About Us

Deeann Burtch Puffert
Chief Executive Officer
deeann@wa.childcareaware.org

As CEO, Deeann guides strategic vision for the statewide CCA WA system by working collaboratively with our six regional Child Care Aware of Washington regions and a multitude of early learning and community partners. Having spent 30 years in leadership with Child Care Resources/ CCA of King and Pierce Counties, Deeann is committed to growing and developing new relationships and partnerships that will continue to move child care and informal caregiving into full partnership within the early learning landscape.

Tulay Crosbie
Executive Assistant
tulay@wa.childcareaware.org

Tulay has 17 years of executive assistant experience interacting with wide variety of chief executive officers, directors and board executives. She completed two years of business administration studies at the Aegean University in Turkey and speaks English, Turkish and some German. She currently is taking Spanish at the University of Washington. She is very passionate about her community and has volunteered with several organizations including Habitat for Humanity and the Tacoma Humane Society.

Sandy Maldonado
Director of Early Learning
sandy@wa.childcareaware.org

Sandy has worked with children and families for 20 years. Teaching in infant programs, preschool, school age care, and providing coaching and consultation for QRIS systems. She’s worked in private child care, state-funded and federally-funded programs. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Services Management and Master’s in Early Childhood Education from Pacific Oaks College. Most recently she has joined the CCA of WA’s Program Management team for Early Achievers, Washington’s quality rating and improvement system. Sandy is passionate about securing equitable high-quality early learning opportunities for families, and ensuring all educators have opportunities for culturally responsive and relevant professional development.

Karin Anderson
Senior Manager of Early Learning
k.anderson@wa.childcareaware.org

Karin has 27 years of experience working in the early learning field, including family child care, early intervention services and consultation services to early learning professionals. Prior to her current role, she supported Child Care Aware’s mission at the regional level as an Early Achievers regional lead. Karin is passionate about ensuring kindergarten readiness for all children, and supporting the dedicated regional staff who work to achieve this mission.

Marianna Ross
Program Manager 
marianna@wa.childcareaware.org

Marianna has worked with children for more than 10 years, teaching Pre-K, First grade and Title I. She also worked as a training and curriculum specialist with the Army Child Development Centers at Fort Bliss, TX and Fort Meade, MD. She holds a bachelor’s degree in human communication from Southern Oregon University and master’s in teaching from George Fox University.

Leah Irwin
Program Manager
leah@wa.childcareaware.org

Leah just joined the CCA of WA team in January 2019. She has 20 years of early learning and child development professional experience. She has experience in child care, preschool teaching, Child Protective Services, Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), ECE university teaching, and Head Start/Early Head Start management. She is in the process of becoming a Program for Infant and Toddler Care (PITC) certified trainer and is experienced in delivering trainings to adult learners. Leah holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Developmental Psychology from Eastern Washington University, and a Master of Science degree in Family and Child Studies from Miami University of Ohio. She is passionate about high quality child care and early learning for all of our State’s children, with a particular passion for our most vulnerable infants and toddlers. Leah spends her spare time with her husband, two daughters, many family pets, and doing crafting, gardening, and most recently, horse activities.

Riham Hashi
Program Manager
riham@wa.childcareaware.org

Riham has a lot of passion for systems change and sustainable development, starting her professional career working in social innovation and community capacity building in developing countries as well as policy research on Capitol Hill. Riham holds a BA in Political Science and is currently pursuing a master’s in international development and global security. With substantial experience in community development and community capacity building. Riham specializes in policy development and change in historically marginalized communities, advocating for equity, authentic community engagement, and community autonomy. A strong believer in education as the greatest equalizer and the civil rights issue of our time, Riham advocates for an upstream framework in early learning and education to maximize the greatest opportunities for the greatest number of children.

Ann Chihan
Program Manager
ann@wa.childcareaware.org

Ann is a lifelong learner with a passion for inspiring the mind, spirit and creativity of children and adults. She has worked in the early learning field for over 18 years. She has worked in a wide range of settings, as a toddler teacher, pre-k teacher, center director, Early Achievers coach, MERIT-Approved trainer and Coach Lead.  Ann holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Western Washington University. She has built deep connections within communities to advance work addressing the child care desserts and employer engagement. When not at work, Ann can be found in a hammock with a good book or out wandering in the woods.

