Statewide Policy Manager Honored for Work in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health

ATLANTA—Callan Wells, MS, of the Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students (GEEARS), was selected as a recipient of ZERO TO THREE's Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) Emerging Leadership Award in Practice. ZERO TO THREE is the nation's leading early development nonprofit dedicated to ensuring all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life. This is the third year ZERO TO THREE is honoring outstanding professionals for their contributions to the infant and early childhood mental health field.

"As more and more people come to realize the importance of infant and early childhood mental health, we're thrilled to know that there's a new generation leading the way in this critical field," stated Matthew Melmed, Executive Director at ZERO TO THREE. "In the arenas of policy, practice, or research, remarkable work is being done to lift infants and toddlers, particularly those in underserved and overburdened communities. We enthusiastically congratulate Callan and the other incredible honorees for providing innovative and unique insights into our babies' well-being and for standing as shining examples of what our field needs moving forward."

Wells is GEEARS's senior health policy manager, where she has proven to be a statewide pioneer in IECMH. Wells has helped build an Early Childhood System of Care in Georgia that promotes policy and collaborative service delivery to support young children with or at risk for social, emotional, and behavioral health needs and promote healthy social and emotional development for all children. On behalf of GEEARS, she lent her guidance and expertise to a legislative study committee that brought to fruition the state's first IECMH director and a Child-Parent Psychotherapy pilot. Wells helped establish the Georgia Association for Infant Mental Health (GA-AIMH) in collaboration with CHRIS 180, DECAL, SCCCT Georgia, and the Center for Leadership in Disability at Georgia State University. Wells also led GEEARS' advocacy efforts to pass the Mental Health Parity Act into Georgia law, bringing early childhood into the state lens for comprehensive behavioral health.

Wells will be honored alongside Research winner Dr. Holly Hatton-Bowers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Practice winner Erin Henderson Lacerdo from the Association for Infant Mental Health in Hawai'i.

The IECMH Emerging Leadership Awards acknowledge the efforts of professionals with 5-15 years of experience who have made significant contributions to the field of infant and early childhood mental health and highlights those serving diverse populations who strive for increased access to services and supports. Recipients demonstrate significant visionary and cutting-edge work to transform practices, policies, and systems at the local, state, or national level in promoting IECMH.

ZERO TO THREE will present the Emerging Leadership Awards at the organization's annual LEARN Conference in September 2022. To learn more and register for the conference, please visit https://go.zerotothree.org/signature.