2022-24 Cohort
Julie Daniel
Developmental Interventionist, Early Intervention Colorado
Doctoral Candidate in Inclusive Early Childhood Education, University of Colorado Denver
Mentor: Dr. Jackie Joseph
Julie Daniel is pursuing her doctorate in Child, Youth and Family studies with a concentration in Inclusive ECE. Prior to starting her doctorate, Julie earned her bachelor’s degree in Unified Early Childhood from University of Kansas and her master’s degree in Educational Equity and Cultural Diversity from University of Colorado- Boulder. Julie has previously held positions as an Early Childhood Special Education teacher in Kansas, Washington= and Colorado. She currently works with Early Intervention in her local community providing intervention to infants and toddlers with delays and disabilities. She is also the project coordinator for CU Denver’s EPIC-ECE grant. The project addresses the critical need for well-prepared associate degree level personnel who use evidence-based practices to support the meaningful inclusion of children with disabilities in early childhood. Julie’s research interests are child and family access to inclusive services, culturally responsive interventions, and early identification of autism.
Raquel Lima
Preschool Assistant Principal, Clifton Public Schools
Doctoral Candidate, EdD Leadership and Adjunct Professor, William Paterson University
Mentor: Dr. Lise Fox
Dr. Raquel Lima is the principal of Clifton Early Learner Academy – Allwood in the Clifton Public School District and an adjunct instructor in the Master’s in Curriculum and Learning program at William Paterson University. She is also a member of the New Jersey State Pyramid Model Team and previously participated in the Pyramid Equity Project (2016-2018). She earned her doctorate in Leadership from William Paterson University in May 2025. Her dissertation examined the program-wide implementation of the Pyramid Model over five school years. Her work focuses on the system-level implementation of evidence-based practices in early childhood education, with particular emphasis on equity, inclusion, sustainability, and data-driven decision-making to improve outcomes for all.
Aniva Lumpkins
Supervisor of School Psychologists, School District of Palm Beach County
Doctoral Candidate in Special Education, Florida International University
Mentor: Dr. Mary Louise Hemmeter
Aniva Lumpkins, Ed.S., is a clinical supervisor of school psychologists and a third-year doctoral student pursuing her PhD in Special Education. As a recipient of the Project INCLUDE fellowship, funded by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), she has centered her research on early intervention efforts that support racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse (RELD) children with or at risk for disruptive behavior disorders and early learning problems. Her 18 years as a school psychologist have afforded her a wealth of experience supporting students and their families as they navigate the educational system. With her recent work as the first Policy Intern for the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), she has leveraged such experiences to explore how policy might best support efforts to shape practices that impact the quality and future of special education in light of the intersection of race, culture, gender, disability, and poverty. Aniva aims to examine how a culturally responsive approach to Pyramid Model implementation within early childhood settings mediates the use of exclusionary discipline practices, enhances home, school, and community engagement, and improves the outcomes for minoritized youth, particularly young Black children.
Crystal Williams
Doctoral Candidate in Special Education, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Mentor: Amy Hunter
Crystal Williams is a doctoral student in special education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She also serves on the Division for Early Childhood Personnel Preparation Committee. Crystal has worked in various settings, including early intervention, Head Start, crisis care, and childcare. Her research interests center on high-quality birth-to-three services, including pre-service preparation, interdisciplinary practices, and caregiver coaching. Crystal’s research also focuses on understanding the experiences and perspectives of families with infants and toddlers who have significant support needs.
2020-22 Cohort
Gounah Choi
Assistant Teaching Professor
University Washington
Mentor: Dr. Kathy Bigelow
Gounah Choi, Ph.D, BCBA, is an assistant teaching professor in the College of Education at the University of Oregon. As a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and a former special education teacher, she has worked with young children with developmental delays/disabilities in various settings, including home, public/private school, and clinic. She currently teaches Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) courses at the University of Oregon and supervises ECSE teaching candidates field experiences. Her research interest is in parent-implemented interventions for social-emotional learning of children with disabilities/delays, particularly those from underrepresented communities.
Kelsey Clayback
Research Assistant Professor
University of Virginia
Mentor: Dr. Mary Louise Hemmeter
Kelsey Clayback is a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia’s School of Education and Human Development. Kelsey’s program of research aims to enhance classroom and school environments to promote growth and learning across early childhood. She is particularly interested in strategies and interventions to promote young children’s social and emotional skills, prevent challenging behavior, and reduce exclusionary discipline. Relatedly, Kelsey is interested in improving teacher well-being and determining how to best support educators to facilitate positive outcomes for both themselves and their students.
