As State Policy Associate, Allison de la Torre works with state advocates and policymakers to develop and implement advocacy and legislative strategies that will increase pre-k quality and availability for all three and four year olds. Before joining Pre-K Now in August 2007, Ms. de la Torre served as legislative assistant to Oregon State Senator Vicki L. Walker, chair of the Senate Education and General Government Committee. Prior to her work for Senator Walker, she worked at the Children’s Institute, a leading pre-k advocacy organization in Oregon.

Ms. de la Torre became an early childhood advocate at an early age. Her mother was a pre-kindergarten program director, and Ms. de la Torre began her career as a pre-k assistant in her home town of La Mesa, California. Her volunteer activities have included teaching pre-k to at-risk children in Quito, Ecuador, and tutoring bilingual kindergartners in Salem, Oregon.

Ms. de la Torre holds a bachelor's degree in politics and Spanish from Willamette University. In 2005, she studied abroad at the Universidad de San Francisco in Quito, Ecuador.

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Jennifer Doctors joined Pre-K Now in spring 2005, bringing a lifetime of writing and nearly ten years of professional experience. In this new role, her primary responsibilities include development of original material, management of institutional voice and style, and editorial review of organization publications. Through her company, WordCraft Creative Services, she also provides freelance writing and editing services to clients around the country.

Throughout her career, Ms. Doctors has maintained a focus on education issues and policy. From 2000-2004 she served as the editor of the ACSANews, the monthly newsletter of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, and she has written for California College of the Arts, National University, Montgomery County (MD) Public Schools, and a number of individual academic professionals to develop curricula, programs, and published works.

Ms. Doctors has published a series of translations and writes short fiction, essays, and poetry. She holds a bachelor's degree in linguistics from the University of California at Santa Cruz and has studied creative writing at Hartwick College in New York and American University in Washington, D.C.

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Holly Barnes Higgins brings to Pre-K Now and the Pew Center on the States 15 years of collective experience in early childhood development, clinical psychology, state and national political campaigns, strategic communications and international development. As Communications Manager, she oversees Pre-K Now’s communications staff and ensures a communications strategy that is aligned with the organization’s state and federal policy goals for early education. Ms. Barnes Higgins also provides strategic advice to the ongoing communications efforts of other projects within the PCS Children’s Policy Group.

Prior to joining Pre-K Now, Barnes Higgins served as the public information officer for a U.S.-funded economic development project in southern Afghanistan, where she established a communications office and developed and implemented a public education campaign; her writing on Afghanistan has since been published in the Washington Post and The American Interest. Before leaving for Afghanistan, Barnes Higgins was the communications director for a national coalition and advocacy campaign lobbying for increased U.S. funding for international engagement and served as press secretary for Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) after volunteering for Save the Children U.K. and Jesuit Refugee Services in Africa. Ms. Barnes Higgins holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Texas at Austin and a master's in counseling psychology from the University of Denver.

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Amy Katzel joined Pre-K Now as the Communications Fellow in June 2008. Her responsibilities include preparing the daily media clips, updating the website's Today in Pre-K news, and drafting written communication. 

Ms. Katzel recently received her bachelor’s degree in political communication from George Washington University.  She also studied English and creative writing. 

Prior to joining Pre-K Now, Ms. Katzel interned at the American Cancer Society, where she assisted the Media Relations team, the Federal Affairs team, and Legal Counsel. She also interned at Environics Communication PR and worked on Ben Cardin's (D-MD) campaign for U.S. Senate.

Outside of media and advocacy, Ms. Katzel is an avid writer. She served as Editor-in-Chief of GWU’s longest-running student literary magazine and was awarded the Academy of American Poets College Prize in 2008. Her work has been published in the GW Review and Moment Magazine.

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Shannon Kelley joined Pre-K Now as the federal policy intern in February 2009. She assists the federal policy team in their work to gain federal support for state-funded pre-kindergarten programs.

Ms. Kelley is currently a junior at the George Washington University where she is studying sociology and political science. She is a strong believer in the positive effects of pre-kindergarten having worked with the Jumpstart program in the District of Columbia, serving as the team leader of college students working one-on-one in pre-k classrooms. Shannon recently returned from a semester abroad in Latin America and will be completing a senior thesis on bilingual education next semester.

Kristen Moorhead serves as Pre-K Now’s Senior Web Associate, a position that compliments her interests in writing, technology, and nonprofit management. Along with maintaining our organization’s presence on the web, she leads our e-advocacy campaign and advises our partners on their e-communication strategies.

