The OneOp Family Development Team is dedicated to providing programming that focus on important topics that are relevant to work with military families.

In order to create and provide these resources, we often seek out individual professionals who stand out in their respective fields in order to not only present information but also share their personal experiences and achievements when it comes to working with military families. This page is dedicated to highlighting the contributions of those individuals who have graciously and expertly facilitated one of our many resources.

2020

Jessica Hardy, Ph.D.

Dr. Jessica Hardy received her Ph.D. in early childhood special education from Vanderbilt University and her M.Ed. and B.A. from the University of Florida. She taught in Portland, OR as a Head Start teacher and an early childhood special education teacher. Jessica’s primary research interests are supporting social-emotional development; evidence-based instructional practices, particularly for teaching early math and science; and early childhood coaching and professional development.

Webinars

Blogs

2020 EI Webinar Series Presenter

2019

Froma Walsh, Ph.D.

Froma Walsh, PhD is Co-Founder & Co-Director, Chicago Center for Family Health and Firestone Professor Emerita at the University of Chicago. Dr. Walsh, is the foremost expert on family resilience, with extensive experience in situations of trauma and complicated loss; disruptive family transitions; and multi-stress, chronic conditions. Her research-informed family resilience framework is widely applied in research, clinical practice, and community-based services. Her collaborative, multi-level systemic practice approach integrates developmental, relational, socio-cultural, and multi-faith spiritual perspectives.

Dr. Walsh, a Clinical Psychologist, is Past President, American Family Therapy Academy; Past Editor, Journal of Marital & Family Therapy; and recipient of many awards for her distinguished contributions to the mental health field. With 120+ scholarly publications, her books, most notably, Strengthening Family Resilience (3^rd ed., 2016); and Normal Family Processes (4^th ed., 2016), have been translated in many languages. She is a valued speaker and consultant nationally and internationally.

Dr. Walsh received her BA degree (honors, in Psychology), the University of California, Berkeley; MSW, Smith College; and PhD. (Human Development & Behavioral Sciences), the University of Chicago.

Nurturing Family Resilience Through a Strengths-Based Framework

Resilience Series – Homepage

Co-Founder & Co-Director, Chicago Center for Family Health and Firestone Professor Emerita at the University of Chicago
fwalsh@uchicago.edu

Ryan Chesnut, Ph.D.

Ryan Chesnut is an Assistant Research Professor at the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State. He earned his PhD in Family Communication from Penn State in 2014. His primary research interests include parent-child interactions, family well-being, and program evaluation.

At the Clearinghouse, Dr. Chesnut works on the THRIVE Initiative, which is a suite of strengths-based, developmentally appropriate parenting programs designed to foster parenting competency, family functioning, and child well-being. Dr. Chesnut has been involved in the development, dissemination, and evaluation of the THRIVE programs.

Thrive Series

Assistant Research Professor at the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State
rpc5108@psu.edu

Terri Rudy, M.P.A

Terri Rudy is a Research and Evaluation Associate at the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness, and the Project Manager for the Resource Center for Improving Family Health Behaviors. Terri has a Master’s in Public Administration and a BA in Psychology from Penn State.

Terri has been a part of the Clearinghouse since 2012 and currently manages the outreach and communication efforts for several applied social science research projects. She has been involved in the development and implementation of programs and projects focused on promoting health among military families, including the programs that fall within the THRIVE Initiative.

Anchored Podcast Ep 23| Exploring The Thrive Initiative’s Digital Empowerment Resource for Parents and Professionals
Webinar Presenter| Thrive Series

Research and Evaluation Associate at the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness, and Project Manager for the Resource Center for Improving Family Health Behaviors
tlr141@psu.edu

Sabrina Huda

Sabrina Huda is the Senior Project Manager for various Sesame Workshop initiatives that reach our most vulnerable and underserved kids and their families. As such, she works with key partner organizations who are committed to helping all kids become smarter, stronger, and kinder. Currently she leads Sesame Street’s initiatives for Military Families plus initiatives spanning from literacy and numeracy to resilience and addressing trauma. Sabrina formerly worked on Sesame’s international projects in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia. Prior to joining Sesame Workshop, Sabrina was an Assistant Director and Case Manager at Spence Chapin working in domestic adoption. She was also a Teacher and Coordinator at the Barnard Center for Toddler Development. Sabrina holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Neuroscience and Behavior from Barnard College and a Masters of Arts from Teacher College, Columbia University. When not on longest street in the world, Sabrina will most likely be strolling is Central Park or starting a fire in her kitchen with some kooky recipe!

