Barbara Smith’s areas of interest include policies and systems in early intervention, early childhood special education and early care and education, as well as leadership, professional development, and collaboration. She has been an early childhood teacher; Executive Director of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC); Policy Specialist, CEC; and Program Specialist, US Office of Special Education Programs. Barbara has worked with NAEYC and DEC and other early childhood leadership organizations to help shape quality inclusive early childhood environments and the policies and guidelines that support them. She has published widely on the topic of EC policy and systems, presented testimony to state legislative and Congressional committees and has provided consultation to states on state policy. She served as faculty on CSEFEL, TACSEI, the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations (NCPMI) and the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA Center). Barbara is on the faculty for the Pyramid Model Consortium and is co-author of The Preschool Inclusion Toolbox: How to Build and Lead a High Quality Program.