Before joining Pre-K Now in April of 2008, Ms. Moorhead worked as the National Organization for Women’s Internet Communications Coordinator. Her commitment to obtaining pre-k-for-all stems from her own experiences raising a pre-kindergartner, her dedication to issues affecting women and children, and her personal belief that a quality, pre-k foundation for all American children can revitalize the U.S. education system. She has witnessed the benefits of pre-k as a former student, a parent, and professionally as a Head Start parent advocate.

Ms. Moorhead holds a bachelor's degree in Sociology/Anthropology from Spelman College. In 2001, she studied abroad in Botswana and Brazil.

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Liz Snyder joined Pre-K Now as the senior associate for communications in April of 2009 with a background in strategic communication, education reform and advocacy campaigns. As senior communications associate, Ms. Snyder will be responsible for overseeing the daily media clips, as well as media relations for Pre-K Now. She will coordinate media outreach strategy for Pre-K Now in collaboration with the Pew Center on the States’ communications team and with Pre-K Now state partners.

Prior to joining Pre-K Now, Ms. Snyder was the deputy press secretary for the bipartisan Strong American Schools’ ED in 08 campaign, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Eli & Edythe Broad Foundation. In this position, she pitched and fielded stories to state and national press, served as a spokesperson for the campaign and worked with the campaign’s state teams to create highly visible and high-quality field and media events.

She also worked on communications for Pew’s Economic Mobility Project and served as manager of media and government relations for DynCorp International. Ms. Snyder holds a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech where she studied communication, political science and business; and a master’s degree in government and political communication from Johns Hopkins University.

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Albert Wat is the Senior Research Associate for Pre-K Now, providing the staff with the latest information on states' pre-kindergarten programs and on developments in early education research.

Mr. Wat came to Pre-K Now from Georgetown University's Center for Social Justice where he directed the DC Schools Project, a literacy initiative that trains college students to serve as literacy tutors and instructors for low-income children and adults with immigrant backgrounds in Washington, D.C. He previously directed the America Reads program at the University of Michigan.

Mr. Wat began his career in education as a high school English teacher in California. He has also worked with the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative and served as an AmeriCorps member at Partners in School Innovation, a school reform organization based in San Francisco. He holds a bachelor's degree in psychology, a master's in education from Stanford University, and a master's in education policy from the George Washington University.

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Shad White joined Pre-K Now in July 2008 as the State Policy Fellow. His responsibilities include researching state pre-k policies around the country, tracking political trends and opportunities, drafting policy letters and other materials, and developing advocacy partnerships.

Mr. White graduated from the Honors College at the University of Mississippi in May of 2008 with a BA in economics and political science. He authored his senior thesis on education finance in Mississippi and is a published author on equitable school finance solutions. While at Ole Miss, Mr. White worked as a an intern and researcher at the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, the leading institute in Mississippi designed to promote local, dialogue-based solutions to healing racial divides in the South. He also served as Student Body Treasurer in 2006-2007 and as an op-ed writer for the student-run newspaper from 2005-2007.

Outside the university setting, Mr. White served as Head Campaign Coordinator for a victorious statewide campaign in 2007, in addition to working on several smaller campaigns throughout his college career. He was named a Harry S. Truman National Public Service Scholar in 2007 and is a 2009 Rhodes Scholar.

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Libby Doggett is a Deputy Director in the Pew Center on the States, a division of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Prior to joining the Trusts, Dr. Doggett directed Pre-K Now, funded by the Trusts and other foundations to secure high quality pre-k for all three and four year olds across the country. Through the success of this campaign and others, Pew hired Doggett to oversee four projects which support state campaigns to advance smart state policies and practices that help young children become healthy, productive adults. These efforts seek to expand high quality pre-k, improve access to dental care for disadvantaged children, expand proven home visiting services for at-risk families, and educate business leaders about the economic returns to investments in children prenatal to age five.

Upon coming to Washington, D.C., in 1995, Dr. Doggett worked in the U.S. Department of Education, where she served as special assistant to the director of special education (OSEP) and as executive director of the Federal Interagency Coordinating Council, coordinating multiple federal services for infants, toddlers, children with disabilities, and their families. She then worked for the National Head Start Association, directing their HeadsUp! Reading program, an innovative, credit-bearing course designed to provide early-childhood professionals the skills needed to help young children learn to read and write.