Safe and Sound: Caring in Our Community| Kids Serve Too!

Senior Project Manager at Sesame Workshop, U.S. Social Impact

Antonio Freitas

Antonio Freitas works as a Senior Content Manager at Sesame Workshop. There, he works to develop content and professional development resources and courses for Sesame Street In Communities.

Prior to joining the US Social Impact Team at Sesame, Antonio worked as an early childhood Deputy Director with The Children’s Aid Society in New York. In this role, he professionally developed teaching staff and managed educational compliance across the agency’s 14 early childhood sites in Harlem, Staten Island, the Bronx, and Washington Heights. Prior to this role, Antonio managed sites as a Program Director leading staff, students, and families in the Early Head Start and Head Start initiatives.

Before his involvement with The Children’s Aid Society, Antonio worked at Uncommon Schools, recruiting for the charter management organization from 2009 to 2011. Antonio’s earliest forays into education were teaching in second-grade classrooms, chairing the initial cohorts at Leadership Prep Bed-Stuyvesant at Uncommon Schools (2007-2009), and within NYC’s Department of Education as a Teach For America corps member at PS 170 in the Bronx from 2003 to 2007. During this time, he completed his MS in teaching from Pace University.

Antonio holds a BA in social work from Seattle University. In school, Antonio’s focus centered on restorative justice programs he managed at the Monroe State Penitentiary for men serving life sentences, as well as an internship at The Lambert House, providing case management and Life Skills courses to homeless LGBTQ youth.

Webinars

Senior Content Manager at Sesame Workshop

Hedda Meadan, Ph.D.

Dr. Hedda Meadan is a professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Illinois, a Goldstick Family Scholar, and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Dr. Meadan’s areas of interest include social-communication skills and challenging behavior of individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities and intervention methods to enhance these spheres of functioning.

Webinars

Blogs

2019 EI Webinar Series Presenter

Jamie Pearson, PhD

Dr. Jamie Pearson, a former ABA therapist and autism program consultant, is an Assistant Professor of Special Education in the Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences at North Carolina State University. Dr. Pearson earned her PhD in Special Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she developed FACES, a parent advocacy program designed to support African American families of children with autism. Her areas of focus include: (a) investigating disparities in the diagnosis of autism and access to services for minority families, (b) assessing the impact of parent-advocacy and empowerment training on family dynamics and child outcomes, (c) implementing classroom-based interventions that promote effective learning and engagement for underrepresented children with autism; and (d) building positive partnerships between educators and parents of children with disabilities.

Webinars

Yuck! I Don’t Eat That! Nutrition & Selective Eating in Young Children with Autism

Blogs

Conversation with a Dietitian: Diet, Nutrition, Selective Eating, and Young Children with Autism

2019 EI Webinar Series Presenter

Katie Wolfe, Ph.D.

Dr. Katie Wolfe is an assistant professor of Early Childhood Special Education at the University of South Carolina in the Department of Educational Studies. She earned a PhD in Disability Disciplines and Applied Behavior Analysis from Utah State University. Previously Dr. Wolfe worked in a variety of roles and settings with young children with autism and their families. Her research interests include the development and implementation of interventions to promote language and communication skills in young children with autism, parent and practitioner training, and the identification of empirically-supported treatments. Dr. Wolfe is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst who teaches courses in early childhood special education, autism, and applied behavior analysis.

Webinars

Stepping Out: Family Outings with Young Children with Autism

Blogs

Community Outings with Children with Autism

2019 EI Webinar Series Presenter

Mandy Rispoli, Ph.D.

Dr. Mandy Rispoli is an Associate Professor of Special Education in the Department of Educational Studies at Purdue University and the co-director of the Purdue Autism Cluster. She earned her PhD in special education with a concentration in autism and developmental disabilities from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Rispoli is also a Board Certified Behavior Analyst at the doctoral level. Her research focuses on functional behavior assessment and function-based intervention for challenging behavior in children with autism and developmental disabilities.

