Targeted Leadership TA Series

Dr. Andrea Brinnel is an early childhood consultant with the CT State Department of Education. She manages IDEA Part B, preschool special education, as well as general early childhood initiatives. With more than thirty years of experience in education, Dr. Brinnel has been a classroom teacher and central office administrator in both CT and MA. She has worked in the fields of early childhood and special education, placing an emphasis on the meaningful inclusion of children with disabilities in general education settings and the importance of building an educational continuum birth through grade 3.

She was formerly at the CT Office of Early Childhood where she managed state funded preschool programs including Smart Start, School Readiness and the Head Start State Supplemental Grant Program.

Dr. Brinnel is an adjunct faculty member at Bay Path University where she teaches and has designed online courses in the areas of special education and early childhood.

Dr. Brinnel presented on early learning issues at both the 3rd and 4th annual International Educational Symposia in the United Arab Emirates as well as nationally and in CT about a wide variety of early learning topics. Her research includes a phenomenological study of the experience of CT elementary school principals leading effective schools that are inclusive of prekindergarten.

Kimberly Hauck was appointed as director of the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities in January of 2022 by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine.

Hauck previously served four years as Chief Policy Officer at DODD and four years as the Assistant Deputy Director for the state's Early Intervention system. She began her career as a direct support professional providing services for people with developmental disabilities. Hauck then joined the Hamilton County Board of Developmental Disabilities as a special education teacher and early intervention specialist. She also served in various other positions throughout her 22 years with the board including Director of Children's Services and Director of Program Services.

Throughout her career, Hauck has been an advocate for Ohioans with developmental disabilities and their families. She received a Bachelor of Science in Special Education at the University of Cincinnati and a Master of Educational Administration from Xavier University.

Dr. Charlie Silva has worked as an Assistant Professor at Boise State University, was the Administrator of Special Education for the Boise School District and for the past 7 years has been the Idaho State Department of Education Director of Special Education Services. In her capacity as state director, she and her team are responsible for providing guidance and support to over 170+ Local Education Agencies (districts)/Charters across the state. She is passionate about making sure the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is followed and strives to meet the department's mission: "to enable all students to achieve high academic standards and quality of life, the Special Education department works collaboratively with districts, agencies and parents to ensure students receive quality, meaningful, and needed services".

Dr. Sherri Killins Stewart is the Director of State Systems Alignment and Integration and Co-Director of State Services for the BUILD Initiative and an independent consultant. Within her BUILD Initiative work, she is responsible for working directly with state leaders to advance early childhood systems efforts in health, early learning, and family support. She is leading work to define and create intentional practice regarding equity in early childhood system practice, policy, and leadership within the BUILD Initiative. Her equity work includes co-leading a network of early childhood leaders to advance racial equity. Dr. Stewart has worked at multiple levels and in a variety of states and communities. Dr. Stewart's former positions include Commissioner of Early Education and Care for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Vice President of Human Development and Operations at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and CEO of Empower New Haven. Her consulting clients have included BUILD, W. Clement & Jessie V. Stone Foundation, New Haven Public School System W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Ascend at the Aspen Institute, the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, and Pearson Publishing.

Dr. Stewart is known for crossing organizational boundaries to create a child development lens on the work of informal organizations as well as within other state agencies, including public health, housing, libraries, and museums.

Throughout her career, Dr. Stewart has been committed to creating opportunities for families, both children, and adults, through the use of the workforce, housing, health, and education strategies. Her efforts seek to increase access for families and communities to high-quality formal and informal opportunities in health, early learning, and family wellbeing. Dr. Stewart holds a nursing degree from the University of Pittsburgh, a Master of Administrative Science from Johns Hopkins University, and a doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Sarasota.

Several organizations have recognized Dr. Stewart; examples include the Massachusetts Reading Association Legislative Award for her leadership in promoting early childhood literacy and Horizons for Homeless Children Public Leadership Award. She is currently the Vice-Chair of NHChild and served as former co-chair and current New Haven Early Childhood Council member.

Tracy Turner oversees two federally funded programs within DDS that support parents of children with special needs in accessing resources, advocating for their child with special needs, and knowing how to support their child's growth, health, and development. Achieving these goals requires teamwork and collaboration with related programs, agencies, nonprofits, contracted providers, and advocates. Ms. Turner shares her energy, vast experience in the social services field, early childhood perspective, and passion for parents' rights by serving as a stakeholder in the work of related agencies, divisions, and organizations. She serves as a member of the Arkansas Learn the Signs Act Early state team, and her work with the Arkansas Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Task Force earned her the Outstanding Community Partner Award in 2015. Tracy Turner is the recipient of the 2017 Employee of the Year for both the Arkansas Division of Developmental Services and the Arkansas Department of Human Services.

Tracy Turner builds on State strengths by aligning program improvement goals for the programs she oversees with related state initiatives in partnering programs. This strategy requires her to be informed and even involved in the work of partnering agencies, organizations, and groups around the state. Collaboration with programs such as Arkansas' Department of Education, Health Department and WIC, Infant Hearing Program, institutes of higher education, Arkansas' Children's Hospital, and MIECHV Home Visiting programs like Follow Baby Back Home fosters a spirit of understanding and cooperation to streamline and improve the delivery of human service programs that reduces duplication of efforts.

