Meet our staff

Ann Bailey, PhD, Director

Bailey has more than 20 years of experience in the field of education and special education, specifically in technical assistance and dissemination at regional and national levels, as well as teaching, evaluation, research, and training development. She oversees the research and evaluation work of CEED and is currently working on evaluation planning and research related to early childhood assessment, early childhood literacy, and child care systems.

Melissa Donovan, TARSS Training Specialist

Donovan has been in the early childhood field for about 20 years in various roles. In her current role, she manages the rich professional development offerings provided by the TARSS program, including online and in-person courses and trainings as well as events like the RBPD Fall Retreat and Trainer and RBPD Specialist Symposium.

Kristina Erstad-Sankey, MSW, Associate Director of Program Quality

Erstad-Sankey oversees early childhood program quality work at CEED, including supporting early childhood coaches, educators, and administrators in a variety of settings (Head Start, licensed child care, and school districts) to expand their impact through intentional everyday practices. She oversees the CLASS® and coaching observations for Parent Aware, Minnesota’s Quality Rating and Improvement System, and leads a team of tool anchors and observers who continuously provide reliable, professional, and high-quality observations. She also oversees professional development for Parent Aware coaches including online learning communities, in-person training, online courses, and developing guidelines and protocols for delivery. She enjoys introducing early childhood professionals to motivational interviewing techniques, classroom observation tools, executive function measures, and relationship-based professional development practices.

Molly Hughes, MA, Implementation Specialist

Hughes joined the TARSS team in 2023 after spending over 25 years in the field in a variety of direct care settings. She is also an approved trainer and course writer.

Anna Landes Benz, Curriculum Specialist

Landes Benz focuses on curriculum and professional development design. She loves researching, writing, and resource creating. She has worked in higher education curriculum development and instructional design since 2017. Before that she was a special education teacher.

Mary McEathron, PhD, Research Associate and Lead Evaluator

McEathron has 20 years of experience evaluating state and local programs with an emphasis on useful evaluations that support learning and program improvements. She has worked with numerous training and professional development programs, and brings that experience to her work as the lead evaluator for TARSS.

Michele Mazzocco, PhD, Research Associate

Mazzocco is a professor at the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Child Development. Her research spans studies with children ages two to 15 years as well as adults. Her research focuses on cognitive development in early to middle childhood, individual differences and development of numeracy, mathematical thinking, math anxiety, and lexical ambiguity.

Alyssa Meuwissen, PhD, Research Associate

Meuwissen specializes in supporting adults who support children, whether they work in an early childhood education environment, the child welfare field, or other related professions. Her work focuses on supporting professionals through reflective supervision, as well as supporting parents in promoting the development of children’s cognitive skills and self-regulation.

Ashley Midthun, MS, Program Quality Manager

Midthun uses the CLASS® tool as an observer and as a trainer. She serves as the CLASS® Anchor and conducts monthly webinars for CLASS® Coaches through the Online Learning Community.

Margarita Milenova, PhD, Program Quality Specialist

Milenova works on early childhood program quality projects and trains early childhood professionals on the Desired Results Developmental Profile assessment tool.

Deborah Ottman, MA, Professional Development Coordinator

Ottman oversees CEED’s partnership with the Minnesota Centers of Excellence for Young Children with Disabilities funded by the Minnesota Department of Education, Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE), supporting Minnesota’s early childhood professionals and related service providers via a state-wide professional development system. In addition, Ottman manages the development and delivery of CEED’s suite of rigorous, relationship-based online courses and self-study modules, as well as evidence-based resources such as CEED’s Tip Sheets for early childhood professionals and the Child Development for Child Welfare library of resources.

Meredith Reese, Research Assistant

Reese started working at CEED in September 2019. She works on projects involving program evaluation and research in early childhood.

Hannah Riddle, MA, TARSS Program Manager

Riddle started working at CEED in November of 2019. She currently manages the Trainer and RBPD Support Service (TARSS) contract. This includes overseeing the TARSS programming including trainer observations, mentoring, events, conferences, professional development and helping to build trainer capacity throughout the state.

Barbara Vang, Program/Project Specialist

An accomplished alumna of CEHD, Vang graduated in 2010 with specialties in sales and marketing as well as human resource development. With a decade-spanning journey in curating impactful learning experiences, Vang brings her passion for enhancing educational landscapes to her role providing technical support to all of CEED’s applied research projects. Her role allows her to merge her academic foundation with her professional acumen, orchestrating innovative solutions and propelling projects to triumph. Vang’s commitment to excellence and her unique blend of skills make her an invaluable asset to the CEED team and the broader educational community.

Hannah Baxter, Communications Consultant

Since June 2019, Baxter has assisted with CEED’s communications strategy and implementation, managing both digital and print communications.