training and Technical Assistance Specialist for the National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement
Monica Ordway
Associate Professor, Yale University School of Nursing
Dr. Monica Ordway is an associate professor at Yale University School of Nursing with a joint appointment at the Yale School of Medicine. Her research is focused on developing and testing the effects of behavioral interventions and improving health outcomes in young children living with socioeconomic adversity. Her most recent study involved collecting longitudinal data from 110 parent-child dyads with toddlers ages 12-15 months living in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities to increase our understanding of the relationships among sleep, stress, and health. Findings from this research will help determine the effect of sleep as a potential buffer to toxic stress. Her expertise includes: biomarker and sleep measurements, analytic approaches to biomarker data, as well as recruiting and conducting home visits with diverse, multi-ethnic, low-income families for research. As a pediatric nurse practitioner, Dr. Ordway sees patients at the Yale Pediatric Sleep Clinic.
https://nursing.yale.edu
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Associate Professor, Yale University School of Nursing
Karen Pascale
Early Head Start Director, United Way of Greater New Haven
Karen Pascale is the Early Head Start Director of United Way of Greater New Haven (UWGNH). Since 2012 Karen has provided leadership to the program, helping to secure an additional $1.6 million in federal EHS funds through the Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership opportunity. Karen has also skillfully managed our relationships with our child care partners and led our program through very successful federal monitoring visits.
Karen has an extensive background working in Head Start. Prior to joining UWGNH, Karen worked in another local Head Start program, serving in two positions during her time there, including an Education/Disabilities Manager, and later a Program Manager.
Karen has a Masters in Education from the University of New Haven and a BS in Political Science from Southern Connecticut State University. Born and raised in South Central Connecticut, she is passionate about ensuring that all children have access to high quality early care and education. Karen serves on the Connecticut Head Start Association in a Leadership position and is an active member of the New Haven Region Chapter of the Connecticut Association for the Education of Young Children, serving as Public Policy Chair and past Co-President. She lives in Hamden with her husband and three children.
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Early Head Start Director, United Way of Greater New Haven
Sue Powers
Director of Programs, Aroostook County Action Program
Sue Powers currently works at Aroostook County Action Program as Director for Early Care & Education and Prevention Programs. She attended University of Maine Presque Isle and holds degrees in Criminal Justice and Social Science. Sue has worked in community action for 39 years and over the last two years has focused on ACAP’s transformation to a Whole Family Approach. Sue currently serves as an executive officer of Maine Head Start Directors Association, and as a Legislatively appointed member of the Independent Advisory Review Committee for Maine’s Early Childhood Special Education Services and Governor appointed member of Maine Children’s Cabinet ECE Advisory Council. She is a life-long resident of Aroostook County, Maine, where she and her husband raised their three children. She spends free time with the center of their family, six year old granddaughter, Piper.
https://www.acap-me.org/
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Director of Programs, Aroostook County Action Program
Rosa Rada
Connecticut Statewide 2Gen Coordinator
Rosa Rada has a background in interdisciplinary research and human service programs, particularly food assistance. She has experience working at the grassroots, local city government, state government, and state association level. Her work has often focused on expanding equity and access of public services for families. She now serves as the Connecticut Statewide 2Gen Coordinator, working with all three branches of state government, the private sector, parents, and regional and federal partners on advancing 2Gen, or "whole family," policy.
https://www.ct.gov/oec/site/default.asp
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Connecticut Statewide 2Gen Coordinator
Ruth-Ann Rasbold
Early Childhood Manager, New England Head Start T&TA Network
Throughout her career, Ruth has worked with young children, birth through eight, and their families in early childhood, special education and disabilities services, and has provided technical assistance to local, state, and national early childhood programs and systems. She has also managed state and federal grants and contracts in early intervention, child care, inclusion, family involvement, and community support. Ruth-Ann has worked with the New England Head Start TTA Network for 15 years.
