Abby is the Policy Director at the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center at Vanderbilt University. She leads a team of policy analysts and researchers and oversees the team’s work conducting comprehensive reviews of the evidence on state-level prenatal-to-3 policies and tracking the development, adoption, and implementation of these policies, including their potential to promote equity. She also oversees the production of the annual Prenatal-to-3 State Policy Roadmap.
With over a decade of experience in policy research, Abby’s work is focused in the areas of social, family, and early childhood policy, with a deeper background in early care and education policy. Her dissertation research focused on the intersection of nonstandard and unpredictable work schedules, child care, and maternal well-being, supported by a Child Care Research Scholar Dissertation Grant from the U.S. Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation in the Administration for Children and Families. Abby previously worked at the University of Texas at Austin and the National Women’s Law Center.
Abby holds a Ph.D. in public policy from the University of Texas at Austin. She also holds an M.P.P. from The George Washington University and a B.A. in political science from St. Olaf College. She lives in the Kansas City area with her husband and two young daughters. In her spare time, Abby enjoys engaging in an annual book-reading competition with close friends.