Tanika Johnson
Education Consultant and Licensed Professional Counselor-Mental Health Service Provider
Mentor: Dr. Lise Fox
Dr. Tanika Johnson is a Licensed Professional Counselor-Mental Health Service Provider, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, National Certified Counselor, Board-Certified Telemental Health Provider, Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, and Licensed Psychology and Special Education Teacher. She has a Doctor of Education and Education Specialist degree in Educational Leadership with a specialization in leadership, curriculum and instruction, and social and emotional development. Furthermore, Dr. Johnson has a Master of Arts in Professional Counseling and Bachelor of Science in Psychology. She has previously completed a special education teacher education program and was granted special education and psychology endorsements. To add, she has acquired thirty additional graduate hours in Health Services Management. Dr. Johnson has a wealth of experience with education consulting and serving the special education community and the exceptional needs of children, adolescents, and adults with disabilities. Likewise, she works diligently to ensure compliance with state and federal laws and regulations as it relates to individuals with disabilities.
Over the course of Dr. Johnson’s career, she has also served in the capacity of an Early Childhood Specialist, Early Childhood Teacher Mentor, Advisor, Evaluator, Education Consultant, and Contributing Faculty Member. As a practitioner and researcher, her expertise focuses on the social and emotional development and the psychological impact of children and adolescents.
Sharon Loza
Branch Head and Part C Coordinator
North Carolina Infant-Toddler Program
Mentor: Dr. Phil Strain
Dr. Sharon E. Loza is the Branch Head and Part C Coordinator for the NC Infant-Toddler Program (NC ITP) that provides early intervention supports and services for families and their infants and toddlers with varying abilities and special needs. She is also a CDC Act Early Ambassador and Board President for the North Carolina Infant and Young Child Mental Health Association. Dr. Loza participates in multiple cross-sector collaborations focused on practice and policies to support social emotional/early childhood mental health, equity and access to high-quality early childhood services, implementation of evidence-based practices using implementation science, early childhood systems improvement, early childhood workforce development, and family engagement and leadership. She is particularly interested in Pyramid Model implementation with families with infants and toddlers, the intersection of early childhood mental health consultation and competencies with Pyramid Model, data and measurement tools, and research and evaluation efforts focused on demonstrating improvement in child and family outcomes.
Jenny May
619 Coordinator
South Carolina Department of Education, Office of Special Education Services
Mentor: Dr. Judy Carta
Jenny May is the Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Qualitative Research for the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee. She has been in this role for about 4 years and has been grateful for the opportunities for partnership that it brings! Prior to this role, she served as the 619 coordinator at the SC Department of Education, Office of Special Education Services. Before engaging in the work of early childhood special education, inclusion and social-emotional supports, Jenny worked as a researcher for the Joint Citizens and Legislative Committee on Children’s Issues. She completed her PhD in Educational Psychology and MEd in Educational Research from the University of South Carolina in 2015, and prior to that, worked as a special education teacher in Nashville, TN. Jenny completed her undergraduate work at Vanderbilt University and has degrees in Special Education and Human and Organizational Development. When not working hard, Jenny is playing hard with her 2 sons and husband, Jim.
Courtney O’Grady
Graduate Teaching Assistant and a PhD candidate in Special Education
University of Illinois
Mentor: Dr. Mary Louise Hemmeter
Courtney O’Grady is an assistant professor of early childhood special education at the University of Alabama. She holds a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education, a master’s degree in early childhood special education, an additional graduate certificate in English as New Language through the Alliance for Catholic Education at the University of Notre Dame, and a Ph.D. in special education from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She taught preschool in inclusive, diverse settings for 10 years. She also served as a mentor teacher and team lead for the early childhood program. She was recognized for her preschool teaching with the Joliet Area Great Teacher’s Award in 2017. Her research seeks to disrupt deficit narratives about children and families, advance inclusion for young children with disabilities, and support the well-being of the early childhood workforce.
Hsiu-Wen Yang
Postdoctoral Research Associate
STEM Innovation for Inclusion in Early Education (STEMIE) Center
Mentor: Dr. Erin Barton
Dr. Hsiu-Wen Yang is a postdoctoral research associate at the STEM Innovation for Inclusion in Early Education (STEMIE) Center whose work aims to ensure ALL young children are included and can fully participate in learning activities. Her research also focuses on early intervention, family-centered practices, parent coaching, and social-emotional development.
