About Us

About Us

Q.I. Network Members

  • ECAP Sonoma
  • EChild Start Inc. / Napa - Solano
  • EChild Start, Inc. / Wichita
  • EChildren's Institute
  • ECity of Baton Rouge
  • EDavis School District Head Start
  • EDelta Health Alliance
  • EDouglass Community Services Head Start
  • EEpiscopal Children's Services, Inc.
  • EFirst Start Partnerships for Children and Families
  • EGLEAMNS Head Start
  • EIzzi Early Education
  • E Kitsap Community Resources
  • ELong Beach Unified School District Head Start
  • EMercer County Head Start/Early Head Start
  • EMission Neighborhood Centers, Inc.
  • EMonterey County Office of Education
  • EMonticello Area Community Action Agency
  • EMurray Board of Education
  • ENew St Paul Head Start Agency, Inc.
  • ENorthcoast Children's Services
  • EPacific Clinics Head Start
  • E Placer Community Action Council, Inc.
  • ERegion 10 Education Service Center
  • ERural Alaska Community Action Program
  • ESETA Head Start
  • EThe Centers for Families and Children
  • EThe Unity Council
  • ETri-County Head Start
  • EVerner Center for Early Learning
  • EWild Plum Center for Young Children
  • EWu Yee Children's Services
  • EYMCA of the East Bay

EARLY INTEL’S MISSION

Early Intel’s mission is to improve outcomes for young children and families, by supporting program leaders with data and professional development.

We accomplish this through a three part strategy:

Organize the metrics and analytics that enable programs to understand their quality opportunities.

Provide training and support for programs to implement continuous quality improvement.

Facilitate and staff a learning community of program leaders to identify bright spots and advance the practice of CQI.

OUR VALUES

Care

Care and commitment to children, families, and the staff serving them is at the foundation of our work.

Inquiry

Alongside the programs we serve, we are always asking “how can we improve child and family outcomes?”

Equity

We work to ensure that all children and families get the support they need to overcome barriers and close the achievement gap.

Rigor

The only way to know if one is improving is through measurement, thoughtfully and with discipline.

Receive Our Blog

Our “Early Insights” blog offers occasional updates and analysis for early childhood program leaders, at the intersection of data and quality improvement.

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OUR TEAM

Our team is composed of seasoned Head Start directors, analytics experts and improvement trainers and coaches with a shared passion for helping program leaders and improving the lives of children and families.

Leadership
Operations
CQI Coaches
Advisors
Trainers
All
Dr. Shannon Calderone (Coach)

Dr. Shannon Calderone

CQI Coach

Bio

Dr. Shannon Calderone

CQI Coach
Dr. Shannon Calderone is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership & Sport Management at Washington State University. In this role, she has taught classes on leading for school and organizational improvement, human resource and fiscal management, as well as research methodology and practice-based inquiry. She has likewise worked with a number of districts within the state of Washington on an assortment of improvement initiatives as well as led statewide workshops for education leaders on the implementation of improvement science and design-based principles within their respective schools and districts.

Dr. Calderone’s scholarly work focuses on the importance of social cohesion to school success. To this end, she is most interested in understanding the drivers of trust and risk perceptions among educators and students, as well as the impact of these perceptions on educational decision-making and change efforts.

Dr. Calderone earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in education from the University of California, Los Angeles. She holds a B.A. in History from Georgetown University.

Julie Kallio (Coach)

Dr. Julie Kallio

CQI Coach
Bio
Julie Kallio (Coach)

DR. JULIE KALLIO

CQI Coach
Julie Kallio is an innovation specialist at the Breck School where she leads participatory design, coaches educators, and provides program and technology support, all with the goal of empowering educators to lead systems change. Julie graduated with her PhD in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, studying how Networked Improvement Communities can build educational systems for innovation and improvement. She was the lead researcher on the Personalization in Practice (PiP) research team and former research director for the PiP-Networked Improvement Community, an IES grant-funded position to bring together teachers to do collaborative design work around emerging practices. Her research interests include research-practice partnerships, design, innovation and improvement, social networks, and physical learning spaces. Julie previously taught in outdoor education and independent schools, leading technology integration, teaching science, and dorm parenting.
kristen-hayes

Kristen Hayes

Management Training Lead

Bio

Kristen Hayes

Management Training Lead
Kristen Hayes is an independent management consultant, supporting school districts, nonprofits, institutions of higher education, and cities/counties with managing federal and state grant-funded programs that provide critical education, health, and family support services. As a consultant, Kristen serves as a strategic planning facilitator, grant planner, and writer, and supports leaders with managing change. Previously Kristen was a Senior Program Specialist with the Office of Head Start and a Policy Analyst at the U.S. Department of Education.

