Our Team

The Center for Reaching & Teaching the Whole Child’s team includes educational leaders in teacher preparation, coaching, classroom practice, and school administration. Our team members have extensive practical and research experience in the K-12 education space, as well as a thorough knowledge of best practices and key research findings related to social-emotional learning, culturally responsive and sustaining teaching practices, and well-being.

Meet our staff below.

Our Staff

Rachel Bacosa
Rachel Bacosa

Director of Transformative Practice Integration

Rebecca Baelen, Ph.D.
Rebecca Baelen, Ph.D.

Executive Director

Claire Galloway
Claire Galloway

Research Associate

Shirin Mostaghim Jones
Shirin Mostaghim Jones

Operations & Communications Manager

Joshua Lovett, Ph.D.
Joshua Lovett, Ph.D.

Research Associate

Nancy Lourié Markowitz, Ph.D.
Nancy Lourié Markowitz, Ph.D.

Founder & Emeritus Executive Director

Halley Maza, Ph.D.
Halley Maza, Ph.D.

Director of Learning Innovation and Research

Chelsea Rubin, M.Ed.
Chelsea Rubin, M.Ed.

Project Manager

Lindsay Romano, Ph.D. Candidate
Lindsay Romano, Ph.D. Candidate

Research Fellow

Julie Sauve, Ph.D.
Julie Sauve, Ph.D.

Research Fellow

Wendy Thowdis, M.A.
Wendy Thowdis, M.A.

Professional Development Specialist

Our Advisory Committee

Marie-Jose Bahnam, M.B.A., M.Ed.
Marie-Jose Bahnam, M.B.A., M.Ed.
Michael Gallagher, M.A., Ed.D.
Michael Gallagher, M.A., Ed.D.
Nicole Furlonge, Ph.D., M.A.
Nicole Furlonge, Ph.D., M.A.
Nicola James, M.B.A
Nicola James, M.B.A
Eric Moore
Eric Moore
Samira Pingali, MPH
Samira Pingali, MPH
Kimberly Schonert-Reichl, Ph.D.
Kimberly Schonert-Reichl, Ph.D.