2018-19 PMI Fellows Cohort
Leslie McIntosh
Early Childhood School Psychologist
Jersey City Public Schools
Mentor: Dr. Lise Fox
Deliverable: A Practice Guide for Teaching Executive Skills to Preschoolers through the Pyramid Model
I worked under the mentorship of Lise Fox, who guided me in creating a Practice Guide to promote Pre-K teachers’ use of Pyramid Model practices to support the development of executive function in young children. I will also be providing professional development via webinar and contributing to the library of Backpack Connections to help spread the awareness that Pyramid Model practices are beneficial to young children in many, many ways.
Alison Mellott
Program Wide PBIS Facilitator
Supporting Positive Environments for Children (SPEC)
Mentor: Dr. Jolenea Ferro
Deliverable: Promoting Teacher Retention through Pyramid Model Practices
I was amazed by the doors that opened as a result of this fellowship. I was able to become more involved in Pyramid Model work within my state system, received support with research proposals and publications, participated in training design for other state systems, and made connections with fellows and researchers from across the country.I graduated about halfway through the fellowship and my work within the fellowship was, I believe, a key factor in acquiring a position in higher education.
Chelsea Morris
Assistant Professor
University of New Mexico, Family and Child Studies
Mentor: Dr. Mary Louise Hemmeter
Deliverable: Trauma Informed Care for Teachers: Utilizing Pyramid Model Practices
Chelsea Morris, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in Family and Child Studies at the University of New Mexico whose work focuses on building inclusive early childhood systems that support young children’s social, emotional, and behavioral development. Her research draws on the Pyramid Model framework and trauma-informed approaches to strengthen relationship-based practices that promote social-emotional competence and prevent challenging behavior in early learning environments.
Dr. Morris’s scholarship examines how adults interpret and respond to young children’s behavior, with particular attention to how educators’ perceptions of trauma, adversity, and family context influence classroom practice and systems of support. Her work explores how trauma-informed care and Pyramid Model practices are understood and enacted by educators, and how adult beliefs shape the implementation of prevention-focused behavioral supports.
Much of her current research is situated within New Mexico’s early childhood policy context, including the implementation of universal child care and the development of a statewide early childhood workforce career lattice designed to strengthen professional pathways across the birth to eight system. She is the author of “Strengths-Based Family and Community Partnerships in Early Childhood Special Education Research and Practice” and has written multiple book chapters and scholarly manuscripts related to the Pyramid Model and the promotion of young children’s social-emotional development.
Dr. Morris collaborates with early intervention programs, child care providers, higher education institutions, and state agencies to strengthen the early childhood workforce and advance inclusive practices across early learning systems.
Ara Zeliz Reyes
Doctoral Candidate, ECEC PhD Program
Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education and Human Development, University of Massachusetts – Boston
Mentor: Dr. Jaclyn Joseph
On a national level as a National Center for Pyramid Model Innovation (NCPMI) Fellow, my work focuses on inclusion evidence-based practices. This past year, in collaboration with NCPMI faculty members across several states, I presented at national professional conferences as an expert on parent engagement and family systems. As collaborators, we share insightful information about how to support the implementation of family coaching models within local and national research communities, nonprofits, government agencies, and community programs. My NCPMI work, in part, focuses on building effective school-family-community partnerships through practices for social emotional competence. With encouragement from NCPMI faculty, I have challenged myself to learn more at a national level about educators’ use of special education practices to reduce challenging behaviors and promoting inclusion in the classroom. Additionally, thanks to my NCPMI experience I currently also serve as the Mentoring Co-Chair for the Division of Exceptional Children (DEC) Consortium for Innovations in Doctoral Excellence (DECIDE) Mentoring Program, I work in collaboration with other DEC leaders to provide mentorship opportunities to students and junior faculty that fosters a collaborative spirit.
Jenna Weglarz-Ward
Assistant Professor in Early Childhood Education/Special Education
University of Nevada – Las Vegas
Mentor: Dr. Erin Barton
Dr. Weglarz-Ward is an associate professor in early childhood/special education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and research coordinator at the Lynn Bennett Early Childhood Education Center. Her scholarship focuses on the inclusion of young children with disabilities in community settings through family-centered practices with over 30 publications and 100 national presentations. She serves as the principal investigator for projects centered around supporting professionals’ skills in equity and inclusion and has been awarded over $4 mil in external funding to support work. She has been a consultant for the U.S. Office of Child Care and Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation. She serves on Nevada early childhood-related councils including the Nevada Pyramid Partnership, Nevada Part C Interagency Coordinating Council (chair), and the Nevada Early Childhood Advocacy Council and national organizations including the Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children (serving as past-president) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children. She was formerly a Fred Rogers Inquiry Educator Fellow, National Center on Pyramid Model Innovations Fellow, and Office of Special Education Program Intern. She completed her PhD at the University of Illinois in special education with a focus on early intervention/early childhood special education.
