Who We Are

CDI Staff

Tricia Hanley

Director, Child Development Institute

Director, Graduate Program in Child Development

BA, Columbia University. MSEd, MA, Sarah Lawrence College. Tricia came to CDI in 2018. She is a graduate of both the Art of Teaching and Child Development Masters Programs. Tricia was also a member of the Early Childhood Center faculty from 2007-2012. Prior to joining CDI, Tricia was a Twos teacher, administrator, supervisor, parent advisor, and regular attendee of CDI professional development programs and events. Tricia is personally and professionally dedicated to the goals and principles of CDI and is thrilled to be a part of the group of programs that have been so instrumental in forming her perspective as a teacher, parent, and person.

Joshua Leonard

Coordinator, Child Development Institute

Joshua BFA, Brooklyn College. MFA, Sarah Lawrence College. Before joining CDI in 2024, Joshua served as the Interim Assistant Director for The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College and the Administrative Assistant for ChatterboxNYC. Joshua has a background in educational administration from academic counseling to hosting program events. In addition to his administrative experience, Joshua is also a speculative fiction writer and instructor, and he formerly worked in the fashion industry.

CDI Advisory Group

The CDI Advisory Group is a collaborative group made up of faculty, staff and alum who meet regularly. Together, they design and plan the research, programming, and community outreach projects produced by CDI.

Jerusha Beckerman

BA, Bard College. MSEd, Sarah Lawrence College. Director, Art of Teaching Program, 2023-present. Former 2nd/3rd grade and 4th/5th grade teacher, The Ella Baker School (a New York City public school). Former infant and 3-5-year-olds teacher, Basic Trust Childcare Center. Leader of teacher inquiry groups, professional development workshops and conference presentations for teachers, students of education and education scholars in a wide variety of settings, including the Art of Teaching Saturday Seminars. Prospect Archives Practitioner Fellow, 2013. Professional interests include literacy, identity and equity in early childhood education, observation and description of children and their work, emergent curriculum, and self-chosen, open-ended making and doing in the classroom.

Lorayne Carbon

BA, SUNY Buffalo. MSEd, Bank Street College of Education. Director, Sarah Lawrence College Early Childhood Center, 2003-present. Former early childhood teacher. Former adjunct professor, Westchester Community College. Workshop leader at seminars and conferences on early childhood education. Special areas of interest include social justice issues in the early childhood classroom and creating aesthetic learning environments for young children.

Emily Cullen-Dunn

BA, University of Vermont. MSEd, Hunter College. Assistant Director, Art of Teaching Program, 2023-present. Emily has taught in early childhood classrooms in rural, suburban and urban settings before transitioning to work at a Title 1 public school teaching grades Kindergarten through second grade in Harlem. Most recently, she has worked as a special education teacher in a second grade integrated co-teaching classroom in a Westchester public school. Emily has presented on Emotionally Responsive Practices, Trauma Informed Teaching and Project-based learning. She was a Prospect Archives Practitioner Fellow in 2019. Emily is an adjunct faculty member at Westchester Community College in the Early Childhood Program. Emily is passionate about creating inclusive class communities that foster play, creativity, problem solving, and critical thinking. She believes that schools should be a place to ignite curiosity and use authentic experiences to construct knowledge.

Kim Ferguson

BA, Knox College. MA, PhD, Cornell University. Psychology (2007-present) and the Art of Teaching (2010-present) faculty. She is a developmental and cultural psychologist with special interests in sustainable, community based participatory action research, cultural-ecological approaches to infant and child development, children at risk (children in poverty, HIV/AIDS orphans, children in institutionalized care), health and cognitive development, development in African contexts, and the impact of the physical environment on child development. Author of articles and book chapters on African and American infants' language learning, categorization and face processing, the built environment and physical and mental health, and relationships between the quality of southern African orphan care contexts and child development and health.

Barbara Schecter

BA Sarah Lawrence College. MA, PhD, Teachers College Columbia University. Psychology Faculty Emeritus (1985-2022). Former Director of the Child Development Graduate Program. She is a developmental psychologist with special interest in cultural psychology, language development, and theories of development. Author and researcher on Dewey's vision of development, and metaphoric thinking in children.

Cindy Parson Puccio

BA, Middlebury College. MA, Sarah Lawrence College. MSW, New York University. PhD, Fielding Graduate University. Child Development Clinical Faculty (2017-present) and Child Development Graduate Program Clinical Faculty Advisor (2023-present). Developmental psychologist and clinical social worker. Areas of speciality and interest in autism and developmental disorders, infancy and early childhood mental health, child-centered play therapy, humor development, therapeutic work with parents, and sensory processing and integration in young children.

CDI Professional Advisory Board

The Professional Advisory Board is made up of a group of individuals who have a professional and personal interest in children and families, child development and education. They provide professional input on the work CDI is doing. Many members of the PAB are alums of SLC and have a strong interest in staying connected to SLC and CDI.

Members

Abigail Canfield, Chairperson, Writer
Miriam Arond, Director, The Good Housekeeping Research Institute; Former Editor-in-Chief of Child magazine
Camille Banks-Lee, Teacher, Writer and Co-founder of Daughters of the Nile; Former Executive Director, Mount Vernon Youth Bureau
Indhira Blackwood, Former Director, Child Development Institute, Sarah Lawrence College
Frances Clayton, Director, ANDRUS Early Learning Center (AELC)
William Crain, Professor of Psychology, The City College of the City University of NY
LaRuth Gray, Scholar-in-Residence, New York University
Mara Gross, Director, Community Partnerships & Service Learning, Sarah Lawrence College
Roger Hart, Co-Director, Children's Environments Research Group, City University of New York Graduate Center
Mary Hebron, Professor Emerita, Sarah Lawrence College
Monika Heimbold, Social Worker
Cassandra Hyacinthe, EdD, Education Consultant, CEO, HY-Ed Group, LLC
Carol Hillman, Early Childhood Educator and Writer
Barbara Holland, President, Board of Directors, The Lois Bronz Children’s Center (White Plains, NY); Former member, White Plains Board of Education
Marjorie Miller, Social Worker
Debi Riessen, Lead Teacher, Sarah Lawrence College Early Childhood Center
Carol Robinson, Director for Early Childhood Educational Programs, Family Services of Westchester