Kristen holds a Masters of Public Management in Social Policy from the University of Maryland at College Park, and a Certificate in Data Analytics from Cornell University. She is the Vice President of the Massachusetts Head Start Association Board of Directors and a former member of the Massachusetts Head Start State Collaboration Office Advisory Council.

Dr. Maritza Lozano

Dr. Maritza Lozano

CQI Training Lead

Bio

Dr. Maritza Lozano

CQI Training Lead
Dr. Maritza Lozano is a researcher and educator committed to the design of environments that support equitable learning for culturally and linguistically diverse students. Currently an Assistant Professor in the Educational Leadership Department at California State University, Fullerton, Dr. Lozano teaches courses in instructional leadership where principal candidates learn to use improvement science to bring about change within their own organizations. Dedicated to working in partnership, Dr. Lozano regularly collaborates with leaders, instructional teams, and scholars, in an effort to impact students’ learning trajectories and improve school-based learning experiences. Dr. Lozano brings 23+ years of professional experience working with school communities across the United States to her work with the Q.I. Network.

Dr. Lozano earned her Ph.D. in education from the University of California, Los Angeles. She holds an M.A. in Education with an emphasis in Reading, K-12, from California State University, Los Angeles and a B.A. in Spanish Literary Studies from Occidental College.

Rick Mockler

Rick Mockler

Principal and Founder

Bio

Rick Mockler

Principal and Founder
Rick launched Early Intel after serving as Chief Quality Improvement Officer for the National Head Start Association. At NHSA he staffed the Monitoring Redesign Task Force which informed the overhaul of the Aligned Monitoring System. While at NHSA, he also partnered with the University of Chicago to develop an assessment for family engagement, and oversaw planning and content for the Early Childhood Innovation Summit and Manager & Director Academy.

Rick began his career developing local youth and family programs for Catholic Charities in Oakland, California. He went on to lead Catholic Charities of California and then to start a community development company, CoHousing Partners. He later served as Executive Director of the California Head Start Association, where he oversaw professional development for program directors and managers, launched a Family Development Credential statewide, and championed legislative initiatives that streamlined assessment and licensing requirements.

Rick was introduced to child development while helping his daughter learn baby signs as participants in the first major research on the subject, by UC Davis. He holds a BA in Political Science, MA in liberation theology, MPA in organization change and a certificate from the UCLA Anderson School’s Head Start Management Fellows Program. He loves working on hacks to make life easier for classroom teachers and the line staff who serve families.

April Morris

April Morris

Analytics Lead and Trainer

Bio

April Morris

Analytics Lead and Trainer
April Morris is a founding partner of CCR Analytics. Prior to starting CCR Analytics in 2006, April was a Senior Data Analyst at child care non-profits Crystal Stairs and Child Development Resources of Ventura County. She specializes in quantitative and statistical analysis for the child care sector. She holds a Master’s degree in Applied Economics, with an emphasis in Quantitative Analysis and undergraduate degrees in Mathematics and Economics from the University of California Santa Cruz.
Rebecca Colina Neri - CQI Trainer and Coach

Dr. Rebecca Colina Neri

CQI Trainer and Coach

Bio
Rebecca Colina Neri - CQI Trainer and Coach

Dr. Rebecca Colina Neri

CQI Trainer and Coach
Dr. Rebecca Colina Neri is an educational consultant and Assistant Professor of the Learning Sciences at Indiana University, Bloomington. Her work focuses on the intersections of race, culture, trauma, and learning across K-16 learning contexts. Rebecca utilizes an equity-centered, data-driven, and practice-oriented approach to building research-practice partnerships with schools focused on improving students’ educational, career, and life trajectories. Her approach to both research and educational consulting is founded on the belief that the pursuit of robust justice in education requires both centering the voices and experiences of minoritized students and examining, to redress, the practical realities and context-specific demands of the complex systems students navigate. As such, Rebecca’s approach integrates conceptual and pragmatic tools from asset-based frameworks (e.g., Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy, Funds of Knowledge) with the study of how complex systems, like schools, produce “wicked” problems of practice and influence the implementation of practice-based interventions (e.g., Improvement Science). In her consulting work, Rebecca also combines her training and expertise in improvement science, critical race theory, and culturally sustaining pedagogies with her practitioner experience as a mathematics teacher and instructional coach. As a mathematics teacher and instructional coach for 12+ years across K-16 contexts, Rebecca developed a deep understanding of how content, pedagogical, and racial/cultural know-how interact with systemic factors (e.g., institutional barriers, conflicting responsibilities, lack of quality support and resources, etc.) in ways that can either empower or hinder student learning and well-being. Rebecca’s lived experiences supporting family members and students in the navigation of multiple systems related to schooling, foster care, mental health, incarceration, and healthcare have also greatly inspired her work. She has learned that addressing complex problems of schooling (i.e. trauma, gaps in learning, teacher-student relationships, school culture, family partnerships, etc.) requires finding, or designing, opportunities to learn and collaborate across communities, sectors, disciplines, and systems.
Pamm Shaw

Pamm Shaw

Member Advisor
Bio

Pamm Shaw

Member Advisor
Pamm Shaw is the Vice President of Strategic Funding and Partnerships for the YMCA of the East Bay. Formerly the Director of their early childhood programs (Head Start, Early Head Start, and subsidized Child Development). Pamm has extensive experience in successfully implementing programs, professional development and managing multiple funding sources and is known for her innovative and creative programs. Pamm has directed statewide training and technical assistance projects, with a focus on traditionally underserved populations.

She has developed and contributed to numerous articles and curricula specifically to improve the skills of early childhood professionals to meet the needs of all children and families. Pamm and her team have created the Head Start Apprenticeship program – training Head Start and child care parents to become early learning professionals.

Pamm has worked in early education programs for over 40 years as a teacher, administrator, trainer and director.

Rick Mockler

Rebecca Trivax

Trainer and Coach

Bio
Rebecca Trivax

Rebecca Trivax

Trainer and Coach
Rebecca’s specialty is data management and quality assurance for early learning and Community Action agencies. Her background includes contract management, compliance, and system design. She is the founder of TRIBECCA SYSTEMS, where she and her team offer solutions for organizational management, identify funding opportunities and engagement, assist in data and database management, design policy and procedure, implement new agency programs, produce community assessments, annual and funder-related reporting and quality assurance systems.

Rebecca holds a Master’s in Public Health and has bilingual fluency in English and Spanish. She is passionate about her work to assist Head Start agencies in all-things data.

Kimberly Leon-Grey

Kimberly Leon-Grey

Senior Program Manager

Bio

Kimberly Leon-Grey

Sr. Program Manager
Kimberly Leon-Grey currently works in program management and logistics but has formerly served as a case manager and training coordinator in the mental health arena. She has experience working with mentally ill and chemically addicted adults in day programs, and shelters in Brooklyn, NY and Atlanta, GA. She has worked as an after-school Group Leader and was previously certified as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). Most recently, she worked as the Logistics Coordinator for ChildPlus Software where she was responsible for planning and coordinating events such as the Training Scramble!!.

Kimberly earned her B.A. in psychology from Spelman College in Atlanta, GA. She will bring her years of experience in human services and logistics to the Early Intel team as the Membership and Program Manager.

Pamm Shaw

Dr. Marissa
Kalu-Thompson

CQI Coach

Bio

Dr. Marissa Kalu-Thompson

CQI Coach
Dr. Kalu-Thompson brings over 20 years of teaching, instructional and improvement coaching, and educational leadership to her role as an Improvement Coach at Early Intel. Her educational career began in Toronto, Ontario Canada as a 4th/5th grade teacher, and has spanned to the United States, in Atlanta, Georgia, San Francisco/Oakland, California, and currently Seattle, Washington. During her dynamic career in education, Marissa has had the opportunity to hold several roles in the service of children, teachers, and community members: specifically, a classroom teacher, instructional coach, assistant principal, principal and most recently a Senior improvement coach within both urban and suburban school districts. Believing in the power of continuous improvement as a practice for growth and development for both students and educators, Marissa continues to strive for full equity for all students, but particularly those that continue to be harmed by inequitable systemic practices and beliefs.

