Staff Bios

Michael Barla, EdD is a Research Associate Professor in the Positive Early Learning Experiences (PELE) Center at the University of Denver. He previously worked as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the early childhood and early childhood special education licensure programs at the University of Colorado Denver. Prior to joining the faculty at CU-Denver, he was an Assistant Professor of early childhood education and special education at Fontbonne University in St. Louis, MO. Dr. Barla began his public-school career as a Speech-Language Pathologist working with children ages pre-K through high school in Illinois, Florida, and Missouri. He then moved into positions focusing on educational assessments and administration and spent the final five years of his public-school career as the Director of Early Childhood Education for the Rockwood School District in St. Louis County, MO. As the Director of ECE, Dr. Barla was responsible for the collaborative leadership of four programs in the school district: tuition-based early childhood education, early childhood special education, Parents as Teachers and screening.

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Cherie Bartell, MIS, is the Web Developer for the Early Childhood TA (ECTA) Center within the Trohanis Technical Assistance (TA) Projects. Cherie is also a trained digital accessibility liaison with UNC-Chapel Hill. She supports ECTA by creating web applications that increase efficiency and knowledge sharing. Her specialties include back-end web development, ASP, ColdFusion, PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and accessibility.

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Ron Benham, MA, MDiv, serves as a TA Consultant for the Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center. He previously served as Director, Bureau of Family Health and Nutrition, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and the state Title V Director. As Part C Coordinator from 1992 to 2019 he served as director of the Massachusetts Early Intervention system cumulatively serving more than 40,000 infants and toddlers and their families on an annual basis. His professional experience includes over 40 years in public health, early care and education and special health needs positions at the state and local level.

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Denise J. Bennett is a Technical Assistance (TA) Specialist and member of the web team with the Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center within the Trohanis Technical Assistance Projects at Frank Porter Graham Child Developmental Institute. She provides TA to state interagency coordinating councils (ICC) on racial equity and communication. Denise is also editor of the monthly newsletter, eNotes, that shares resources and news items from ECTA and other agencies/organizations related to early intervention and early childhood special education.

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Denise Binder, MA, is a technical assistance specialist with 15 years of experience in providing training and technical assistance related to positive behavior support, behavior support planning, implementation of the Pyramid Model within classrooms and programs, and implementation of DEC Recommended Practices. In ECTA, she provided training and coaching to state professional development providers, program coaches, and designed training materials related to classroom implementation of evidence-based practices.

Nancy Burdic is a Senior Research Associate in the PELE Center at the University of Denver. Her role at ECTA is to provide technical assistance to programs and communities addressing the "how to's" of achieving high-quality inclusion in Early Childhood Care and Education. Nancy served in a variety of roles during her 37-year career in public school education, the last 21 focused on the needs of our youngest learners and their families. Her extensive experience as a classroom provider, instructional coach, and program director gives her a broad background to train teams in evidenced based practices relating to the development and implementation of high-quality inclusionary programs.

Ted Burke is a TA Consultant for the Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center. For over 30 years, Ted has provided consultation across the United States focused on the areas of early intervention, personnel, professional development, and systems development. Throughout his career, Ted held various positions including Head Start Administrator, Early Intervention Systems Resource Specialist, Service Coordinator, Local Interagency Council Coordinator, Local Early Intervention Program Manager, Statewide Early Intervention Program Director, Professional Development Consultant, and, from 2002 to 2015, Director of the Early Intervention Training Program (EITP). Ted has worked as a consultant with several states, including Illinois, Kentucky, Arkansas, Hawaii, Arizona, Mississippi, Minnesota, and Ohio. He has developed strong relationships and effective partnerships with many organizations, agencies, and programs that support young children and families. Ted is actively engaged in local, state, and national advisory boards that prioritize providing services for children and their families. He is the Past President of the Executive Board of Directors for the Division of Early Childhood (DEC) and one of the founding facilitators of the Early Intervention-Early Childhood Professional Development Community of Practice (EIECCoP).

Debbie Cate is a technical assistance (TA) specialist with the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG) at the University of North Carolina (UNC). Her work within the Trohanis Technical Assistance Projects is with the Early Childhood TA Center (ECTA), and the Center for IDEA Early Childhood Data Systems (DaSy) Center. Her current work supports states in their provision of early childhood special education services in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), for children ages birth through grade three and their families. She has extensive experience in developing and implementing state systems and processes to provide effective IDEA preschool services, evaluating and monitoring state and local systems leading to improved results, defining and using state data to inform practice and process, and in strategic state planning to enhance comprehensive early childhood systems, all to support positive outcomes for young children and their families.