http://www.donahue.umassp.edu/business-groups/new-england-head-start-training-technical-assistance
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Early Childhood Manager, New England Head Start T&TA Network
Sharon Redmann
Early Care and Education Consultant
Sharon Redmann, M.Ed., M.A.OL, has been in the field of Early Care and Education for over 30 years. As a parent, she considers herself honored to have been a consumer of both family childcare and center- based childcare. Her career trajectory has been guided by the question, “Where can I make a difference?” Answering that question has provided her opportunities as a teacher, director, higher education faculty, administrator, advocate, consultant, trainer, and leader. Currently, she works as an Early Childhood Specialist for Area Cooperative Educational Services in Connecticut. In that role she facilitates parent groups, provides quality assurance to the Middlesex County Early Head Start, conducts monitoring for local school readiness councils, and offers training, coaching, and consultation to family child care and center based programs on lifespan development – particularly birth to eight, reflective practice, organizational health, administrative/management policy development, and leadership development. This later area is one of particular interest to her as she reflects back over her years in the field. She believes there is an urgency to engaging new leaders. Leaders who will be both passionate and compassionate, humble and assertive, and relentless in their advocacy for young children and their families. She enjoys cooking, traveling, yoga, watercolor painting and writing. She is the proud mother of two amazing young adults.
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Early Care and Education Consultant
Joanne Roberts
Research and Evaluation Project Manager, NCPFCE
Dr. Joanne Roberts, As the Project Manager of the Research and Evaluation team Joanne leads the evaluation of NCPFCE communication, reach, knowledge and skill-building, and impacts. She has spent more than 20 years working in the field of early childhood in a range of roles including researcher, technical assistance provider, evaluator and developmental psychologist. In particular, she has spent the last 15 years focusing on research and evaluation related early child development, standards related to quality early care and education (ECE) programming and relational and developmental interventions for young children and families. With her myriad of skills, she is able to ensure NCPFCE evaluation efforts are comprehensive, responsive to real-time needs, promote collaboration among partners, and coordinate with the cross-systems evaluation. Joanne holds PhD in Developmental Psychology from New York University and an MBA from Babson College.
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Research and Evaluation Project Manager, NCPFCE
Donna Ruhland
Senior Subject Matter Expert – Professional Development Systems
Donna Ruhland is a Senior Subject Matter Expert – Professional Development Systems with the National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning (NCECDTL). Ms. Ruhland has thirty-five years in the Early Childhood field and has experience as an infant/toddler teacher, preschool teacher, family child care provider, TA specialist, early interventionist, adjunct instructor, and most recently managed Ohio's professional development registry. She holds a Master's degree in Early Childhood Education, certification in infant/toddler education and early intervention as well as a graduate certificate in Infant Mental Health.
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Senior Subject Matter Expert – Professional Development Systems
Nancy Topping-Tailby
T/TA Provider, National Center on Early Childhood Health and Wellness
Nancy Topping-Tailby, MSW, LICSW is a mental health clinician and child health and safety expert with more than 40 years of experience developing and sustaining comprehensive early childhood services. Nancy has worked as a training and technical assistance provider since 2011, initially with the Head Start National Center on Health and currently with the National Center on Early Childhood Health and Wellness where she leads the center’s safety and injury prevention work. Before joining the ACF T/TA system, Nancy was Executive Director of the Massachusetts Head Start Association, an expert consultant to the Office of Head Start, and Program Director of an Early Head Start and Head Start program in Southeastern Massachusetts. She has also helped implement local, state-level, and national early childhood health initiatives, treated young children and their families in clinical settings, and worked as a mental health consultant in MA where she helped to establish the first state-level early childhood mental health consultation program. Nancy is a founding member of the Massachusetts Association for Infant Mental Health (MassAIMH – Zero-to-Six) and a member of the National Association of Social Workers. She received a BA from Connecticut College and an MSW from the Smith College School for Social Work.
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T/TA Provider, National Center on Early Childhood Health and Wellness
Rebecca Trivax
Principle Consultant, Tribecca Systems
Rebecca has been with Tribecca Systems in New York City since 2015. At Tribecca Systems we are focused on providing clients with guidance on the need for data analytics within their organization. Working with non-profit organizations since 2010, Rebecca is very knowledgeable in data integration and implementation into the workplace for outcomes-driven reporting.
https://www.TRIBECCASYSTEMS.com
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Principle Consultant, Tribecca Systems
Yasmina Vinci
Executive Director
As a seasoned leader in executive and policy roles, Yasmina Vinci's professional experience and capabilities have delivered improvements in the lives of children at national, state, and local levels. Yasmina came to the NHSA after several years as principal and founder of EDGE Consulting Partners. At EDGE, Yasmina pursued local, national and global projects that utilized the knowledge, experience, and connections of her years in human services and early education, to enhance the capacity of organizations to thrive as competent, strategic entities capable of influencing policy. Yasmina founded EDGE after receiving her Master in Public Administration degree from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
Yasmina’s experience is grounded in service as executive director of a child care program serving low-income families and as development director for a cluster of non-profit child care centers. In State government, she supervised Head Start research, administered the federal Dependent Care Grant and planned for New Jersey’s implementation of the very first Child Care and Development Block Grant. As the first Executive Director of NACCRRA (now ChildCareAwareofAmerica), in collaboration with the American Academy of Pediatrics and academic partners, she built first bridges between child health and child care professionals. Also under her leadership, NACCRRA undertook the development of a then revolutionary software which to this day allows families to find and choose among child care providers while providing planners at local, state and national levels with valuable data on the supply of care and its attributes.