Dr. Kalu-Thompson earned a Bachelor of Education from Queen’s University (Kingston, Ontario), an Honors Bachelor of Social Work from York University (North York, Ontario), a Master’s in Education in Curriculum, Teaching and Learning from the University of Toronto/OISE, (Toronto, Ontario), and her Doctorate in Educational Leadership that researched the impact Emotional Intelligence may have on the leadership of K-5 Principals), from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. In her spare time, reading (for pleasure), creative writing, visiting new restaurants and traveling keep her cup(s) of happiness filled!

Rick Mockler

Dr. Carlos Sandoval

CQI Coach

Bio

Dr. Carlos Sandoval

CQI Coach
Dr. Carlos Sandoval is an improvement practitioner and researcher whose professional and scholarly work sits at the intersection of justice, equity, learning, teaching, and improvement. Dr. Sandoval is currently an Improvement Specialist at WestEd, where he leads and supports projects focused on developing the capacity of educators and other stakeholders in the education sector to use improvement for systems transformation. Dr. Sandoval is also currently an adjunct lecturer at Cal State Fullerton, where he teaches improvement research methods to Ed.D. students.

Dr. Sandoval received his Ph.D. and Master's in education from the University of California, Irvine. His dissertation focused on an improvement network of teacher preparation programs across the University of California system. Prior to graduate school, Dr. Sandoval received training in improvement science at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Youlanda-Upkins

Linda Sheriff

CQI Coach

Bio

Linda Sheriff

CQI Coach
For the last 15 years, Linda has provided guidance and technical assistance to school and community leaders on projects that improve the education, health, and well-being of students and staff. Most recently, she was the Deputy Director of the Center for Health and Health Care in Schools at the Milken Institute School of Public Health, the George Washington University where she directed projects that advanced school-community collaboration, led Communities of Practice and provided technical assistance to school staff on improving family engagement efforts and school behavioral health supports, and supported district-wide CQI efforts for improving school mental health systems. Her experiences span school health, education, nonprofit communication, publishing, teaching English in Slovakia, and developing educational products for the Smithsonian Institution. Linda has a B.A. in English Literature from Colgate University and an MEd from the University of Virginia. She is currently working on her dissertation on school leadership for the whole child for her EDD in Administration and Supervision at the University of Virginia.
Rebecca Colina Neri - CQI Trainer and Coach

Susan Johnston Taylor

Communications Manager

Bio

Susan Johnston Taylor

Communications Manager
Susan Johnston Taylor has over a decade of experience in writing and communications, covering topics including literacy, education, and kids making a difference in their communities. In addition to contributing to Highlights for Children and Scout Life, she has written leveled readers for several educational publishers including Teacher Created Materials. Her debut picture book, Animals in Surprising Shades: Poems About Earth’s Colorful Creatures, releases in March 2023 with Gnome Road Publishing. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Communication from Boston University's College of Communications.
Peter Huffaker

Peter Huffaker

Partner
Bio

Peter Huffaker

Partner
Peter Huffaker is a founding partner of CCR Analytics, a company that specializes in helping early education agencies get the most value from the data they collect. He has a broad background spanning both the for-profit and non-profit sectors. He specializes in the use of data and analysis to inform management decisions. He holds an MBA and an MSW, from the University of Chicago.
Pamm Shaw

Winona Fabré

Data Coach

Bio

Winona Fabré

Data Coach
Winona Fabré’s life-long passion for children and families began more than 25 years ago. She launched her early childhood education career as a home-based teacher for young children, ranging from preschool through the second grade. Later, she served as a Coordinator and then Director supporting expectant mothers and young children. Winona later leveraged her skill set and became an independent contractor leading program evaluation and school readiness initiatives for Head Start and Early Head Start programs across the nation. As her portfolio of work continued to expand over the years, she began leading federal review teams to influence compliance decisions for the Office of Head Start's Aligned Monitoring System.

Shortly after, she launched Children’s Village Consulting — a female, minority-owned and operated consulting company designed to deliver organizational transformation, build capacity in data analytics, and provide professional development and support to early childhood leaders for Head Start and Early Head Start programs as well as instructional personnel childcare partners.

She currently serves as an Advisory Board Member for the Ongoing Continuous Improvement (OCI) Network, an Ex officio Board Member for People of Potential and Purpose in Christ (POPAPIC, Inc.) and is an active participant in the Metro Atlanta Chapter Southern University Alumni Federation.

Winona also is a proud graduate of the Southern University, Baton Rouge Campus and Nova Southeastern University in Florida. She hails from Louisiana and is a Mom of two adult children and a teenage son.

Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.
~ Mark Twain