Christina Davis, Professional Development Coordinator

Christina is our Professional Development Coordinator and has had the pleasure of working with children and families for the last 14 years. Christina believes deeply that every child deserves unconditional positive regard and equitable access to learn and thrive in a positive environment. Christina earned a double Bachelor’s Degree in both Social Welfare and Spanish from UW-Madison in 2015. After graduating, Christina worked as an After-School Site Supervisor, Day Camp Director, and a Head Start Director- serving hundreds of families and cultivating relationships with those families and community members. During her time as a Director, Christina honed her skills as an Early Education Professional- providing thoughtful reflective coaching to support classroom dynamics, collaborating with other skilled professionals to coordinate effective trainings for professional development with a focus o the importance of offering unconditional positive regard to all children and families. Christina also successfully led her centers through several accreditation processes- including YoungStar and the National Accreditation Association.

Christina is very passionate about living out her values of collaboration with others, transparency, and advocating for equity and safety for all.

Corey Robak-Klein, IECMH Program Manager

Corey is a bilingual and multicultural mental health professional who has been working with children and families for over 15 years; she began her career as a Wraparound REACH Care Coordinator followed by a 2-year service as a Peace Corps Volunteer in a small fishing town in Ecuador. Upon return to the United States, Corey enrolled in a clinical psychology graduate program where she worked with survivors of sexual violence, refugees, and spent a summer in Nepal working with young children who were at risk for exploitation. Most recently, Corey spent seven years with a large health care organization where she became a Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, working in Early Head Start, Head Start, and elementary schools in the Milwaukee area providing mental health consultation. She then took on additional duties as a program coordinator and then director of a therapist training program.  

Corey holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish, Music, and Sociology from St. Norbert College, a graduate degree in International Disaster Psychology from the University of Denver, and a postgraduate certificate program in marriage and family therapy from the Family Therapy Training Institute. Corey is an Approved Supervisor Candidate through AAMFT. She also has completed training in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in 2022. Corey has studied Spanish for over 20 years and has enjoyed working with Latinx populations in every position she has held in her career.

Dawn Dean, Travel & Logistics Coordinator

Dawn is originally from the Milwaukee area, but moved to the Chippewa Valley in 1999. After starting her career in administration directly out of high school, she enjoyed a break to become a stay-at-home Mom to her 2 children. Once her youngest entered preschool, she went to Chippewa Valley Technical College and completed the accounting certification program. She entered the hospitality industry in 2015, where she resumed her career in administration and management.

In her free time, Dawn enjoys travelling, especially when  she gets her “now adult” children to join her.

Delechia Johnson, Outreach and Training Lead

Delechia has 29 years of extensive training and professional experience in the field of early care and education as a master trainer in the state. She has worked in the field in various roles from a volunteer, director, educational coordinator, mentor, instructional coach, teacher and consultant. She is a professional who has been recognized as effective and impactful by her colleagues the ECE community. Delechia has established positive relationships over the years with many of the early care and education programs through providing training and consultation for many of those programs in the Milwaukee and outlying counties. Delechia received her Master’s of Science in Early Childhood from Erikson Institute in 2018.

Emily Ewoldt, Pyramid Model Regional Lead, Southern Region

Emily Ewoldt brings 25 years of experience in the early childhood field. She has a degree in elementary education and a minor in early childhood. Emily also earned a master’s degree in education from UW-La Crosse. Emily has been in many roles throughout her early childhood career which include, multiple teaching positions for infants to children age 12, center director for child care centers, supervisor of multiple 4K sites, early childhood specialist and in her most recent role Emily was an Environment Rating Scale Observer. Emily cares deeply about helping to create social emotional connections for all children and their caregivers.

Outside of work, Emily enjoys spending time with her husband and 2 teenage children.

Golshan Motamedi, Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant

Golshan is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist currently serving as an Infant Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant for HMHC. Before obtaining her clinical graduate degree as an MFT, Golshan spent 15 years providing childcare as a Day Camp Counselor, Primary Caregiver for Infant-K4 classrooms, and nanny. Golshan was also previously certified through the Wisconsin Child Care Registry while obtaining her BS in Psychology with a clinical concentration, helping build a foundational bridge between Golshan’s two passions: mental health and child development.

Golshan has experience working for a local non-profit in Dane Co. as a mental health professional, specializing in providing wrap-around mental health services for children and families impacted by trauma, and in a clinical group private-practice setting. Golshan is certified in Level One TheraPlay and TF-CBT, and has extensive experience working collaboratively with children, families, and systems who have been impacted by COVID-19, foster care, adoption, immigration, medical trauma, domestic violence, substance abuse, generational trauma, neurodiversity, burnout, and anxiety related to life transitions and global anxieties. Golshan has experience with facilitating brief trauma informed/focused SEL school-based groups, such as Bounce Back, CBITS and FACE-KIDS, client advocacy, as well as experience with crisis work and stabilization through Dane Co’s Rapid Response Program. In relation to her experiences with Dane Co’s Early Childhood Zones program, attending client IEPs, and consultation experience through Dane Co’s CORE program, Golshan has a deep appreciation for collaborative, reflective work that highlights the importance of respecting individual difference, and the power of supported systems.

