United States
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been drawn to the intersection of teaching, learning, leadership, and social impact. These passions have fueled my career as an early childhood expert with over twenty years of experience across direct service, higher education, nonprofit leadership, and policy—always with a focus on advancing equity for children, families, and communities. For 17 years, I served as a Professor of Practice in Early Childhood Education at Mills College in Oakland, California, where I advised undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students and taught a wide range of courses in child development, early childhood curriculum, instruction and assessment, educational leadership, child and family policy, and research methods. I directed several innovative programs, including a Leadership Program in Early Childhood, a Joint MBA/MA in Educational Leadership, and the Center for Global Play Research. I designed and taught courses in person, online, and in hybrid formats, and my practice was deeply grounded in culturally responsive pedagogy, trauma-informed care, and student-centered learning. I hold high expectations for students and pair that with an ethic of care that includes consistent support and meaningful feedback to help them thrive. I am the coeditor of one book and coauthor of fifteen others, including Culturally Responsive Tier 3 Interventions for Secondary Students: A Practical Guide for Teachers and Leaders (coming spring 2027; Teachers College Press), Culturally Responsive Tier 3 Interventions for Elementary Students: A Practical Guide for Teachers and Leaders (coming Fall 2026; Teachers College Press), Reducing Stress in Schools (Harvard Education Press, 2024), Supporting Young Children to Cope, Build Resilience, and Heal from Trauma through Play (Routledge, 2023), and Principals as Early Learning Leaders (Teachers College Press, 2022). My books are widely used in statewide professional learning and higher education settings. I regularly deliver keynotes and provide professional development, coaching, and consulting to early childhood programs, public schools, districts, county offices of education and state agencies. Whether I’m presenting, teaching, coaching, or consulting, I am a collaborative leader who aims to create lasting, equitable change through shared learning and strategic action. Let’s connect.
I consult for schools, districts, county offices of education, infrastructure organizations and state agencies on a variety of topics in child development, early childhood education and especially bridging early childhood with public education.
Worked with Children’s Funding Project across roles over three years—beginning as an MBA intern, then consultant, and later serving as Vice President for Implementation & Impact. Led implementation of the organizational strategic plan and impact tracking efforts; supervised senior leaders; and contributed to organizational and business development strategy, including coaching team leaders on product and service-line development and adult learning systems. Partnered with executive leadership on positioning, performance management, and cross-functional goal-setting and implementation supporting strategic public financing work with states and communities nationwide.
Provide editorial leadership for articles submitted to the peer reviewed journal, Early Child Development and Care, including descriptive & evaluative articles on medical programs, experimental and observational studies, critical reviews, and summary articles. The publication serves psychologists, educators, psychiatrists, pediatricians, social workers and other professionals involved in research, planning, education and care of children.
Professor, researcher, and author (13 books and 54 publications) at a leading global arts and historically all-women’s college. Areas of expertise include equity and justice in early childhood, leadership development, creating trauma-responsive-healing centered systems and programs for children and families and play across the lifespan. Delivered over 125 keynote speeches, built new programs including a leadership cohort program for masters and doctoral students (Leadership Program in Early Childhood), co-directed an innovative MBA-MA program and founded/directed the Center for Play Research, a research center focused on examining social justice and equity related to play across the lifespan and play in diverse global contexts.
Led development, strategic planning, and execution of various statewide projects in California for early childhood programs. Built training modules for state leaders that were rolled out and are still used in all 58 counties, published a first of its kind resource for early childhood educators titled Creating Equitable Early Learning Environments for Young Boys of Color, and developed relationships with state leaders, policymakers, and funders. Responsible for overseeing operational budget, teams and supervision of 12 Project Leaders for a division that included 130 employees with $20M+ annual revenue.