Webinars

Welcome to the Group: Inclusion for Young Children with Autism

Blogs

Implementing the Recommended Practices: Resources for Early Childhood Practitioners

2019 EI Webinar Series Presenter

2018

Neale Godfrey

Neale Godfrey is an author whose books deal with money, life skills, and value issues. One of her books, Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees: A Parent’s Guide to Raising Financially Responsible Children, was a New York Times #1 Best Seller. She is currently Executive in Residence at the Columbia Graduate School of Business and is a weekly contributor at Forbes.com, averaging 100,000 page views per week.

Family Finances Series: Raising Financially Responsible Children

Barbara Fiese,PhD

Dr. Barbara Fiese is a Clinical Developmental Psychologist whose research focuses on family factors that promote health and well-being in children. She is Professor and Director of the Family Resiliency Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The Power of Family Mealtimes: Strategies to Promote Health and Wellbeing

Jennifer DiNallo,PhD

Jennifer DiNallo, PhD is the Director of Research at the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State University. She has been a part of the Clearinghouse team since 2010. Over this time, Jen has had the opportunity to lead on the development, implementation, and evaluation of several programs and projects focused on serving military families, including the THRIVE parenting initiative, and the Resource Center for Obesity Prevention. Jen’s research interests include the impact of health promotion behaviors on obesity outcomes, with a focus on parent-focused health promotion interventions.

Martie Gillen, PhD, MBA

Martie is an Associate Professor and Extension Specialist for the Department of Family, Youth, and Community Sciences in the Institute for Food and Agricultural at the University of Florida. She joined the Department in June 2011. Her appointment is 65% teaching, 10% research and 25% Extension. Martie has a BA in Business Administration from Morehead State University and a MBA from Sullivan University. She earned her Doctorate in Family Studies from the University of Kentucky. She also earned a Graduate Certificate in Gerontology and a Graduate Certificate in Applied Statistics from the University of Kentucky.

Family Finances Series: Separation & Single Parenting in the Military

Principal Investigator University of Florida

Karen Krinsley, PhD

Dr. Karen Krinsley is the Trauma Recovery Section Co-Chief for VA Boston Healthcare System, responsible for administration of the trauma programs across sites. She is affiliated with the the National Center for PTSD, Behavioral Sciences Division, is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine, and is one of two PTSD mentors for VISN 1, the New England region of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Krinsley provides and supervises evidence-based treatments such as exposure-based therapy for PTSD, Cognitive Processing Therapy, Seeking Safety, and other treatments for PTSD and comorbid disorders.

Opportunities & Possibilities: Posttraumatic Growth in Research & Practice (Part 2)

Richard Tedeschi,PhD

Richard G. Tedeschi received his B.A. in Psychology from Syracuse University, his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Ohio University, and completed his Clinical Psychology Internship at The University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Dr. Tedeschi is Professor of Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he teaches personality and psychotherapy, and serves as Graduate Coordinator for the MA Psychology program. He is a Licensed Psychologist specializing in bereavement and trauma. With his colleague Lawrence Calhoun, he has published books on posttraumatic growth, an area of research that they have developed that examines personal transformations in the aftermath of traumatic life events. Their most recent book is Posttraumatic Growth in Clinical Practice (2013). Dr. Tedeschi serves as a consultant to the American Psychological Association on trauma and resilience, and as a subject matter expert for the US Army’s Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program. He is a recipient of the Mary G. Clarke Award for Distinguished Service to Psychology given by the North Carolina Psychological Association, and is past President of NCPA.

Josh Goldberg

Josh Goldberg is the Executive Director of the Boulder Crest Institute for Posttraumatic Growth. In his role as Executive Director, Josh is responsible for leading the development and delivery of training, technology, research and evaluation, and social and policy changes solutions based on the science of Post Traumatic Growth. Josh is also the co-author of the May 1, 2018 released book Struggle Well: Thriving in the Aftermath of Trauma, which he wrote with Mr. Ken Falke, the chairman and founder of Boulder Crest. In their book, Goldberg and Falke address the topic of Post Traumatic Growth and assist readers in helping to provide readers with actionable strategies for making peace with their past, living in the present, and planning for a great future.

