LINDA is the director of Working Together for Inclusion and Belonging, which includes BEGINNING TOGETHER, the California Making Access Possible (MAP) to Inclusion & Belonging, and CA CSEFEL Teaching Pyramid, all Working Together projects of WestEd, Center for Child and Family Studies in collaboration with the Early Learning and Care Division of the California Department of Education.

Prior to directing projects for WestEd and, previously, Sonoma State University, Linda was an early childhood special education teacher for more than 18 years. She received two Bachelor degrees from the University of the Pacific: one in music therapy and one in psychology. She received her M.A. in Special Education from CSU Dominguez Hills and holds an Early Intervention Graduate Certificate from San Diego State University. Linda has held board positions in several professional organizations and was a member of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Early Childhood Training Cadre for the International Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children (DEC/CEC). Linda was also an instructor in Child Development at Mira Costa and Palomar Community Colleges.

Linda is passionate about the inclusion of children with special needs into child care settings and has published numerous articles. She speaks frequently on the inclusion of very young children, young children with challenging behaviors, legal requirements in early intervention/early childhood special education and transition between early intervention and special education.

Linda and her husband, Tom, continue to find their adult daughters, Gerilyn and Robyn, to be sources of great wisdom and learning.

JEFF is responsible for the oversight and management of the Working Together Project, Center for Child & Family Studies at WestEd.

Previous to joining WestEd, Jeff spent 30 years in management positions, working in operational leadership, human resource development and staffing, and diversity leadership.

Jeff is very active in his church, having served as youth minister for several years. He and his wife Gale have four adult children and three very beloved grandchildren.

Jennifer has over 14 years of experience in public school elementary education as a teacher and administrator. She is passionate about social-emotional learning and inclusive practices for ALL children. Jennifer plans to bring her experience and passion to WestEd as a coach, trainer, and leader as she facilitates professional development in the CA Teaching Pyramid for teachers and staff in various school districts across the Golden State. Follow her on Twitter @sdtangerine

CINDY has worked as a research and evaluation consultant in the field of early intervention and early mental health for the past 20 years. During that time, she worked to promote the role of families in the education of their children by co-authoring the California Department of Education’s Handbook on Family Involvement and a study on family involvement activities in California early education programs. She served as the evaluator for California infant and early mental health initiatives from 1998 to 2005 and promoted lessons learned from the initiatives as part of the California First5 Special Needs Project. As Chair of the Infant Development Association’s Interdisciplinary Collaborations for Quality Committee, she leads efforts to support and promote high quality services for very young children and their families.

Currently, she is the Coordinator of the California Making Access Possible (MAP) to Inclusion and Belonging project for WestEd Center for Child and Family Studies. In this role, she works with stake holders to identify resource needs, develop materials and gather resources to maintain the MAP website that provides a clearinghouse of information and resources supporting the inclusion of children with disabilities and other special needs in early care and education settings, after school programs and in the community. Her job as a mother to three girls, one with a developmental disability, is her inspiration and the driving force behind all that she does.

CINDY, as a Senior Research Associate for the San Marcos office, is responsible for supporting ongoing continuous improvement across all projects, designing evaluation instruments for Teaching Pyramid and BEGINNING TOGETHER trainings, analyzing and summarizing the data, and sharing the results with WestEd staff and funders.

Cindy has spent more than 30 years in the field of early childhood special education. Her work has focused on program evaluation and longitudinal research on children with disabilities and their families. She served as a co-director of Project REACH within the UCLA Department of Psychiatry’s Sociobehavioral Group from 1985 to 2004. She has been involved in program and systems evaluations at the local, state and national levels and has served as evaluator for the Chartwell Education Group, the Hilton/Early Head Start training program, the California Early Intervention Distance Learning Project, and the California Early Intervention Evaluation: Implementation of Part H and the Family Resource Centers.

