AZ Registry Outreach Coordinators

The administrative home for the Arizona Early Childhood Workforce Registry has a team of dedicated early childhood professionals available to help you and your staff learn and utilize the Registry as well as the First Things First College Scholarship Program. Located at Arizona PBS, the team is available by phone, email, webinar, and even face-to-face meetings and trainings. Please feel free to contact your Regional Outreach Coordinator for any assistance you may need.

Gordon jumped into the field of early childhood when he became a single parent of two little girls, age 3 and 6. This challenging personal experience propelled him into a professional career working as an early childhood teacher, college lab instructor, parent educator, professional development trainer and workshop facilitator. In his work, he is a passionate advocate for young children and their families, and for bridging the gap between research and practice. He also strives to inspire others to spread the message of authentic relationship-based, child-centered active learning experiences as the basis of resilience and healing for both children and adults.

Lisa has more than 30 years of experience in early child care business administration and advocacy. She received her bachelor’s degree in early childhood and business administration from Western Illinois University. During her tenure as an early child care director, Iowa State Director of First Children’s Finance, and global leader for the Early Childhood World Forum, she advocated for early child care professionals to improve quality of their programs and reach their program goals. She has served as an early child care consultant for pre-schools, Head Start and Pre-Kindergarten programs and was selected as a global leader, representing the United States at the World Forum for Early Child Care in Ireland, Italy, and Hawaii. She is very passionate and dedicated to supporting the needs of the early childhood workforce, who she believes are the gatekeepers to quality and who serve our children and families.

Veronica received her master’s degree in psychology from Grand Canyon University and is currently working toward a doctorate in general psychology with an emphasis in cognition and instruction. She’s worked with Easter Seals Blake Foundation in Safford, Ariz., where she worked in early intervention, Early Head Start and preschool administration. Throughout her career, she has gravitated toward working with or on behalf of children in Arizona.

Tammy Lee has a master’s degree in education, curriculum and instruction with an early childhood endorsement/special needs from the University of Wyoming, along with an Early Childhood Endorsement/Birth to Five. In addition to her current position, Tammy has 14 years of experience working on behalf of children ages birth to 5 years old. She has spent many years as a preschool teacher in quality child care centers. Tammy also serves as the council member on the First Things First Yavapai Regional Partnership Council.

Susana has worked in the early childhood field for more than 32 years. She began in 1987 as a family child care provider during her husband’s service with the Marine Corps. Since 1999, she has been an adjunct faculty member with Arizona Western College (AWC) in Yuma, AZ, where she teaches and provides advisement for students in the child development associate (CDA) certificate and early childhood education degree programs. For 18 years, she has collaborated with Central Arizona College to oversee and maintain the early childhood education/professional career pathway project for AWC students. She currently serves as a CDA professional development specialist for the Council for Professional Recognition. Susana has been married for 36 years and has two sons and five grandchildren.

Kristine began working with preschool age children in the early 1990s while finishing her bachelor’s degree in education at San Jose State University in California. After moving to Tucson in 1996, she taught for ten years in preschool classrooms for ages 3 to 5 years old as well as three years in a kindergarten classroom. In addition to teaching preschool, she also worked in student services at Pima Community College. When she is not out in the community assisting early childhood providers with the Registry, Kristine can be found in her studio working on jewelry and fused glass art projects.

Mike is Arizona PBS’s regional outreach coordinator for Navajo Nation, White Mountain Apache Tribe, and Navajo and Apache counties. He is a graduate of Connecticut College (B.A. in Political Science) and obtained a Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Maryland, with a concentration in public policy, program management, and community organizing/development. Mike has been a crew supervisor/youth mentor and coordinator at the East Bay Conservation Corps (Oakland, CA) and the California Conservation Corps’ Backcountry Trails Program. He also served in Peace Corps (Panama 2002-2005) as a heath educator in a rural Ngobe community, where he lived with a family and learned much about the rich culture and language of Panama’s largest indigenous group. Upon returning from Panama, Mike supervised a summer trail crew for the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps (Taos, NM) and substitute taught for a semester on the Navajo Reservation in Thoreau, NM. Before returning to the Southwest in 2009, Mike worked as a program officer for the Chesapeake Bay Trust, managing several grant programs and heading the organization’s diversity initiatives. He has served on FTF’s White Mountain Apache Regional Partnership Council and is co-founder and current board member of the White Mountain Youth Corps. Mike’s wife, Emily, also served in Peace Corps (Panama) and is a family nurse practitioner for the Indian Health Service on Ft. Apache. Mike and Emily enjoy living, biking, hiking, and camping in the White Mountains (Lakeside, AZ) with their two children, Michael (14-years old) and Leah (12-years old), and dog, Morty.

Gordon Freeman Brown

Veronica Chacón

Tammy Lee

Susana O’Brien

Kristine Nishimura

Michael Gaffney