Lindsey Allard Agnamba

Founder and CEO

“I started SRC to raise awareness and address issues of equity in early childhood. I want to work alongside other professionals and communities to ensure every individual in our society sees each child’s value and potential, that our children have their unique identities and gifts validated and supported, and ultimately to seek social justice in the world we are collectively building. Interrupting and dismantling what stands in the way of these realities for all children and families is my professional and personal mission.”

Lindsey supports the SRC team by providing courage and conviction around SRC’s vision and work. Her ability to bring clarity supports partners’ effective decision-making and creation of meaningful solutions to complex issues.

Lindsey’s areas of expertise include early childhood systems and policy development with a focus on racial equity, strategic planning, facilitation, storytelling, and evaluation of programs and systems. She also has expertise in professional learning and program improvement, as well as pedagogical and curricular approaches, particularly child-centered approaches focused on equity and anti-bias practices and children’s healthy social and emotional development. Lindsey advises partners and the internal SRC team in ensuring that SRC’s work supports equity-focused improvement of early childhood systems and programs.

Lindsey founded SRC in 2011 and brings over 20 years of experience in the early childhood landscape. Lindsey began her career as a Head Start teacher in Boston, MA. She later consulted to organizations across the country who were creating, implementing, and evaluating early childhood programs and services. Lindsey holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.Ed. in Education Policy with a focus in Equality of Opportunity from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a B.S. in Human Development/Early Childhood Education from Wheelock College.

Soumya Bhat

Principal Associate

“As a first-generation immigrant who moved from southern India to the southern U.S. as a toddler, many of my early childhood experiences were defined by change and uncertainty as we adjusted to our new home. While I benefited from the stability and collective support of my family and the surrounding Indian-American community, I came to realize that not all children have access to a safe and healthy learning environment during this critical period of growth and development. In addition, many families simply don’t have the resources or time to advocate for equitable access to high-quality education. At SRC, I’m able to apply my policy, communication, and research skills to work with partners around the country to examine and strengthen early childhood systems in a strategic way.”

Soumya’s content expertise spans early childhood policy, finance, and systems. Her skills include research, analysis, technical assistance, and stakeholder engagement. She is known for her attention to detail, ability to detect gaps, and empathy, which allows her to connect with and understand the perspectives of a wide range of partners. At SRC, Soumya works on a range of projects with a focus on strategic advising, policy, and systems change to improve outcomes for young children and their families.

Soumya’s professional experiences have shaped her understanding of the complexities of designing equity-centered policies for young children and their families. As part of her work at The Policy Equity Group, she provided technical assistance to food and early childhood organizations working to scale farm-to-early care and education models statewide. While at the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, she advocated at the local level for an equitable and transparent city budget by conducting research and analysis on education and early childhood policies affecting DC’s low-income children and families. She also has experience providing technical assistance to state child care administrators, conducting fiscal mapping studies, and working with state and non-profit leaders to help sustain their early childhood systems during her time with The Finance Project. Soumya holds a M.P.Aff. degree from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and a B.S. in Psychology from Birmingham-Southern College.

Traci Borgh

Associate

“Fulfilling futures are made in well-resourced classrooms. I’m passionate about ensuring all classrooms have the resources they need to provide our children the education they deserve. That’s why SRC’s work to improve equity in early childhood education is so important and meaningful.”

Traci is a harmonizer. Wielding her skills in communication and organization, she complements and plays to the strengths of her fellow team members.

Traci’s expertise in information dissemination and ethical storytelling helps to improve SRC’s messaging from concept to methods of delivery. Her background in data collection and community engagement translates to skilled project support in the gathering and analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data.

Traci has worked in a variety of school and nonprofit settings across California and Washington state. Most recently, she was the communications manager at a music education nonprofit. Traci holds an M.A. in Strategic Communication from Washington State University and a B.A. in Spanish from California Baptist University.

Jennifer Caldwell

Director

“The work of supporting the families, programs and communities in which young children learn and grow is deeply aligned to my personal mission. At SRC, we tirelessly pursue this work alongside our talented partners—the practitioners and thought leaders who share our commitments to improving upon the status quo, bridging gaps at multiple levels to advance equity, and meeting the field’s challenges with fresh perspectives and innovative solutions that work.”

