Alyssa Dituro is our guest on episode 6.

Alyssa Dituro came to be the Executive Director at McNeilly Center for Children in Nashville, TN after several years leading at other community childcare centers. Founded in 1916, the center has a strong tie to the community. She is passionate not only about children’s mental health but also about Tennessee becoming the top state for diversity, equity, and inclusion work among early childhood educators. Alyssa is an advocate for the early childhood field and has written several op-eds for the Tennessean regarding early childhood education funding, infant mental health, and BIPOC children. She holds an undergraduate degree in Child Development in Family Studies from the University of North Texas in 2012 and a graduate degree in Urban Studies from Northeastern Illinois University in 2014. She received an infant mental health endorsement in 2020, and a year later earned her Tennessee Early Childhood Program Admin Credential, and is an active member of several professional and advocacy organizations. She has been married to her wonderful husband since 2015 and has a five-year-old. She is also a licensed postpartum doula and loves spending her free time caring for 40 houseplants and focusing on fitness.

Resources:

-the McNeilly Center for Children

–ancestral healing resource

–Adverse Childhood Experiences information