Hailey Heinz is a senior research scientist and deputy director of CCPI. Her work emphasizes New Mexico families and children, and the effectiveness of programs designed to support them. She has particular expertise in early childhood education and care. Recently, she has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on projects focused on family access to child care assistance and nutrition programs, as well as research and evaluation for the First Born home visiting model. Hailey uses a range of methods and approaches to support policymaking grounded in data and research. She holds a PhD in political science from the University of New Mexico, with concentrations in public policy and American politics. Hailey previously worked as a newspaper reporter, and applies skills from that career to communicating about research and policy in ways that are useful to families, policymakers, and community organizations. In that capacity, she has written and consulted for the Emmy-nominated web series, “The Early Show with Alax,” which communicates information about early childhood development and programs in family-friendly formats.