She has published and presented widely on early childhood special education and issues pertaining to families of children with disabilities and has been a reviewer of academic journals including Child Development, Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, American Journal on Mental Retardation, Infants and Young Children and Early Childhood Research Quarterly.

Cindy has an M.A. in Communicative Disorders from University of Southern California and a Ph.D. in Early Childhood and Developmental Studies at University of California, Los Angeles.

Jenn works as Training and Support Specialist at WestEd with Working Together for Inclusion & Belonging projects.

Jenn’s service began during her time at San Diego State University where she worked at center-based preschools and taught two- three- and four-year-olds in inclusive programs. Her exposure to neurodiverse children led her to work as a Home Visitor and Early Interventionist coaching parents of children birth to three. Once she obtained her MA in Human Development and credential in Early Childhood Special Education, Jenn dedicated time teaching adults in community college while also working for a local school district as a Special Education Preschool Teacher. Later, she worked as a Developmental Specialist completing eligibility assessments for children birth to three for a local Regional Center.

Jenn is married to her high school sweetheart and has three young adult children. She is passionate in her work and when out of office she can be found enjoying nature or practicing restorative yoga.

STEPHANIE is a Research Associate with the Working Together Project for the WestEd San Marcos office. As such, she coaches teachers in the principles of CA CSEFEL for the Teaching Pyramid project, evaluates Teaching Pyramid Partner sites, and serves as faculty for the BEGINNING TOGETHER Training-of-Trainer Institutes.

Previously, she was a Program Assistant for the California Making Access Possible (MAP) to Inclusion & Belonging project of the Working Together office. She has six years experience working in early childhood classrooms including dedicated time with children with special needs.

Stephanie also has experience working in a non-profit agency focusing on educational research and development. Among her many talents are developing curriculum based on individual and classroom needs, as well as engaging children in innovative and creative activities using all modalities of learning.

A true believer in the importance of helping children in developing mindfulness, and ways to calm their bodies and minds, Stephanie completed a yoga teacher training for children through Radiant Child Yoga, and has enjoyed developing yoga curriculum for use by children and participants at various trainings and conferences.

Stephanie has a Bachelor of Arts degree in communicative disorders from the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque and a Master’s degree in early childhood special education from the University of San Diego.

Stephanie and her husband Ben enjoy road trips, camping and snow skiing, often accompanied by their dog Bernie, when they are not entertaining friends.

Dana has worked in the field of child health and development for over 30 years, as both a Registered Nurse/Public Health Nurse and an Early Childhood Special Educator. She credits her three children, one a young adult with cerebral palsy as her greatest teachers.

Dana’s career path has been diverse and includes experience in pediatrics/ maternal-child health, home-visiting, and supporting the inclusion and belonging of young children with special needs. Dana has been involved in adult education for most of her career including serving as faculty at several institutions, including both the Nursing and Early Childhood Education Departments at Cabrillo College, Santa Clara University, UCSC Extension, and the EPIC (Education Preparation for Inclusive Education) Credentialing Program. She has consulted for a range of programs including UCSF Child Care Health, First-5, and WestEd.

Prior to coming to WestEd, Dana worked as a Program Coordinator /Early Interventionist for the Santa Cruz COE Early Start Program. She has been the author of many articles and continuing education publications related to child health and development. Dana was a founding Board Member of the Special Parent Information Network of Santa Cruz, and is a Board Member of the IDA (Infant Development Association).

Dana received her BS in Nursing from San Francisco State in 1984, and her MA in Early Childhood Special Education from Santa Clara University in 2004. She was a Napa Infant-Parent Mental Health Fellow in 2010, and completed the first Napa Fellowship Program’s Reflective Supervision, Consultation and Facilitation Academy in 2015. She is endorsed in California as an Advanced Trans-disciplinary Mental Health Practitioner (0-5) and Reflective Practice Mentor. She is a certified trainer for many programs including PITC, Positive Discipline, and is completing certification in the Child Trauma Academy’s Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics.