Tammi Dice, PhD, HSBCP

Tammi Dice, PhD, HSBCP is Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education in the Darden College of Education at Old Dominion University. She is a member of the National Organization for Human Services and currently serves as the President of the organization. Her research interests include positive youth development, adult development and learning, multicultural competence and ethical practices in human services.

All Hands on Deck! Developing Culturally Alert Communication in Relationships

Robert “Tony” Dice, MSEd, CSAC

Robert “Tony” Dice, MSEd, CSAC, is currently a doctoral student at Old Dominion University and works as a Mental Health Director at EVMS’s Ambulatory Care Center in Norfolk. He has served in many roles including SEAL in the U.S. Navy, Presidential Security Detail Team Lead, and Iraqi Special Forces Instructor. His research interests include substance abuse, LGBTQAP, and PTSD.

All Hands on Deck! Developing Culturally Alert Communication in Relationships

Thomas Britt, PhD

Thomas Britt, PhD, is a professor of Psychology at Clemson University. He served in the U.S. Army as a research psychologist for the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. His current research programs investigate how stigma and other barriers to care influence employees in high-stress occupations seeking needed mental health treatment, and the identification of factors that promote resilience among employees in high-stress occupations.

Staying Strong by Seeking Help: Barriers and Facilitators to Military Mental Health Treatment-Seeking

Lauren Marlotte, PsyD

Lauren Marlotte, PsyD, is the Assistant Director of Training for the Nathanson Family Resilience Center within the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. She is also an attending supervisor at the UCLA Family Stress, Trauma, and Resilience Clinic and the UCLA Psychology Clinic. She is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist whose work specializes in prevention, stress, trauma, and prevention.

Polishing our Protective Shields: Exploring Ways to Protect Youth from Violence

Mollie Romano, Ph.D., SLP-CCC

Mollie Romano, Ph.D., SLP-CCC is the Assistant Director of the Communication in Early Childhood Research and Practice Center (CEC-RAP) in the College of Communication and Information at Florida State University. She is the Principal Investigator of the Iowa Distance Mentoring Model (IA-DMM), a statewide initiative to support the implementation of Family Guided Routines Based Intervention in Iowa’s Part C Program by providing systematic, evidence-based professional development. Dr. Romano has worked as a speech-language pathologist in home and community settings, and she conducts research on embedded interventions for infants and toddlers and their families. She also teaches Clinical Phonetics and Normal Communication Development in the School of Communication Science and Disorders at Florida State University. Dr. Romano has a particular interest in supporting the communication needs of children at risk for language delays due to poverty and in interventions that encourage the development of children with significant disabilities.

Webinars

Blogs

2018 EI Webinar Series Presenter

Juliann Woods Ph.D., SLP-CCC

Juliann Woods, Ph.D., SLP-CCC is a Professor in the School of Communication Science and Disorders, Associate Dean of Research for the College of Communication and Information, and Associate Director of Research to Practice at the Autism Institute. She has over 40 years of clinical experience, research and teaching in early communication intervention for young children and their families as an ASHA Fellow and past-president of the Division of Early Childhood. She has more than 50 externally funded research, training and demonstration grants with many using professional development and implementation science frameworks and technology to integrate practice change in community settings. Dr. Woods publishes and presents at national conferences on early communication and intervention for young children and their families and the use of technology for coaching and professional development. She is the director of the Communication and Early Childhood- Research to Practice Center which is designed to facilitate access of resources for early childhood educators, program administrators, and interdisciplinary teams and is associate director for research to practice with the FSU Autism Institute.

Webinars

Blogs

2018 EI Webinar Series Presenter

Maggie Beneke, Ph.D.

Dr. Maggie Beneke is an assistant professor at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on re-thinking inclusive, equitable education for children and families from historically marginalized backgrounds. Her scholarly work is premised on a view of inclusive education as a social movement in response to the exclusion of children viewed as different (e.g., children with disabilities, children of color) in comparison to an (often) unspoken status quo (e.g., able-bodied, White). Through critical analysis of the local processes and consequences of identity construction (e.g., ability, race, gender), she aims to highlight and support early childhood practitioners’ inclusive practices, as well as identify and transform deficit discourses surrounding young children’s identities and competencies.