Jael Currie, Policy & Advocacy Manager

Jael serves as WI-AIMH's Policy and Advocacy Manager where she is responsible for building and strengthening key partnerships across IMH disciplines, and advocating for best practices that support the developmental needs of Wisconsin children and their families. A social worker by education, she earned a BA in Social Work and Women's Studies at UW-Whitewater in 2010 and a Master of Social Work at UW-Madison in 2011. Jael brings over a decade of social service experience, ranging from direct service provision in child welfare, community-based programming and homeless services, as well as program and grant management, staff supervision, and team development.

In addition, Jael was elected to Madison's Common Council as an alder in the spring of 2021 and has retained the seat since. There, she represents the City's 16th district, covering the far east side of Madison. Her lived experience as a born and raised Madisonian, coupled with her educational and social service career experiences, were the main motivations behind her decision to run for office. Jael looks forward to bringing her experience from micro and mezzo systems to macro level practice in order to further advance WI-AIMH's mission and values.

Jenny Durand, Pyramid Model Co-Director and Pyramid Model Lead, Southern Region

Jenny co-directs Pyramid Model and serves as lead in the southern region. Prior to working at WI-AIMH she worked at a Child Care Center as their Curriculum Coordinator and Internal Pyramid Model Coach and Data Coordinator. During that time, she also was active in committees to implement the Pyramid Model across the child care sites in the district. Jenny received a BA in History from UW, Madison her teaching certification in social studies for grades 6-12 from Edgewood College. She continued on to receive her MA in Education and completed the Infant, Early Childhood, and Family Mental Health Capstone program at UW-Madison. She has worked with children for 16 years in various programs.

Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her husband and 3 children.

Julie Betchkal, Pyramid Model Co-Director

Julie brings 37 years of supporting children, families and teachers in public school education - as an Early Childhood Special Education teacher, a Lead Teacher, and as an Early Childhood Program Support Teacher in Northwest Wisconsin. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Special Education and a Master’s degree in Special Education- Intellectual Disabilities. In 2005, Julie was asked to join a list of train-the-trainers for the “The Pyramid Model for Social and Emotional Competence." The content, strategies and ideals were a perfect fit for her personal and professional philosophy. After 5 years of training others, Julie went on to co-coordinate Wisconsin’s efforts. Julie continues to serve as the State Coordinator for Wisconsin’s implementation of the Pyramid Model for Social Emotional Competence. A fifth-generation Wisconsinite, Julie is proud, humbled and inspired by the trainers, coaches, leaders, teachers, facilitators and families who are working to ensure Wisconsin is a better place to be a small child.

Kris Barnekow, Continuous Quality Improvement Lead

Kris serves as Continuous Quality Improvement Lead at WI-AIMH and is Associate Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM). She received a baccalaureate degree in Occupational Therapy from UWM, a master’s of science degree in Human Learning and Development from UWM and a doctorate of philosophy in the Therapeutic Science track, Department of Kinesiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The focus of her doctoral dissertation was maternal-infant attunement, and this research was guided by Kraemer’s Psychobiological Attachment Theory where she focused on infant capacities that fostered attunement with their mother. 

While completing her doctoral work, Kris served children and families in Wisconsin’s Birth to Three Program. Because of her work with Dr. Kraemer, Kris understood the significant role relationships play during early development. She and Dr. Kraemer, co-authored a paper in 2005 that outlined Psychobiological Attachment Theory as a frame of reference for pediatric occupational and physical therapists who serve children and families in early intervention settings. Since then, Kris has integrated an early childhood mental health approach in her research, teaching and service. Kris holds Infant Mental Health Endorsement in Wisconsin and is committed to work that enhances the lives of young children and their families. 

Kathie Magin, Director of Operations
Kathie is the Director of Operations at Wisconsin Alliance for Infant Mental Health, where she works to promote the development of young children’s social emotional skills, especially as it relates to their interactions with their primary caregivers and within the context of their communities. Kathie has worked with young children and their families for more than twenty years in a variety of direct service and supervisory positions. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, with a secondary focus in Interdisciplinary Family Studies from William and Mary, and a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Special Education from Vanderbilt University. Her professional experience includes teaching and consulting in Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education; Head Start teaching, family advocacy, and home visiting; and work with children and families in community preschools, domestic violence shelters, and social service agencies.