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Evandra Catherine, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Early Childhood Education/Early Childhood Special Education program in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College and the Director of Leadership Engagement and Senior Scientist of Mental Health Equity at Arizona State University. Her work focuses on addressing equity in policy, practices, and systems for young learners and advancing equity in early care and education through Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (ECMHC). In her role at the CEP, she is currently working on initiatives with the Center of Excellence for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health at Georgetown University and the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center at the University of North Carolina. She also works with state leaders to evaluate and develop policies and practices that advance equity in child and family serving systems. She was recently named a 2022 Young Scholar for the Foundation for Child Development to conduct mixed-methods research to describe how ECMHC advances equity. She has co-authored a number of policy reports and peer-reviewed articles on issues including discipline of young children, inclusion of young children, and advancing equity in early care and learning settings.

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Alyson Cavanaugh, PhD, is a Technical Assistance (TA) Specialist with the Early Childhood TA (ECTA) Center within the Trohanis Technical Assistance (TA) Projects. She provides support for planning and delivery of technical assistance to Part C and 619 programs. Alyson works most closely with the content areas of Leadership, Inclusion, and Equity.

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Laura Curtis, MEd, is an Associate Director of the Early Childhood TA (ECTA) Center and a member of the Leadership Team for the Trohanis Technical Assistance (TA) Projects at UNC Chapel Hill Frank Porter Graham (FPG) Child Development Institute. Laura provides project and cross-project Technical Assistance Coordination, and leads the Trohanis Coordination Team. For more than 50 years, the projects of Pascal "Pat" Trohanis have provided TA following Guiding Principles for Effective Technical Assistance to assist state and local early intervention and early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) agencies to develop and manage effective and efficient systems and implement evidence-informed practices in order to improve services and outcomes for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers and their families.

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Janniqua Dawkins, MC, is the Manager of Operations for the Children’s Equity Project (CEP) at Arizona State University. She is responsible for managing the CEP’s operations, events, financial portfolio, and supporting the mission of the CEP. Janniqua has dedicated her entire professional career to enhancing the lives of underserved populations, specifically youth and families, racial and ethnic minorities, and people within the LGBTQIA community.

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Jessica Edwards, PhD, is a Senior Program Evaluator at PIRE's Chapel Hill (NC) Center and serves as an external evaluator for the ECTA Center evaluation team. She is also a member of the external evaluation team for DaSy. In addition, Dr. Edwards' focus includes working with states and communities to evaluate the overall processes and outcomes of their substance misuse prevention efforts, usually within the context of enhancing system capacities and use of evidence-based interventions. Dr. Edwards received her PhD in Maternal and Child Health from the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and obtained BA and MA degrees in anthropology.

Lise Fox, PhD, is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Child and Family Studies in the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences of the University of South Florida. She has over 30 years of experience as a researcher, trainer, and technical assistance provider to local programs and state systems on issues related to implementing evidence-based practices within early childhood programs with a focus on promoting social-emotional skill development and addressing challenging behavior. Dr. Fox provided leadership for the intensive TA provided by ECTA on the implementation of Recommended Practices and the model used for state scale-up and sustainability of high-quality inclusion.  Dr. Fox is also the principal investigator of the OSEP-funded National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations.

Sherry Franklin is a consultant with the Early Childhood TA (ECTA) Center within the Trohanis Technical Assistance (TA) Projects. Sherry has 25 years of experience as a state Part C local administrator, TA Specialist, and Part C Coordinator as well as a family development administrator for Headstart.

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Ruth Gallucci serves as the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) 619 Affinity Group Liaison as well as a Technical Assistance Consultant for the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA) and the Center for IDEA Early Childhood Data Systems (DaSy). For twelve years, she served as Rhode Island's 619 Coordinator, directing state preschool special education initiatives relative to child outcomes, early childhood environments, Early Intervention transition, and Child Find. Between 2018 and 2023, Ruth was elected and sat on the NASDSE 619 Executive Board, where she served as Chair, Co-Chair, and past Chair. Ruth originated the RI Itinerant Early Childhood Special Education (RI-IECSE) service-delivery model and associated professional development and technical assistance supporting educators in the provision of special education services embedded into the general education environment. She has centered her career on tackling complex and persistent issues affecting our schools and building systems that disrupt pervasive inequities and improve student outcomes. Her earliest passion for advocating for the equitable inclusion of children with disabilities led to a career focused on system change efforts at state, national, and local levels.

