Leadership Connections: December 2023
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Leadership Connections
News from the Academy of ZERO TO THREE Fellows
March 2025
March 2025
Dear ZERO TO THREE Academy of Fellows,
We raised $24,845.80!
Thank you for contributing to the “Giving Back, Going Forward” fundraising campaign to support Academy events and scholarships for ZERO TO THREE activities offered each year.
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Fellows Events
SAVE THE DATE: ZERO TO THREE Annual Scientific Meeting
Washington DC, Thursday | May 22, 2025
Devon Payne-Sturges, DrPH, Associate Professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, will present her research focusing on the effects of environmental conditions (e.g., toxins in buildings, air, water, and products) on developmental outcomes for young children and their caregivers. This will be a hybrid event. Additional details on registering for in-person or virtual attendance will be shared soon.
2025 ZERO TO THREE LEARN Conference:
Baltimore, Maryland | October 8-9, 2025
Pre-conference offerings available October 6-8 for those looking to dive even deeper.
All Academy Fellows will receive a special discounted rate to attend the 2025 LEARN Conference. Use code FELL25 to save up to $295.
This year, the Academy Council will be hosting several events including a community-building breakfast, evening social, and lunch with the plenary speakers.
Fellows News
2025-2027 New Council Members
Morgan Ray, MSW, IMH E®
Finance Chair (Fellow 2020-22)
Morgan Ray is Senior Training and Technical Assistance Specialist on the State Policy Team at ZERO TO THREE since January 2024. Previously, Morgan served as the Director of the EarlyWell Coalition at NC Child, located in North Carolina.
Morgan is a systems thinker, rooted in creating equitable systems for all. Over the last twelve years her career has spanned providing case management in early intervention to providing technical assistance to pediatric medical homes, managing North Carolina’s Children’s Trust Fund, and navigating statewide coalition work and policy advocacy. She is a multi-skilled program administrator with experience in government, for-profit, and non-profit sectors. Morgan received her undergraduate degree in social work, and her master’s degree in social work with a concentration in community, management, and policy practice from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In her free time, Morgan greatly enjoys spending time with her husband and 3-year-old daughter traveling, camping, and hiking. She loves to connect with others and learn; a good conversation, book, or podcast is right up her alley. She loves to stay active, and you can find her in her local CrossFit gym, greenway park system, or YMCA.
Dani Stamm Thomas, IMH-E® IFA
Communications Co-Chair (Fellow 2022-24)
Director
Early Learning Hub of Clackamas County in Oregon
Dani Stamm Thomas is Director of the Early Learning Hub of Clackamas County in Oregon since November 2020. As part of a network of early childhood systems-building entities funded by the state, early learning hubs in Oregon convene, connect, and support capacity building at a regional level to support all children under six and their families. In addition to this role Dani is currently co-president of the Oregon Early Learning Hub Association. Coming into her 15th year in early childhood and childcare, Dani’s previous roles include classroom and program management, quality improvement and technical assistance. Dani continues to support early childhood educators as an Oregon Registry Master Trainer.
Dani lives with her husband and two cats in Keizer, OR. In her personal time, she enjoys music (including Broadway shows), crafting, and has recently taken up doing jigsaw puzzles.
Aditi Subramaniam, LMHC, R-DMT, IECMH-E®
Communications Co-Chair (Fellow 2022-24)
Director of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Policy
Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
Aditi Subramaniam, LMHC, R-DMT, IECMH-E®, is a licensed mental health clinician and registered dance psychotherapist with more than twenty years of experience in the field of mental health, in India and Boston. She works as the Director of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Policy at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC) leading statewide infant and early childhood mental health workforce development efforts and a partnership between MSPCC and the Massachusetts Association for Infant Mental Health (MassAIMH) focused on enhancing, diversifying, and supporting the infant and early childhood mental health workforce to improve access to services for children age birth – six and their families.
Aditi is both a clinician at heart and a reflective systems leader, committed to justice-informed policy, implementation, and practice toward creating equitable systems to meet the needs of Massachusetts’ youngest children and their families. She serves as core faculty at the Early Relational Health Fellowship at UMass Chan Medical School. Her experience includes dyadic clinical work, Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health training such as DC 0-5, FAN, Touchpoints and NBO, reflective supervision, family engagement, and working with systems to build capacity in justice-informed early childhood mental health. She is endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Mentor- Clinical®.
The principles and practices of liberation and the arts as healing are foundational in her everyday work and lens. She is a trained Indian classical and folk dancer and continues to enjoy dancing, yoga and making art. She is humbled by parenting and learning from the wonders of childhood with her daughter.
Update: Community Platform
The ZERO TO THREE Academy Community Platform will no longer be used as a primary vehicle for communicating with Fellows. We will send updates via our quarterly newsletter and email listserv while we explore other social platforms to support Academy collaborations.
Call for Volunteers:
The Council is looking to fill the position of Academy Council Co-Chairs (two positions) by June 2025 to help with oversight of the Academy’s general operations. Ann Chu and Aimee Hilado will be ending their two-year term as the current Co-Chairs this summer. Please consider volunteering to be part of this amazing group and continue strengthening the Council’s leadership team! Contact Ann Chu or Aimee Hilado to learn more.
2025 Policy, Advocacy, and Research Collaboration (PARC) Award
This year four projects were awarded funds from the Policy, Advocacy, and Research Collaboration (PARC) Award. Each of these projects highlights the phenomenal work that can be achieved when we collaborate with one another! Following is a brief description of each of the funded projects.
