I am currently Associate Director of Early Years at the Education Policy Institute, an independent, impartial and evidence-based research organisation based in London (UK) that aims to promote high quality education outcomes. I earned a doctorate in Educational Leadership with a focus on early childhood education from Mills College, in California. My dissertation centred on the challenges of, and opportunities for, career preparedness and professional development of early years practitioners working in policy and advocacy organizations. I spent the almost 10 years working in the early childhood sector in the United States, first as a teacher and then as a researcher and policy associate for local government and research institutes. I led data collection efforts on topics such as funding and workforce professional development and conducted analyses on areas such as educational leadership and systems integration. In England since 2017, I continue my work by providing evidence-based research to policy-makers, particularly on topics such as workforce professionalism and structural and process elements of high quality early childhood provision. My background includes almost ten years in the field of international development as project officer and researcher, specialising in the analysis of credit and insurance markets, land reform and nutrition.