Maureen Greer is the Executive Director of the IDEA Infant & Toddler Coordinators Association (ITCA). She has over 30 years experience in working with infants and toddlers and their families in a variety of capacities including serving as the Part C Coordinator in Indiana for 9 years. She is the owner of Emerald Consulting and consults with the OSEP-funded early childhood centers on a variety of topics with an emphasis on finance and integrated systems.

Paula Grubbs, PhD, is a Technical Assistance Specialist at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG) at the University of North Carolina. Her current projects include the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA), Kindergarten Sturdy Bridge, and the North Carolina Data Governance Project. Paula has more than thirty years of experience serving young children with and without disabilities and their families, administering publicly funded Pre-K programs, and preparing personnel to serve children with disabilities and their families. Her current work is aimed to support:

• States' and communities' efforts to strengthen existing infrastructure and implement evidence-based, effective kindergarten instructional and assessment practices;
• State early Intervention/Part C and preschool special education/ Section 619 B program coordinators as they work to build high-quality systems and implement the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) early childhood requirements; and
• State agencies as they create and strengthen existing data governance systems and processes.

Christine Harradine, PhD, is a Technical Assistance Specialist/Research Investigator at the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute working with the STEM Innovation for Inclusion for Early Education Center (STEMIE), the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA), and the Learning Strategy group. She is also a trained digital accessibility liaison with UNC-Chapel Hill, specializing in document remediation, alternative text, and keyboard accessibility. Christine earned both her MA and PhD in Educational Psychology from UNC-Chapel Hill and is a long-time member of the FPG family. Her research interests include early childhood education; young children with academic potential; how children find meaning in school; and the systematic approach to recognizing, nurturing, and responding to the strengths and needs of all young children. Instructional design, e-learning product development, survey research, and both quantitative and qualitative research are all part of what she does. Sharing data in ways that are accessible and approachable to a wide audience of people is a particular passion, as is searching for and elucidating themes in vast amounts of data. She is a lover of learning, an explorer of all things science, and a former preschool teacher.

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Shane Hartman is a Research Associate at PIRE's Chapel Hill, NC Center, and provides research support to the ECTA Center evaluation team. He received his BA in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1998 (minors in music and African American Studies) and has worked on a large variety of projects using survey-based data collection in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Swaziland, as well as the U.S., and has experience with large-group projects.

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Kathleen Hebbeler, PhD, is a Senior Principal Education Researcher at SRI International. She has over 30 years of experience in providing technical assistance and conducting research and evaluation of education, health, and social programs for young children and their families. She has provided technical assistance and conducted training for a variety of audiences on such topics as evaluation design, data analysis, and using data for program improvement, with a special focus on identification and measurement of child and family outcomes. Areas of expertise include home visiting, child development, early intervention, general and special education, assessment, standards, accountability, and community collaboration. Kathy works with the child and family outcomes team for ECTA and has worked on revisions to the System Framework.

Allison Jones, MEd, is a Technical Assistance Specialist with the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA) at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at UNC-Chapel Hill. Allison has worked in the field of early childhood for over 20 years in the areas of childcare, state Pre-K, early intervention, technical assistance, and research. Allison has collaborated on federally funded initiatives aimed to support cross-state systemic improvement efforts using implementation science as the framework and guide. Allison's work scope includes the development of tools and resources; support of the aRPy Ambassador Initiative; support to various cohorts, and the provision of technical assistance to support state-wide adoption and sustained use of evidence-based practices (EBPs) used in the home, classroom, and community to increase positive outcomes for children and families.

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Jackie Joseph, PhD, is a Research Associate Professor at the University of Denver Positive Early Learning Experiences Center, where her work promotes high-quality inclusion. She specifically focuses on family partnerships and evidence-based strategies for fostering each and every young child's social, emotional, and behavioral development. Jackie's experience working in childcare administration offers her an applied understanding of implementing and scaling inclusive practices and models. Dr. Joseph has two young children herself, one of whom has a rare genetic syndrome, and her family's experiences inform her work around equity and belonging. In all of her projects, Jackie strives to co-create opportunities and spaces that ensure that all young children, disabled and nondisabled, and their families experience meaningful inclusion and belonging.

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Grace Kelley, PhD, has more than 28 years’ experience with organizations that serve children and families in need. Currently, she is working with states to improve their state systems and build local capacity of early childhood programs to serve children with disabilities and their families. Areas of experience include development of policies and procedures, leading a project to develop a multi-agency data system, and working with education, health and human services programs to develop quality standards. Specialties include organizational management, program development and evaluation, and strategic planning related to a variety of human services organizations, both nonprofit and government.

Peggy Kemp, PhD, serves as Executive Director of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC). Before joining DEC, Peggy Kemp served in the Kansas early childhood system for more than 15 years. She has worked in the field of early childhood since 1984 and specifically in the field of early intervention since 1997.

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Jani Kozlowski, MA, is a Technical Assistance Specialist with the Early Childhood TA (ECTA) Center within the Trohanis Technical Assistance (TA) Projects. She provides technical assistance to Early Intervention/Part C and Preschool Special Education/619 Coordinators in states supporting system change in topics such as early childhood inclusion, professional development, family engagement and collaborative partnerships.

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Alex Lazara, BA, has been a Web Developer/Designer and Multimedia Lead at the Trohanis TA Projects at FPG Child Development Institute for ten years. They are responsible for the look, feel, function and accessibility of the website and multiple sub-sites such as: the Practice Improvement Tools and the System Framework for Building High-Quality Early Intervention and Preschool Special Education Programs. They bring audio and video production and graphics expertise to collaborations with content experts to produce high-quality, accessible, TA events. They are an expert at content transformation for digital formats and interactive design. Their understanding of and commitment to the mission of the TA center increases the efficiency of the content-to-product cycle.

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Anne Lucas is a Technical Assistance Specialist with the Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center within the Trohanis Technical Assistance Projects and with the Center for IDEA Early Childhood Data Systems (DaSy). She provides technical assistance to Early Intervention/Part C and Preschool Special Education/Section 619 Programs nationwide. Her TA focuses on promoting system change efforts around such topics as accountability and quality improvement, early intervention services including early childhood transition, and finance. Anne has over 40 years of experience in early intervention and early childhood special education as an occupational therapist providing early intervention and early childhood services, an early intervention program administrator, a state Part C Coordinator, and a national technical assistance provider.

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Sharon Lunn, MEd, is a technical assistance specialist with the Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center within the Trohanis Technical Assistance (TA) Projects. She provides technical support to Early Intervention/Part C and Preschool Special Education/Section 619 Coordinators in states promoting system change.

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Jackie Marshall is a member of the evaluation team working for the Trohanis Technical Assistance (TA) Projects at the FPG-CDI at UNC-CH. She specializes in data systems design, data analysis, program evaluation, and participates in the evaluation design for the ECTA Center. She designs, administers, and analyzes TA documentation data using the methods of MySQL and online survey software (Qualtrics) to capture information from staff about the technical assistance provided (e.g., numbers and types of services, TA provider hours, topical focus of TA, partners involved, etc.). The TA documentation results are used for Federal reporting, technical assistance planning, and continuous quality improvement. Jackie is also responsible for the creation and management of databases in which the documentation data are stored and analyzed. In the dissemination of documentation results, Jackie writes formal reports, prepares presentations to staff, and facilitates staff discussions on improving the quality and accuracy of the technical assistance documentation.

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Carol B. Massanari, PhD, works with ECTA as a consultant on the reviews of State Systemic Improvement Plans. She is retired, and in addition to consulting enjoys volunteering, golfing, and gardening in Tucson. Prior to retirement, she worked with states on a variety of administrative and programmatic areas in early intervention and special education to support policy implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. In addition to policy implementation, Carol worked with numerous clients as a facilitator of organizational development and systemic change, both as staff for two different Regional Resource Centers and as a private consultant.

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Schatzi McCarthy, MP, MAPA is a Co-PI and Associate Director of Evaluation for the Early Childhood TA (ECTA) Center and Technical Assistance Specialist with the Trohanis Technical Assistance (TA) Projects at the FPG-CDI at UNC-CH. She has over 20 years of program management, evaluation and systems strengthening experience. In the early childhood arena, she has held program approval authority for NC Smart Start activities statewide, led the NC Division of Public Health's Early Intervention Branch evaluation team and functioned as program director for a maternal and child health program in Jamaica. Her systems strengthening knowledge has been applied to PH initiatives in NC, Haiti and West Africa. Schatzi has also developed a strong research portfolio through work as associate director for a PH program in the UNC-CH Gillings School of Global Public Health and a research director and board member for Family Health Ministries. Schatzi is engaged with the State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) Workgroup and the Implementation Science Workgroup for improved systems strengthening across state early intervention programs. She also leads federal reporting on annual performance report indicator analysis across states and jurisdictions.

