Staff

Staff:

Laura Peterson, MA - Founder and Executive Director of HHI

Laura Peterson is the Founder and Executive Director of HHI. Laura has been the Clinical Director for a non-profit serving children with severe mental health issues, a Wilderness Therapist for troubled teens, and a faculty member in the College of Public Health at Oregon State University. She created "Wood Chicks", a wilderness empowerment program for women who were victims of domestic violence. Laura has a MA in Counseling, and was trained in the art of healing massage in the U.S. and Thailand. Her commitment to the health of women and children globally comes from years of working with troubled youth and eye-opening travel experiences in developing countries. In recognition of her successful creation of HHI Laura received Wisdom University’s 2006 "Ordinary People, Extraordinary Outcomes Award" and the 2007 – 2008 “Making a Difference for Women Award” from Soroptimist International of the Northwest Americas.

Liz Kimmerly - Communications and Support Officer

Liz Kimmerly's activism started at the age of 15 when she helped to organize Maine communities to stand up to corporate polluters by filing a class action lawsuit. Over the years, she has taught in the Nepalese school system, designed the Internet structure for Afghanistan's first free and fair elections, worked with the United Nations to help facilitate parliamentary elections in East Timor, and organized powerful actions such as CODEPINK's Walk in their Shoes, an art installation that displayed on the Washington National Mall to memorialize Iraqis who lost their lives to the war. When she's not designing websites, Liz likes to document social movements and Buddhist history with her blogging, photography and film making skills.

Christine Chaille - Curriculum Designer

Christine Chaille is Professor and Chair of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Portland State University, focusing on early childhood education, where she has taught since 1991. Her doctorate is from U.C.L.A., and she also studied with Jean Piaget at the University of Geneva. She is the co-author of The Young Child as Scientist: A Constructivist Approach to Early Childhood Science Education and has written many publications primarily on the importance of children's play. Her new book, Constructivism Across the Early Childhood Curriculum: Big Ideas as Inspiration, was released Summer 2007, and will be featured by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. She is Past President of the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators, Past President of the Oregon Association for the Education of Young Children, and currently is Chair of the Early Education/Child Development Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association.

Frank Mahler - Curriculum Designer

Frank Mahler has been an early childhood educator for seventeen years, thirteen of which he spent teaching at Head Start and Early Head Start programs for at-risk, low income, and special needs children. His work included the privilege of visiting families in their homes, helping them to better understand the fundamentals of early childhood development and the many ways that parents and caregivers can positively influence their child's potential for success in school and in life. He is now working with one- and two-year old toddlers at the Helen Gordon Child Development Center at Portland State University, where he earned his Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in early childhood education. He presents at professional development conferences, is a consultant to other early childhood programs, and teaches a graduate level course in child development and education at PSU.