About Us

is the Early Learning System Director overseeing the Early Learning Division in Oregon. Before coming to Oregon, Miriam served as the Senior Director of Early Learning at the Bainum Family Foundation, where she shaped a new $10 million dollar investment in a birth to three system for the District of Columbia. She also was a senior fellow with the BUILD Initiative, leading BUILD's work related to dual language learners, and serving as a faculty member for BUILD’s Equity Leaders Action Network.

Previously, Calderon served as a political appointee in the Obama Administration, advising on early learning policy at the Domestic Policy Council at the White House and at the Department of Health and Human Services. She also served as the Director of Early Childhood Education at DC Public Schools, where she oversaw Head Start and pre-kindergarten programs, including helping to implement universal pre-kindergarten in DC.

Calderon was also Associate Director of Education Policy at the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights organization. There she focused specifically on early education policy for Hispanic and dual language learner children. She began her career in early childhood working as a mental health consultant in Head Start programs in Portland, Oregon. She has published several reports on early childhood education. Calderon holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of Delaware and a Master of Social Work degree from Portland State University.

is the Early Learning Council Administrator for Oregon’s Early Learning Division. She holds a BA in Politics and minor in Art History from Willamette University. Alyssa began her career with the Early Learning Division as an office assistant, quickly moving into the position of Executive Assistant to the Early Learning System Director before transitioning into her role with the Early Learning Council. Outside of her work with the Early Learning Division, Alyssa is the Advisory Board Chair of a local Greek chapter. She lives in Salem with her partner and their rescue dog, Archie.

is the Equity Director. In the first part of her career she worked in the classroom with middle-school and high-school age students teaching English, as well as introducing racial equity work into different schools in the Portland Public School District. She then transitioned out of the classroom as an interim professor at Warner Pacific College. Lillian is a native Portlander. She believes that every child in the world has the right to access quality education, and not just for those who can afford it.

is the Director of Early Learning Programs and Cross Systems Integration. She oversees state and federally funded programs for children aged 0-6. She has 20+ years of experience in health and human services systems and policy development. Ms. Knight Coyle is also a third year Sociology PhD student, interested in exploring the health and socio-economic factors that influence birth outcomes and a child’s developmental trajectory in kindergarten and third grade. Ms. Knight-Coyle views her life’s mission as one in service to populations disenfranchised by biased systems and antiquated structures that exacerbate rather than mitigate institutional racism and oppression and perpetuate poverty and disparate health and educational outcomes.

David Mandell is the Prenatal to Three System Fellow at the Early Learning Division in the Oregon Department of Education. David served as the Acting Early Learning System Director from September 2016 to July 2017. Before joining the Early Learning Division, David served as the Special Advisor on Early Childhood Policy for Speaker of the House Tina Kotek. David also spent seven years working for the Children’s Institute, a Portland based policy and advocacy organization, as the Director of Policy and Research.

Sara directs the research, policy, legislative, and communications team. Prior to joining the Division, she managed the policy strategy for the Bainum Family Foundation in Washington, DC, focusing on building a comprehensive system of supports for infants and toddlers in partnership with advocates and providers in the city. She has previously worked at the National Governors Association and as led Rhode Island’s workforce-related efforts under the Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge. She started her career as a Head Start teacher in Houston, TX.

Dawn has a Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education with an emphasis in Special Education. She began her career as a preschool teacher in a nationally accredited program. She has also work as a program director, curriculum developer and behavior specialist before taking her early childhood knowledge into policy and state work. At the state, she started at the, then Child Care Division, as the Child Care Resource and Referral Liaison to support the professional development needs of child care providers and shortly became the lead on the development of Spark, Oregon’s Quality Rating and Improvement System. Currently Dawn is the Director of Child Care for the Early Learning Division. Her goal is to ensure child care programs and providers are well supported with opportunities for continuous improvement so Oregon’s children thrive.