2024 DEC SFQC Infant/Toddler Conference

Zoila Cartagena

Zoila Cartagena has served as an educator in various capacities and has had the opportunity to partner with young children, classroom teachers, and parents. She has worked as a trauma – informed consultant, a community health organizer for numerous organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area and most recently she serves the ECE community as an Early Childhood Educator Coach and Trainer. These experiences have continually strengthened her commitment to culturally and linguistically responsive anti-bias practices and decolonizing education. She is committed to advocacy for peace by promoting a pedagogy oriented to personal realization and social justice through education. No individual should ever doubt the power of language. It is the glue that holds us together, linguistically.

Zoila strongly believes that the attachment bond between a child and their parents (or primary caregivers) is vital. When there is a secure attachment, children learn how to trust others, how to respond emotionally, and how others will respond to them. Being a beacon of safety for children establishes foundations for verbal and non-verbal communication, trust, empathy, and understanding relationships.

Janelle Crossley

Janelle Crossley is a Program Associate at WestEd, where she has supported various projects focused on infant/toddler care since 2009. She currently supports the San Francisco Quality Connections (SFQC) project through content development, team professional development, and project planning. SFQC provides training and coaching for early childhood programs in San Francisco, both center-based and family child care. Janelle started working in the field in 2003 as an infant/toddler teacher at Reggio Emilia-inspired programs and as a trainer/coach of early childhood educators. She earned her MA in Education with an emphasis in Early Childhood Education from CSU Fresno.

Janelle’s parents endured some trying times in her early years, but she always felt protected, safe, and loved through it all.

Jennifer Delos Reyes

Jennifer Delos Reyes, Early Learning Programs Quality Manager at DEC, has been in the field of Early Care and Education for 25 years. She has held various roles at private nonprofits serving San Francisco’s most vulnerable children and families. In addition to program work, Jennifer is an instructor at SFSU and facilitated trainings with First5 SF. She holds a BA in Psychology from the University of San Francisco (1997) and an MA in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College (2009). Jennifer is the proud mother of two beautiful SFUSD students and, in her spare time, loves to bake, knit, and spend time with her family.

Colleen Fong

Colleen Fong is a bilingual and bicultural licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She has 20 years of experience working in San Francisco’s diverse communities, which started within the justice system, working with families in domestic violence situations. It was through this work, she found her passion for working with children, youth, and families. Colleen believes in the value of kindness, approaching life with curiosity and a beginner’s mind, and learning to persevere through life’s challenges.

In addition to her professional interests, she is a proud mother of two toddlers. Together they enjoy spending time outdoors and can often be found swinging from the monkey bars at a local playground, dipping their toes in the water at Ocean Beach, or taking a stroll at the San Francisco Zoo. Colleen finds spending time with her family outdoors to be grounding and restorative and she encourages everyone to have similar healthy habits that help them thrive.

Ingrid Mezquita

As a San Francisco native growing up in the vibrant Mission District, Ingrid has been driven and inspired by envisioning a better future for San Francisco’s most vulnerable children. Ingrid’s outlook and commitment to racial equity shaped her early experiences. Ingrid’s background before the government includes the nonprofit sector, where she contributed to early childhood growth as a strategist, developer, director, adviser, consultant, and board member. Being passionate about improved public policy is the foundational experience Ingrid brings to the newly formed Department of Early Childhood with a core understanding of how systems change shapes policy and is purposeful in eliminating disparities for people of color.

Ingrid is the inaugural Director of San Francisco’s Department of Early Care (DEC) and is intentionally focused on educational equity and seizing the opportunity to help design and implement San Francisco’s universal preschool system by supporting creative, risk-taking, innovative solutions that establish a new normal for preschool enrollment. During Ingrid’s leadership at First 5 San Francisco and then the Office of Early Care and Education, preschool participation for African American and Latino children grew from 69% to 92%. Now, as the Director of DEC, Ingrid is driven by hope, and it’s reflected in her personal and collective commitment to facilitate transformation through implementing equity-driven strategies and to ensure resources are focused on children thriving in a community that respects their culture, language, and heritage.

Cathy Tsao

Cathy Tsao is a Senior Project Director at WestEd, where she has worked on projects related to infant/toddler care since 2004. Prior to coming to WestEd, Cathy was an infant/toddler caregiver and then Executive Director at the UCLA Megan E. Daly Infant Development Program, a laboratory school in the Department of Psychology. She also worked at the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Child Development and as a family child care educator.

Cathy earned her Ph.D. in Human Development and Psychology from UCLA under the mentorship of Carollee Howes. Her research interests focus on infant/toddler development, caregiver-child relationships in early education settings, and attachment. Providing emotional safety for the babies in her care is Cathy’s superpower.

Meenoo Yashar

Meenoo Yashar previously worked with San Francisco Unified School District as Chief of the Early Education Department for almost a decade. DEC is fortunate to have her join their staff with her over 30 years of experience in progressive educational management and leadership. Meenoo’s career trajectory started in community settings in San Francisco and Seattle through direct services to children and families as an educator and child & family therapist. Now, she is joined by a small but mighty team of leaders in DEC’s Early Learning Division.