Durham PreK Governance Committee
The Durham PreK Governance Committee serves to provide vision and direction to the Durham County preschool expansion effort. In June 2018, Durham County Commissioners voted to support and fund the creation of a system designed to expand opportunities for all 4-year-old children in Durham to attend high-quality early learning programs. Durham PreK focuses on providing families access to preschool programs meeting the highest standards for early learning. The Governance Committee is involved in advising and approving plans, strategies, standards and policies for Durham PreK. Content-specific advisory committees with wider membership/participation support particular focus areas requiring more intensive engagement and input. The intent of the Governance Committee and its advisory committees is to establish an inclusive, community-driven initiative that will enhance public will and engagement and strengthen the resulting system of preschool services developed through the initiative.
Dr. Iheoma Iruka
Governance Committee Chair
Research Professor of Public Policy; Fellow and Early Childhood Health and Racial Equity Program Director, FPG
Dr. Iheoma Iruka
Governance Committee Chair
Iheoma U. Iruka, Ph.D., is the Chief Research Innovation Officer and Director of The Center for Early Education Research and Evaluation at HighScope Educational Research Foundation after tenure at FPG Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and the Buffett Institute at the University of Nebraska. Dr. Iruka is engaged in projects and initiatives focused on how evidence informed policies, systems, and practices in early education can support the optimal development and experiences of low-income and ethnic minority children, such as through family engagement and support, quality rating and improvement systems, and early care and education systems and programs. She has been engaged in addressing how best to ensure excellence for young diverse learners, especially Black children, such as through development of a classroom observation measure, examination of nontraditional pedagogical approaches, public policies, and publications geared towards early education practitioners and policymakers. Dr. Iruka has served or serves on numerous national boards and committees, including the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committees on Supporting Parents of Young Children, and Applying Neurobiological and Socio-behavioral Sciences from Prenatal through Early Childhood Development: A Health Equity Approach.
Listen to her recent interview with Frank Stasio on WUNC’s State of Things here.
Leigh Bordley
Vice-Chair
Executive Director, LEAP Academy
Leigh Bordley
Vice-Chair
Ms. Bordley has over twenty-five years of experience working with nonprofits on a variety of social justice issues. She graduated from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill in 1983. She holds a Masters of Social Work degree from the University of Maryland (1986). She has worked for a variety of nonprofits addressing racism, literacy and poverty, including Frankford Human Relations Coalition and Literacy South. In 1998, she founded Partners for Youth, a multi-year intensive mentoring program, which pairs low-income teens with teams of mentors to support their graduation from high school and college. She led the organization for thirteen years. From June 2008-2016, she served as the At-Large Representative to the Board of Education for Durham Public Schools. In July 2012, she joined LEAP as the Executive Director. Ms. Bordley is motivated by the power of education to create a more just and peaceful world.
Dr. Wykeshia Glass
Secretary
Assistant Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Human Sciences at North Carolina Central University
Dr. Wykeshia Glass
Secretary
Wykeshia Glass, Assistant Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Human Sciences at North Carolina Central University, received her Bachelor of Science degree in Child Development from Alcorn State University and Master of Science and Doctorate degree in Early Childhood Education from Jackson State University. As an Assistant Professor at North Carolina Central University, Dr. Glass teaches undergraduate, graduate, and online courses, advises graduate students, engages in scholarly research and professional development, serves on departmental committees, and completes other duties and responsibilities as assigned by the chair or dean.
Peggy Ball
CCSA Board Chair
Cathy Collie-Robinson
Early Childhood Program Director, Durham Technical Community College
Cathy Collie-Robinson
Cathy Collie-Robinson is an early childhood professional with over 25 years of experience. Her professional experiences include Preschool Teacher in a variety of settings across multiple states, Technical Assistance Provider with a Child Care Resource and Referral Agency, Head Start/Early Head Start Education Coordinator, Community College Instructor, and currently the Director of the Early Childhood Program at Durham Technical Community College. She received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Child Development and Family Life from Radford University and a Master of Education Degree with a concentration in Early Childhood Education from Towson University.
