1. Home
2. For Early Childhood Professionals
3. Training and Education
4. Professional Development Advising

Professional Development Advising

Professional Development Advisors support the professional growth of early childhood educators. Ongoing training and professional development gives educators skills to offer the high-quality learning environments and interactions needed to prepare children for school.

Your Professional Development Advisor can help you:

• Prep for an initial Child Development Associate (CDA) or CDA renewal
• Determine trainings that may already count toward a Parent Aware Rating
• Select trainings that meet state or Parent Aware Rating requirements
• Create a Professional Development Plan to achieve your goals
• Connect you with professional resources and opportunities
• Navigate career pathways
• Find Higher Education programs

If your program is located in the 7-county metro, contact:

• Mary Beth Settergren (Hennepin County)
  651-366-6787 | mbsettergren@thinksmall.org

• Cheryl Kottke (Ramsey County)
  651-233-2260 | ckottke@thinksmall.org

• Hodan Saed (Anoka and Washington Counties)
  651-287-8589 | hsaed@thinksmall.org

• Tiffany Heaver (Dakota, Scott and Carver Counties)
  651-641-6623 | theaver@thinksmall.org
  

• Santiago Espinosa Riofrio (Bilingual Spanish / English in 7 County Metro)
  651-641-6639 | seriofrio@thinksmall.org
  

If your program is located outside of the 7-county metro area, find your appropriate District and contact information here.

Professional Development Advising Resources

Develop, Minnesota’s Quality Improvement and Registry Tool is where you can register for training, track your employment and education, track professional development achievements, create an Individual Training Needs Assessment (ITNA), and more!

Achieve Minnesota Center for Professional Development recognizes and highlights training, experience, and professionalism that are vital to quality care. The Achieve Virtual Career Guide and Career Lattice are tools of empowerment. Advance your skills and succeed in reaching your career goals. Use this tool to search opportunities and identify options for your path of achievement.