About Us

Lise Fox, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Child and Family Studies in the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences of the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. She is the Principal Investigator (PI) of the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations, the PI and Co-Director of Florida Center for Inclusive Communities (a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities), and a faculty member with the ECTA Center. Her research is focused on practical approaches to addressing issues related to the inclusion of young children with problem behavior in community settings, program-wide implementation of the Pyramid Model, and individualized positive behavior support.

Mary Louise Hemmeter, PhD, is a professor of Special Education at Vanderbilt University. Her research focuses on effective instruction, social emotional development and challenging behavior, and coaching teachers. She has been a PI or Co-PI on numerous projects funded by the US Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. Through her work on the National Center on the Social Emotional Foundations for Early Learning and IES funded research projects, she was involved in the development of the Pyramid Model for Supporting Social Emotional Competence in Young Children and a model for coaching teachers to implement effective practices. She is currently the PI on an IES funded development project around program wide supports for implementing the Pyramid Model and a Co-PI on an IES efficacy study examining approaches to supporting teachers to implement embedded instruction. She was co-editor of the Journal of Early Intervention and President of the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division for Early Childhood. She received the Mary McEvoy Service to the Field Award.

Barbara Smith’s areas of interest include policies and systems in early intervention, early childhood special education and early care and education, as well as leadership, professional development, and collaboration. She has been an early childhood teacher; Executive Director of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC); Policy Specialist, CEC; and Program Specialist, US Office of Special Education Programs. Barbara has worked with NAEYC and other early childhood leadership organizations to help shape quality inclusive early childhood environments and the policies and guidelines that support them. She has published widely on the topic of EC policy and systems, presented testimony to state legislative and Congressional committees and has provided consultation to states on state policy. She served as faculty on CSEFEL and TACSEI, and currently on the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations (NCPMI) as well as the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA Center). Barbara is on the Board of Directors for the Pyramid Model Consortium and is co-author of The Preschool Inclusion Toolbox: How to Build and Lead a High Quality Program.

Dr. Phil S. Strain is James C. Kennedy Endowed Chair in Urban Education at the Morgridge College of Education and Director of the PELE Center, University of Denver. He is the author of over 300 scientific publications, has served on the editorial boards of 22 professional journals and has been Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator of grants and contracts totaling over 80 million dollars. He is particularly interested in expanding inclusive preschool options, comprehensive services for young children with autism and prevention and intervention for children with challenging behaviors.

Erin E. Barton, PhD, BCBA-D, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education at Vanderbilt University. She teaches courses in Early Childhood Special Education on evidence-based assessment and intervention practices for young children with disabilities and their families and single case research design. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and has worked with children and families in homes, schools, and clinics. She directs research projects related to evidence–based practices for young children and professional development systems.

Denise Perez Binder, M.A., of Florida Center for Inclusive Communities at the University of South Florida provides training, technical assistance, and coaching to teachers and programs on the implementation of the Pyramid Model. She is a training and technical assistance specialist with the national Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTAcenter.org) and the Pyramid Equity Project. She has expertise in program-wide implementation of the Pyramid Model, coaching, and is a trainer for the Teaching Pyramid Observation Tool (TPOT™).

Jolenea Ferro is an Associate Professor in the Department of Child and Family Studies and the Training Director for the Florida Center for Inclusive Communities at the University of South Florida. She has a PhD, in special education from the University of Florida and is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst – Doctoral. Her research and practice are focused on developing interventions and supports for learners with severe behavior problems and applications of both targeted and individualized behavioral support for young children. She has trained and coached early childhood professionals in community settings, Head Start, and school-based programs. In addition, she guides and coaches preservice teachers in the implementation of evidence-based practices and individualized interventions.

Amy Hunter is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) who earned her Masters of Social Work degree at Boston University in 1995. Amy has a post graduate certificate from the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine in early childhood mental health. Amy currently serves as an assistant professor at Georgetown University. In her capacity at Georgetown she directs the mental health section of the Head Start National Center for Early Childhood Health and Wellness, a training and technical assistance center for Early Head Start and Head Start. Amy has worked in the field for early childhood mental health for over twenty years. Prior to coming to Georgetown she served in a number of roles at ZERO TO THREE including, but, not limited to: the Director of Program Operations for the Early Head Start National Resource Center and the Director of the Center on the Social Emotional Foundations of Early Learning (CSEFEL). Amy has served as a National Head Start Fellow at the Office of Head Start for two years and was the mental health manager to a large Head Start program for eight years. Amy has provided training and technical assistance on early childhood mental health to a variety of audiences around the country. Amy maintains a private practice in Washington DC providing consultation to parents with young children.

Ashley MacNish is an Educational Consultant for Vanderbilt University. Ashley is involved in various projects related to product development, coaching and technical assistance for Part C for the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations, and for the National Center for Early Childhood Development, Teaching and Learning. Ashley has served in many roles in the field of special education since 2009, including working as a teaching assistant in both self-contained and inclusive environments, a special education teacher in a self-contained classroom, and in early intervention in both New Jersey and Tennessee. Ashley has a Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Special Education, and is committed to using relationship-based approaches and evidence-based practices to provide positive outcomes for young children.