As Part C Coordinator, Tracy completes the annual grant application that ensures that First Connections, Arkansas' Early Intervention Program, receives funding. She submits the Annual Performance Report and ensures that the State is implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part C to protect the educational rights of infants/toddlers with developmental delay or disability and to support parents and other caregivers in helping their young children develop and learn.

As Director of the State's Title V Program for Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN), Tracy collaborates with other Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Block Grant programs at the Arkansas Department of Health to ensure federal program requirements are met. Additional collaboration with the Parent Advisory Council (PAC), Arkansas Disability Coalition, and DDS staff identifies the State's strengths and needs to set priority focus areas to reach State and National measures.

Under her leadership, these two DDS programs have found new ways to work together to improve outcomes for families of children with special needs.

Glenna Gallo has served as the Assistant Superintendent of Special Education in the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) in Washington since 2017. Prior to that, she spent seven years as the State Director of Special Education for the Utah State Board of Education (USBE), following work as a classroom teacher and administrator. She has over 25 years of public education experience supporting students with disabilities and adults entering and within the teaching profession, and 16 years of experience in state-level educational leadership with expertise in the improvement planning, data analysis, and monitoring of public prek-12+ special education programs. Glenna has a B.S and an M.S in Special Education, a special education teacher and administrative licenses, endorsements as a Program Administrator, Principal, and Superintendent, and an M.B.A.

During her work in Washington state, special education programs were allocated an additional $155 million dollars for state special education programs, $37 million dollars for improvement of statewide inclusionary practices, $12 million dollars for paraeducator training, and $60,000 to reduce the use of restraint and isolation, revised the historical state special education funding allocation formula to a two-tier system that supports inclusionary practices, and revised the state high needs risk pool process to reduce administrative burden on school districts. Collaboration is a priority for her work, and collaborative efforts are infused within all state efforts regarding students with disabilities. Glenna feels strongly that application of the intent of IDEA requirements results in increased student outcomes for students with disabilities and works with school and district administrators, special education staff, advocates, and parents/families of students with disabilities at the local education agency (LEA), state, and national levels to review research, current student achievement data, stakeholder feedback, and compliance data to ensure state and local efforts are addressing instructional issues that impact results for students with disabilities.

Dr. Sherri Killins Stewart is the Director of State Systems Alignment and Integration and Co-Director of State Services for the BUILD Initiative and an independent consultant. Within her BUILD Initiative work, she is responsible for working directly with state leaders to advance early childhood systems efforts in health, early learning, and family support. She is leading work to define and create intentional practice regarding equity in early childhood system practice, policy, and leadership within the BUILD Initiative. Her equity work includes co-leading a network of early childhood leaders to advance racial equity. Dr. Stewart has worked at multiple levels and in a variety of states and communities. Dr. Stewart's former positions include Commissioner of Early Education and Care for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Vice President of Human Development and Operations at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and CEO of Empower New Haven. Her consulting clients have included BUILD, W. Clement & Jessie V. Stone Foundation, New Haven Public School System W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Ascend at the Aspen Institute, the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, and Pearson Publishing.

Dr. Stewart is known for crossing organizational boundaries to create a child development lens on the work of informal organizations as well as within other state agencies, including public health, housing, libraries, and museums.

Throughout her career, Dr. Stewart has been committed to creating opportunities for families, both children, and adults, through the use of the workforce, housing, health, and education strategies. Her efforts seek to increase access for families and communities to high-quality formal and informal opportunities in health, early learning, and family wellbeing. Dr. Stewart holds a nursing degree from the University of Pittsburgh, a Master of Administrative Science from Johns Hopkins University, and a doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Sarasota.

Several organizations have recognized Dr. Stewart; examples include the Massachusetts Reading Association Legislative Award for her leadership in promoting early childhood literacy and Horizons for Homeless Children Public Leadership Award. She is currently the Vice-Chair of NHChild and served as former co-chair and current New Haven Early Childhood Council member.

Gretchen Stahr Breunig, MPA works at OSPI Early Learning Division focusing on elementary education, early learning, special programs, and federal accountability. Gretchen has served in a range of roles for non-governmental and public agencies to support the quality and affordability of early learning services for low-income children and families. She received her BA in International Relations at Stanford University with a focus on nutrition in developing nations and MPA at Columbia University with a focus on early learning and management. She is mom to two adult children and a daughter-in-law, and works from home in Seattle with her yellow Labrador, Izzie.

Julie Dean is the Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) Inclusion Specialist at Washington state OSPI Special Education Division, supporting the Pre-K Inclusion Champions Initiatives which include the implementation of the Washington Pyramid Model (WAPM) coaching, training, and data coordinator network along with supporting the State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) and other special projects. Julie is a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) with extensive experience supporting students with disabilities, families, and educators with inclusive learning opportunities, MTSS implementation, and systems-level coaching.