Katy McCullough, MA, is a Senior TA Specialist and Co-PI/Associate Director of the Early Childhood TA (ECTA) Center within the Trohanis Technical Assistance (TA) Projects. Katy leads the Web and Information Unit, providing oversight and direction to the center's product development and Web presence. Katy also serves as PI on the FPG subcontract with the Center for IDEA Fiscal Reporting (CIFR) and the co-PI on the FPG subcontract with the Center for IDEA Early Childhood Data Systems (DaSy). Katy provides TA to IDEA Early Intervention/Part C and Preschool Special Education/Part B, Section 619 Coordinators and staff in states supporting system change on topics such as finance, early childhood inclusion and effective TA practices.

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Thomas McGhee, MSW, is a member of the Leadership Team for the Trohanis Technical Assistance (TA) Projects at UNC Chapel Hill Frank Porter Graham (FPG) Child Development Institute. Thomas is a Technical Assistance Specialist and Co-PI/Associate Director of the Early Childhood TA (ECTA) Center within the Trohanis Technical Assistance (TA) Projects. Thomas has 30 years of experience with organizations that serve children and families in need. He has experience in a variety of settings providing direct services, developing employees, managing programs, leading agencies, and evaluating programs. Thomas has worked within for-profit, non-profit, local, and state government organizations.

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Shantel Meek, PhD, is a professor of practice and the founding director of the Children's Equity Project (CEP) at Arizona State University. She manages their strategic partnership with ECTA, along with CEP partners at 16 universities and non-profit organizations, policymakers, and national organizations, and sets the strategic direction of the CEP. Dr. Meek previously served as a consultant in early childhood policy and strategy at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington D.C. where she advised senior staff on a range of federal and state equity and early childhood policy issues. Prior to founding the CEP, Dr. Meek served in the Obama Administration as a Senior Policy Advisor for Early Childhood Development at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and as a Senior Policy Advisor for Education in the Domestic Policy Council at the White House. During her time in the Obama Administration, Dr. Meek advised senior officials at HHS and The White House on a wide array of policy issues including Head Start, child care, public Pre-K expansion, and promoting equity and reducing disparities across the early care and education system. She also worked on drafting official guidance related to Head Start and the Child Care and Development Block Grant and worked closely with states, communities, and stakeholders on implementation. Dr. Meek also played a key role in President Obama's My Brother's Keeper Initiative, leading the early childhood policy component of the initiative. She has published pieces in the New York Times and the Washington Post. Dr. Meek serves on the boards of Child Trends and the Pyramid Model Consortium and is a member of the Ideal Learning Roundtable. She is the granddaughter of Mexican immigrants and her personal experiences as a Latina and first-generation college graduate from a small border town inform her work and contribute to her drive to improve the learning conditions of children from historically marginalized communities.

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Stephanie Moss, MA, is an ECTA TA Specialist with over 30 years of experience working with individuals of all ages with developmental disabilities. Stephanie leads the Family Engagement topic team, supports the aRPy Ambassador initiative and also works with State Interagency Coordinating Councils (SICCs). Additionally, she has experience in early intervention programs/services, child and family assessment, program administration/implementation, and grant management.

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Nicholas Ortiz, MPA, is an Education Researcher and Technical Assistance Specialist at SRI Education. He has 14 years of combined experience in state government and research organizations providing large-scale training, TA, and data services to state and local Part B 619 and Part C programs on authentic child assessment and various stages of the data lifecycle, including collection, analysis, integration, quality improvement, visualization, and reporting of federally-mandated child outcomes data. Ortiz currently provides TA to states through the federally-funded DaSy and ECTA Centers, which support state Part B/619 and Part C programs with improving early intervention and preschool special education data systems, data use, policies, and practice. He facilitates ECTA's TS GOLD learning community and leads DaSy's Data Processes workgroup. He supports states in particular with the child and family outcomes indicators in their annual performance reports (APR). He is also leading the analysis of state administrative data for a CCDF-funded study of the inclusion of children with disabilities in subsidized child care in California. Previously, Ortiz managed the State of Colorado's preschool child outcomes data (Indicator B7) and Results Matter Colorado, the state's nationally recognized model of early childhood assessment. During his time with the State of Colorado, he developed several tools to improve quality and use of child outcomes data, including data quality profiles for local education agencies, standard operating procedures for monitoring and cleaning data, and data use self-assessments for local and state administrators. He also received and provided extensive training on assessment instruments such as GOLD, COR, and Work Sampling System. His experience with special education includes program administration within mixed-delivery preschool systems and across funding streams such as Head Start and state-funded preschool. Ortiz earned his BA from Northwestern University and Master's of Public Administration from the University of Colorado Denver.

