Letter from Our Co-Presidents

In the midst of some serious concerns about the availability of quality services for families with very young children, especially in the face of funding cuts, staffing issues, and accessibility to child care and early intervention, NYZTT has had a very productive year responding to some of those concerns.  We have offered four workshops “ACEs, Resilience, and Your Role in Strengthening Families” by Tamaé Memole, MEd; “Clinical Work with Young Children in Foster Care” by Susan Chintz, PhD; "Partnering with Parents to Solve Everyday Childrearing Challenges" by Claire Lerner, LCSW; and “Little Kids, Big Fears: How to Provide Security while Encouraging Bravery” by Greta Doctoroff, PhD.

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We have hosted two annual events: Breakfast for Babies, co-sponsored with NYS-AIMH, with Tovah Klein, Ph.D. and our Annual Conference on "Adversity and Resilience in Children’s First Years: How to Transform the Future of Childhood,” with keynotes by Pat Levitt, PhD, and Brenda Jones Harden, PhD.  A huge thank you to the Program Committee and others on the Board for all their hard work to bring these events to fruition.


We published our quarterly newsletter highlighting issues of immigration rights, expanding access to doulas to improve maternal health and birth outcomes, and the impact of parental stress on infants and toddlers.


More than 30 infancy leaders from across the state participated in zoom meetings of our Infancy Leadership Circle (ILC) to:

    • Connect infancy leaders and support cross-disciplinary collaboration

    • Share promising practices and learn about local success

    • Engage leaders in advocacy for improved public policy

We have announced the 2025 Levenback honoree:  Dr. Sima Gerber, and will interview her in September about her foundational work on language development and communication. 


One of our goals in the upcoming year is to engage the Board and our membership in a strategic planning process.  Much has changed in our field in the 35 years of NYZTT’s existence.  We invite you in the coming year to help us consider questions such as:

  • What should our current mission be?

  • What professional development activities do our members need and want from us and how does that fit with what is offered elsewhere?

  • What role can and should we play in early childhood advocacy? 

  • How can we strengthen our network of Infant Leadership Circles around the state?   

We all face significant opportunities and challenges in the coming year.  We plan to work closely with the Board and our members to give everyone a voice in how NYZTT can address the changes ahead in the coming year.    

Margot Kaplan-Sanoff and Martha Edwards, NYZTT Co-Presidents