With equal skill in communication and organization, Jennifer can find common themes and shared interests among a group and help the SRC team and its partners find their rhythm.

Jennifer has expertise in early childhood program and leadership development, as well as a strong background in the design and facilitation of professional learning experiences for early childhood professionals at all levels. She specializes in family, community, and stakeholder engagement, including strategies in cross-sector collaboration for whole child and whole family support within local communities. At SRC, Jennifer lends leadership and support in the areas of racial equity-focused professional learning, technical assistance, and strategic advising that integrates the intentional elevation of family and community voice.

Jennifer has over 10 years of experience in the early childhood field. She began her career as a child care center director in Baltimore City and worked with Head Start and Even Start programs for several years. Later, in partnership with community development corporations in Baltimore, she established and coordinated a variety of community-based initiatives impacting young children and their families. Jennifer earned an M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education from Towson University and a B.S. in Early Childhood Leadership from Stevenson University.

Mariam Dahbi

Senior Associate

“I am committed to using rigorous research methods, solid knowledge of early childhood development and instruction, and a passion for languages and the arts, to help improve young children’s experiences in early childhood education settings. I am drawn to opportunities to create research-based, practice-oriented knowledge that supports equitable access to quality early childhood education for learners of diverse language backgrounds.”

Mariam combines ingenuity and empathy to create tailored, comprehensive, and impactful solutions. She mixes resources on hand with a helping of imagination and a dose of can-do optimism.

Mariam has expertise in language and literacy development and teacher-child interactions in linguistically diverse preschool classrooms. As a multilingual songwriter, she also explores the affordances of music integration for equity-committed education. Mariam began her career as a Pre-K teacher in Rabat, Morocco, and worked as a Policy Advisor to two Ministers of Education in Morocco. She has since collaborated with her Harvard University professors in multiple research projects as part of her doctoral journey.

BreAnna Davis Tribble

Managing Associate

“Throughout my childhood, I was socialized to value education, family and community. These tenets ultimately became the core areas that I wanted to also focus on professionally. With an understanding of how structural, institutional, and individual racism impacts people of color, I spent the first few years of my career seeking to highlight how youth could persevere and excel, with the support of their families and communities, in spite of barriers that they faced. SRC appealed to me because of its mission to ensure that all children have the opportunity to thrive. This mission encouraged me to consider how my technical skills could be used to directly make a difference in the lives of black and brown youth during arguably the most critical developmental period of their lives.”

BreAnna enjoys learning about other people’s experiences, perspectives, and values. Her keen ability to recognize the emotions of others enables her to relate to her team members and partners in meaningful ways.

BreAnna has methodological expertise in quantitative research methods, including correlational research and survey methods, and in qualitative research methods, including in-depth interviews and focus groups. She has training in several early childhood assessment and observation tools. At SRC, BreAnna provides expertise and guidance on evaluation and research design, including protocol development and sampling, as well as data collection management and analysis for city, state, and national-level projects.

BreAnna began her career as a research assistant for Black Families Research Group at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she learned culturally relevant research methods for designing and executing research with ethnic minority populations. She was also an Emerging Scholar at Urban Institute and a UNCF Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute pre-doctoral fellow. BreAnna earned both a Ph.D. in Family Science and an M.S. in Couple and Family Therapy at the University of Maryland, College Park. She earned a B.S. in Human Development and Family Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Samantha Gray Keen

Managing Associate

“I joined SRC because the work we do has the ability to make improvements to entire systems which impact children and families. It is exciting to be part of an organization working to remove barriers and increase access to the support all children and families deserve. I continue to be inspired by our team as we work both internally and externally to create a more just and equitable society.”

Samantha’s abilities to reflect on past experiences, ask tough questions, and see the implications of a decision enable her to support the SRC team in gaining clarity and focus as they work through complex situations.

Samantha supports a wide variety of projects integrating best thinking in meeting design and facilitation. She also focuses on strategic planning, storytelling, community and stakeholder engagement, and systems change.