Hello, my name is Vanessa Curiel! I support the CA CSEFEL Teaching Pyramid and Beginning Together projects. I have worked in the field of Early Childhood Education (ECE) for over 10 years in a variety of roles including infant/toddler/preschool teacher, home visitor, family advocate, education coordinator, and a coach for center-base and FCC educators.

I am passionate about social-emotional learning and inclusive practices for all children and providing supports to their primary caregivers. I look forward to learning from others in the field and working together to provide quality programs that support children, ECE professionals, and families.

As a CA Teaching Pyramid trainer and coach, I co-lead preschool and early elementary module trainings and provide coaching sessions. I also mentor apprentice trainers by supporting the development of their training competencies and they work toward authorization. In addition, I play support roles in other programs to further strengthen implementation and collaboration.

I am proud of my extensive history of working with and supporting individuals and communities. I am a bilingual/bicultural Latina focused on working with adult caregivers with the goal of understanding the meaning and impact of children’s behaviors. I relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in the mid-90’s where my work first began with adolescents and then with children and families in early education and elementary school settings. For over 30 years I have had many opportunities to partner and collaborate with many whose work has a vision of more equitable and accountable communities for individuals. My formal education, both undergraduate and graduate, has provided me with a foundation on which to build a deep understanding of trauma while supporting others in creating safe environments for children.

I attribute my longevity and growth in my work to being able to join with caregivers in understanding children and removing barriers to learning and growth. Additionally, as a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, I am dedicated to nurturing the next generation of helpers by providing clinical supervision to graduate students in the field.

Ine has worked in the field of education for over 15 years. As an Inclusion Specialist for WestEd supporting the CA CSEFEL Teaching Pyramid and Beginning Together projects, Ine works to ensure all children are able to have equitable access to high quality instruction, social-emotional support, and the ability to do so in an inclusive environment.

Ine began her career as an early childhood educator, working to provide a nurturing and supportive environment for young children. Prior to joining WestEd, she served as a literacy specialist, providing equitable access to high quality literacy instruction to reduce over-identification rates of African American students in special education. During her time as a public educator with LAUSD, she spearheaded the development of an inclusion program at her school site.

Driven by her own childhood experience with dyslexia, Ine is committed to making sure every student has access to the education they deserve. Throughout her career she has worked as a mentor teacher at California State University, Northridge, training and guiding aspiring educators. In addition, she is an independent education consultant, providing literacy intervention services and advocacy for families.

Ine holds a master’s degree in special education from California State University, Northridge, and a bachelor’s degree in developmental psychology from California State University, Los Angeles.

Nicole Loftus is Project Manager for the CA Teaching Pyramid for Early Elementary.

Loftus has experience teaching children, grades TK-8th (over 20 years), mentoring teachers, as well as coaching and training teachers and site staff in the implementation of the CA Teaching Pyramid for Early Elementary (and Preschool), across the counties of California. She is deeply passionate about the social and emotional development of children and promotes inclusive environments in which ALL children thrive.

CINDY is a Training and Support Specialist providing trainings and coaching for Inclusive Early Learning: Working Together for Inclusion & Belonging Projects.

Cindy has worked with 0-5 year old children and their loved ones, early learning providers, early childhood educators, school districts and other school systems in various capacities for over 15 years years. She is passionate about promoting and elevating children’s mental health and inclusion as well as destigmatizing infant-early childhood mental health. She thoroughly appreciates working with and learning from children’s loved ones and other consistent figures in their lives (family child care home providers, ECE teachers, FFNs, school figures, and more). Additionally, Cindy currently practices infant-early childhood mental health consultation to family child care home providers in Alameda County.

Cindy is also a proud bicultural, bilingual, brown immigrant woman and first generation college graduate. She is a mother of two wonderful children and is happily married to her first love. She holds an M.A. in Infant Mental Health from Mills College.

