About Me

Throughout my career, I have focused on strengthening policies and programs to improve young children’s development and well-being. I work with governments and partners to conduct applied research and develop strategies to scale early learning and parenting programs. Currently, I am the Playful Learning and Innovation Impact Fellow (best title ever!) at the Federation of American Scientists, Research Affiliate at Yale Inclusion Economics, and Senior Fellow at Results for Development (R4D). From 2023-2025, I was embedded at USAID where I worked with staff and partners to expand play-based early childhood education programs. Earlier in my career, in roles at the World Bank, UNESCO, and OECD, I led analytical work and provided technical guidance to government officials, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, to improve early childhood policies and programs. As a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania, I taught and advised graduate students in international educational development for more than a decade. I live outside of Washington, DC with my husband, two daughters, and our Australian Labradoodle.