Description: Administrator, Social Worker

Current Position: Associate Executive Director, New York Center for Child Development

• Over twenty five years experience in the area of mental health, with a focus on the integration of mental health services in health, education and all child care settings.
• Gubernatorial appointment to the New York State Early Childhood Advisory Council
• Co-Chair of the Federation Executive Committee, an advisory committee to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
• Founder and Chair of the New York City Early Childhood Mental Health Strategic Work Group for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
• Chair of the Citywide Children's Committee for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
• Mayoral appointment to the Community Services Board Subcommittee on Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Description: Early Childhood/Mental Health Consultant; Psychotherapist

• Extensive experience working with high risk infants and their families.
• Developed Early Head Start, Early Intervention and Family Support programs for families of children with chronic illness while serving as Director of the Department of Children's and Family Services at
  Visiting Nurse Service of New York.
• Developed the Families First Program at South Beach Psychiatric Center, a parent support program
  for new parents.
• Extensive experience and expertise in staff development.

Description: Infant/Toddler Specialist/Clinical Nurse Specialist

Current Position: Coordinator of New York City Infant Toddler Technical Assistance Resource Center, Childcare, Inc.

• Counseling experience as member of Community Mental Health Team
• Developed and coordinated hospital-based "New Parent Warmline". Coauthored journal article: "Warmline Services for New Parents: One Center's Evaluation".
• Managed Early Intervention Program
• Consultant/workshop facilitator for Early Head Start through the Quality Improvement Center for Disabilities Services at New York University
• Graduate of the Institute for Infants, Children and Families at the Jewish Board of Children's and Family Services
• Currently coordinate regional infant/toddler resource center, provide supervision for Center Infant/Toddler Specialists and provide training and technical assistance for Early Care and Education Programs

Candidate, Master's in Public Health, Mailman School of Public Health Columbia University

A pediatrician, Dr. Isakson practiced general pediatrics at the William F. Ryan Community health
care clinic before returning to school to develop system-wide approaches to address the needs of young children and their families. She provided research and analysis for the landmark study on the status of infants and toddlers in New York City, Unequal from the Start: A Check-up on New York City's Infants and Toddlers, published by the New York Zero-to-Three Network. Currently she is working on developing social and emotional development indicators with the National Center for Children in Poverty to tract how communities support optimal development.

Description: Pediatrician/Educator

Current Position: Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Columbia University,
Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of New York, New York City

• Training of pediatric medical residents in understanding and management of a wide range of developmental, behavioral and cognitive topics to prepare them for the practice of pediatrics. Normal and abnormal development are included, with an emphasis on parenting skills and on practical guidance to
  assist parents in obtaining services and advocating for their children.
• Currently involved in parent education at Early Childhood Development Center.

Susan Chinitz is a psychologist with specialties in the areas of infant mental health and developmental disabilities in infancy and early childhood. She is the Director of the Early Childhood Center and the Center for Babies, Toddlers and Families, both therapeutic programs for infants, toddlers and preschool age children at the Children's Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center. Dr. Chinitz is an Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, and the Charles S. and Patricia T. Raizen Distinguished Scholar in Pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She is also on the faculty of the Parent-Infant Psychotherapy Program at the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research.

Dr. Chinitz is on the Board of Directors of the New York Zero-to-Three Network, an organization that provides professional development and collaboration support for researchers and clinicians from multiple disciplines and service sectors that interface with infants, toddlers and their families. She is on the Local Interagency Coordinating Council for the New York City Early Intervention Program, is a member of the New York City Early Childhood Mental Health Strategic Work Group, the Administration for Children's Services' Babies Can't Wait initiative, and the Children's Committee of the Bronx Mental Retardation Council. She is also on the editorial board of the Journal for Early Childhood and Infant Psychology.

Dr. Chinitz has obtained city, state and federal grants to provide developmental and infant mental health services in community-based programs for young children, including the first allocation of city funding specifically for infant and early childhood mental health services that currently supports infant mental health services in primary pediatric care, preschools, foster care agencies and the Family Courts. She received a grant from the Administration on Children and Families to create the first Early Head Start Program in the Bronx; and one from the New York State Developmental Disabilities Planning Council to create a childcare and preschool program that provided developmental therapies and behavioral supports for children with disabilities and training for childcare staff.

