Jennifer
Merva Stedron
Executive Director
Jennifer Merva Stedron is Executive Director of Early Milestones Colorado, which she helped design and launch. Previously, she was Senior Program Manager for Ascend at the Aspen Institute. She has also served as the Executive Director of Colorado’s Early Childhood Leadership Commission (ECLC) and the Policy Director for Early Childhood in the Office of Lieutenant Governor Joe Garcia. In this last capacity, she spearheaded the ECLC’s work to establish Colorado’s new Office of Early Childhood and led the grant application effort that resulted in Colorado’s $45 million Early Learning Challenge Fund award. Jennifer has also managed bipartisan policy efforts in K-12 education and early childhood and for the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Jennifer received her B.A. in history from Michigan State University and her Ph.D. in child clinical psychology with a specialty in developmental cognitive neuroscience from the University of Denver. She has been published in variety of formats on topics spanning neural network models of development, early childhood data systems, and two-generation approaches to economic security.
Outside of work, Jennifer enjoys yoga, travel, and hanging out with her immediate and extended family. She is always up for a game of Euchre or Rummikub and is working to get her band, The Ukeladies, back into semi-regular practice.