Having started her career as a high school English teacher, Samantha has worked at the state, community, and school levels. Her past positions include working in both non-profit and private preschool settings, supporting home-based providers in improving quality, and training early learning professionals. Most recently, she worked at Pennsylvania’s Office of Child Development and Early Learning, supporting community-based efforts at reducing the achievement gap. Samantha holds an M.A. in Human Development with a specialization in Leadership from Pacific Oaks College and a B.S. in English Education from Millersville University.

Laura Hawkinson

Vice President of Research and Evaluation

“I am passionate about supporting the well-being of children and families. I enjoy using my expertise in rigorous research methodology to support partners and colleagues in ensuring high quality early learning opportunities for children.”

Laura is a systems thinker. She helps the SRC team see both the forest and the trees when tackling complex problems.

Laura has methodological expertise in quantitative research methods, including experimental and quasi-experimental research designs, correlational research, instrument validation, and survey methods. She has content expertise in early childhood programs and policies, such as quality rating and improvement systems, child care subsidies, public prekindergarten, and Head Start and Early Head Start. Laura applies her expertise in early childhood programs and policies, research design, and analysis methods to research and evaluation projects at SRC, sometimes serving as principal investigator on evaluation projects.

Laura has over 15 years of experience conducting applied research on early childhood programs and policies. Laura began her career teaching toddlers living in homeless shelters. Prior to SRC, she held research positions at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), and Mathematica Policy Research (MPR). Laura holds an M.P.A. from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in education policy from the University of Pennsylvania and was an Institute for Education Sciences pre-doctoral fellow.

Mimi Howard

Advisor for Strategy and Systems

“Early in my career I had a mentor who had been in the ECE field for many years and often told the ‘Circle Story’: over the years she had seen the field repeat the same cycles—always with some improvement, but still only going in circles. I joined SRC because in the work we do everyday and in the work of our partners I see a steadfast and unwavering commitment to real change and a vision for what life could be like for all families and children.”

Mimi is a clever problem-solver and master connector of people and ideas.

Mimi supports and advises the SRC team on project-specific tasks and deliverables. In this capacity, she conducts research, engages with stakeholders, and develops tools and resources.

Mimi began her career as a preschool teacher before moving into the ECE policy arena. She has worked on ECE projects both nationally and internationally. Prior to joining SRC, she left a position with the Education Commission of the States to serve two years as a National Head Start Fellow. Mimi holds an M.A. in Early Childhood Development and a B.A. in French and Psychology.

Katina Kearney- Edwards

Director

“The mission of high-quality ECE for all children is very important to me, especially through the lens of racial equity. I appreciate the opportunity to partner with a variety of early childhood stakeholders in reflecting on biases, practices, policies, and structures to support more equitable opportunities for all children and families.”

Katina approaches her work with ingenuity by identifying relevant resources, using creativity, and showing up with a dose of can-do optimism. When the task seems impossible, she is the perfect team collaborator.

Katina has a combination of practical experience in classrooms and school districts as well as experience in research and teacher education. She has content expertise in early childhood programming, professional learning, early literacy, and family engagement. At SRC, Katina provides equity-focused leadership, working with partners to design and implement both processes for continuous improvement and tools for building leadership and system capacity.

Katina has over 18 years of experience in the early childhood education field. Her career began as a public school pre-kindergarten teacher in Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina. She has served as a kindergarten teacher, early literacy coach, training director, Head Start teacher, adjunct instructor, program manager, and director of curriculum in programs in North Carolina, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Before joining SRC, Katina was an early childhood education faculty member at Salisbury University in Maryland. Katina holds a Ph.D. in early childhood education and early literacy from George Mason University, an M.Ed. in Child and Family Studies from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and a B.S. in Human Development and Family Studies/ Birth-Kindergarten from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Maya Manning

Operations Associate

“I have always been interested in how and why people think the way that they do. Education allows me to combine that curiosity with my other passion: helping to create a kinder world. There is so much suffering in this world that could be alleviated if everyone was equipped from an early age with the social and emotional tools that they need. At SRC I wake up every day knowing that I am helping to make sure that all children receive the start in life that they deserve.”