I have been a pre-school teacher for the past 23 years. My passion is children with disabilities or abilities and challenging behaviors. Every child deserves kindness and support to become the best version of themselves.

Edy has been working with young children diagnosed with autism and other developmental disabilities and their families for more than 17 years. She has experience providing services in both inclusive early childhood classrooms as well as in the home setting.

After graduate school, she worked at the University of Colorado Denver for 11 years on a variety of state and federally funded projects. Prior to coming to WestEd, she was the Clinical Director for the PELE Center (Positive Early Learning Experiences), providing in-home behavioral consultation and parent training to families who have young children with autism. She also conducted research and trained early childhood providers on strategies to work with children with developmental disabilities, autism, social-emotional deficits and behavior problems in inclusive preschool settings. She concurrently worked as a bilingual independent contractor providing developmental intervention services to infants and toddlers.

Edy has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Special Education from the University of Colorado Denver. Edy, her husband Pete, and their young daughter Bego?a, enjoy traveling, exploring new parks, skiing, and spending time with friends and family.

Alli is a Training and Support Specialist supporting inclusive early learning projects for WestEd. She currently holds a Master of Arts degree in Child Development: Applied Settings. Alli has worked with children for over 15 years. She enjoys sharing ideas and techniques for working with children at various levels of development. She is a huge advocate for parent involvement and positive teacher-child interactions in early learning settings. She loves providing workshops and trainings for family child care providers, teachers, and early childhood education staff. Her goal is to make workshops and trainings the happiest place to learn for adults in hopes that they will create happy places for their children and students to learn as well. Can you tell she is a HUGE Disney fan!?

RUTH is a coach and trainer with Working Together for Inclusion and Belonging, a program of WestEd’s Center for Child & Family Studies. She has spent 20 years in the field of early education working with families, children and early childhood professionals in the field of child development.

Her career consists of working as an infant/toddler/preschool teacher, child development specialist, professional child family educator, consultant, and a coach with professionals in the field of early education. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from San Francisco State University, and an M.A. in Social Clinical Psychology from New College of California at San Francisco. Ruth is also certified in the Program for Infant Toddler Care Modules.

As a Teaching Pyramid trainer and coach, I facilitate preschool and early elementary Teaching Pyramid module trainings along with their accompanying coaching sessions. I also support apprentice coaches and trainers in becoming authorized, helping them to develop their coaching and training competencies.

I attended the University of Massachusetts, Amherst for my undergraduate degree. When I moved to California, I attended the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) for my multiple subject teacher credential/Masters in Education. I continued on with UCSC to earn my Education Doctorate in Collaborative Leadership. My career in early childhood education has been very rewarding; providing me with a range of opportunities to work with children and families from around the world.

SANDI is a Training & Technical Assistance Specialist for BEGINNING TOGETHER, where she uses her skills and knowledge in Child Development and Early Intervention to support inclusion for young children in early care and education programs across the state. Sandi is also a primary trainer for the CA CSEFEL Teaching Pyramid Approach. Sandi has advocated for and implemented inclusion for ALL children since her career began in child development as a preschool/kindergarten teacher.

Young children and their families have benefited from Sandi’s partnership in a variety of settings: she owned a family child care and a center-based child care program which included children with special needs; she taught Child Development classes infused with inclusion in the college classroom; through the YMCA she organized recreational and fitness classes for teens and adults with intellectual delays; she was the Child Development Specialist in the Early Intervention Program for infants and toddlers at Cal State Northridge; she trained home- and center-based early intervention program staff and managed three early intervention programs in the Los Angeles area. Sandi continued her work with children and adults with developmental challenges as a branch manager at Tri-Counties Regional Center.

While working at Child Development Resources, the local Resource and Referral, Sandi managed designated funding for Ventura County by helping the county increase capacity of child care for children with special needs. She was also a facilitator for the CAEYC state accreditation project for family and center-based child care.

