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.

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

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.

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.