Maya is a systems thinker who looks at the big picture and figures out how the pieces fit together to make that picture into reality.

Maya has a variety of educational leadership experience as an operations consultant, school administrator, curriculum developer, and classroom teacher. She has experience in operations from multiple industries including schools, curriculum companies, and nonprofits. At SRC she applies her expertise in technology, logistics, and systems and processes to a wide range of projects.

Maya began her career in education as a first and second grade teacher at a start-up preschool-8th Grade school before becoming their Director of Curriculum Development. As the Director of Curriculum Development she worked to integrate best practices in student-centered teaching and equity-focused education. Prior to joining SRC, Maya worked on operations for a curriculum company that helps students realize their purpose. Maya holds a B.A. in Cognitive Science and a B.A. in Education Studies with a focus on Human Development from Brown University.

Kate McKenney

Senior Associate

“I see equitable early care, health, and education systems as fundamental to a peaceful, prosperous, healthy, and just society. At SRC, I am fortunate to work with colleges and partners who thoughtfully and diligently create and reimagine early childhood practices, programs, and systems through an equity lens. Taking this powerful perspective reveals the progress we have made, and our unfinished work, in building robust early childhood ecosystems where racial, economic, and other social factors do not determine a child’s opportunity to fulfill their innate potential.”

Kate is curious, empathic, and collaborative as she works with partners to consider child, family, and community-centered solutions. At SRC, she takes a holistic view of early childhood issues by recognizing and acknowledging the perspectives of all stakeholders and working towards feasible and viable outcomes.

Kate’s expertise includes early childhood program development and leadership, as well as mixed-method evaluation research. She has in-depth knowledge of intervention design, implementation and outcome evaluations, interviewing, needs assessments, and qualitative data analysis. Kate has extensive experience collaborating and engaging with parents, families, teachers, and administrators, developing strategic community partnerships, implementing continuous improvement processes, and early childhood systems research.

Kate began her 20-year career in education as a classroom teacher, community college instructor, central office administrator, curriculum designer, and family education program director in diverse communities across the country. Before joining SRC, Kate held leadership roles within the military childcare system and founded and directed a non-profit, equity-centered cooperative preschool. Kate earned a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Johns Hopkins University where her research focused on military child school readiness. She also holds an M.Ed. from the University of Virginia, a B.A. in Government and Economics from the College of William and Mary, and is a licensed teacher and PreK-12 School Administrator.

Gina McRae

Administrative Coordinator

“I came to SRC at a time when I was looking to make a career change. SRC’s mission resonated with me in many ways, primarily with my belief that all children are very special gifts from God to us. We have a limited amount of time to make the greatest impact on the lives of children, which is why at SRC we strive to impact and elevate the lives of children and families. Great beginnings in early education depend upon working on the ground and hearing and recognizing the voices of families. Because of these reasons, I am proud to be a part of SRC and to support our mission.”

Gina’s strength is ingenuity: creatively using resources to solve both short-term and long-term challenges and collaborating with system thinkers to establish processes.

Gina is a certified CLASS® and ITERS-R data collector. At SRC, she provides administrative support on multiple projects. She also examines and researches systems and processes to create organization and efficiency.

Gina is a former retail banking operations manager with expertise in inspections, audits, and regulatory compliance. She has provided data assistance and logistics support in ITERS-R, FCCERS-R, the Children’s Literacy Initiative (CLI), and the Virginia Preschool Initiative Plus (VPI+) projects.

Gabrielle Montgomery

Senior Associate

“I believe in quality early childhood education for all. Everyone deserves the best start in their life’s journey. Here at SRC we can impact local and statewide programs and policies that advocate for equity and social justice for our youngest members of society.”

Gabby is a recalibrator who is focused and dedicated to fostering healthy conflict in order to promote growth and forward movement and achieve goals and desired outcomes.

Gabby has experience in a variety of areas including the classroom, school leadership, coaching, professional learning, assessment administration, and the use of data to drive instruction. She has expertise in Data Team Coordination and is a certified CLASS and ITERS-R anchor.