Deric Boston
Xavier Cason
Durham Public Schools Foundation Director of Community Schools and School Transformation
Xavier Cason
I practically grew up playing instruments in my father's band room and helping my mother design bulletin boards in her elementary classroom. It surprised no one that I spent most of my career as a music educator, first at Whiteville Middle School in Columbus County, NC in 1987, and later in Durham at NC Central University (1989-1997) and Hillside High School (1997-2012). I could not retire without paying homage to my mom's elementary work, so I also spent two years as an elementary music teacher at Bethesda Elementary School in Durham. It was at the elementary level that I clearly understood the foundational importance of early education. My favorite grade to teach was kindergarten. The daily outpouring of potential and curiosity was indescribable, and yet, so was the stark disparity among students as it related to school readiness.
My elementary teaching experience greatly influenced my first post-retirement goal, winning a seat on the Durham Public Schools Board of Education in 2016. While I worked as a board member to protect and prioritize early education, a change occurred at the presentation of the State of Durham's Young Children's Report. After the event, I volunteered to step up and take a more direct role in addressing young children's lived experiences before they arrive at school.
As Co-Chairs of a K-3 task force related to the report, County Commissioner Heidi Carter and I joined several early education initiatives, including the Early Education Action Circle, the DPS Community Schools Institutional Support Team, and Durham's Campaign for Grade-Level Reading. Stepping off the Board of Education, I took on the Community Schools initiative's Directorship in July of 2020 and have recently joined Durham's Early Childhood Action Plan Education Workgroup. I spoke earlier about my first post-retirement goal. My second post-retirement goal began in 2018 as a Ph.D. student in Education Evaluation and Policy Analysis at NC State University. I am currently in my last semester of classes and look forward to starting the dissertation phase with an eye on homeless education policy, which currently has a limited definition of what is and is not a preschool.
My time as a member of the DPS board of education was concurrent with my early education committee work. In many ways, both activities grounded me in the work of public/private partnerships, such as the complexities of collaboration and a focus on strategic planning and designing policies around community values. I have been an advocate for Pre-K expansion in Durham Public Schools and connecting high standards for early learning with the need for better pay and equitable educational opportunities for early education professionals. In any public-facing work I do, I will always seek out and prioritize the voices of those most affected by policy decisions.
Wendell Davis
Durham County Manager
Wendell Davis
Wendell M. Davis is the county manager for Durham County, North Carolina. Durham is regarded among the most progressive, innovative and rapidly growing communities in the southeast and one of 66 counties in the nation that enjoys a double AAA bond rating.
As the chief executive officer for county government operations, Wendell manages a half-billion-dollar budget and approximately 2,000 employees. At present, he is leading his organization through a major transformation by introducing a strategic approach for governance with metrics and data as the principal drivers for decision making. Most recently, under his leadership, Durham County leads the way as the only county in the southeastern United States that has implemented a $15 per hour livable wage and paid parental leave.
EXCELLENCE & EXPERIENCE
Prior to becoming Durham County Manager, Wendell served as vice chancellor for Administration and Finance (Chief Financial Officer) at North Carolina Central University for three years. Before joining NCCU, he served as deputy county manager for Durham County Government for more than 11 years where he managed county operations and oversaw an aggressive capital improvements program that constructed a new regional library system, a contemporary Courthouse, a state of the art health and human services complex and major upgrades and renovations to numerous critical public facilities including the Triangle Waste Water Treatment Plant that serves the world-renowned Research Triangle Park.
His early professional years included four years spent as Deputy County Manager of Bertie County, NC. In addition, he has held various positions in Prince William County, Virginia working as a senior management and budget analyst to the County executive, and as capital improvement program coordinator in the Office of Management and Budget where he coordinated, developed, implemented and managed the County’s $343 million Capital Improvement Program. His career further includes serving as assistant to the Director of Housing in Arlington County Government, Arlington, Virginia, working as a housing resource specialist in Baltimore County, Maryland and spending two years as a community planner in Champaign, Illinois.
SKILLS AND REFERENCES
Wendell is lauded by all who know him for his interpersonal skills, which has enabled him throughout his career to establish collaborative and congenial working relationships with peer vice chancellors, general administration, state officials and key internal and external constituents for the organizations he has served. He is also described as having exceptional analytical skills and is further recognized by his peers as a visionary.
EDUCATION
Wendell is a graduate of North Carolina Central University with B.A. and B.S. degrees in Geography and Sociology. He also did post graduate work at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois earning a Master of Urban Planning, and a Master of Business Administration in Management from Southeastern University, Washington, DC. Along with completing the County Administration Course at the School of Government, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he completed the school’s graduate Public Executive Leadership Academy.
