Abby Taylor, PhD, has been teaching and conducting research related to early childhood special education and the Pyramid Model over the last 15 years. She has been a teacher in inclusive early childhood settings and a coach to childcare programs supporting implementation of the Pyramid Model and other high impact practices. She has conducted research projects related to promoting social relationships among peers throughout her time at Vanderbilt University. Abby’s passion is supporting teachers and programs to use data and high leverage practices to promote social emotional development, provide targeted support, and ensure each and every child and family has the support they need.

Anne Konen began a new position in February 2024 with the Wisconsin Alliance for Infant Mental Health as the Professional Development Manager for the Healthy Minds Healthy Children initiative. Previous to this she worked for two years as the Workforce Development Manager for Caregiver Connections in Illinois. She is a licensed social worker with close to 20 years of experience in the areas of child welfare, early intervention, family support, and early childhood education. Anne was an Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant in Chicago for over ten years where she worked directly with child care providers, center staff, and home-based family child care providers, to promote and support social-emotional development, understand behaviors and developmental needs of children, and prevent challenging behavior in young children ages birth to five years old. This work involved providing consultation and observation, sharing information and resources, supporting communication and relationship building with families, and education and training. In her role with Caregiver Connections she supports the onboarding and professional development of mental health consultants across the state..

Annette Copa, LCSW, IMH-E®, is the Integrated Behavioral Health Provider for the MCHS NWWI Pediatric Practice, serving rural, underserved populations. She has specialized training and experience in infant and early childhood mental health, trauma, pediatric anxiety disorders and perinatal/postpartum mental health. She holds the highest clinical level infant mental health endorsement for the state of Wisconsin and supports providers in the acquisition of reflective and relationship-focused practices. Annette is core faculty in the UW Infant, Early Childhood, and Family Mental Health Capstone Certificate Program, and a nationally rostered practitioner of Child Parent Psychotherapy.

Ashley Barlow worked in home visiting for 12 years. Throughout that time, she took on the roles of trainer, supervisor, and consultant. She joined the WCWPDS Team in March of 2021. Ashley has her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Social Work as well as a certificate in Infant, Early Childhood and Family Mental Health. Since the beginning of her career Ashley has been a champion for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Challenging the systems in which she works with the goals of creating healthy and safe work environments for people of marginalized groups as well as the communities served.

Ashley Bowers has worked for the Wisconsin Alliance for Infant Mental Health since January 2019 initially as the agency’s Endorsement Coordinator and mental health consultant to Behavior Help Wisconsin and currently as the agency’s Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Director, overseeing the Healthy Minds Healthy Children and Pyramid Model programs. Ashley has worked professionally with and on behalf of children and families for the past 16+ years, first as a Parenting Specialist at Sojourner Family Peace Center and subsequently as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Mental Health Consultant, while also serving as the agency’s clinic supervisor and providing post-graduate instruction and supervision to clinicians-in-training through Aurora Family Service and the Family Therapy Training Institute. She earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology with a minor in Sociology and certificate in Child and Adolescent Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She earned her Master’s of Arts degree in Community Counseling from Marquette University and a certificate in Marriage and Family Therapy from the COAMFTE accredited Family Therapy Training Institute. She also holds Infant Mental Health Mentor-Clinical Endorsement®. Ashley resides in Southeast, WI with her husband and their three daughters.

Beth Smetana joined WI-AIMH in February of 2024 as an Infant Mental Health Consultant for Tribal Nations. As a social worker with over 30 years of experience in a variety of settings, Beth has worked with treatment foster care, AODA treatment in a correctional setting, Indian Child Welfare, behavioral health, and with frail elders and adults with disabilities. She received her bachelor's and master's degrees in social work from UW- Madison, and is a licensed clinical social worker. She lived in Cidra, Puerto Rico for two years and worked as a VISTA volunteer. Additionally, she has 13 years of experience in leadership, having supervised multiple units at Jackson County Department of Health and Human Services, and serving as agency director for four years. She also is a trainer who loves connecting with others around topics of interest.

