Enrica is the Director of Early Learning Programs and a Child Care and Preschool Consultant at Kindering. She came to the field of special education through her early experiences working in child care. She obtained her doctoral degree with a focus in early childhood special education in 2008 at the University of Washington. She has worked at Kindering for over 20 years supporting the diverse needs of young children and families in several capacities including as a special education teacher, child care coordinator, consultant, and trainer. In late 2016 she was appointed by Kindering to the position of Thomas C. Wright Distinguished Educator. Enrica is an active participant on local, county-wide, and state-level early learning efforts which focus on improving the quality of early care and education for young children. Enrica is dedicated to supporting the individual needs of young children, families, and strengthening Washington’s early learning system. In her free time, Enrica enjoys spending time outdoors, figure skating, travel, and baking.

Heidi is a Child Care and Preschool Consultant at Kindering. She grew up in Carbondale, Illinois, and obtained her B.A. in English from Southern Illinois University in 1983. After earning her teaching certificate, she moved to Oregon and spent 10 years teaching high school English. She obtained her M.Ed. in Early Childhood Special Education at the University of Washington in 2007 and worked in early intervention, specializing in supporting young children’s social-emotional development and teaching children with vision impairments. Her experience during this time included teaching Stepping Stones toddler classes, co-operative play groups, and Baby Steps infant-parent classes. She served as manager of the Education department for three of these years. Heidi has a passion for learning languages and getting to know people from around the world. In her free time, she loves to read, go hiking, and play the piano. She has two grown children and lives in Snoqualmie with her husband, two border collies, and two newly adopted kittens.

Katrine is an Child Care and Preschool Consultant at Kindering and a Speech-Language Pathologist by training. She grew up in the California Bay area and moved to Washington State in high school. She received her Masters degree from Washington State University and has been working at Kindering since 2001. She managed the department of Speech-Language Pathologists at Kindering for 8 years. Since that time she has worked part time as a speech-language pathologist and now as a Child Care and Preschool Consultant. She has also spent the last 10 years raising her two daughters with her husband in the Snoqualmie Valley. Katrine has a passion for child development and helping families navigate systems to gain the best care and intervention possible for their child. In her free time, she loves to play with her kids, golf and ski as a family, go on peaceful walks, travel, and spend time in Lake Chelan.

Safaa is a Childcare and Preschool Consultant at Kindering. Safaa was born in Iraq, raised in Syria, and moved to Seattle as a teenager. She has over 15 years of experience working with children in different settings and her goal is to create positive childhood experiences so children can become healthy adults. Safaa has classroom and program management experience, is a state approved trainer and an adjunct faculty member for early childhood.  She really enjoys learning and being around kids. Safaa is currently working toward her M.A. in Child and Adolescent Psychology from Northcentral University and her IMH endorsement. In her free time, she enjoys reading, being out in nature, travelling, and cooking.