Christa Murray
Program Specialist
christa@wa.childcareaware.org

Christa started at Child Care Aware of Washington as a scholarships coordinator. She holds a bachelor’s degree in human services and a master’s in adult and higher education, both from Western Washington University. This has given her a strong background in both nonprofit and adult training practices. She and her husband recently became licensed foster parents; Christa is using her knowledge of early childhood education to provide the best support for the children in her care. Check out Christa’s article on foster children in child care published on the NAEYC blog.

Ashley Stillmaker
Program Support Assistant
ashley@wa.childcareaware.org

Ashley came to Child Care Aware of Washington in September 2016. She has previous experience as a Pre-K educator and recently worked with Comprehensive Life Resources, a nonprofit organization for mental health, primarily in the children’s facility. Ashley studied at Tacoma Community College where she received her associate degree in elementary education and is currently working toward her bachelor’s degree in early childhood education at Ashworth University.

Meka Riggins
Director of Scholarships
meka@wa.childcareaware.org

A strong believer in the power of higher education, Meka is responsible for managing our scholarship program. Her work directly touches the lives of every scholar we serve by ensuring the program runs smoothly and efficiently for everyone. She joined Child Care Aware of Washington the fall of 2011. Prior to that Meka was the development and scholarship coordinator at Tacoma Community College.

Christine Zumwalt
Scholarships Coordinator
christine@wa.childcareaware.org

Christine has been administering scholarships since 2008 and joined the Child Care Aware of Washington Scholarships’ team in 2015. She enjoys working in a position that helps people of all ages have access to a quality education. Christine previously worked at the Seattle Central College Foundation and the Institute of International Education. She holds bachelor’s degrees in communication and Spanish from Washington State University and a Master of Education from the University of Houston.

Ivonne Pereira
Scholarships Coordinator
ivonne@wa.childcareaware.org

Ivonne joined Child Care Aware of Washington in January 2017. She has previous experience working in the fields of education, social work and advocacy with refugee and immigrant children and adults from various cultural backgrounds. She believes in empowering those who need it most, as it is her belief every person deserves the opportunity to flourish. Ivonne is bilingual in English and Spanish and has a bachelor’s degree in international studies from the University of North Texas.

Ryan Pricco
Director of Policy and Advocacy
ryan@wa.childcareaware.org

Ryan coordinates all advocacy efforts for Child Care Aware of Washington and is an effective voice in Olympia for children, families and caregivers during the state legislative session. When the Legislature is not in session Ryan focuses on grassroots mobilization, system messaging, representing us at key meetings with state-level partners, staffing the board of trustees’ meetings, and assisting the executive director. Ryan holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Washington.

Michel Nelson
Director of Community Engagement
michel@wa.childcareaware.org

Michel joined Child Care Aware of Washington in the fall of 2016 in a new position to expand support for child care and early learning from businesses and diverse community partners. In addition, Michel coordinates Child Care Aware of Washington’s Family Center with the organization’s regional staff. With a background in marketing, membership and communications, she has led efforts in the nonprofit and public sectors that resulted in innovative partnerships and statewide public awareness campaigns. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Washington State University.

Marcia Jacobs
Communications and Marketing Manager
marcia@wa.childcareaware.org

Marcia manages Child Care Aware of Washington’s communications, media relations and marketing. She brings to the work a wide range of expertise gleaned from her background as a journalist, as well as her community service experience with organizations such as The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, Ronald McDonald House, Habitat for Humanity and Seattle Children’s Hospital. She earned her bachelor’s degree in American studies, with a minor in journalism, from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Cameron Joy-Kurtz
Engagement Specialist
cameron@wa.childcareaware.org

Cameron joined Child Care Aware of Washington in May 2014. Cameron believes that access to high-quality child care has a multi-generational impact on our communities and our economy. As engagement specialist, Cameron enjoys developing innovative outreach strategies to cultivate partnerships between the private, public and nonprofit sectors to improve child care services for Washington’s children. Cameron studied at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and completed his bachelor’s degree in English at the University of Colorado.