Sarah Payton serves as Communications and Marketing Officer for the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations. In this role, Sarah manages the dissemination of information though the Center’s publications, events, website, and social media outlets. She is also in charge of brand management and ADA compliance of the Center’s products and publications.

Sarah brings to the team 15 years of experience in design and marketing with a specialization in children, education, and non-profits. She received her Bachelor of Fine Art in Graphic Design from the University of Central Florida in 2004, followed by a Master of Business Administration, specializing in Marketing and International Business, from the University of South Florida in 2007.

Alissa Rausch, EdD is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Positive Early Learning Experiences (PELE) Center at the University of Denver. She has worked as clinical faculty in the early childhood and early childhood special education licensure program at CU Denver. Her work in higher education blossomed from 15 years of practice as an early childhood educator working in inclusive preschool classrooms serving young children and their families. Alissa also had the privilege of serving children from diverse backgrounds and their families in their homes and in community settings. Her current work centers on supporting preservice and in-service practitioners to build their capacity to act as agents of social change and implement quality inclusive practices for young children in the field of early childhood education.

Ben Riepe, MA is an Inclusion Coaching Specialist for the Positive Early Learning Experiences (PELE) Center at the University of Denver. In addition to supporting the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA), Ben is staff on the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations. Ben has 13 years of experience as a Head Start teacher, coach, and trainer. Here he supported high fidelity program-wide implementation of the Pyramid Model with families of diverse backgrounds in Denver, Colorado. He then worked at the Colorado Center for Social Emotional Competence and Inclusion for 6 years supporting communities in their efforts to embed practices into their systems and classrooms.

Angie Van Polen is a LEAP Project Manager at the Positive Early Learning Experiences (PELE) Center at the University of Denver. She provides consultation and technical assistance to LEAP Model and Pyramid Model implementation sites. Angie has 20 years of experience in the field of education. Much of her work has been focused on improving systemic scale up and sustainability while engaging multidisciplinary teams to improve agreed upon outcomes. Her experiences provide her with a strong understanding of inclusive practices at a classroom level, as well as, at a state-wide systems level to inform implementation practices, scale-up and sustainability.

Myrna Veguilla, MSMS, MPH, is a social behavioral researcher in the Department of Child and Family Studies in the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences of the University of South Florida in Tampa. Her work includes evaluation activities for the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations, supporting the activities of a major research study examining Pyramid Model implementation within community programs, and is a team member on the Pyramid Equity Project and the national ECTA center. She holds a Master of Science in Medical Sciences with a concentration in Medical Microbiology and a Master of Public Health in Public Health Administration from the University of South Florida.

Meghan von der Embse, EdS, NCSP is a Human Services Practitioner with the Florida Center for Inclusive Communities at the University of South Florida (USF). She provides training, technical assistance, and ongoing coaching supports for early childhood programs to build capacity implementing and sustaining Pyramid Model Supports. Meghan had previously served as the Director of Behavior Support Services at Easter Seals of Southeastern Pennsylvania and the Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) Facilitator for the agency’s early childhood and special education preschool programs. Meghan received her Education Specialist degree in School Psychology at Miami University and is a nationally certified school psychologist. She has practiced as a K-12 school psychologist in four states (OH, MI, NC, NE) and has expertise in providing training and technical assistance with multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) and early literacy programming.

Beth Vorhaus is an educational consultant for Vanderbilt University. Her work involves supporting the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations (NCPMI) and National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning (NCECDTL) by providing training and technical assistance on social emotional development and learning. Across her career, Beth has worked in the educational research field on grants involving social emotional development, self-regulation, school readiness, pre-K and family support. She started her career as transition-first grade and kindergarten teacher. Along the way she has trained teachers in curriculum and social emotional development, consulted on classroom management and challenging behavior, and developed observation and assessment measures for curriculum and classroom evaluations. She holds a Master of Education in Human Development Psychology from Harvard University Graduate School of Education.

Johanna Wasser is a Senior Research Assistant for Positive Early Learning Experiences (PELE) Center at the University of Denver. Her current projects include LEAP Model and PTR-YC consultation; and is part of the NCPMI Family Engagement Work Group. Johanna has dedicated her professional career to promoting social emotional competence and inclusion practices in early childhood education for over 20 years and has been a coach of the Pyramid Model since 2007. She has a Master’s in Early Childhood Education and maintains her license as an Early Childhood Special Education. Johanna has worked with children, families and professionals in a variety of settings including home, community, early childhood programs, and public school districts. When Johanna is not hard at work she enjoys spending time with her family and playing in the mountains.