Tanesha Patrick is a Workgroup Coordinator and Support Staff Team Member for the Center for IDEA Early Childhood Data Systems (DaSy) and the Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center within the Trohanis Technical Assistance TA Projects.

Alissa Rausch, EdD is the Director of the Positive Early Learning Experiences (PELE) Center at the University of Denver. Previously, she has worked as clinical faculty in ECE and ECSE graduate personnel preparation. Her work in higher education blossomed from 15 years of practice as an early childhood educator working in inclusive preschool classrooms serving young children and their families. Alissa also had the privilege of serving children from diverse backgrounds and their families in their homes and in community settings. In addition to supporting ECTA, Alissa is staff on the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations. Her work centers on supporting leaders and practitioners to build their capacity for high quality early care and learning and inclusion of children with varying abilities in practice, systems and advocacy.

Kellen Reid, MD, is a technical assistance specialist with the Early Childhood TA (ECTA) Center within the Trohanis Technical Assistance (TA) Projects at the UNC-CH FPG-CDI.  Dr. Reid provides technical assistance to Early Intervention/Part C and Preschool Special Education/619 Coordinators in states supporting system change in topics such as finance and child outcomes measurement, reporting, professional development, and program evaluation. He has also provided targeted and intensive TA to states in oher specialized areas involving data quality and use through the Office of Special Education (OSEP) funded Center for IDEA Early Childhood Data Systems (DaSy).

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Ben Riepe, MA, is an Inclusion Coaching Specialist for the Positive Early Learning Experiences (PELE) Center at the University of Denver. In addition to supporting ECTA, Ben is staff on the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations. He has 13 years of experience supporting  Head Start classrooms as a teacher, coach, and trainer in Denver, Colorado. This program served as a demonstration site for high fidelity program-wide implementation of the Pyramid Model. He then worked at the Colorado Center for Social Emotional Competence and Inclusion for 6 years supporting communities in their efforts to embed evidence based-practices into diverse systems and classrooms.

Charlene Robles, MS, MBA, is a Technical Assistance Specialist with the Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center within the Trohanis Technical Assistance (TA) Projects. She provides technical assistance to Early Intervention/Part C and Preschool Special Education/619 Coordinators in promoting system change efforts around topics such as early intervention services, accountability and quality improvement, finance, and personnel development. Charlene has more than 28 years of experience in early intervention (EI) and early childhood special education (ECSE) as a speech-language pathologist providing services to children ages birth to five, an EI quality assurance specialist to support program performance and improvement, EI department director, and a state Part C Coordinator. She worked in both non-profit and state government organizations.

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Sonia Sabater is part of the support staff for the North Carolina Early Learning Network (NC-ELN) and the Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center within Trohanis Technical Assistance TA Projects.

Sally Shepherd specializes in early childhood learning and development on a variety of topics, including state systems, special education, school readiness, transitions, family engagement, and Head Start. Shepherd is a technical assistance (TA) specialist for the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)-funded national Center for IDEA Early Childhood Data Systems (DaSy) and the Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center within the Trohanis Technical Assistance (TA) Projects. She is also a former TA specialist providing services to Regions III and VI for the Preschool Development Grant Birth through 5 (PDG B-5) Technical Assistance Center.

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Seena Skelton, PhD, is Director of Operations for the Midwest and Plains Equity Assistance Center (MAP Center) a project of the Great Lakes Equity Center, situated in IU School of Education at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Seena has worked as a consultant for several regional and statewide school improvement initiatives, and in co-director and director roles in three equity assistance centers (EAC) including the Equity Alliance at Arizona State University, Great Lakes Equity Center at IUPUI, and currently the MAP Center. Seena began her career as a school psychologist and mental health specialist in early childhood education including Hamilton County Education Service Center, early learning programs in Cincinnati, Ohio and Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission’s Head Start Program, and as a school psychologist in both elementary and secondary schools. She has garnered more than 27 years of experience working in the areas of inclusive practices, systems change, school improvement, and educational equity. Seena teaches graduate and undergraduate students and has authored several scholarly publications on topics related to improving outcomes for marginalized youth. She regularly presents at national and international conferences and is the editor of the Council for Exceptional Children, Division for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners peer-reviewed journal, Multiple Voices: Disability, Race, and Language Intersections in Special Education with Drs. Thorius and Santamaria Graff.