Candace Rutkowski is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor. She has been serving children and their parents/caregivers for over 10 years. Candace believes that healing happens within the context of healthy relationships both within and outside of families, and that the parent/caregiver-child relationship is one of the most important building blocks of life. Candace provides Individual and Family Play and talk outpatient Therapy to children 0-12-years-old and their parents/caregivers at her private practice in Lake Geneva, WI.

Carol Noddings Eichinger, MS, LPC, IMH-E®, is a Licensed Professional Counselor, CPP (Child Parent Psychotherapy) practitioner, Infant Mental Health endorsed Clinical Mentor and Consultant, and long-term faculty for the University of Wisconsin, Madison Capstone Program in Infant, Early Childhood and Family Mental Health since its inception. She has provided clinical reflective supervision to Fellows from the Capstone Program, consultants affiliated with the Wisconsin Alliance for Infant Mental Health, and former Fellows all the way from Seoul, South Korea and throughout the Midwest. She has also provided reflective supervision to the 2023 Portland State University Infant Mental Health graduate students, in her current home in Oregon.

Carol has taught at University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and University of Alaska-Anchorage. She has served as the mental health consultant for Head Start classrooms. As a psychotherapist, she has offered clinical work in the home visiting world of early intervention/Birth to3, and in clinics in the urban setting of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She has served as the Program Director for the Early Childhood Professional Development Program for the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and has been an administrator of a Birth to 3 Program in Milwaukee, and the Part C Coordinator and Supervisor for the State of Wisconsin Birth to 3 Program for all seventy-two counties in Wisconsin through the Department of Health Services. She opened a full inclusion model charter school in inner city Milwaukee for children transitioning from Birth to 3 into special education preschool. She comes with rich experience of clinical work and administrative oversight of programs serving young children.

Daniela Guerrero is a Spanish-speaking, bilingual trauma psychotherapist working in Madison, WI. Daniela has extensive experience in working with children, families, and individuals from an attachment-focused lens. She emphasizes the importance of early attachment in the well-being of children and helps adults explore how disrupted attachment may be contributing to behaviors as adults. Most of Daniela's caseload is Spanish-speaking, Latine and BIPOC individuals.

David Comer & DAD Project Staff/DAD Organization: The Direct Assistance to Dads (DAD) Project is a free, long-term comprehensive home visiting program that provides home visits to fathers and their families. Our goal is to positively impact infant mortality, improve birth outcomes, and strengthen Black families and communities by strengthening father involvement in their child(ren)’s and partner’s lives.

The DAD project began as a pilot, where the Fatherhood Involvement Specialists were subcontracted through a community-based nonprofit. Shortly thereafter, the City of Milwaukee Health Department integrated the program and positions, securing its own separate MIECHV funding alongside the Empowering Families of Milwaukee. Whereas in 2019, the DAD Project was positioned under the EFM Program Manager, forging a dual program that serves mothers and fathers. The Direct Assistance to Dad's (DAD) Project mirrors the Empowering Families of Milwaukee maternal home visiting program which has existed for over 15 years. The DAD project applies all data driven practices and curriculum to serve fathers; empowering them to be the primary caregiver of their child(ren).

Currently the program has five members serving the City of Milwaukee; 1 Supervisor, 3 Fatherhood Involvement Specialist and 1 Community Outreach Specialist. Collectively, the program not only provides direct services to enrolled clients, the staff members also contribute to enhancing the narrative around fatherhood. Integrating the voices of participants, This team has presented on topics related to home visitation strategies, best practices to improve fatherhood engagement, men’s health, and using data to tell stories and outcomes

Delechia Johnson 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 and 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. She received her Master’s of Science in Early Childhood from Erikson Institute in 2018.

