Meet the OCAEYC Board
The OCAEYC Board is comprised of Executive Board Members and Board Members at Large. Board Meetings are open to the community and if you are interested in volunteering with one of our committees please reach out to that person or contact the Director.
Executive Board Members
Cheryl Sosa, Ed.D
President
Dr. Cheryl Sosa is currently an Elementary School Principal in the Orange Unified School District. For 9 years prior, Dr. Sosa served as the Early Childhood Education Coordinator for the same District where she was responsible for the district’s Learning Links, State Preschool and Fee for Service child development programs. As a practitioner, Dr. Sosa is committed to impacting social and emotional learning in young children, providing inclusive, high quality education to all children and aligning systems. Dr. Sosa’s education includes a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Master’s degree in Education with an emphasis in Teaching and Learning in a Global Society, and a Doctorate in Education, with a focus on Organizational Leadership. She also holds a Program Director permit, Multiple Subject Teaching Credential and a Clear Administrative Services Credential. In addition to her work with Orange Unified, she continues to grow the early learning workforce by serving on the OCAEYC Board as an interest groups co-chair. In her spare time, Dr. Sosa enjoys watching her daughter play water polo, going to Disneyland and spending quality time with her friends and family.
Sarah Shawesh, M.A.
Past-President
Sarah is a founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Building Resilience In Communities and Kids (B.R.I.C.K) Consulting, an adjunct professor, lecturer, early childhood educator, and development specialist. She received a masters degree in Human Development where her graduate studies focused on authentic parent-child relationships. Ms. Shawesh has spent most of her career helping families, educators and children understand development in a way that allows everyone to find joy in the day-to-day. She strives to break down development in a way that makes sense and increases positive outcomes for all!
Deanna Parga, M. Ed.
Vice President of Membership
Deanna Parga is a Help Me Grow Community Liaison with Help Me Grow, a program of Children’s Hospital of Orange County. She is responsible for providing outreach to families, providers and physicians throughout Orange County. She provides professional development to Early Childhood Educators and helps promote training in developmental screening for all children 0-5. She serves on several collaborative efforts in addressing the needs and concerns of families with young children and community work in improving children’s readiness for school. Deanna is also an appointed member of the Orange County Child Care & Development Planning Council and is an adjunct professor teaching Child Development and Special Education. Previously, Deanna has worked as a preschool teacher, an assistant director of a childcare center, an early intervention teacher, an infant specialist and a religious education teacher. For over 10 years, she was also the Director of Children’s Services, to a department that included overseeing all early intervention programs, therapy services and a childcare center. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development with a minor in Sociology and a Master’s Degree in Education with an emphasis in Early Childhood Special Education, both from California State University, Fullerton. Deanna also earned a Teaching Credential in Early Childhood Special Education. Deanna is passionate about supporting Early Childhood professionals and families with young children especially those with special needs.
Raissa Lee, M.S. Ed
Secretary
Raissa Lee is a committed early childhood educator who is passionate about honoring and serving the diverse children, families, and early childhood educators of our communities. In addition to teaching and caring for children and families in her dual language (Mandarin & English) STEM family child care program, Raissa also serves as an adjunct human development professor at Irvine Valley College. Raissa earned her multiple subject teaching credential with a BCLAD (Mandarin) emphasis in 2002 and a Master of Science degree in Education with an emphasis in early education in 2020. Raissa holds a California Child Development Program Director Permit and is also a Certified CLASS (Toddler) Observer. Furthermore, Raissa has worked as a Mandarin translator and live interpreter for the Program for Infant/Toddler Care (PITC). She believes that the brief season of early childhood is full of joy and adventure and is honored to journey with children, families, and educators through this spectacular season of life.
Yumi Ramirez
Treasurer
Passionate about nurturing young minds, Yumi is a dedicated early childhood educator for 36 years. Originally from Japan she studied ECE and taught toddlers and kindergarten students. In Ontario, Canada Yumi received her child development teaching permit. She has obtained child development director permit in California.
Yumi is an experienced administrator for over 20 years with Boys & Girls Clubs of Garden Grove, Early Leaning Programs. She has managed state contracts and federal grants along with developing strategic plans. Yumi also received her BFA in Graphic Design and helps with marketing and advertising for the organization and small business owners. Her recent work has been developing partnerships and collaboration within the ECE community and increasing pubic awareness in the field.
Yumi is committed to providing a foundation for lifelong learning and a love for education in the earliest years of life. She enjoys spending time with her new puppy, Angel and being in the nature.
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Board Members At Large
Monique Rico, M.A.Ed.
Board Development Chair
Monique began her career as an ROP student and has over twenty years of experience in the early childhood education field. Her professional experience includes teaching in private faith-based and public early learning programs. Currently, Monique serves as a high school teacher for Coastline ROP, where she imparts her expertise in child development and early childhood education. In her role, she has developed a new pathway for early childhood education at Costa Mesa High School. This innovative program bridges the gap between theoretical knowledge and real-world experience by facilitating partnerships with local preschools and transitional kindergarten programs, in collaboration with the Newport Mesa Unified School District. She enjoys sharing her passion and knowledge and guiding aspiring students toward fulfilling careers in the child development and early childhood education fields. She believes in the power of education to inspire and shape the lives of young learners, and she takes pride in nurturing a new generation of professionals dedicated to serving the youngest members of their community. Monique holds a Master of Arts degree in Educational Leadership in Early Childhood Education, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education, and a Career Technical Education Credential in Education, Child Development, and Family Services.