In her current role, responding to the need of Head Start programs to measure their progress in Parent, Family and Community Engagement (PFCE), Yasmina raised funding for NORC at the University of Chicago to conduct research with Head Start families and to produce Parent Gauge, a measurement tool to inform programs’ continuous quality improvement as well as to produce analytics for further use.
*The National Head Start Association is the national voice for one million vulnerable children and their families, 245,000+ Head Start staff and 1,600+ Head Start grantees.
https://www.nhsa.org
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Executive Director
Marina Winkler
OHS Regional Manager
Marina Winkler is the Region 1 Program Manager for the Office of Head Start (OHS). She holds a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from Salem State University and a Master of Arts in Regional, Economic and Social Development from the University of Massachusetts. Marina has worked at the Office of Head Start Regional Office in varying capacities since 2003. Marina is particularly interested in using data and technology to meet programmatic needs within Head Start. She lives just north of Boston with her family and is a proud US Citizen since 2004.
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OHS Regional Manager
Martha Welch
Director, Nurture Science Program
Martha G. Welch MD, DFAPA has been a pioneer in the treatment of mother-child relational health for over 40 years. Her decades of clinical observation have led to a new paradigm employing mother-child co-regulatory vs. self-regulatory processes in establishing optimal parent/child relational health and well-being.
Today, as the Director of the Nurture Science Program in Pediatrics at Columbia University Medical Center, Dr. Welch leads a multidisciplinary team of researchers in testing her Family Nurture Intervention and exploring the underlying biological phenomenon of Emotional Connection. Dr. Welch is co-author of Calming Cycle Theory, which posits that symptomatic behavior can be eliminated through repeated and regular calming sessions between mother and child and other family members.
Dr. Welch received her medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons where she is Associate Professor of Psychiatry in Pediatrics and Pathology & Cell Biology. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.
https://nurturescienceprogram.org/
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Director, Nurture Science Program
Grace Whitney
Champion of Head Start Award Recipient
Grace Whitney joined the SchoolHouse Connection team three years ago where she focuses on issues related to homelessness during the early years. Prior to that she was director of Connecticut’s Head Start State Collaboration Office for 20 years. Dr. Whitney began her career as a preschool teacher and home visitor and has since held clinical and administrative positions in early childhood, community mental health, and human services, and has served on aid teams abroad. She has taught full time and as an adjunct instructor and has presented often at conferences and professional meetings. She’s participated on a number of local, regional, and national boards including the New England Head Start Association Board of Directors from 2004-2008 and again in 2016-2017. She is a developmental psychologist and endorsed as an Infant Mental Health Policy Mentor.
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Champion of Head Start Award Recipient
Lisa Woodruff
Education Consultant
Lisa provides training and technical assistance at the National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning. She has a Bachelor of Science in Speech Pathology and Audiology and Master’s degree in Early Childhood Special Education. Lisa has over 20 years of teaching and leadership experience in the field of Early Childhood Education. Lisa spent five years as an ECE Master Educator in the District of Columbia Public Schools working on behalf of the Race to the Top educational reform initiative. She also served as a Program Manager of Professional Development with the District of Columbia Public Schools where she designed and implemented PD for Early Childhood Special Educators across the district. Additionally, she worked as a Senior Program Manager supporting Early Head Start Child Care Partnerships.
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Education Consultant
Kathryn Zimmerman
Research Assistant, NCPFCE
Kathryn Zimmermann, As the Research Assistant on the Research and Evaluation team Kathryn coordinates the administrative tasks involved with evaluating NCPFCE communication, reach, knowledge and skill-building, and impacts. She has multiple years of experience working with Head Start/Early Head Start in varying research and policy roles. She uses her intimate knowledge of Head Start/Early Head Start to inform the evaluation design and data collection for NCPFCE. Kathryn holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and human development from Boston College.
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Research Assistant, NCPFCE