Dr. Chinitz is an invited speaker at professional conferences and has authored chapters and journal articles related to psychological assessment of children with disabilities, social-emotional development in infancy and early childhood, young children with attachment disorders and developmental disabilities, young children in the foster care system, and trauma in infancy and early childhood.

Description: Administrator

Current Position: Assistant Director for Clinical Programs, IPRO which will oversee statewide
clinical and administrative reviews of state funded clinic programs including the School Based
Health Clinics, School Based Dental Clinics and Family Planning Programs.

• Information Specialist Consultant to the Family Initiatives Project including website development.
• Extensive governmental experience (Westchester County and New York City) including program
  development and implementation of services for high risk infants and toddlers, and children
  with developmental delays from birth to age 21 years. Assisted in developing the first early
  childhood mental health network in Westchester that brought early childhood and special education
  providers together with the mental health and social service system. Operated the first Early
  Intervention Program throughout New York City which included the first quality assurance program
  in the State to monitor the quality and appropriateness of services to children receiving EI services,
  coordinated services among health and human service providers, special education programs,
  day care programs, and developed the initial memorandum of understanding with then NYC
  Human Resources Administration (now ACS) to improve access to EI services for NYC children in foster care.
• Founding member of the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families and former Board
  of Directors member, served as a member of the New York State Task Force on Immigrant Health,
  and was on the Board of Directors for the New York Zero to Three Network from 1994 to 1997.

Description: Nutritionist/Consultant

Current Position: Clinical Professor, Center for Population and Family Health,
Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York City

• Expertise in maternal and child health
• Serves on several national maternal and child health committees developing nutrition and
  physical activity policies and performance standards for out-of-home care of infants, toddlers
  and young children
• Advocate for integrating cultural food practices in training child care providers, consultants,
  and food service staff
• Coauthor of books on nutrition assessment and nutrition guidance for health practitioners
• Member of the New York Academy of Medicine and the American Public Health Association
  that annually presents a public health nutrition award in her name

Current Position(s): Director, Developing Families Project, Ackerman Institute for the Family;
Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Child Study Center, New York University Medical Center

• Long-standing interest in understanding child development within the intersecting contexts of the family system, culture, and intra-individual levels of neurobiology and psychodynamics
• Developed a universal prevention program for families with infants and toddlers at the Ackerman Institute called The Bright Beginnings Parent-Infant Program which is currently being implemented in NYC public schools and the Even Start Family Literacy Program
• Her article, "Attachment, Mastery and Interdependence: A Model of Parenting Processes" in Family Process describes the theoretical framework for Bright Beginnings
• As Co-Principal Investigator in the Woodward Initiative for Children with Bipolar Disorder at the NYU Child Study Center, is developing a family-focused treatment model for children with bipolar disorder
• Supervises psychology interns in family therapy
• Maintains a private practice for families and couples in New York City
• Member of the Board of Directors for the American Family Therapy Academy and currently serving as
  the Program Chair for the 2003 Annual Conference

Description: Child Development Specialist/Educator/Administrator

Current Position: Infant Toddler Project Coordinator, NYS Child Care Coordinating Council, Albany NY

• Currently coordinating the statewide network of Regional Infant and Toddler Resource Centers –
  best practice information and training centers aimed at improving the quality of child care for
  babies and toddlers across New York State
• Coordinating statewide cross disciplinary dialogue and networking amongst professionals who work with infants, toddlers and their families through activities such as the NYS Infancy Conferences in 2004
  and 2005 and statewide Infancy Summits in 2007 and 2008
• Active member on NY Children's Action Network (CAN) a broad based child advocacy network aimed at coordinating the public policy voice for children birth - 21
• 2007 national Zero to Three Fellow - project will develop a model curriculum for states to consider for the orientation and ongoing training of Infant Toddler Specialists
• 25+ years of experience in Head Start, Early Head Start, child care, Child Care Resource and Referral
• Experience with college and community based training and education for adults working in
  early care and education
• BS Clinical Psychology, MS Ed. Early Childhood Education with a specialization in Infants
  and Toddlers.

