Jodi Whiteman
M.Ed, CEIM
BOARD MEMBER
Jodi Whiteman is the Director of Partnerships and Growth at LENA. In this position she supports early childhood programs to increase capacity of parents, caregivers, and teachers in accelerating children’s development, school readiness, and social-emotional health. She has over 20 years of experience in the early childhood field working within early care and education, early intervention, infant and early childhood mental health and child welfare systems.
Ms. Whiteman has a wealth of experience providing early childhood systems support nationally and internationally. She has authored/co-authored numerous professional articles, guides and curriculums on a variety of early childhood topics including ZERO TO THREE’s The Growing Brain from Birth to Five Years Old: A Curriculum for Early Childhood Providers, Knowledge and Know-How: Nurturing Child Well-Being online lessons and Caring Conversations Café Model Facilitator Guide. Jodi is a part of many national workgroups such as the National Child Abuse Prevention Partners supported by The Children’s Bureau, Office on Child Abuse and Neglect (OCAN) and Strengthening Families National Partners group supported by the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP). Prior to joining LENA, Jodi served as a Senior Advisor with the Public Consulting group where she provided industry knowledge to lead and assist in training, technical assistance, strategic planning, organizational change management and product/service line development as well as the co-directed of the Professional Development and Workforce Innovations department at ZERO TO THREE.
Her past experiences as adjunct faculty at the Graduate School of Education at George Mason University, a bi-lingual speech/language therapist assistant, an infant/toddler child care director, an early intervention service coordinator and specialist, and a certified educator of infant massage informs her work and passion for supporting very young children and families. She holds a B.S. in Speech and Hearing Sciences from the University of Arizona and a M.Ed., in Curriculum and Instruction from George Mason University.