CSCCE Staff

Marcy Whitebook
Director
Marcy Whitebook, Ph.D., joined IRLE and established the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment in 1999, as a researcher focusing on issues of employment in settings for young children, the relationship between good jobs and the quality of services available to children and families, and appropriate and accessible professional preparation for teachers.  Prior to joining UC Berkeley, she taught in early childhood programs for many years, and was the founding Executive Director of the Washington-based Center for the Child Care Workforce (CCW), an organization she began in 1977 as the Child Care Employee Project.  Marcy has led several large-scale early childhood research projects, including the landmark National Child Care Staffing Study, which first brought public attention to the low wages and high turnover of child care teachers. She co-developed the Early Childhood Mentor Program in California, now operating in 68 colleges throughout the state, and CARES, a program to encourage professional development and retention of early care and education practitioners, now underway in counties throughout California. She received a Ph.D. in Developmental Studies from the UCLA Graduate School of Education.

 

Dan Bellm
Principal Policy Analyst
Dan Bellm, former Senior Writer/Editor at the Center for the Child Care Workforce, joined the CSCCE staff in October 2002. With Dr. Whitebook, he co-authored Taking On Turnover: An Action Guide for Child Care Center Teachers and Directors and The Early Childhood Mentoring Curriculum (also with Patty Hnatiuk), and he has written many other training and policy resources for the child care profession over the past 25 years.

 

Fran Kipnis
Principal Policy Analyst
Fran Kipnis joined the CSCCE staff in January 2007. Previously, she served for 13 years as Research Director for the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network. In this role, she managed the Regional Market Rate Survey of California Child Care Providers and the California Child Care Portfolio project, and also led the Network’s collaboration with CSCCE on the California Early Care and Education Workforce Study. Fran has also served as a Program Officer for the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

 

Mirella Almaraz
Program Analyst
Mirella Almaraz has extensive experience in conducting interviews, program observations, and background research on policy issues. Mirella has taught in child care centers for several years, holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology and Spanish from the University of California at Davis, and is currently completing a Master's degree in Developmental Psychology from San Francisco State University.

 

Laura Sakai
Research Analyst
Laura Sakai, Ph.D., a research consultant on early care and education, was a senior member of the evaluation team for the California Early Care and Education Workforce Study, and has co-authored several reports with CSCCE and the Center for the Child Care Workforce, including Then and Now: Changes in Child Care Staffing, 1994-2000; By A Thread: How Child Care Centers Hold On To Teachers, How Teachers Build Lasting Careers; and NAEYC Accreditation as a Strategy for Improving Child Care Quality. In addition to her work with CSCCE, she has collaborated with the Miriam and Peter Haas Fund, the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network, and other organizations.  She received a Master’s Degree and Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Southern California.