Sarah Kelley
Director of Data and Evaluation
sarah@wa.childcareaware.org

Sarah is passionate about increasing quality, access and professionalism in early childhood education. She holds a bachelor’s degree in human development, early childhood education and care from Washington State University and a master’s degree in policy studies from the University of Washington. She has experience in resource and referral, family advocacy and teaching in Head Start/ECEAP and child care centers. In her graduate research she focused on early learning quality and child outcomes.

Kathryn Arthur
Business and Data Analyst
kathryn@wa.childcareaware.org

Kathryn recently joined Child Care of Aware of Washington in May of 2020 after supporting child care providers as an Early Achiever’s Coach for over 4 years. She is continuing her work in early learning as a member of the data team and is excited to utilize data to support continuous quality improvement. Kathryn has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Mental Health Counseling with experience in research and data. When not working, Kathryn enjoys spending time in the barn with the animals and road trips to Alberta and Montana.

Alan Strand
Director of Finance and Operations
alan@wa.childcareaware.org

Alan supports Child Care Aware of Washington’s mission by making sure finance and accounting tasks happen smoothly. He has more than 15 years of accounting, finance and business management experience with nonprofit organizations in Washington and California. His extensive experience in nonprofit accounting, coupled with an ability to communicate affably and effectively about the topic, led to his role at the University of Washington, Tacoma, as faculty in their Nonprofit Management Certificate program.

Colette Adams
Contract and Finance Manager
colette@wa.childcareaware.org

Colette has been with Child Care Aware of Washington since September 2005. She works closely with our six regional programs and other subcontractors and vendors to manage, oversee and monitor all contracts. She also assists with internal accounting and finance functions. Previously she was the scholarship counselor for the Washington Scholarships for Child Care Professionals program. With more than 17 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, Colette has a keen eye for detail, is a problem solver and enjoys the daily challenges of this position. She recently completed a Contract Design & Management Certificate program through the University of Washington.

Nannette Ward
Finance Supervisor
nannette@wa.childcareaware.org

Nannette supports the overall accounting process of Child Care Aware of Washington. She previously worked for the University of Washington (Seattle and Tacoma). She is currently working to earn her bachelor’s degree from the Academy of Art University. Nannette thrives on building positive changes in the lives of children and parents alike, and since becoming a part of CCA, has helped foster exciting interactions with staff and community partners.

Jonathan Farris
IT Systems and Database Administrator
jonathan@wa.childcareaware.org

After joining the team in August 2017, Jonathan immediately began preparations to move Child Care Aware of Washington’s entire IT infrastructure down the street to a new building. He suffers from a mild case of perfectionism; highlighted by occasional episodes of over-analyzing everything! He is an incurable problem-solver. Jonathan is passionate about supporting and enabling the mission to improve children’s lives and future potential. He is a recent graduate of the University of Washington’s Masters of Cybersecurity Leadership program, holds multiple industry certifications and is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).

Tiffany Khanphongphane
Office Coordinator
tiffany.k@wa.childcareaware.org

Tiffany recently joined Child Care Aware of Washington, bringing with her seven years of office coordinator experience. She is always looking for ways to make improvements and provide great customer service. Tiffany studied at Renton Technical College where she received her Accounting Clerk Degree.

Janet Fraatz
Director of Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation
janet@wa.childcareaware.org

Janet joined the CCA WA team in March 2020 to launch the implementation of Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation services here in Washington. She holds a MS in Child Development and Family Studies, a MA and CAGS in Mental Health Counseling, and is a graduate of the Harris Institute certificate program in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health. Janet has over 25 years’ experience in service to children and families, including her work in program management, staff supervision, and early childhood mental health consultation with Smart Support, Arizona’s statewide IECMHC program. In addition to her work in the IECMHC field, Janet has experience in Head Start/Early Head Start program management, public and independent elementary school counseling and a range of early care and education direct service and quality improvement efforts.