FAMILY
He has been happily married for more than 30 years to his wife Marlena. They are the proud parents of two young budding scientists: Jasmin of Tampa, Florida, and Wynton of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Dr. Anna Gassman-Pines
WLF Bass Connections Associate Professor of Public Policy and Psychology and Neuroscience, Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University; Faculty Affiliate of Duke’s Center for Child and Family Policy
Dr. Anna Gassman-Pines
Anna Gassman-Pines is WLF Bass Connections Associate Professor of Public Policy and Psychology and Neuroscience in the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University and a Faculty Affiliate of Duke’s Center for Child and Family Policy. Dr. Gassman-Pines received her BA with distinction in psychology from Yale University, where she was an Affiliate of the Bush Center for Child Development and Social Policy, and her PhD in Community and Developmental Psychology from New York University. Her research focuses on the development of low-income children in the United States and, in particular, how parents’ experiences outside the home – in low-wage workplaces, labor markets, accessing social services – spillover to the home and affect family functioning and child well-being.
Visit her site
Dr. Nakia Hardy
Deputy Superintendent of Durham Public Schools
Dr. Nakia Hardy
Dr. Nakia Hardy began her role as Deputy Superintendent of Durham Public Schools in January 2018. Since that time, she has led efforts in the creation of the District Strategic Plan and in developing and supporting a culture of academic excellence. She leads Academic Services including the Office of Early Education and oversees Assistant Superintendents (Principal Supervisors) who directly support and supervise the district’s school principals.
Nakia chose teaching as a career and earned the North Carolina Teaching Fellows Scholarship. She attended Appalachian State University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. She taught High School Chemistry from 1998-2003 at Page High School in Greensboro North Carolina. She received both her Master’s in School Administration and Doctorate in Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She served as Principal at Broadview Middle School from 2005-2009.
Beginning in 2009 she served as Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction with Rockingham County Schools. She joined Baltimore City Schools as Executive Director for Teaching and Learning in January 2014. Prior to joining DPS, Dr. Hardy served as the Chief Academic Officer for Guilford County Schools. In every district leadership role, Nakia has been directly responsible for improving early learning opportunities for children. She believes in providing high-quality, engaging early learning opportunities for each and every youngster. This builds a strong foundation for every child to ignite their limitless potential.
In her free time, Nakia enjoys spending time with family and friends, cooking and watching QVC.
Tammy Jacobs
Educational Program Manager of Resident Services, Durham Housing Authority
Michelle Lyn
Chief of the Duke Division of Community Health, Community & Family Medicine Department;
Co-Director of Duke Center for Community and Population Health Improvement;
and Leadership Faculty for the Duke-Johnson & Johnson Nurse Leadership Program
Michelle Lyn
Michelle J. Lyn, MBA, MHA is an Assistant Professor and Chief of the Division of Community Health in the Duke Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. She is also the Co-Director of the Duke Center for Community and Population Health Improvement of the Duke Clinical and Translational Science Institute, as well as the Lead for Community Health Initiatives in the Duke Population Health Management Office.
Ms. Lyn’s multi-decade career has focused on building and sustaining community-engaged, cross-sectoral care delivery models, educational programs, and research initiatives at the intersection of health, equity, and community. She has implemented many long-standing collaborative care models, including a six-county Medicaid care management network (NPCC); the Local Access to Coordinated Healthcare (LATCH) program serving uninsured Durham residents; three neighborhood primary care clinics serving under- and uninsured; a school-based health clinic; and the Just for Us Program which cares for chronically ill homebound seniors in their homes.
Ms. Lyn’s work in education serves a wide expanse of learners, from undergraduate health professions students to post-doctoral fellows and practicing clinicians. She has led the development of and/or holds leadership roles in a variety of education programs, including the Duke Master of Health Sciences in Clinical Leadership; the Community Health Elective in the Duke School of Medicine; the Duke-J&J Nurse Leadership Program; the Duke-National Clinician Scholars Program; and a HRSA funded Duke Primary Care Transformation Fellowship for Physicians and Physician Assistants.
