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![\"Martha](\"http://www.georgiatraininginstitute.com/images/virginiaBaker.jpg\") Virginia Baker, Professional Development Specialist
Virginia Baker has over 22 years of experience in human services, primarily working with families and children. She served as Director of the Family Resource Center at the Scottdale Child Development and Family Resource Center where she developed a number of family support programs including parent education, a parent advisory council, a program for pregnant and parenting teens, and a youth leadership academy program. Ms. Baker has served as a Resource Coordinator for the Georgia Pre-K program and a Probation Counselor/Program Coordinator with the DeKalb County Juvenile Court. As a consultant, Ms. Baker has traveled throughout the country providing training, technical assistance and capacity building to early care and learning programs, nonprofit, community-based and faith-based organizations. Ms. Baker is a graduate of West Georgia College, with a Master\'s of Education degree in Guidance and Counseling and a 1999 Graduate of Leadership DeKalb. Ms. Baker is also an Adjunct Instructor in the Early Childhood Care and Education Department at DeKalb Technical College, a Certified Preventionist (Level 4), a National Trainer for the Parent Services Project, a state approved trainer and a lead trainer for Get Ready to Read! She is a member of the Interfaith Movement for Children, the BCDI-Black Child Development Institute-Atlanta Affiliate, and United Way’s Investment Committee.
vbaker@shelteringarmsforkids.com
![\"Martha](\"http://www.georgiatraininginstitute.com/images/dianeBellem.jpg\") Diane Bellem, Director/Vice President
Diane Bellem has more than 32 years experience in developing and managing direct services for children and families in community-based organizations and in implementing training and technical assistance for frontline staff and supervisors. Ms. Bellem joined Sheltering Arms in 1983, and served as a family support coordinator and a center director before being named to head family development services for the agency in 1987. Ms. Bellem is certified by Cornell University as a training facilitator for the Family Development Credential and the FDC Leaders course. She has served on the National Consultant Work Group of Head Start’s National Competency Based Training and Credentialing Initiative, and the national technical assistance network for the Center for the Study of Social Policy’s Strengthening Families Initiative. The American Psychological Association selected Ms. Bellem as a facilitator to help bring the national ACT – Act Against Violence program to local communities. She holds a Master’s degree from the State University of West Georgia and a BA from Atlanta Christian College. Ms. Bellem is the mother of a Sheltering Arms alumni and the grandmother of one of Sheltering Arms’ current babies. dbellem@shelteringarmsforkids.com
![\"Brent](\"http://www.georgiatraininginstitute.com/images/brent_harriman.jpg\") Brent Harriman, Director of Operations
Before joining Sheltering Arms Georgia Training Institute, Brent Harriman was Director of Provider Resources at Illinois Action for Children. In this role, Mr. Harriman championed quality child care and early education for families throughout Illinois by overseeing the provision of accessible community resources and advocacy. Mr. Harriman has over 20 years experience in child care and education, as a teacher, child care center director, early childhood career advisor, advocate, and leader. Mr. Harriman worked in public schools for over ten years, educating children from preschool to high school, including those with developmental disabilities. Following his experience teaching, Mr. Harriman worked with the State of Maine’s Department of Education, administering components of their early intervention support system. Mr. Harriman has served on numerous public service commissions in Illinois including the Professional Development Advisory Committee, Leaders in Quality, the Child Corps Advisory Board, and the Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies Governance Board. Mr. Harriman believes all families and their children are entitled to quality child care and education. To that end, he has committed his professional life to work in this field.
bharriman@shelteringarmsforkids.com
![\"Martha](\"http://www.georgiatraininginstitute.com/images/sharmineseHarris.jpg\") Sharminese Harris, Data Coordinator
sharris@shelteringarmsforkids.com
Amy Hobart, Manager, Director of Early Care & Education Programs
For more than 23 years, Amy Hobart has served early care and education programs in Georgia as a teacher, center director, trainer, and advocate. She has served on the faculty for the University of Georgia Child Development Associate Training Initiative and is a certified trainer for the Program for Infant Toddler Caregivers (PITC) – WestEd. She has been a trainer and technical assistance consultant for ACET (Advancing Careers through Education & Training), the Georgia Association for Young Children, Georgia Academy and Family Connection, and Quality Assist, and is a Georgia Department of Early Care & Learning approved trainer. Ms. Hobart is a skilled program evaluator with extensive experience in the implementation of a variety of classroom observation and child assessment instruments for use in research and technical assistance. As the coordinator of the Georgia Early Childhood Mentor Teaching Program with Quality Assist, the Georgia Childhood Care and Education Articulation Project with Georgia State University, and the Professional Development Project of the Georgia Association on Young Children, Ms. Hobart has helped improve the quality of services to young children through creation of a career ladder for Georgia’s early childhood professionals. Ms. Hobart has also worked in the public school system as an educator of children with special needs. Ms. Hobart holds a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology and Special Education from Georgia State University and a Bachelor’s degree in Child Development from San Jose State University, California. She serves as a validator for NAEYC accreditation through the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs and is a member of the National Head Start Association and the American Society for Training and Development. She has provided leadership to many Georgia early childhood efforts, including the Georgia Childhood Care Regulatory Study Steering Committee; Georgia Child Care Training Network; and Teacher Education and Compensation Helps (T.E.A.C.H.) Advisory Committee. ahobart@shelteringarmsforkids.com
![\"Martha](\"http://www.georgiatraininginstitute.com/images/kateMyers.jpg\") Kate Myers, Director of Family Services
Kate Myers joined the staff of Sheltering Arms as a family support coordinator in 1998, bringing experience as a mental health worker at several hospitals in Georgia and Tennessee and at The Bridge, an Atlanta nonprofit serving adolescents and their families. She went on to serve as a child and family specialist at Sheltering Arms before being named Director of Family Services in 2004. In this role, she coordinates family support services for all 16 Sheltering Arms centers in metro Atlanta. Ms. Myers is a certified trainer for the American Psychological Association’s ACT Against Violence Curriculum, Cornell University’s Family Development Credential, and the National Coalition Building Institute, and is an agency coordinator for Second Step: A Violence Prevention Curriculum. She is a licensed social worker with an MSW and a BA in psychology from the University of Georgia, and is a graduate of Leadership DeKalb.
kmyers@shelteringarmsforkids.com
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