Advancing Regional Connections and Policy Approaches to Support Infant, Early Childhood and Family Mental Health in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC
Over one million children (~1,068,000) ages 0-5, and their families, live in the regional jurisdictions of Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia and many families and professionals frequently move across state borders for work and housing. Yet, state differences in policies, services covered by Medicaid, and systems that perpetuate professionals working in silos serve as barriers to families receiving comprehensive, high-quality, timely and robust infant and early childhood mental health promotion, prevention and treatment services.
Kate Sweeny, MSW (2016-18) and Sarah Hoffman, MPP (2016-18) received a PARC award to fund a project to coalesce an initial cohort of infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) practice and policy professionals in the regional jurisdictions of Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia with the goals of (1) improving knowledge-sharing and cross-collaboration; (2) sharing innovative practice and policy proposals across jurisdictions; and (3) exploring and determining interest and feasibility of advancing regional approaches to IECMH practices, policies and systems.
Kate Sweeny, MSW
Sarah Hoffman, MPP
Validation and Revision of the BABIES Adaptive Behavior Inventory
Many babies with special health care needs and their families leave intensive care requiring support from community-based early intervention services and needing follow-up within the healthcare system. Very often they present with both developmental and medical challenges which necessitate appropriate evaluation and intervention services to support their development during these critical first few months. Current evaluations for babies under 6 months of age are not specifically tailored to address the unique developmental needs of these little ones.
The BABIES Adaptive Behavior Inventory (BABI) is a theoretically sound and evidence-based approach to assessment and intervention that was created to address the unique needs of this population. This measure is an observational measure that is completed in collaboration with parents. With appropriate training, early interventionists can use the BABI both for assessment purposes and to help tailor anticipatory guidance provided to families. The adaptive domains that are addressed by the BABI include: Biophysiologic, Arousal and sleep, Body movement, Interaction with others, Eating, and Soothing. Each domain of the BABI describes behavioral progression specific to the development and needs of babies. As babies and their families transition from intensive care to their community, use of the BABI could help facilitate continuity in the developmental care received.
The BABI demonstrates content and construct validity; and initial interrater reliability has been established. However, additional statistical analyses related to the psychometric properties of this measure are needed. The PARC award that Joy Browne, PhD (1999) and Ayelet Talmi, PhD (2003) received is being used to help offset costs related to this. Their ultimate goal is to revise and publish the BABI for use in early intervention and health care settings.
Ayelet Talmi, PhD
Joy Browne, PhD
Rooted Collective Community Workshops
There are multiple beautiful efforts and thinkers within our field whose voices are not as well known to the broader community of professionals and not as fully accepted as being part of our Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health cannon. These voices, often from professionals of color and other nondominant identities, challenge us to critically examine and reflect upon, as Diversity Informed Tenet #4 powerfully reminds us, our “ways of knowing, bodies of knowledge, sources of strength, and routes to healing.”
Natasha Pérez Byars, MS, MSW, LICSW (2018-20) and Eva Marie Shivers, JD, PhD (2005) have had the opportunity to not only know amazing colleagues who challenge them and others to go deeper, but they also have been able to elevate many professionals of color and nondominant identities in their various efforts. Each time Pérez Byars and Shivers have done this, the response from participants and the depth of reflection within the sessions have been incredible! Frequently, participants are hearing these voices for the first time and want more.
The PARC award that Byars and Shivers received is being used to continue elevating these voices that inspire us to a richer way of understanding IECMH and healing justice. Specifically, they requested funds to use to fairly compensate professionals of color and nondominant identities for their time as they deliver wisdom to our broad community of early childhood professionals.
Natasha Pérez Byars, MS, MSW, LICSW
Eva Marie Shivers, JD, PhD
Southeastern Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) Coalition Finance and Policy Summit
Policy changes and finance structures can have a sweeping impact on young children and their families throughout the Southeast. Callan Wells, MS, IMH-E ® (2022-24) and Kerrie Schnake, MA (2018-20) received a PARC award to help off-set a portion of the costs related to a new and innovative project that was born out of work with thought partners at ZERO TO THREE.
This project includes a year-long plan to engage and provide education to state leaders and will culminate in an in-person summit in August 2025. The summit will serve as an opportunity for legislators, agency leads, and IECMH advocates to gather with their peers across the South for collaboration and shared learning about practical policy and financing structures that can promote high quality IECMH services.
Callan Wells, MS, IMH-E ®
Kerrie Schnake, MA
ZERO TO THREE Highlights
What’s at Stake: Latest Updates on the Baby Agenda
Our federal policy team is deeply involved in shaping decisions that impact the well-being of babies and their families. Get an inside look at our work to protect and advance the “Baby Agenda”.
Infant Mental Health Training: What You Need to Know
Virtual | $99.00
Tuesday, March 18th, 2025 | 12:00pm – 1:30pm ET
In this engaging session, you’ll gain a solid understanding of the only diagnostic tool designed specifically for infants and young children—DC:0-5™ Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood, which is crucial for anyone involved in IECMH. We’ll explore the history, purpose, and unique approach of this diagnostic tool, all while emphasizing the importance of developmentally informed, relationship-based, and culturally competent practices.
Questions?
Please contact the Academy Council Co-Chairs Aimee Hilado and Ann Chu if you have questions.
The vision of the ZERO TO THREE Academy of Fellows is the development of a thriving, relationship-based community of Fellows that promotes the well-being of infants, children, and families.
The mission is to build and grow a professional community of ZERO TO THREE leadership fellows that strives to promote ongoing collaboration, mentorship, and relationships to support our work and the mission of ZERO TO THREE.
Leadership Connections: February 2024
The official newsletter of the ZERO TO THREE Academy of Fellows
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Leadership Connections:August 2024
The official newsletter of the ZERO TO THREE Academy of Fellows
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