Durham PreK Team
Durham PreK is supported by many people across many different agencies. Below you will find information on the Child Care Services Association Durham PreK Team.
Durham PreK is a true collaboration between local child care initiatives and organizations to achieve the vision of equitable access to high-quality pre-K for all children in Durham County. To view the collaborative team, click below.
Meet the Staff
Alex Livas-Dlott
Durham PreK Manager
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 and elementary school settings. She brings her passion about early childhood education and issues of equity and access in the early childhood years to Durham PreK.
Joy Turner
Data and Provider Relations Manager
Joy Turner
Data and Provider Relations Manager
Joy Turner is the Data and Provider Relations Manager at CCSA. Joy received her Bachelor of Social Work degree from NC State University and her Master of Social Work degree from UNC-Chapel Hill with a focus in Community, Management, and Policy Practice. Joy's background includes HIV testing and counseling, volunteer management, and adult and family literacy program coordination. Her work with a family literacy program for immigrant families with young children sparked an interest in early childhood that led her to CCSA. Joy enjoys her behind the scenes role of tracking data, answering provider questions, and keeping databases updated that helps children receive the quality care they need to be successful in kindergarten and beyond. For Durham PreK, Joy oversees attendance collection and payments and assists providers with payment related questions.
Allie Brown
Durham PreK Information Desk Counselor
Alexandra "Allie" Brown earned her B.A. in both Psychology and Spanish at UNC-Greensboro. It has always been her goal to combine her educational background to serve all families and children in any way that she can. As the Durham PreK Information Counselor she is extremely passionate in providing support to parents seeking to help their children flourish by guiding them to the resources that they might serve them well. It brings her joy to assist in providing families the first step to creating such an invaluable foundation for their children's future.
Katie Thayer
Outreach and Family Engagement Counselor
Katie Thayer is the Outreach and Family Engagement Counselor for Durham PreK at CCSA. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Education in Human Development and Family Studies. She began with Durham PreK as a student intern and transitioned to the Outreach and Family Engagement Counselor in 2019. Katie works on the collaborative outreach team to coordinate and attend outreach events, and develops relationships with other community organizations. Katie also supports Durham PreK's teacher and community newsletters, website and social media to engage further with the Durham community. Katie's passion for early childhood education and the importance of valuing all teachers drives her work for Durham PreK.
Martha Alba
Pre-K/Scholarship Services Coordinator.
Martha Alba
Pre-K Scholarship Services Coordinator
Martha Alba, originally from Mexico, is the Pre-K/Scholarship Services Coordinator. She holds both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Family and Consumer Sciences with concentrations in both Child Development and Family Relations and Human Development and Family Studies from North Carolina Central University. She has over 10 years of experience in Early Childhood, prior to joining CCSA she worked as a lead teacher for a pre-K program and not only understands the importance of an early childhood education, but has seen firsthand how children benefit from it. She provides support and guidance for staff engaged with Pre-K/Scholarship services and helps implement special project activities related to these services.
Beverly Williams
Technical Assistance Manager
Beverly Williams
Technical Assistance Manager
Beverly Williams has been working with children for almost 30 years after graduating from ECU. In her career, she has worked in childcare centers as a floater, a teacher, a head/lead teacher, a program coordinator and, finally, a director. She has also worked as a Rated License Assessor for NCRLAP. She has been with CCSA for over 10 years where she has thoroughly worked with childcare centers, family child care homes, Head Start programs and the public schools.
Kamika Henderson
B-K Technical Assistant Specialist
Kamika Henderson
B-K Technical Assistant
Kamika obtained a Bachelor of Science in Child Development from Meredith College, Masters in Health Services Administration from Strayer University, and Masters of Education in Birth-Kindergarten Interdisciplinary Studies: Emphasis in Leadership and Program Administration from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Currently she holds a Birth-Kindergarten SPII license, Administration Level III and CLASS PreK Observer certification.
She has eleven years of experience working in the early childhood education field, with 8 years teaching students ages birth-5 years old. For two years she held the position as an administrator and one year as an evaluator at a developmental day center serving students with developmental and intellectual disabilities. In her role as a B-K Technical Assistant Specialist, she provided technical assistance including modeling and coaching for teachers utilizing the Classroom Assessment Scoring Systems. She serves as a mentor through collaboration with the Early Educator Support, Licensure, Professional Development Unit for a teacher in DPK only classrooms and support directors with program improvements using the Program Administration Scale.
Nita McAdoo
Lead Technical Assistant
Nita McAdoo
Lead Technical Assistant
Nita has worked for Child Care Services Association since 2006. Primarily serving in the role of mentoring/coaching supporting early educators as they grow in the early childhood field. Nita completed both her B.S. and M.S. at North Carolina Central University majoring in Family and Consumer Science with a minor in Counseling. Nita stated she absolutely loves working with early educators who are a part of Durham PreK. The joy in seeing classrooms providing quality experiences for all children brings joy to her heart. Nita’s hobbies include watching sports, going to the beach, and hanging out with her grandson, Austin!
Shawn Shefte
BK Technical Assistance Specialist
Shawn Shefte
BK Technical Assistance Specialist
Shawn Kuka Shefte has over 25 years of experience as an early childhood educator, in various types of programs, positions across three states. Most recently, before joining the CCSA TA Team, she worked in Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools Dual Language Program based at Carrboro Elementary. During her tenure in the Dual Language Program she worked as both prek and kindergarten teacher. Along with her teaching duties, she served as cooperating/mentor teacher for UNC-CH’s BK Program, ECU’s BK Program and international teachers entering the Dual Language Program at CHCCS. Her love of mentoring and providing assistance to teachers/programs brought her to CCSA.
She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Florida in psychology and early childhood. Her graduate work in early childhood was completed at the American College of Education in Indianapolis, Indiana.
She lives in Chapel Hill with her husband. They have 4 children (3 daughters and one son- ages 24-30), a dog and a cat. Her mother and two of her daughters live close by. In her spare time she enjoys quilting, knitting, crocheting, playing cards, gardening and spending time with friends and family.