Debra Nelson,is Chair of the Council.

Ms. Nelson represents the New Hampshire Head Start Collaboration Office as the State Director. She joined the NH DHHS, Division for Children, Youth and Families as Head Start Collaboration Office administrator in January 2007, where she promotes access to quality services and collaboration between Head Start and early childhood programs/services at the state and local levels. Previously, she engaged in an array of projects for more than 16 years at the University of NH Institute on Disability/University Center for Excellence on Disability (IOD), serving as director, co-director, and evaluator of multiple federal, state and private foundation grants; assistant director of the IOD; and clinical assistant professor in the Child and Family Studies department. While at the IOD, Ms. Nelson secured over $2.93 million in grant funding to advance quality early care and education for all young children and their families.

She received her master’s degree in early childhood/special education from the University of Oregon and has accrued over 25 years of experience in the early care and education field, including early intervention and preschool, family support, education, training and technical assistance, grant writing, research and evaluation, systems change and policy development. Ms. Nelson serves on numerous boards and committees and has co-authored several publications related to children and families. Ms. Nelson was the Chair of the Early Childhood Advisory Council Steering Committee.

Jackie Cowell is Executive Director of Early Learning NH, a statewide, nonprofit organization committed to “ensuring that all New Hampshire children have the opportunity to reach their full potential.” She also serves as Executive Director for the NH Coalition of Business and Education, a non-partisan organization composed of business, education, philanthropic and public policy leaders. Early Learning NH is the home of Spark NH, the governor-appointed early childhood advisory council for the State of New Hampshire. Early Learning NH is also the home of the State Early Learning Alliance (SELA), a groundbreaking initiative in which early childhood education programs work collectively to reduce costs, save time and boost quality, simultaneously putting needed money back into the pockets of early learning teachers and the parents they serve. Jackie graduated from the University of Virginia and joined the Peace Corps, teaching high school math in Mali. She then worked for five years for Save the Children in Sudan. In New Hampshire, Jackie directed two early childhood education programs, both of which shared a mission to give priority of service to vulnerable families, and helped establish the first, combined preschool and full-day early learning program housed in a Seacoast public school. Jackie has been adjunct faculty at the NH Technical Institute, Public Policy Chair of NHAEYC and Chair of the NH Child Care Advisory Council. Under her leadership, Early Learning NH has received several awards from the State of New Hampshire. Jackie and her husband, Dague, live peacefully in Henniker with their very-spoiled dog now that their two, quite-extraordinary kids have flown the nest.

Betty Gilcris is the Head Start Director for the Tri County Community Action Head Start program. She has worked at Tri County CAP Head Start for the past 28 years. She started with Head Start as a parent while her husband was in the early years of his construction company. She was soon recognized for her natural skills as an early childhood educator and recruited to pursue the early childhood education field. Head Start was her gateway to this path with early childhood education and encouraging her to continue her education. Betty spent the next 10 years teaching at Groveton Head Start and then 2 years at Lancaster Head Start. She was then recruited and promoted to a management within Tri County CAP Head Start. Over the next 12 years she was responsible for several management and then administrative areas before her promotion to the director position in July 2015.

Betty’s educational background includes an associate degree in early childhood education and a bachelor degree in early childhood administration. She is a member of the Coos Coalition for Young Children and Families’ Leadership Team and the New Hampshire Head Start Director’s Association.

Betty is a lifelong resident of Groveton NH where she still resides with her husband of 42 years. She is the proud mother of 2 wonderful daughters.

Michelle Lewis represents the New Hampshire Parent Information Center.

She is a parent of two young children (ages 6 and 4), one who has a physical disability and speech delay. Ms. Lewis is chair of the Interagency Coordinating Council (ICC) and serves on the State Advisory Committee for Special Education. In December 2009, she received the IDEA Infant Toddler Coordinator Association Regional Parent Leadership Award. She has presented at many state and national conferences on parent involvement in special education. Ms. Lewis is currently the Project Director for the Parent Training and Information Center (PTI) project at the Parent Information Center and an early childhood transitions project, supporting early childhood professionals in their work with families and children transitioning from Part C to Part B. She holds a M.Ed. in School Counseling and has worked with families and systems for over 15 years. Ms. Lewis has successfully led numerous state and federal grant programs and initiatives, the majority of them focused on IDEA. Ms. Lewis was a member of the Early Childhood Advisory Council Steering Committee.

Ruth Littlefield represents Part B, Section 619 of IDEA.

Ms. Littlefield, M.Ed. is former preschool special education teacher and has served as the NH Department of Education, Preschool Special Education consultant since 1992. In this role, Ms. Littlefield manages the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) preschool special education grant. She has been essential in supporting the development and implementation of the statewide Preschool Technical Assistance Network (PTAN) which promotes quality, developmentally appropriate and culturally competent programs for NH’s young children with special needs and their families. In order to comply with federal requirements, , Ms. Littlefield worked with stakeholders to establish New Hampshire’s first Preschool Outcome Measurement System to measure progress for preschool children with disabilities. Ms. Littlefield was a member of the Early Childhood Advisory Council Steering Committee.

Tricia currently serves as senior policy advisor in the Office of Medicaid Services within the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) where she works on a range of policy issues related to the state's Medicaid program. She previously served at DHHS from 1992 - 2007 in a number of legal and policy positions working on a wide range of issues including mental health, substance misuse, child protection, juvenile justice and health care. From 2007 - 2015 Tricia served as the Advocacy Director at New Futures, a nonpartisan nonprofit advocacy organization where she continued her advocacy work at the federal, state, and local level on substance misuse and health care issues. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the College of Wooster. Prior to attending law school she taught junior high school mathematics in Ohio.

Rhonda Siegel is the recently appointed Maternal and Child Health Section Administrator and Title V Director for the State of New Hampshire’s Division of Public Health Services. As such, she has oversight over a complex program with over 60 contracts, 15 federal grants and many programs including injury prevention. Prior to May of 2014, she was the Injury Prevention Program Manager for 11 years with five years prior as the Health Promotion Advisor. Ms. Siegel has worked with collaborators on best practice program development, implementation, and evaluation with regards to injury prevention. She continues to work on a range of injury issues including acting as the chair for the New Hampshire Falls Risk Reduction Task Force, the State’s Teen Driving Committee, the Communications Subcommittee of the Suicide Prevention Council, the Injury Prevention Advisory Council and the Sexual Violence Prevention Committee. Ms. Siegel has over 25 years in the field of public health.

Mark Vallone is principal of Epping Elementary School. He has worked as a teacher, curriculum specialist and administrator in elementary, middle and high schools. A graduate of Bowdoin College, he earned graduate degrees in political science and educational administration from the University of New Hampshire. He has served as president of the New Hampshire Council for the Social Studies and as a Christa McAuliffe fellow. Mark is married and lives in Epping, NH.