Ms. Lyn’s has also held key roles in research initiatives, including Duke’s Clinical and Translational Science Awards and a Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute Community Engagement Award.
In addition to her roles in the development of innovative care models, education programs, and research initiatives, Ms. Lyn leads the Community Health Needs Assessment and Responsive Strategic Planning Process for the Duke University Health System.
Karen McLeod
Program Supervisor for Care Coordinator for Children, Durham County Public Health
Karen McLeod
Ms. McLeod is a Public Health Social Work Supervisor with the Durham County Department of Public Health. She has over 12 years of Public Health Experience. Ms. McLeod graduated from North Carolina Central University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Community Health Education (2008). She holds a Master of Social Work Degree from Fayetteville State University (2014). She has a background in health promotion/disease prevention, tobacco cessation, child health, pregnancy prevention, and program planning. Currently, as Supervisor of the Care Coordination for Children Program, she is instrumental with connecting to various community agencies to promote the Care Coordination for Children Program, program budgetary items, maintaining fidelity within program pertaining to program guidelines and policies, staffing, and public health guidelines, policies, and procedures.
Beth Messersmith
Mom’s Rising
Ben Rose
Director of Durham County Social Services
Ben Rose
Currently the Director of Social Services for Durham County. Served as a DSS Director in North Carolina for over 29 years, including Durham County. Graduated from Tulane University with a Masters in Social Work and Campbell University with a Bachelors of Science in Biology. Serve on several local committees and boards, including the Partnership for Children, Early Childhood Action Plan, Lincoln Community Health Board of Directors, and Urban Ministries Board of Directors. Married with one daughter, Anna, a sophomore at NCSU.
June Shillito
Director of Yates Baptist Child Development Center
June Shillito
June Shillito is the Director of a local 5 star, NAEYC accredited child care facility (www.yatescdc.org). She has worked in the early childhood field for more than 25 years, first as a teacher and later as an administrator. She has a BS in Human Development and Family Studies from UNCG and a M.Ed from UNC in Early Childhood Intervention and Family Support. The center she directs is hoping to become a Durham PreK site within the next year. She is passionately committed to improving quality in early childhood programs and to ensuring that early childhood staff are respected and valued for the work that they do. June would like to see our community ensure that every young child has the opportunity to attend a quality child care program and that this is made affordable for all families, regardless of income. The work that early educators do every day is now seen as being an essential service. Without early childhood personnel, many families would find it very difficult, if not impossible, to go to work. She is honored to serve on the Durham Pre-K Governance Committee and to be a part of this initiative.
Darnella Warthen
Owner and Director of A New Beginning I, II, III and IV
Non-Voting Resource Members
Marsha Basloe
President of CCSA
Marsha Basloe
Marsha Basloe became President of Child Care Services Association (CCSA) in January 2018. Previously, Marsha was senior adviser for the Office of Early Childhood Development at the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), DHHS, where she was responsible for coordinating early childhood workforce and homelessness areas. Basloe worked on early childhood workforce initiatives in the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) grant in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Education and worked on early childhood workforce efforts including the policy statement on career pathways by ACF. She co-chaired an early childhood workgroup for the U.S. Interagency Workgroup on Family Homelessness (USICH) and coordinated a Congressional briefing on early childhood homelessness to raise awareness for this issue. Basloe was responsible for communications from the Office of Early Childhood Development and was involved in inter-agency efforts and other initiatives aimed at young children and families.
Before joining HHS, Marsha served as the executive director of the Early Care & Learning Council, the statewide CCR&R agency for New York’s 37 CCR&R agencies, where she was a member of the Governor’s Early Childhood Advisory Council. Prior to that, she was the executive director of Durham’s Partnership for Children, a Smart Start Initiative.
Dr. Linda Chappel
Senior Vice President of CCSA
Dr. Linda Chappel
Linda Chappel is Sr. Vice-President, Triangle Area Child Care Resource and Referral Services, for Child Care Services Association (CCSA), a Triangle based non-profit with local, statewide and national innovative programs designed to strengthen the early care and education system. She holds a doctorate in educational leadership and masters in school administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has over thirty years of experience in early education and youth development. In her role at CCSA, Dr. Chappel leads early education quality improvement initiatives, professional development activities and consumer education and referral services in a region which includes Durham, Orange, and Wake counties.