Dr. Doggett’s public-service record predates her tenure in Washington. In her home state of Texas, she served as the executive director of the Arc of Texas, the largest voluntary organization for persons with mental retardation and their families in the Lone Star State. She also helped found and then chaired the Disability Policy Consortium, a coalition of 20 Texas disability advocacy organizations.

Dr. Doggett co-authored the first book written on child care and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Honors for her leadership on children’s and disability issues include an appointment to the Texas Commission on Children and Youth, the Governor’s Trophy from the Governor’s Committee on the Employment of Persons with Disabilities in Texas, and the Friend of Early Childhood Intervention award. She holds a doctorate from the University of Texas in early-childhood special education.

During her undergraduate years at the University of Texas, she met her husband Lloyd Doggett, currently a U.S. Representative from Texas and a senior Member on the Ways & Means Committee. The Doggetts have two daughters, Lisa and Cathy, and two granddaughters, Ella and Clara.

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Anya Malkov joined Pre-K Now in June 2008 as Federal Policy Fellow. She helps advance the federal agenda in support of state-funded pre-k and assists with federal policy initiatives across the children’s campaigns within the Pew Center on the States.

Ms. Malkov graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Dickinson College with a BA in Policy Management in May 2008. She attributes her academic success partly to early education – growing up in Russia, Ms. Malkov attended several years of pre-kindergarten. Her family immigrated when she was 14.

While at Dickinson, Ms. Malkov discovered a passion for public service and social policy through her work with Student Senate, which she was eventually elected to lead as president. Ms. Malkov has pursued her interests in education, health and immigration policy while studying abroad in Málaga, Spain, and serving as a Finnegan Fellow in the Legislative Affairs Office at the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

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Matt Mulkey works on communications strategy across all children’s campaigns within the Pew Center on the States. In this role, he provides communications support and advice to the Pre-K Now team.

Until January 2009, Mr. Mulkey was the director of communications for Pre-K Now, where he oversaw the organization's media outreach, marketing, and messaging to advance the issue of high-quality pre-k for all children. He first came to Pre-K Now in May 2005 and served as Internet communications manager.

Previously, Mr. Mulkey managed e-advocacy at People For the American Way, where he helped develop innovative strategies that mobilized more than 10,000 volunteer election monitors for the 2004 election. He led People For's efforts to engage online supporters in campaigns to reduce class sizes, secure equitable public-school funding, and protect students' and teachers' religious liberty, among other issues.

Prior to his involvement in People For's online initiatives, Mr. Mulkey was the northeast field coordinator, working with grassroots advocates and elected officials to advance shared goals at the state and local levels. He received his bachelor of arts in international relations from Kent State University.

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Rosalinda Ortega is the event coordinator for all major events for the multiple children’s policy initiatives within Pew Center on the States. Previously, she was the Program Assistant at Pre-K Now. Her responsibilities included providing executive and administrative support to the communications, federal policy, and state policy teams. She also assists with major organization events and finances.

Before coming to Pre-K Now, Ms. Ortega served as an insurance claims assistant at Miller and Long Co., Inc. She was an intern at the Texas Office of State and Federal Relations and worked as a fundraising assistant for a mayoral campaign in San Antonio, Texas. Her volunteer activities include tutoring elementary school children through groups such as Horton’s Kids.

Ms. Ortega holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from St. Mary’s University.

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Kathy Patterson joined Pre-K Now in March 2007 as federal policy director after serving 12 years as a member of the District of Columbia Council. In January 2009 she became a senior officer with the Pew Center on the States, managing federal policy advocacy across the PCS children’s campaigns – including home visiting and oral health for children as well as pre-k. She helps to advance our agenda on Capitol Hill and works closely with other national organizations to pursue shared early education goals.

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Stephanie Rubin is Director of State Policy for Pew Center on the States and Project Director of Pre-K Now. Previously, she served as state program director at Pre-K Now. As Director of State Policy for Pew Center on the States, she coordinates state policy and advocacy strategies across the multiple children’s policy initiatives within Pew Center on the States and oversees Pre-K Now’s overall advocacy strategy.

Prior to joining Pre-K Now, Ms. Rubin led advocacy efforts to increase public investment in early education, after-school, mental health and child abuse prevention services at Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California.

Previously, she served as Legislative Director to California State Senator Tom Hayden and Counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Higher Education in Sacramento, California.

Ms. Rubin received her BA in History from Princeton University and her law degree from UCLA. Her volunteer activities include participating in election observation teams in Latin America, serving as a judge in a youthful offender diversion program and advocating for abused and neglected children as a Court Appointed Special Advocate.

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