What the mission means to Sarah
“For me, ZERO TO THREE’s mission is all about supporting the most important years in a child’s life alongside an incredible team of dedicated colleagues, members, and partners. To me, it’s all about empowering those who care for our youngest children so they can make a lasting difference in their lives and futures. Over my time here, I’ve embraced this holistic approach that connects families and professionals across different fields and sectors. It’s become the heart of everything I do.”
Professional background
Sarah has focused her career on building quality professional development opportunities, systems, and policies. Her extensive experience ranges from direct service work to national-level research, writing, curricula design and development, technical assistance and training, policy analysis and development, leadership, and advocacy. With over 30 years of experience, the list of resources she has created is considerable. Notably, Sarah co-authored ZERO TO THREE’s Critical Competencies for Infant-Toddler Educators™, an extensive suite of professional development tools for early childhood professionals and the discussion paper Beyond Reflection: Advancing Reflective Supervision/Consultation to the Next Level. Sarah leads Professional Innovation’s trainings, the program development for the ZERO TO THREE LEARN Conference, and co-leads ZERO TO THREE’s Membership program, which provides early childhood professionals with cross-discipline perspectives, deep connections, content resources and premium experiences. Perks also include discounts for materials, monthly virtual events, and a supportive online community. Being a Member connects a community of professionals who all care deeply about serving babies and toddlers and their families.
Sarah is honored to serve on numerous national and international advisory boards and workgroups to advance early childhood professional systems and practice, including as ZERO TO THREE’s representative on the Commission on Professional Excellence in Early Childhood Education (ECE Commission), and to have spoken at hundreds of conferences nationwide.
Future vision
Sarah will continue to showcase ZERO TO THREE as the professional home for everyone who works to support babies and their families. This includes professional development offerings as well as improving the resources available to ZERO TO THREE’s members. “We know a lot of foundational and positive things we need to do to support babies, toddlers, their families, and early childhood professionals,” she says, “Yes, there is much we still need to wonder about and learn, and we will, together; we should embrace ongoing learning to advance our shared mission. And we can continue to build on what is working now and be brave enough to stop doing what is not.”