Linda sites leadership of the Durham PreK project as the most transformative passion project in her portfolio of responsibility at CCSA. In 2016, she co-chaired Durham’s Community Early Education/ Preschool Task Force, a volunteer group of over 50 community members tasked by resolution of Durham’s school board, county commission and city council to develop a plan to serve all 3- and 4-year-olds in Durham County in high-quality preschool by 2023. Since 2018, Linda has spearheaded Durham PreK’s development to grow a multi-agency collaborative guided by the Governance Committee, parents, families and early childhood educators.
Before focusing on expanding and improving early education systems and increasing access to affordable, high quality pre-kindergarten and child care for all children, Linda spent two decades in the public school arena working on community school models focused on parent and family engagement and extended learning opportunities for traditionally under-served youth.
Drew Cummings
Chief of Staff, Durham County
Drew Cummings
Drew Cummings is the Chief of Staff for Durham County, and during more than a decade of service to Durham County has also served in the roles of Assistant County Manager and Interim Deputy County Manager. Drew handles a variety of non-departmental, inter-departmental, and inter-governmental issues for the County. Prior to joining Durham County government in 2008, Drew served the Town of Carrboro for 3 years, and before starting his career in local government taught middle school history for 7 years. Drew earned a B.A. in Government from Harvard University and a Masters in Public Policy from Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. He serves on numerous local boards and is an avid bicyclist, woodworker, and singer. Drew and his wife, Amy, a career educator, have three school-age children.
Cate Elander
Durham County Early Childhood Coordinator at Durham County Government
Cate Elander
Cate Elander is Durham County’s Early Childhood Coordinator, where she focuses on aligning the County’s approach to early childhood programming and investment birth to eight and strengthening County collaboration with early childhood systems building efforts. She also serves on a number of Durham and regional committees focused on early childhood education, family support, and maternal and infant health. She is working closely with the Durham Children’s Initiative and other stakeholders in the development of an Early Childhood Action Plan for Durham. Before joining Durham County, as a Program Director at MDC, Cate spent four years providing strategic guidance and implementation support to initiatives focused on early childhood systems-building, family economic security, and equity in education in North Carolina. Earlier in her career, her roles as a community organizer, home visitor, and outreach coordinator at community-based organizations in Durham, Delaware, and New York strengthened her commitments to family engagement and racial and economic justice. Cate has an MA in Urban Affairs and Public Policy from the University of Delaware and a BA in American Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Danielle Johnson
Executive Director of Durham’s Partnership for Children
Danielle Johnson
Danielle Johnson is the newly appointed Executive Director for Durham’s Partnership for Children. She is an advocate for high quality, accessible, and inclusive early childhood education that honors the diversity of families’ experiences and honors parents’ visions of success for their children. Danielle brings more than 20 years of increasingly responsible program and systems development as well as early childhood leadership experience. Starting in New York City and now in North Carolina’s Triangle and Triad regions, Danielle has taught and trained educators and administrators seeking to make a lasting impact on the families and communities they serve. Following a successful tenure as the NC Pre-K Manager, Danielle was promoted to the role of Director of Early Childhood Systems at Durham’s Partnership for Children in 2016. She was responsible for providing oversight for programs including Smart Start, Early Head Start, NC Pre-K, Transition to Kindergarten, and other collective impact community initiatives that help the Partnership achieve its mission that every child enters school healthy and ready to learn. Danielle is an author and award-winning adjunct instructor at Durham Technical Community College. She is a sought-after presenter and facilitator at national conferences, with special connections to the early childhood movement in Ghana, West Africa. She received a Master’s in Education from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (2016) and a Master’s in Public Health from Hunter College, City University of New York (2005). Danielle is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
Dr. Alex Livas-Dlott
Durham PreK Manager, CCSA
Dr. Alex Livas-Dlott
Alex Livas-Dlott, PhD is the Durham PreK Senior Manager at CCSA. Alex received her BA in Child Development from Tufts University and her MA and PhD in Education from the University of California, Berkeley in Policy, Organization, Measurement and Evaluation. Her previous research has focused on preschool policy and practice, school readiness and the transition into kindergarten and using an eco-cultural perspective to study the parenting practices of Latinx families and their preschool aged children. Alex has also worked in a variety of public and private preschool settings. She is passionate about early childhood education and issues of equity and access in the early childhood years.