Gabby has 15 years of experience in early childhood education. Her career began as an early childhood educator in Washington DC. Later in her career, as an early childhood director and regional academic coach in Washington DC, she became interested in broadening her impact through SRC’s mission. Gabby holds a Master in School Administration from Trinity University and a B.S in Education from the University of Oregon.

Aisha Pittman Fields

Senior Associate

“Education has always been at the forefront with my family. In order to honor my late grandmother and other elders who were never afforded the opportunity to receive a formal education, I’ve become committed to supporting efforts to provide quality education to all children despite their societal circumstances. At SRC, I am able to work toward a mission that closely aligns with my own personal mission: uplifting the importance of early education and access through a racial equity and social justice lens. SRC allows me to advocate and contribute to work that prioritizes the success of children who look a lot like me and my family.”

Aisha’s pensive work style and reflective nature allow her to ask relevant questions, contributing to the SRC team’s gap detection and problem-solving. When others are moving quickly, Aisha has the ability to stop and reflect to ensure decisions are thoughtful and intentional.

Aisha has expertise in quantitative and qualitative data collection and management. She also has extensive experience in various early childhood assessment and observation tools, including certifications in CLASS (Infant, Toddler, and PreK) and ITERS-R. At SRC, Aisha supports the management of state and national data collection projects and manages the reliability and fidelity of data collection teams.

Aisha has over 10 years of experience in education. She began her career as a Research Assistant in Washington, DC. Prior to SRC, Aisha worked as an Assistant Director at Wonders Early Learning in Maryland. She holds a Master in Education Policy from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in Sociology from Temple University.

Kristina Rodriguez

Senior Associate

“My parents came to this country from Mexico with nothing and vowed to give their children the world. Growing up, they did everything they could for us to receive the best education possible. For them, education was everything. I knew I wanted to do something with my life that honored their sacrifices and their emphasis on education. Working at SRC has allowed me to pair my quantitative skill set with this personal mission. I love that we don’t see educators, families, and communities as simply research participants. We do everything we can to see them as partners in trying to better understand ways to improve the early childhood experiences of all children.”

Kristina is a motivator who helps the SRC team stay mindful of the greater purpose of their work, especially by channeling strengths and reminding the team to stay true to their values.

Kristina has expertise in data management and quantitative and qualitative analysis. She also has experience using multiple statistical packages, programming languages, and data visualization tools. At SRC, Kristina helps lead data collection, quality assurance processes, analysis, and reporting for city, state, and national-level projects.

Kristina previously worked as a data analyst for large education-focused nonprofit organizations in Chicago, IL, as well as academic research labs. She also wrote several articles and supported large projects for the Early and Elementary Education and Dual Language Learner teams at the policy think tank New America. Most recently, Kristina earned an M.P.P. with a focus on Education Policy from the McCourt School at Georgetown University. She holds a B.S. in Communication Sciences and Disorders with a focus on speech, language, and learning from Northwestern University.

Leila Sammander

Senior Associate

“In my perfect job, I would want to work on a team that welcomes innovative thinking, prioritizes equity and social justice, and challenges systems to work better for the children and families they serve. I would want to work in an environment where I can take risks and push myself outside of my comfort zone to grow and maximize my potential. I have found this perfect job within SRC. As a first generation college graduate and daughter of Afghan refugees, education and equity are at the forefront of my values—which is why a mission-driven organization like SRC is perfect for me.”

Leila’s “can-do” energy and positivity leads her work ethic across projects. Her ability to extrapolate themes and ideas when conducting her work with partners allows project teams to work more efficiently. Her thoughtfulness when building relationships with clients is clearly noticeable.

Leila has expertise in strategic planning and implementation, stakeholder engagement, meeting design and facilitation, continuous quality improvement, family and community engagement, and qualitative research methods. Leila provides strategic planning and systems-building technical assistance to states, districts, nonprofits, and other organizations working to advance equitable early childhood policies.

Leila has previously held positions at the Council of Chief State School Officers and Ascend at the Aspen Institute, working with policymakers and stakeholders around the advancement of early childhood and family engagement policies. Leila holds an M.Ed. from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, where she also served as a research assistant at the Consortium of Policy Research in Education. In addition, Leila holds a dual B.A. in Political Science and Spanish from the University of Delaware.