Gretchen Becker Crabb is an Occupational Therapist, Licensed Professional Counselor, Certified Lactation Counselor, and Endorsed Infant Mental Health Therapist. She is also a Certified Lactation Counselor, retired La Leche League Leader, and Brazelton Newborn Observation (NBO) trainer. Her passion is rooted in fostering lifelong relationships and connection through co-regulation in pregnancy and beyond. Her unique approach to lactation support and therapy is rooted in culturally attuned sensory, somatic, and trauma-informed mental health techniques. Gretchen owns and operates a private practice in Madison, Wisconsin and is mentor faculty for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Infant, Early Childhood and Family Mental Health Capstone Program. For 21 years, she has provided developmental, trauma, feeding, and attachment support for tiny humans and their caregivers in birth to three, preschool, private practice, and peer group settings. Gretchen is an international speaker, reflective supervisor, and infant mental health consultant. In these roles, she offers compassionate, experiential, and reflective holding spaces for professionals. She is a proud United States Air Force spouse and mother of three boys.

Julia Yeary, LCSW, IMH-E®, has been an advocate for children and their families since graduating from the University of Hawaii in 1980 with her master’s in social work. Much of her work has been dedicated to military families, motivated by Julia’s experience growing up as a child in a military family and raising her own children in a military family. Julia works to establish stronger support for families and their very young children experiencing stress and trauma. She provides training and consultation for communities throughout the country and has facilitated numerous webinars and distal training for multi-disciplinary professionals. Julia was honored to receive the Military Children’s Dr. Mary M. Keller Award for Distinguished Contributions to Science from the Military Child Education Coalition in 2022. Julia is a graduate fellow of the Infant, Early Childhood, and Family Mental Health Capstone Certificate Program, University of Wisconsin, and is rostered in Trauma-Informed Child-Parent Psychotherapy. Julia has met the requirements for Infant Mental Health (IMH) Endorsement® for Culturally Sensitive, Relationship-Focused Practice Promoting Infant Mental Health as a Mentor in both Clinical and Policy. She is very active in the Wisconsin Alliance for Infant Mental Health (WI-AIMH).

Kris Barnekow serves as Continuous Quality Improvement Lead at WI-AIMH and 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, and a doctorate of philosophy in the Therapeutic Science track, Department of Kinesiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The focus of her 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. As an occupational therapist, Kris served children and families in the Wisconsin Birth to Three Program. In 2023, she was nominated to the American Occupational Therapy Roster of Fellows for Pioneering Occupational Therapy’s role in infant mental health. Kris holds endorsement as an Infant Family Specialist, Endorsed Reflective Supervisor.

Dr. Liraz Dr. Liraz is a neuroscientist PhD with over 17 years of experience studying the human brain. Her academic journey is marked by notable achievements, including earning an Assistant Professor position at the University of New Mexico and completing a prestigious National Institutes of Health K-12 Scholar Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Mayo Clinic. She has not only contributed to the scientific community through her 15 peer-reviewed publications but has also served as an educator and speaker throughout her career, receiving national recognition for her research. Her passion for neuroscience is deeply personal and was further fueled by the birth of her daughter, inspiring her to found Little Neurons, LLC in 2023. This venture aims to simplify scientific knowledge for children's benefit, helping them achieve their highest developmental potential.

Dr. Liraz is the creator of an International Montessori seminar series. She serves as a consultant and curriculum writer for educational programs targeting school-aged children and has developed "Brain Boosters" enrichment classes for infants and toddlers. Currently, she is actively involved with the Wisconsin registry and 4C for Children, dedicating her efforts to elevate early childhood education across the state. Her work embodies a blend of scientific rigor and educational innovation, making her a leading voice in both neuroscience and childhood education. Join Dr. Liraz as she shares insights from her groundbreaking journey in neuroscience and education.

Dr. Lizzie Maxwell Hovis is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at The Medical College of Wisconsin where she specializes in perinatal and emergency psychiatry. Her academic interests include perinatal substance use disorder. Dr. Hovis completed medical school at The University of Wisconsin, Residency in General Adult Psychiatry at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry at The Medical College of Wisconsin.