Anna Winneker has a professional and educational background working with children identified with emotional/behavior disorders in settings ranging from residential treatment to inclusion. She completed her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in exceptional student education and qualitative research. Anna currently directs the Program-Wide Positive Behavior Support Project at USF. This project supports early childhood education programs to implement the Pyramid Model program-wide with fidelity. She also works with the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations to develop products and provide technical assistance for promotion of social-emotional competence and inclusive practices for young children and families. Anna has experience providing training and technical assistance to implement evidence-based practices within a multi-tiered framework in a variety of settings including state-level agencies, school systems, childcare programs and classrooms.

Rosemarie Allen, EdD, has served as a leader in early childhood education for over 35 years. Her life's work is centered on ensuring children have access to high quality early childhood programs that are developmentally and culturally appropriate. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Education at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Rosemarie has served in directorship roles with the Colorado Department of Human Services where she was responsible for the state’s child care licensing program, the federal child care assistance program, the redesign of the state’s quality rating and improvement system, the implementation of the State’s professional development plan, and assisted in the creation of Colorado’s early learning guidelines. Rosemarie is a faculty member with the Pyramid Equity Project, is a respected keynote speaker, and has the distinct honor of being appointed as a “Global Leader” to represent the United States at World Conferences across the globe. Rosemarie earned her B. A. from California State University, Master’s of Education from Lesley University and Doctorate Degree in Leadership for Equity in Education from the University of Colorado, Denver.

Kathy Bigelow, PhD received her PhD in Developmental and Child Psychology (currently Applied Behavioral Science) at the Juniper Gardens Children’s Project (JGCP) at the University of Kansas. She is a former Post-Doctoral Fellow at the JGCP, and is currently an Assistant Research Professor at the Juniper Gardens Children’s Project in the Life Span Institute, and Courtesy Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Behavioral Science at the University of Kansas. Her research focuses on interventions for culturally and linguistically diverse children and families experiencing multiple risks. Specifically, her work has addressed early childhood language and social emotional development and the translation of evidence-based interventions for parents, care providers, home visitors, and early intervention providers within both center-based and home-based early childhood education programs. Dr. Bigelow’s work in these areas maintains an emphasis on implementation fidelity, and a strong focus on the development of community research partnerships. Her work also focuses on how technology can promote engagement and enhance the implementation of evidence-based intervention, and she is a member of the Talk Around Town mobile app development team. Currently, she serves as Principal Investigator of an IES-funded project (Co-PIs: Drs. Carta and Hemmeter) focused on developing and testing the Infant-Toddler Pyramid Model.

Dr. Carta is a Senior Scientist in the Institute for Life Span Studies, Professor of Special Education, and the Interim Director of the Juniper Gardens Children’s Project at the University of Kansas. Her science focuses on developing strategies to minimize the effects of poverty on children’s language and social outcomes and developing practices that teachers and parents can use to promote children’s early learning particularly in vulnerable populations. Her key research and policy interests include advancing the quality of children’s caregiving environments, methods for monitoring the communication skills and social emotional growth of infants and toddlers, and strategies for promoting family engagement in early intervention programs. She has been the Principal Investigator of several multi-site research projects and centers funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Institute of Educational Sciences, and the Administration on Children and Families. She currently co-directs the Bridging the Word Gap Research Network, a collaborative of over 150 researchers, program implementers, civic leaders and policymakers seeking to find better ways to enhance young children’s language learning environments. She was a member of the Federal Advisory Panel on Head Start Research and Evaluation, Division of Early Childhood’s Commission on Recommended Practices, and served as the Editor of Topics in Early Childhood Special Education as well as the boards of numerous scientific journals. She was the recipient of the 2016 Irvin Youngberg Research Award given to recognize an individual whose applied research has had significant impact and relevance to the state of Kansas.

Glen Dunlap has been involved with the Pyramid Model since its original development, and has conducted extensive training, technical assistance and research on the social and behavioral functioning of young children. Over the past 45 years, he has also worked in the areas of positive behavior support, autism and other developmental disabilities, foster care, family support, and emotional and behavioral disorders. He lives in Reno and is affiliated with the University of Nevada, Reno.

Deborah A. Ziegler, EdD, is a consultant specializing in disability policy and practice. She has broad public policy experience at the international, national, state, and local levels. She works to further research and practice through improving policies affecting children and youth with exceptionalities and the professionals who work on their behalf. Her interests include policy development, implementation, and analysis, information collection and dissemination, and advocacy. She has expertise in organizational leadership and collaborative partnerships. She served on the boards of and works with international disability organizations, whose focus is the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She has provided technical assistance and training to nongovernmental/governmental organizations in Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East to implement policies and practices in early childhood education and inclusive education for children with disabilities and their families. For two decades she was the Policy and Advocacy Director at the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), one of the world’s premier education organizations. She has worked as a special education teacher, special education administrator, IDEA Part C and Section 619 coordinator at a State Education Agency and faculty at the university level. She has consulted widely and written extensively in the policy and practice arena.