Nicole Sharpe

Director

“I joined SRC because every day we get to reimagine what the world would look like if all children had the opportunity to thrive. What if all children had the right to be creative and critical thinkers, to show up as their full selves, have their unique identities affirmed, and experience deep moments of curiosity, community, and joy? With our partners, we are invited to ask the tough questions to unpack existing inequities, breakdown barriers, and generate new early childhood systems where this world becomes a real possibility.”

Nicole is able to cut through layers and layers of information to find the most important ideas. She loves offering support by raising key concepts to create robust and powerful solutions.

Nicole has expertise in providing strategic advising to advance early childhood policies, investments, and systems-building efforts. Leading projects focused on strategic planning, Nicole works alongside SRC partners to set actionable goals and design progressive plans for change that build on successes and improve supports for young children and families. In addition to providing strategic guidance, she offers experience in policy analysis, implementation support, and storytelling in order to examine, strengthen, and communicate the impact of early childhood programming.

Nicole has over 15 years of experience in the early childhood field. She began her career as a preschool teacher at the Reggio-inspired World Bank Children’s Center. She subsequently worked in a variety of settings advocating for early learning issues, including the DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education and the Ounce of Prevention Fund. She holds an Ed.M. in Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a B.S. in Early Childhood Education from the University of Vermont.

Judi Stevenson-Garcia

Principal Associate

“I am passionate about supporting teachers and pedagogical leaders in learning to design equitable learning environments that provide all children agency in their own learning and that celebrate the unique identities of each child as individual learners and valued contributors to their classroom and school communities.

Judi is a systems thinker. She is invaluable when the team is trying to get its bearings in a complicated situation. And she can also help a team think through the pros and cons of various options.

Judi has expertise in supporting early childhood classroom quality practices, including infant and toddler settings, teaching practices that support the development of mathematical thinking, and settings that support equitable learning opportunities for children who are emergent bilinguals. She has deep knowledge of and experience in Head Start and Early Head Start program performance standards and implementation, mixed-delivery systems, and engaging families and community stakeholders in informing policies and practices.

Judi started her work in early childhood as a toddler teacher, and had experiences as a lead teacher in infant, toddler, and PreK classrooms before moving into elementary school, where she taught first and fifth grades. As a graduate student at Rutgers University, she fell in love with research and policy development and decided to stay. She has led state PreK program evaluation studies, provided state and federal policy technical assistance and analysis, and has deep and varied experience providing technical assistance to state and local leaders working in Head Start, child care and public school systems. She also designed a classroom assessment tool and professional development and coaching tools to enhance teacher’s support for children’s development of mathematical thinking and co-authored a formative assessment system to support teachers in authentic assessment of preschool children’s development. Judi has a B.A. in Early Childhood Education and a B.A. in Psychology from The College of New Jersey and a M.Ed. in Developmental Psychology from Rutgers University.

Sallie Strueby

Associate

“I believe work in any field, especially research and evaluation, is only truly and ethically accomplished when racial justice and integrous practices are at the forefront of our empirical approaches. This is why I am excited to be part of the team at School Readiness Consulting where we strive to uphold equity, diversity, and critical consciousness in all that we do.”

Sallie is a systems thinker who is able to identify gaps and work with her team to repair them. She draws energy from her passion for social justice and finds joy in building connections with those around her.

Sallie’s strength in data collection and management helps to uphold the quality of SRC’s data collection and findings. At SRC, she utilizes her expertise in survey development and programming to ensure survey measures align with research questions, program surveys and collect data, and conduct statistical analysis.

Sallie began her career as an academic coach in local K-12 schools in the Puget Sound area in Washington State. In 2013, Sallie moved to Denver, Colorado to pursue a Masters in Social Work at the University of Denver (DU). Prior to joining SRC, Sallie worked as a research coordinator at DU’s Graduate School of Social Work (GSSW) where she assessed early childhood programs and organizational health of child welfare systems across the U.S. She transitioned to a research associate position within GSSW where she led assessments on the experiences of individuals, children, and families living without permanent housing. Sallie is thrilled to be at a learning organization like SRC where racial equity and the wellbeing of children and families are at the core of our work. Sallie holds a Masters in Research Methods and Statistics and a Masters in Social Work from the University of Denver.