Sandi has a Master of Science degree in Human Development with an emphasis in Early Intervention and a Master of Arts in Child and Family Counseling.

CRAIG is Senior Research Associate for WestEd’s Working Together Project, specifically working with the Teaching Pyramid and BEGINNING TOGETHER projects. He has more than 25 years working to benefit infants, toddlers, and children with special needs and other disabilities.

Craig’s career has spanned from working with Early Head Start/Head Start to serving as an education researcher for a private company. In addition, he has been a college lecturer and research associate at San Francisco State University. Prior to that, he was an early childhood teacher and director of a therapeutic preschool program.

Craig has numerous publications and presentations to his name. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of California at Berkeley, a Master’s in Special Education from San Francisco State University, and a Ph.D. in Special Education from the University of California at Berkeley with San Francisco State University.

JESSICA CARDOZO holds a Master of Science in Child Development from San Diego State University, a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Development and has completed specialized certifications in Adult Learning & Coaching, Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health and Inclusive Practices. She brings over 20 years of experience supporting children, families, and early childhood educators.

Jessica provides comprehensive administrative support for project teams that provide training and professional development.

Prior to WestEd, Jessica has served in diverse roles in Early Childhood Education ranging from Program Director to Quality Improvement Trainer & Coach, and as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant. Jessica’s expertise includes coaching, systems planning, curriculum fidelity, and strategic operations. She is a long-time advocate for equity and continuous improvement in early childhood education, having led cross-sector initiatives and trained leaders through a trauma-informed, culturally responsive lens.

She lives in Riverside County, where she enjoys arts and crafts, family time outdoors, Disneyland, and serving in church ministry & community outreach.

ALEJANDRO serves as Technology Support for several projects out of the WestEd San Marcos office including BEGINNING TOGETHER, and the California Making Access Possible (MAP) to Inclusion & Belonging project.

Alejandro holds a B.A. in Graphic Design from California State University, Sacramento. Outside of work, he and his family enjoy bike rides, touring museums, and exploring the great outdoors.

Stacy Salazar is a Program Assistant II at WestEd, driven by a deep commitment to serving others. A first-generation Mexican-American born in Oceanside, California, she draws inspiration from her cultural heritage and a strong desire to uplift her community.

Stacy’s journey began at Cal State San Marcos, where she earned a BA in History and a minor in French. Following this, she pursued her teaching credential, further solidifying her dedication to education. Her experiences at CSUSM were transformative, particularly her involvement with programs like CAMP, the Migrant Education Program, and CSUSM Border Angels. As a former migrant student herself, she deeply connected with her work as a Mini Corps tutor, providing crucial support to students facing similar challenges. These experiences instilled in her the importance of leadership, service, and advocacy, shaping her path towards creating a more equitable society.

After graduating, Stacy dedicated five years to teaching 6-12th grade students, further deepening her understanding of diverse learning needs through her Master’s in Multicultural and Multilingual Education courses. Recognizing the importance of organizational skills, she also earned her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. Her career path has encompassed various roles, including working as a Case Manager at a migrant shelter, further solidifying her commitment to supporting vulnerable populations. Stacy is thrilled to contribute her skills and passion to WestEd, where she can continue to make a positive impact and work towards a more just and equitable future for all.

Outside of work, Stacy enjoys spending time with her two beloved cats. Her interests include dinosaurs, museums, plants, insect taxidermy, and collecting gems, minerals, and fossils. If she hadn’t pursued a career in education, she would have loved to become a geologist or paleontologist. To relax, she enjoys keeping up on the latest movies and TV shows. On the weekends, she likes exploring new restaurants, planning picnics, and singing karaoke with friends.

Hello, I’m Jessica! I work in the San Marcos office providing administrative support to the trainers and coaches. I joined the WestEd team in November 2021.

I received my bachelor’s degree from Cal State University of San Marcos. I am fluent in Spanish and love that I can contribute to the translation of several training materials.