Martha Stolp has been working with children and families for the last 15 years. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor and currently works for the Wisconsin Alliance for Infant Mental Health as a Mental Health Consultation Mentor. Martha obtained her Bachelor’s degree Human Development and Family Studies, Child development and Education, in 2010 from University of Missouri. She worked as a preschool teacher and nanny while obtaining her degree and continued to do so while obtaining her Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from UW-Stout in 2016. She worked as a Child and Family Therapist at Children’s Wisconsin, specializing in working with young children and trauma, as well as Mental Health Consultant for Head Start, until 2022 when she opened her own practice. Since her practice opened in 2022, she has primarily worked as a Mental Health Consultant for various early childhood programs in her immediate and surrounding communities. Martha is passionate about advocating for children, families and early childhood staff. She values relationships, connectedness and play! Her mission is to help grow healthy connections in families, schools and communities through fun, creative and reflective space.

She is a mother of two beautiful and silly girls as well as two very fluffy Golden Retrievers. Her family enjoys playing at the beach, movie nights and visiting extended family. Martha hopes to integrate mental health in fun creative ways into her own community as she grows her work in the field of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health.

Melanie Heidl, DAT, ATR-BC, LPC, is a doctor of art therapy and licensed professional counselor providing clinical supervision within the outpatient clinic. Melanie has over a decade of experience working in mental health services with individuals from infants to elders in community, outpatient, and in-home settings. Additionally, Melanie has significant experience developing and delivering training and curriculum to individuals of all skill levels and backgrounds. Melanie believes that the creative process can be inherently therapeutic, providing alternative ways of communication while also being regulatory in nature. Melanie finds a strengths-based, person-centered approach to be most beneficial to her therapeutic work but also takes into consideration the social and systemic issues clients face. Melanie has significant training in clinical supervision, reflective practice, the Neurosequential Model, anti-oppressive practice, and other trauma-informed modalities.

Melissa Haas, OTR/L, MSW, LCSW, IMH-E®, is an occupational therapist and licensed clinical social worker. She has been working with children and families as an occupational therapist for the past 24 years and as a social worker for the past four years. She has worked in schools, homes, and hospitals with children and families. Melissa currently works as an occupational therapist for Birth to Three through CESA 10 and licensed clinical social worker providing outpatient therapy services for young children and their families in Eau Claire at Collaborative Counseling.

Meredith Vitaioli, APSW, IMH-E®, is a social worker at the Waisman Center in Madison, WI. She completed the Infant, Early Childhood and Family Mental Health Capstone Certificate program a few years ago. Meredith holds Endorsement as an Infant Family Reflective Supervisor in Wisconsin. Meredith’s passion for the youngest children and their families comes from the almost 10 years she worked for Head Start and Early Head Start programs in Dane County. Currently, at the Waisman Center, Meredith is the director for Children’s Resource Center-South where she helps families navigate services and supports when they have a child with a developmental concern or disability. She also facilitates reflective practice for the staff of the Waisman Early Childhood program.

Tina Payne Bryson retired in 2016 as the Program Director for the Early Childhood Professional Development Program for the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She continues to work as a clinical consultant and core faculty for the Infant, Early Childhood, and Family Mental Health Capstone Program for the Department of Psychiatry at UW-Madison. She currently provides Reflective Supervision to both current and former Fellows in the Capstone Program at UW-Madison, as well as on the West Coast in Portland, Oregon where she has recently moved. She has worked with Birth to 3 providers, Home Visitors, Early Care and Education teachers, Reflective Consultants through Wisconsin Alliance for Infant Mental Health, and numerous clinicians. She is also a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and provided mental health services to families and young children in both home-based settings and clinics. She is certified as an Infant Mental Health Clinical Mentor- IMH-E® (IV-C) and as a Child Parent Psychotherapist and continues to be committed to finding ways to soften the repercussions of trauma and shine some light into the darkest corners.