Sherylls Valladares Kahn

Director

“I am passionate about research, policies, and practices that benefit communities most impacted by systemic oppression and structural racism. Having immigrated from Honduras to the U.S. as a child myself, I am very personally invested in supporting the well-being and success of immigrant children and their families. I particularly love working at SRC because our team approaches our work through an equity lens, and we strive to conduct research that values, respects, and is informed by the perspectives of all families.”

Sherylls is able to methodically break down complex situations and problems, and enjoys helping the SRC team and its partners strategize and collaborate around creative solutions.

Sherylls provides expertise on the design and management of research studies and data collection projects for school district, state, and other research partners. She has training in cost study methods and several early childhood assessment tools. She has experience working with large national datasets and has skills in survey design and development, as well as interview, focus group, and observational instrument development. She is also fully bilingual in Spanish and English. At SRC, she leads the creation of program and system reports, develops data collection protocols and instruments, and supports data analysis and data management. She also trains and supervises a team of assessment coordinators, classroom observers, and child assessors.

Sherylls has 15 years of experience in the early childhood field. She began her career as a research assistant at Child Trends, a nonprofit research organization in the District of Columbia. She earned a Ph.D. in Family Science and an M.S. in Couple and Family Therapy from the School of Public Health at the University of Maryland, College Park. She earned a B.A. in Psychology from Pomona College.

Annie Watson

Principal Associate

“There is no greater way to honour my ancestors than to work at the intersection of education and equity. I am passionate about thoughtfully changing systems towards a more just society in which all children and families have the ability to thrive. I am passionate about thoughtfully dismantling systems of oppression in education. I am grateful for the opportunities SRC provides me to think critically and work in concert with a strong team towards a more just society in which all children and families have the ability to thrive.”

Annie is a systems thinker who is motivated by deep and pure belief with a particular skill in translating work to wider audiences. She enjoys moving towards a long term vision while seeing how all of the pieces connect.

Annie has a wide range of early care and education experience including having served as a classroom teacher, education coach, pedagogical consultant, and nonprofit leader. She has expertise in coalition building and creating and implementing complex strategic plans.

Annie brings over 10 years of early childhood classroom and home visitation experience to her role. Prior to SRC, she served as the Director of Early Education and Parent Success at Turn the Page Kansas City, a collective impact organization focused on third grade reading proficiency. Notably she secured and implemented a grant to increase the diversity in every Kansas City, Missouri public elementary school library by over 40% and led city wide strategy for Kindergarten Readiness. Annie is an advocate for high-quality early education and learning environments with a passion for intersectional equity and anti-racism work. Annie attended Park University majoring in Social Psychology and Early Childhood Education.

Rebecca Weiss

Senior Director of Finance and Operations

“I love working with passionate, creative professionals who are dedicated to a mission I share: ensuring all children have a strong start in life. I care deeply about early identification of children with special needs and their access to learning environments that meet their needs. Working at SRC allows me to play a part in creating a more just and equitable world.”

Rebecca is able to tease out the signal from the noise in order to break down complex problems and find the path to manageable solutions. She brings expertise in budgeting, contracts, systems and processes improvement, human resources management, staff supervision, writing, copy-editing, and early childhood program management.

Rebecca has over 30 years of experience working in organizations representing a wide variety of sectors: nonprofit, foundation, local government, and for-profit. Prior to her move to the DC area, Rebecca directed early childhood education programs serving children with and without developmental disabilities at HeartShare Human Services in New York. Before joining SRC, Rebecca directed the bilingual child care center at the Inter-American Development Bank for over twelve years. Rebecca earned an M.Div. degree with a focus on interreligious dialogue from Harvard University and has completed graduate level coursework in early childhood curriculum and instruction. She has a B.A. in Mathematics from Wellesley College.

Meet Our Team

Learn more. Let’s partner.

We are...

Meet Our Team