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Kristina H. Atler, Ph.D
Professional Development Chair
My name is Kristina H. Atler PhD and I am an Education Specialist working within the dynamic curriculum team for the Learning Care Group. I have been in Early Childhood Education for 25 years and with my company for 10. I have three children who all attended our schools. I have a Masters of Arts in Teaching and a Masters in Educational Administration. I have both my administrative and multiple subjects teaching credentials. Most recently I am a doctoral candidate researching the leaders' experiences as they initiate and maintain nature-based learning programs. I serve as the OCAEYC professional development committee chair and am thrilled to be part of this organization.
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Poly Pantelidou-Zweigle, M. Ed.
Member Services Chair
Poly Pantelidou holds a BA in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College and a Master's in Education with a specialization in Early Childhood Leadership from Brandman University. Poly started out working with children in high school in an ROP course which ended up influencing her that she wanted to work with preschool age children. With over 30 years of experience in the early childhood education field, Poly has served in numerous roles, including teacher, Director, Program Director, Senior Field Recruiter, and On-boarding and Trainer for a for-profit company. Since 2017, Poly has been an Associate Professor in the Child Development and Education Department at Saddleback College. Additionally, she also taught at San Diego Miramar College as an Assistant Professor and at UMass Global as a University Supervisor for ECE Practicum. Teaching higher education has been a goal for Poly because of the great professors and mentors she had as a student. She enjoys giving back to the field of child development and encouraging and mentoring new ECE educators. Passionate about early childhood education, Poly also volunteers working with young children. In her spare time Poly enjoys spending quality time with their own children at the beach.
Anabell Garcia-Chak
Family Child Care Committee Chair
Anabell was born and raised in Mexico, she holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business from University of Guadalajara, the second largest public University of the Country. She is a proud mother of two caring and smart young men that have been raised surrounded by children and the beautiful Spanish language and the mix of three cultures at home.
Anabell has been working for the past nineteen years as the owner of Ready Play and Learn Child Care teaching children from infants to school-aged. She currently offers a bilingual program in Spanish to Infants and Toddlers. She started her Family Child Care business while watching her own two boys grow. She was inspired to return to school in Early Childhood Education. She has obtained a teacher credential, participated in PITC courses and has gotten her program to be a part of Quality Start OC. In 2015, she formed a networking group of Family Child Care Educators in South Orange County, where she constantly shares information to improve business, professional development and empower Latino Women in their own language.
Anabell has helped several providers to start their Home Child Care business with the Peer Guide Program at OCAEYC. Most of the providers from her group that she has supported are enrolled in Quality Start OC. Anabell understands first hand what it feels like to operate a Family Child Care Business. She expresses how it can be overwhelming and sometimes a feeling of isolation which is why she is always willing to offer a helping hand to her fellow educators. Her professional mission is to offer the best quality and care for her program with infants and toddlers and to help her colleagues do the same.
Rakhee Parekh, M.A.Ed.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Chair
Rakhee holds an M.A.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction from Concordia University, Irvine. She is a Lead Preschool Teacher at the Children’s Center at the University of California, Irvine. Rakhee brings over ten years of experience as an inclusive Early Childhood Educator. Born in Kuwait and raised in India, Rakhee has worked in New York, Mumbai, and Phoenix. She has resided in Irvine, California, with her husband and two daughters since 2004. Rakhee’s vision is grounded in building relationships, a commitment to lifelong learning, academic excellence, and garnering skills for living in a diverse society. She believes her role is to create and foster a caring, nurturing, and stimulating environment for each child. She firmly believes relationships are born when people are personally invested and engaged in the outcomes towards a common goal.
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Wilhelmina (Wili) Burghard
Advocacy & Public Policy Chair
BIO INFORMATION COMING SOON!
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Vanessa (Nessie) Sener, B.A.
Social Media Chair
Vanessa holds a BA in Early Childhood Education from Pacific Oaks College. She is the Director of ENC Nature Preschool and brings over twenty years of experience as an inclusive Early Years Educator. Vanessa is an Orange County native who loves traveling and spending time in nature. She is a dedicated and passionate advocate for children who has spent her career teaching sharing her compassion, love, and respect for all living things nurturing a connection with the natural world. Vanessa has constructed lasting, impactful relationships with children by helping them build a strong sense of self and offering unconditional acceptance, inspirational learning experiences, independence, and reflective engagement developed through a play-based, child-led philosophy.
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OCAEYC Staff
Irene Harvey, B.A.
Director
Irene has been in Early Childhood Education for 22 years. Her love for the field started when she enrolled in her high school’s ROP class for child development. She started her career as an aide and worked through many titles until becoming a Director. She is currently working on obtaining her Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education. Working in this field is more than a profession for Irene, it’s her passion. Irene holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Liberal Studies, a Career Technical Education Credential in Child Development & Family Services and a Child Development Program Director Permit.
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