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Xigrid Soto-Boykin, PhD, is an Assistant Research Professor and Senior Scientist of Bilingual Learning at The Children's Equity Project at Arizona State University. In addition to working with ECTA, she conducts research and policy focusing on providing emergent bilingual children with and without disabilities with culturally sustaining, multilingual education that centers their identities and strengths.

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Al Stein-Seroussi, PhD, is a Senior Program Evaluator with Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He is the Evaluation Director for both the ECTA Center external evaluation team and the DaSY Center external evaluation team. Al has been with PIRE since 1992, serving as Director of PIRE’s Chapel Hill Center from 2011 – 2015 and as a Staff Director on PIRE’s Board of Directors from 2016-2022. 

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Taylor Stiles is a Technology Support Analyst with FPG Information Technology Services (ITS). FPG ITS provides all actively funded projects within FPG with certain basic core services. Stiles provides the Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center with additional technical support.

Micole Talley, EdD is an Education Researcher/Early Childhood Technical Assistance Provider at SRI. Talley is a technical assistance (TA) specialist for the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)-funded Center for IDEA Early Childhood Data Systems (DaSy) and the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA) within the Trohanis Technical Assistance (TA)Projects. She is the former 619 Coordinator for Georgia and Early Childhood Project Manager at Georgia State University (GSU). She has many years of early childhood experience serving students as an administrator and teacher in both regular and special education settings. She has worked with state and local agencies to oversee and coordinate various initiatives improving the quality and accessibility of educational services for children with disabilities and their families. Her core competencies include communication, conflict resolution, regulatory compliance, results-driven accountability, and program general supervision. She has extensive experience in facilitating professional learning communities, developing and implementing evidence-based curricula, revising and updating policies and procedures, and delivering professional development programs for educators, administrators, and community partners. She is also skilled in working with diverse and multicultural populations, and promoting inclusion, equity, and social justice in education.

Amanda Tamagni, EdD, is a Learning and Development Facilitator in the Department of Child and Family Studies, Florida Center for Inclusive Communities at the University of South Florida. She provides technical assistance and training on inclusive early childhood practices and provides support to programs to build their capacity for implementing high quality inclusion in early childhood settings. Amanda previously provided technical assistance and training with the state technical assistance center to school districts in the state of Florida. In this role, she worked to build district capacity, create district infrastructure, support the implementation of evidence-based practices, and support the creation of high quality inclusive early childhood environments. Amanda has worked in early childhood special education for over 20 years and has extensive experience in teaching, training, coaching, and providing technical assistance to support high quality inclusion in early childhood education. Her interests include the prevention of exclusionary discipline in early childcare, promotion of inclusion in high-quality early childcare settings, and the implementation of program wide positive behavior support.

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Debi Tucker received a Bachelor's Degree in Special Education from Florida State University. While teaching, she implemented a peer tutor program and the first middle school inclusion math class in North Florida. She also had the pleasure of operating the first Child Care/Early Head Start Partnership in the nation. Ms. Tucker has been administrating non-profit programs for over 14 years, and currently serves as the Executive Director of Parent to Parent of Georgia. She has overseen many grants, contracts and collaborative agreements, and her agency currently serves as Georgia's Parent Training and Information Center, Family to Family Health Information Center, Babies Can't Wait (Georgia's early intervention program) Central Directory, P2PUSA's state affiliate, and the Georgia Affiliate of the Southeast ADA Network. The agency also serves as the Region B Technical Assistance Center for Parent Centers. As a parent of a child with special health care needs, she has chaired a School Advisory Council, served on numerous committees, and trained parents and professionals on scientifically based research and best practice to promote full inclusion and full lives for those impacted by disabilities.

Myrna Veguilla, MSMS and MPH, is a social and behavioral research who 6 years of experience working with research and development teams on funded projects related to healthcare parity for individuals with disabilities, providing specialized training to health care in issues of developmental disabilities, early childhood screenings and support to Latina families, conducting research on the implementation of the Pyramid Model, and guiding programs in their use of data decision making. In ECTA, she has developed tools, materials, and reporting systems that local programs can use for data decision-making.

Megan Vinh PhD, is a member of the leadership team for the Trohanis Technical Assistance (TA) Projects at the FPG-CDI at UNC-CH. Currently, Megan serves as Director at the Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA), the co-PI of the Early Childhood Recommended Practice Modules project (RPM), and the evaluation lead for the Center for IDEA Early Childhood Data Systems (DaSy). In her role at ECTA, she provides leadership, technical assistance, and evaluation support around improving state early intervention and early childhood special education service systems, increasing the implementation of effective practices, and enhancing outcomes of these programs for young children and their families. Megan specializes in program evaluation and supporting states with systems change around access and equity issues, including reducing early care and education suspensions and expulsions and increasing high quality inclusive opportunities. As the co-PI for the RPM project, she provides leadership and content expertise for the development of interactive, online modules that support faculty and professional development providers with embedding the DEC Recommended Practices into their coursework and training.

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Christine Wagner is a Technical Support Analyst for the Trohanis TA Projects. She specializes as a designer creating and producing online learning modules, as well as web and print materials, for the Early Childhood TA (ECTA) Center, and the North Carolina Early Learning Network (ELN). She is also a Digital Accessibility Liaison providing support in assuring accessibility for websites, documents, and learning modules. She supports online learning for the DEC RP Modules project and NC DCDEE training modules. Past projects include the Early Support for Infants and Toddlers Program in the Department of Early Learning (Washington State), Delaware Birth to Three Early Intervention, and Minnesota Service Coordination Modules (MN National Joint Powers Alliance), and she was the Website Manager for the ECO Center. Christine has worked combining her skills in design and technology since 1991, after graduating from Washington University in St Louis with a BFA in Graphic Communications/Illustration.

Sharon Walsh has provided consultation on the implementation of IDEA for over 30 years. She is a consultant on the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA) and the Center for IDEA Early Childhood Data Systems (DaSy). Sharon is also the Governmental Relations Consultant for the Division for Early Childhood of CEC (DEC) and the IDEA Infant and Toddler Coordinators Association (ITCA). Sharon worked in a large suburban school district, for OSEP projects including The Data Accountability Center (DAC) and the National Center for Special Education Monitoring (NCSEAM) as well as for the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE).

Kim Wedel, MPA, MSW, is a consultant with the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA) and the Center for IDEA Fiscal Reporting (CIFR) focusing on early intervention finance, fiscal data, and managing multiple methods of finance. Kim has more than 30 years of state and local experience delivering and administering a broad array of social, educational, health, and child protection services including serving as the Part C Coordinator in Texas for 9 years. She is a Past President of the IDEA Infant and Toddler Coordinators Association (ITCA).

Catasha Williams, MEd, is a member of the Leadership Team for the Trohanis Technical Assistance (TA) Projects at UNC Chapel Hill Frank Porter Graham (FPG) Child Development Institute. She is a Technical Assistance Specialist for the Early Childhood TA (ECTA) Center with lead roles on multiple teams focusing on providing support to state (and U.S.A. territory) early childhood programs in developing high-quality early intervention and preschool special education service systems, including implementing evidence-based practices and enhancing outcomes for young children with disabilities and their families.

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Sherri Britt Williams is the Division Lead for UNC FPG's Technical Assistance Division and a member of the Leadership Team for the Trohanis Technical Assistance (TA) Projects UNCChapel Hill Frank Porter Graham (FPG) Child Development Institute. She is a Senior Technical Assistance Specialist and member of the Leadership Team for the Early Childhood TA (ECTA) Center with lead roles on multiple teams focusing on providing support to state (and U.S. territory) early childhood programs in developing high-quality early intervention and preschool special education service systems, including implementing evidence-based practices and enhancing outcomes for young children with disabilities and their families.

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Anna Winneker, PhD, has a professional and educational background working with children identified with emotional/behavior disorders in settings ranging from residential treatment to inclusion. She completed her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in exceptional student education and qualitative research. Anna currently directs the Program-Wide Positive Behavior Support Project at the University of South Florida. This project supports early childhood education programs to implement the Pyramid Model program-wide with fidelity. She also works with the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations to develop products and provide technical assistance for promotion of social-emotional competence and inclusive practices for young children and families. Anna has experience providing training and technical assistance to implement evidence-based practices within a multi-tiered framework in a variety of settings including state-level agencies, school systems, childcare programs and classrooms.

Naomi Younggren, PhD, is early childhood consultant and technical assistance provider with the Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center. Her areas of focus are early intervention and preschool program processes and best practices, including assessment, IFSP and IEP development, family-centered service delivery, and child and family outcomes measurement. Naomi's years of experience in early childhood special education include being a direct provider working with children with disabilities and their families in early intervention and preschool programs, providing technical assistance, developing practical handbooks, and training materials, and serving in a program development and leadership capacity. She is a developer on the Universal Online Part C Early Intervention Curriculum workgroup, a longstanding member of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC), and a member of the RAM Group Early Intervention Consultants.  She has also developed online learning modules and provided technical assistance in support of several state early intervention and preschool special education systems.