Our People

Graduate Fellows

Trey Avery (Email) is a doctoral student in Biobehavioral Sciencess and serves as a graduate research fellow and communications director for NCCF. He manages the Neurocognition of Language Lab, an EEG labratory at Teachers College. His research interests include the use of neuroimaging methods as an early diagnostic tool and measure of developmental differences in young children from different socioeconomic backgrounds. He is particularly interested in exploring the effects of different early childhood programs on early literacy and language development and attention. He is also interested in programs that include social and emotional learning and mindfulness practices, particularly early childhood programs serving low income children. He earned a MS in Neuroscience & Education from Teachers College in 2011 and a B.A. in American Cultural Studies from Fairhaven College at Western Washinton University in 2006.


Erin Bumgarner (Email) is a doctoral student in Developmental Psychology and a graduate research fellow at NCCF. Ms. Bumgarner earned her B.A. in Psychology and Spanish from American University in Washington DC. After graduating, she moved to Boston where she worked as a teacher and completed her Masters Degree at Boston College in Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology. Her research interests focus on how broad ecological risks, such as poverty, affect child development across different cultures and contexts. She is particularly interested in how such research can be used to inform social policies to benefit children and families.

Jondou Chen (Email) is a doctoral student in Developmental Psychology and a graduate research fellow at the National Center for Children and Families. Mr. Chen's research interests involve the intersection of adolescent, moral, and cross-cultural development as well as neighborhood effects on development. Before coming to NCCF, Mr. Chen was a program director at the La Jolla Presbyterian Church and, prior to this, Mr. Chen served as a social studies teacher at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School and a director at the University Lutheran Homeless Shelter. Mr. Chen graduated from Harvard College in 2001 with a B.A. in Intellectual History and from the Harvard Graduate School of Education with an M.Ed in 2005.

Rebecca E. Gomez (Email) is a doctoral student in Curriculum and Teaching concentrating on early childhood policy. Her research interests include the development of state and national professional development systems for early childhood professionals, as well as workforce development issues (i.e. capacity-building, teacher disposition, and access). Before joining NCCF, Ms. Gomez worked for a variety of state and national early childhood organizations, including the PA Early Learning Keys to Quality program, NACCRRA, and the State of NH’s Child Development Bureau. She has also held adjunct faculty positions in the Early Childhood Departments at West Chester University and Granite State College. Ms. Gomez earned her M.Ed. in Early Childhood from the University of NH in 2004, and her B.A. in American Studies from Rutgers University in 2001. She was named a Children’s Defense Fund Emerging Leader in 2004 and a NACCRRA Emerging Leader in 2005. Aside from her work at NCCF, Ms. Gomez is a member of Commonwealth of PA’s Early Learning Council and the NAEYC Governing Board.

Saima Gowani (Email) is a doctoral student in the Curriculum and Teaching department at Teachers College, and a Graduate Research Fellow at National Center for Children and Families. Her research interests include looking at the economic and social benefits of early childhood education in international contexts. Before coming to Teachers College, she worked with the Aga Khan Foundation as a Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for the Foundation's education programs. She has worked and traveled in various countries in Asia and Africa, helping programs set up Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) to help programs make better decisions about the effectiveness of their interventions. She holds a Bachelors degree in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Masters in Education with a concentration in International Education Policy from Harvard.

Aleksandra Holod (Email) is a doctoral student in Developmental Psychology and an NCCF graduate research fellow. Her research interests include the effects of poverty and related risk factors on children’s development, and the potential of intervention programs to mediate these risk factors. A second area of interest is child care quality, including efforts to measure the relationship between quality and children’s long-term outcomes, and efforts to improve quality. Before entering the doctoral program, Ms. Holod conducted policy analysis for a pre-k advocacy campaign in California; directed a multi-million dollar fund for children’s programs in Oakland, California; and worked as a preschool teacher. She has also worked with the National Women’s Law Center to improve federal policies for low-income women and their families. Ms. Holod was named an “emerging leader” in early care and education by the Children's Defense Fund. She holds a B.A. from the College of William and Mary in Virginia and an M.P.P. from the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley.