Martha E. Edwards, Ph.D., is the Founder and Director of the Institute’s Center for the Developing Child & Family. Her expertise focuses on child development in the context of the family, school, and culture; the determinants, outcomes, and processes of parenting; and the integration of body, mind, spirit. She developed a longitudinal prevention program, Bright Beginnings, for infants, toddlers and their families designed to promote infant mental health, school readiness, and the ongoing relational development of children and parents. Bright Beginnings has been implemented in New York City public schools, in community-based organizations, in Early Head Start and Even Start, and with NYC’s Administration for Children’s Services. Dr. Edwards is active in professional organizations, as Vice President and board member of the American Family Therapy Academy, Board member of the Zero to Three New York Network, and advisory editor for Family Process.

Judy Grossman, DrPH, OTR, is the Associate Director of the Center for the Developing Child and Family and Director of the Resilient Families: Children with Special Needs Project. She is also an occupational therapy and public health educator and consultant to community agencies. Dr. Grossman is currently adjunct faculty at NYU; previous academic appointments include Chairperson at SUNY-Downstate Medical Center, Associate Research Scientist at Yale School of Medicine and adjunct faculty at Columbia University and Sacred Heart University. She has conducted early intervention and special education policy studies for the NYS Department of Education as well as municipalities and school systems in NYC, Westchester County, NY and Fairfield County, CT.

Dr. Grossman developed the Personal Best prevention program for families with young children based on her clinical experience and research studies with clinic and at-risk populations. She also conducts parent discussion groups with families who have children with special needs. She has published and presented in the areas of family resilience, parenting, mental health consultation and best practices in early intervention and special education. Dr. Grossman maintains a private practice in family therapy in New York City.

Sabina Fila, LCSW, is a faculty member of Ackerman’s Center for the Developing Child and Family and a clinical member of the Developing Family Project.  In her 20+years as a social worker and psychotherapist she has worked with a wide variety of individuals and families with some emphasis on substance abuse and recovery, trauma and healing, family reunification, and cross-cultural couples and families.  Over the last twelve years, as part of the Center for the Developing Child and Family, Sabina has worked in supporting parents of infants and toddlers in different settings as well as supporting community based agency staff who work with families with young children.  Sabina maintains a private practice in Manhattan and is a certified Hakomi therapist.

Genoveva Garcia, LCSW is a bilingual (English and Spanish) family therapist in New York City. She is a faculty consultant for the Center for the Developing Child and Family.  Genoveva has extensive experience working in various settings and with multiple populations, including with parents under multiple circumstances and experiences, such as trauma, foster care, adoption, and immigration and family reunification.  She has also worked with community-based Mental Health facilities, grassroots organizations, and with college students in NYC. She is the Associate Director of the Latino Youth and Family Immigration Project and a Teaching Fellow at the Ackerman Institute.  Genoveva maintains a private practice in NYC.

Yolanda Martinez, MSW, is a faculty consultant of Ackerman’s Center for the Developing Child and Family. She has provided agency consultation for Bright Beginnings and Personal Best for the past 6 years at the Coalition for Hispanic Family Services, Kingsbridge Heights Community Center and New York Foundling. Yolanda has also engaged in the Center’s research activities such as video coding parent-child interactions and administering a wide variety of child and adult assessments. In her time outside of Ackerman, Yolanda provides individual and family therapy at the Metropolitan Center for Mental Health in New York.

Christine Reynolds, LCSW is a faculty member of the Center For the Developing Child and Family at the Ackerman Institute. Ms. Reynolds has over 20 years of postgraduate clinical and consulting experience in home based family therapy, child welfare, community mental health, early childhood, and private practice in both rural and urban environments. She has presented and consulted nationally with large and small agencies on how to increase their staff members’ reflective capacities in their clinical work with families with young children. Additionally, Ms. Reynolds maintains a private practice in Manhattan specializing in families, couples and children.

Barbara Russek, PsyD, a clinical psychologist and family therapist, has been a faculty member of the Center for the Developing Child and Family since its inception. In this capacity she developed a supplement to Bright Beginnings to support fathers and couples parenting young children and provides consultation, training and ongoing support to staff and administrators of programs implementing Bright Beginnings and Personal Best. Dr. Russek has created and taught workshops and courses on infant observation and assessment, attachment, and issues affecting the emotional and social development of infants and young children, such as separation and loss, foster care placement, and exposure to violence and other major traumas. Based on their 18-month treatment of two-year-old twins placed in foster care, Dr. Russek developed with a colleague a training film which she has presented at conferences and institutions locally and nationally. Dr. Russek is an experienced supervisor of psychology graduate students in child and adolescent psychotherapy, and family and couples therapy. She also is a consultant to a nursery school that includes children with special needs in the same classes with typically developing children. Dr. Russek is in private practice in Manhattan, where she treats families, couples, and individual children, adolescents, and adults.

Brenda Nikelsberg, LSW, is the administrative coordinator for the Center for the Developing Child and Family and a Project Member of the Developing Families Project. Brenda began her work with CDCF 12 years ago, supporting the development and implementation of Bright Beginnings and Personal Best in the NYC area. Brenda has participated in CDCF trainings for professionals, coordinated research initiatives, and has engaged in clinical work with families with young children.

Dr. Zina Rutkin, CKCC’s (Competent Kids, Caring Communities) Director, holds a master’s degree in special education from Lesley College, a doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Case Western Reserve University, and a certificate in Family Studies from  Minuchin Center for the Family. Dr. Rutkin worked closely with the late Dr. Marcia Stern, CKCC’s founder, in the early program developmental stages of CKCC.  Dr. Rutkin began her career as a special educator, and then became a clinical psychologist with a strong background in program evaluation as well as mental health. She has served as a consultant to a variety of mental health organizations, social service agencies, and school settings throughout the New York area, and also as an adjunct professor at NYU.  Dr. Rutkin has over thirty years of experience working with, and on behalf of, children and families, with a particular eye toward the interface between education and mental health, and the development of foundational skills leading to success in learning and in life.

Arlean Wells, PhD is the Program Coordinator for Competent Kids, Caring Communities (CKCC). Dr. Wells is a former New York City Public School Teacher and Adjunct Professor for Brooklyn College. She also worked as a Consultant for the New York City Early Childhood Professional Development Institute and as a Project Associate for the New York University Metropolitan Center for Urban Education. Dr. Wells’ overseas experience includes working as a Curriculum Specialist for the Ministry of Education, in Kingston Jamaica and a Peace Corps Volunteer in South Africa, where she assisted Region Directors with policy development and implementation and lead professional development workshops on classroom management, curriculum development and on the ideology of systematic change.

Rachel St. Louis, MSW, was a special education teacher for eight years for the NYC Department of Education where she led a team in the implementation of Social Emotional Learning initiatives at her school as SEL Coordinator.  Her dedication in equipping our youth with the social skills she believes are vital to becoming successful citizens brought her to Ackerman.

Judy Grossman, DrPH, OTR, is the Associate Director of the Center for the Developing Child and Family and Director of the Resilient Families: Children with Special Needs Project. She is also an occupational therapy and public health educator and consultant to community agencies. Dr. Grossman is currently adjunct faculty at NYU; previous academic appointments include Chairperson at SUNY-Downstate Medical Center, Associate Research Scientist at Yale School of Medicine and adjunct faculty at Columbia University and Sacred Heart University. She has conducted early intervention and special education policy studies for the NYS Department of Education as well as municipalities and school systems in NYC, Westchester County, NY and Fairfield County, CT.

Dr. Grossman developed the Personal Best prevention program for families with young children based on her clinical experience and research studies with clinic and at-risk populations. She also conducts parent discussion groups with families who have children with special needs. She has published and presented in the areas of family resilience, parenting, mental health consultation and best practices in early intervention and special education. Dr. Grossman maintains a private practice in family therapy in New York City.

Judith Aronowitz, RN, LCSW, is a Registered Nurse and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Judi trained at the Ackerman Institute for the Family and has been a Project Associate on the Special Needs Project for 6 years. In addition, Judi is a supervising therapist at Mt. Sinai Beth Israel Child and Adolescent Clinic and is in Private Practice treating couples and families.

Sara Lynn Goldsmith is a Certified School Psychologist and Family Therapist, having graduated from the Ackerman Training Program in 1986.  She has been a Special Needs Project Associate for 6 years and before that, spent 8 years at Ackerman’s  Center for the Developing Child and Family.  Sara consults with Early Childhood Programs, provides staff trainings and maintains a private practice in Westchester, NY.

Elissa Kirtzman, LCSW, is a Project Associate on the Special Needs Project at the Ackerman Institute for the Family. In addition, Elissa is a Clinical Supervisor in Family Therapy at Bellevue Hospital/NYU Child Study Center. Elissa has a private practice in Manhattan where she works with couples, individuals and families.

Tracy K. Ross, LCSW, is a graduate of the Ackerman Institute for the Family Externship Program, a licensed clinical social worker, organizational psychologist, and collaborative divorce coach. Tracy has been a Project Associate on the Special Needs Project for 6 years and has been in private practice in the West Village for over 15 years. She specializes in couples and family therapy as well as discernment counseling and collaborative divorce.