Description: Psychologist/Professor/Trainer

Current Position: Associate Professor of School/Clinical Child Psychology, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, New York City

• Published and co-authored: Mental Health in Early Intervention, The Supportive Play Model
  and The Cognitive Observation Guide as well as other widely recognized publications
• Developed and directed a federally funded model/demonstration and outreach project that
  provided training to over 3500 early intervention providers nationwide and was replicated in ten states
  as a service delivery approach for infants and preschoolers with developmental disorders
• Pioneer in establishing a full-time Department of Psychological Services in a publicly funded
  preschool program
• Faculty member of the Institute for Infants, Children and Families at the Jewish Board of
  Children's and Family Services
• Faculty member of the DIR Institute Bethesda, MD
• Former Senior Clinical Supervisor, NYU School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics,
  Bellevue Hospital Center, NY
• Consulting Clinical Director, Infant Mental Health and Consultation Project, Manhattan center
  for Early Learning

Description: Speech-Language Pathologist/Professor/Administrator

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Linguistics and Communication Disorders
and Interim Graduate Coordinator, Speech-Language Pathology Program at Queens College,
City University of New York

• Extensive experience teaching and supervising students in clinical speech and language in clinical and academic settings
• Particularly interested in the application of developmentally-based theories and social-pragmatic approaches to language intervention, pragmatic challenges across language stages, and the language and communication challenges of children on the autistic spectrum
• Ran a model pre-school program for young children with delayed language development at the Gertz Speech-Language-Hearing Center of Queens College
• Faculty member, Institute for Infants, Children & Families, Jewish Board of Family and
  Children's Services
• Senior Teaching Faculty and Advisory Board member of the Interdisciplinary Council for Developmental & Learning Disorders
• Active member and officer of professional organizations in her fields

Description: Social Worker/Psychoanalyst

Current Position: Deputy Executive Director, Child Center of New York, New York City

• Faculty Infant Parent Study Center of the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services
• Founding director of New York's first Early Head Start
• Pioneer in early services for mentally ill, chemical-abusing parents and their infants and toddlers,
  and school-based programs for teen parents and their infants
• Member of the National Early Head Start Research Consortium in partnership with the New York University and Edward Zigler
• Member of the Early Childhood Strategic Work Group advising to the NYC Department of Health
  & Mental Hygiene

Description: Social Worker/Infant Mental Health Specialist

Current Position: Director, Trauma Treatment & Training Project: Birth to Three and

Associate Director, Infant-Parent Study Center of the Institute for Infants, Children & Families of the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services

• Developed the Trauma Treatment and Training Project: Birth to Three at JBFCS and provides direct
  treatment to young children utilizing Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) in the out-patient clinic at the
  JBFCS Child Development Center in Central Harlem
• Developed the Infant-Parent Study Center with Rebecca Shahmoon Shanok, a one, two, or three-year,
  post-graduate training institute for all disciplines that work with children birth to three
• Developed the Judicial and Child Welfare Consultation Project to train judges, lawyers and
  child welfare personnel in early childhood relationship development, attachment, attachment disorders
  and early childhood trauma to help inform their important decisions about the lives of young children
• Endorsed trainer in Child-Parent Psychotherapy by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network
  and provides CPP training to several agencies in NYC
• Current trainer in Child-Parent Psychotherapy for the National Center for Social Work Trauma
  Education and Workforce Development
• Graduate Fellow of Zero to Three: the National Canter of Infants, Toddlers and Families
• Serves on the Early Childhood Mental Health Strategic Workgroup and is a member of the
  Early Childhood Trauma sub-committee of that group
• Serves on the National Advisory Committee of Zero to Three's Court Teams for Maltreated Infants
  and Toddlers and provides CPP training to court teams around the country
• Co-founder and first Co-President with Barbara Fields of the New York Zero to Three Network

Description: Consultant in Policy and Planning for Special Needs Populations

Current Position: Consultant in Private Practice, New Jersey

• Leader and activist in the field of early intervention for over 25 years
• Lectured extensively on early intervention issues in the United States and consulted in Great Britain
  and Singapore
• Bachelor's degree specialization in child development, Master's degree specialization in educational psychology with a concentration in special education of the hearing impaired child, and Doctorate in educational leadership and administration

Marion C. Katzive is currently a partner in the firm of Kehl, Katzive & Simon, LLP, concentrating on education law matters for public school districts, private schools, individual parents and students. From 1983 to 1990 she was a member of the firm of Rebell and Katzive and has participated as counsel in the Jose P class action, most recently focusing on placement options for New York City children. She has served for many years as special education counsel to the Bronxville, North Salem, Byram Hills, Edgemont and New Rochelle City School Districts and also represents non public special education elementary and secondary schools and agencies providing preschool and early intervention services. She is currently a member of the Advisory Board of Resources for Children with Special Needs in New York City and chairs the Board of Directors of Argus Community, Inc, a multi-service agency serving adolescents and adults in the Bronx. She holds an A.B. degree from Bryn Mawr College, attended Harvard Law School between 1962 and 1964, and received her LL.B degree from Columbia Law School in 1965.

Description: Director, Nurse-Family Partnership at the Visiting Nurse Service of New York

• Extensive experience developing and managing community-based programs and services that
  improve the health and wellbeing of at-risk women and children in New York City and Nassau County.
• Developed community-based respite and family support programs for families caring for severely
  disabled children, including specialized programs for children affected by AIDS.
• Served as Director of the Visiting Nurse Service of New York Maternity Newborn and Pediatrics
  program, which brings needed home health care services to over 8,000 women and children with
  acute and chronic illnesses annually.
• Founded, with other advocates, the Coalition for Medically Fragile Children, which led to reforms
  of the State Medicaid program that make it possible for families to continue to care for their
  medically frail child at home.
• 2007 recipient of the New York Times Tribute to Nursing Award
• 2007 finalist in Nursing Spectrum's Nurse Excellence Award Program.
• Currently directs the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) at the Visiting Nurse Service of New York,
  which serves more than 800 low-income, pregnant women and their children in the Bronx
  and lower Manhattan. NFP improves pregnancy health and birth outcomes, improves child health,
  growth and development, and helps parents to achieve long-term self-sufficiency.

Description: Co-President, Consultant, Editorial and Communications, and Birth to Three
State Advocacy Leader

Current Position: Manager, Publications, National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP), Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York City

• Selected as a Birth to Three State Advocacy Leader in March 2008 as part of ZERO TO THREE's Creating Connections for Babies project.
• Extensive information management experience gained working in medical and social science libraries, including as database editor, reference librarian, indexer and abstractor.
• Production and editorial management of print and electronic publications, including newsletters, reports, fact sheets, brochures, and policy briefs. Creator and manager of clearinghouses on key policy issues, such as Services Integration (for NCCP) and Geriatric Medical Education (for Mt. Sinai Hospital and New York State)
• Author of annotated bibliographies on children in poverty, services, integration, preventing substance abuse in young children, and other social issues, and "Publications of Note" column in newsletters.
• Counselor on breast feeding and parenthood issues for La Leche League International

Description: Physical Therapist

Current Position: Clinical Consultant New York City Department of Health and
Mental Hygiene Bureau of Early Intervention

• Extensive experience as a physical therapist providing home based services with the
  early intervention program of Nassau County.
• Active member of the Early Intervention Special Interest Group of the American Physical
  Therapy Association.
• Graduate of the Infant-Parent Study Center of the Institute for Infants, Children and Families at the
  Jewish Board of Children's & Family Services.
• Particularly interested in bridging the gap between the application of research and evidence based
  practice to policy agendas as well as development of the infant/toddler workforce.

Description: Psychologist/ Program and Project Director/ Professor

Current Position: Director, Early Childhood Center; Director and the Center for Babies,
Toddlers and Families, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY

• Specializes in infant mental health and developmental disabilities in infancy and early childhood
• Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
• Faculty Member of the Parent Infant Psychotherapy Program of the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research
• Director of large clinical intervention program for infants and young children and their parents
  or caregivers and director of clinical externship program for graduate students in psychology,
  social work and special education
• Has obtained grants and administered projects that bring infant mental health and developmental services to child serving systems and community based programs including primary pediatric care centers, child care and preschool programs, foster agencies and Family Courts
• Editorial Board of the Journal of Early Childhood and Infant Psychology
• Member, NYC Local Early Intervention Coordinating Council and the Children's Committee of the Bronx Mental Retardation Council