Ryan Guzman, M.Ed. is the Washington state Early Childhood Special Education-619 Coordinator. With over 19 years of experience, Ryan has assumed many roles in the field of early childhood special education, including Developmental Preschool Teacher, Part C, IDEA, Early Intervention Case Manager, PreK–1 Intervention Specialist, and later Regional Administrator of Early Childhood and Special Education with Educational Service District 113.

Ms. Guzman is currently coordinating the implementation of several ECSE Initiatives, including WA Pyramid Model, LEAP Replication, and the State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) Implementation, in partnership with NCMPI, ECTA, NCSI, IDC, The PELE Center, and wide network of statewide early learning partners. She is also leading the Preschool Inclusion Champions Network, which has aligned early childhood and K-12 inclusionary practices and MTSS implementation across Washington state to increase access to high quality learning experience for all children regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, ability or zip code.

Way', my name is Shandy Abrahamson, Sinixt of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and Spokane Tribal member. I am the daughter of Joan Goujon, Sinixt and Robert Abrahamson, Spokane. My paternal grandparents are Joseph and Kathy Abrahamson, Spokane and my maternal grandparents are David St. Paul and Marie Adolph, Sinixt. I currently have the honor of working within the Washington OSPI Office of Native Education as their Career Connect Learning Tribal Engagement Specialist. I have always had a strong passion for lifting our tribal students, families and community through educational pathways.

I have had the opportunities and background in working with Early Childhood Education, Tribal Youth Development, Youth Employment Programs, K–12 Education, Community Development and within higher education working with Washington State University and Wenatchee Valley College. I work with the goal to ensure that cultural relevant dual credit programs are established and implemented within our school districts. I focus on provided training and supports that include understanding tribal sovereignty, tribal consultation, CTE in Tribal Communities, Tribal Relations, Tribal Family Engagement Practices and Community Development. I sit as a Board of Trustee for Humanities Washington and as Chairwoman of a non-profit headed by strong tribal matriarchs, kʷu cnxi?

Dr. Martina Whelshula is a Partner/CEO in a consulting business, Swan Innovations LP, with her daughter Cree Whelshula. Swan Innovations envisions Cultural Vitality and overall good health for Indigenous people and Tribal communities. Dr. Whelshula has worked extensively with Native American communities nation-wide in the areas of local and national policy development, education, Tribal culture, and behavioral health. Dr. Whelshula's professional experience has ranged from Research Director for national Indian health policy development for Congressional review, P–12 Tribal language instructor in the public-school system, Head Start Director for the Colville Tribe to Tribal College President.

Dr. Whelshula served for nearly seven years as the Executive Director of a Native American inpatient treatment program for drug and alcohol addicted youth. She is an educator, trainer, and consultant specializing in Indigenous education and intergenerational trauma impacting Indigenous communities. Dr. Whelshula's most recent work is the development of an integrative cultural healing model addressing colonial trauma, culturally grounded mental health approach and substance use disorders for Tribes. She also serves as Principal Investigator for Native American Research Centers for Health research in collaboration with Harvard Medical School's Division on Addiction.

Cree Whelshula's professional and educational experience is a unique blend of Tribal language/culture revitalization, early childhood education, and a passion for mental health. Cree feels her background as a Tribal language immersion teacher, early childhood teacher, college instructor, and program manager is invaluable in her work because she has first-hand experience working with young children and their families in various learning environments. Cree took her knowledge and experience to a national level, serving Tribes through the Administration of Native Americans - Native Language Community Coordination Center. As Training/Technical Assistance Director she provided specialized language training and technical assistance to Tribes across the nation. Cree also serves as Executive Director of the nonprofit kʷu cnxi?, whose primary mission looks to Tribal First Language Speakers and Cultural Knowledge Keepers to guide in recreating Indigenous education that Tribal ancestors practiced prior to colonization. From their wisdom, kʷu cnxi? creates curriculums, educational resources, toolkits, and more to funnel to programs servicing Indigenous youth with an emphasis on mental health.

Nicole Cossette, MS came to the Office of Early Childhood after several years of research, evaluation, and grant monitoring. She holds a master's degree in Applied Psychology from Sacred Heart University and is currently completing coursework towards a Ph.D. at Fielding Graduate University. Nicole leads Connecticut's Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part C Birth to Three System as the Part C Coordinator supporting 19 comprehensive early intervention programs and over 11,000 families each year. She regularly collaborates with colleagues at the State Departments of Education, Health, and Social Services on all matters related to supporting families with infants and toddlers with disabilities and developmental delays.

Leah Davidson is a career early childhood professional who is committed to working on behalf of families with very young children in order to maximize joy, growth, and human potential while the brain is most malleable. Leah earned her Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy from Colorado State University in 2008, and began her career in Early Intervention in the state of Virginia shortly thereafter. She worked as a Service Coordinator and then a Local System Manager in Arlington, Virginia for ten years before relocating to New Mexico, where she now serves as the Acting Bureau Chief for New Mexico's statewide Early Intervention system. Leah is the proud mother of one ten-year-old girl and spends her free time singing, hiking, baking and socializing with her friends and family.