Description: Clinician/Author/Educator

Current Position: Founding Director of the Institute for Infants, Children & Families
(formerly Early Childhood Group Therapy Program and the Institute for Clinical Studies of Infants,
Toddlers and Parents) of the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services

• Training and experience in psychology, social work, early childhood education, psychoanalysis
  and infant mental health
• Oversees a multi-year, several site service, training, replication and research demonstration project
  under the auspices of Head Start, Administration for Children's Services in New York
• Co-leading the Ground Zero Trauma Screening and Intervention Initiative for children under five
  and their caregivers
• Longtime clinical consultant to the Rita Gold Infant and Early Childhood Center at Teachers College,
  Columbia University and currently an Advisory Board member
• Active board member of Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families for
  over twenty years
• Founder and current Co-President of the New York Zero-to-Three Network
• Sees children, birth through early adolescence with their parents, in private practice and is known
  for work with children who have developmental delays and their families
• Formerly a Contributing Editor for Parents magazine, serves on the editorial boards of the
  Journal of Developmental and Learning Disorders and of the Journal of Infant, Child
  and Adolescent Psychotherapy
• Published numerous articles on adult development; parent development and intervention; interventions with delayed young children and their parents; peer play psychotherapy; outreach in community-based settings; and on reflective supervision and practice in the birth through preschool field

Description: Administrator/Psychotherapist/Educator/Author

Current Position: Founder and director of Dancing Dialogue Healing and Expressive Arts,
a center for movement, music & dance based arts that support healing & self- expression,
in Cold Spring, New York

• Doctorate from Teachers College Columbia University with a specialization in infancy development, psychology and education
• Master degree in dance therapy from New York University; and her undergraduate degree from the Elliot Pearson Department of Tufts University in child development, psychology, and education with teaching certification for typical and special needs early childhood and elementary education.
• Teaches creative and meditative dance to all ages in her clinical dance movement psychotherapy
  practice in New York City and in the Hudson Valley Region of upstate New York.
• Certified Laban Movement Analyst and Kestenberg Movement Profiler.
• Additional studies include Body Mind Centering (BMC) with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen; the discipline
  of Authentic Movement with Janet Adler; and extensive study and training in the field of infancy and
  early childhood research, development, education, communication and intervention through the
  Zero-to-Three Institute.
• Over 23 years experience working with infants and young children (and their parents and caregivers).
  A dance/movement psychotherapist.

Sandra R. Wolkoff, is the former Director of the Marks Family Right from the Start 0-3+ Center, the early childhood mental health site of North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center. Ms. Wolkoff also developed the Training and Consultation Services at the Center that included curricula for frontline professionals, educators and clinicians working with young children and their families. She is editor of "Raising Young Children Well: Insights and Ideas for Parents and Teachers". Ms. Wolkoff developed a model of mental health consultation for Head Start centers that was reviewed as one the best models of practice in the country.

Ms. Wolkoff currently supervises the Diane Goldberg Maternal Depression Program and has worked with the Nassau County Perinatal Coalition, Postpartum Resource Center of New York, and the National Parent-Child Home Program, among others, to provide training on the recognition and the treatment of postpartum depression. She is currently chair of the Perinatal Mood Best Practices Task Force of Nassau County.

Ms. Wolkoff has presented to professionals throughout the country on risk factors in child development, social group work issues in the workplace and the recognition of the impact of perinatal mood disorders on families. Ms. Wolkoff has also presented Grand Rounds at metropolitan area hospitals and was chosen as one of the 50 Most Influential Women of Long Island by Long Island Business News.

Ms. Wolkoff has had a regular column in the former Long Island Parents and Children, hosted a parenting show on Cablevision, "Ages and Stages", and has had her work published in professional journals, magazines and newspapers. In addition, Ms. Wolkoff was a 2007-2009 Fellow in the Leaders of the 21st Century Fellowship with Zero To Three, the National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and their Parents in Washington, DC.

Ms. Wolkoff received her BA from CCNY and her Masters in Social Work from Adelphi University. She is currently finishing her Ph.D. in Social Work at Adelphi University.