Our Team

Maria Spinetti, MS

State Policy Analyst

Maria Spinetti is a State Policy Analyst at the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center at Vanderbilt University. In her role, Maria monitors the development, adoption, and implementation of state policies related to early care and learning, cultivates relationships with key stakeholders, and serves as a resource to state-level policymakers. She also contributes to the development of the annual Prenatal-to-3 State Policy Roadmap.

Prior to this role, Maria worked at The Hunt Institute where she was part of the Early Learning and National Programs teams. In both teams, she served as a resource for state-level policymakers on early care and learning policy as well as education policy throughout the continuum. Maria holds an MS and a BS in Early Childhood Development and Education from the University of Central Florida. Her research interests focus on the impact of trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences in young children in Venezuela.

Maria grew up in Venezuela and currently lives in Orlando, Florida with her puppy. Outside of work, Maria enjoys reading, spending time with family, trips to the beach, and going dancing.

Authored Content

In late February, the federal government released a final rule that makes regulatory changes to the Child Care and Development Fund. The rule requires action from many states to ensure child care is affordable and
Just like that, we find ourselves 3 months into the 2024 legislative sessions! In this month’s post, we cover legislative trends in five prenatal-to-3 policy areas we’re tracking across multiple states. Some efforts are near
In the past several months, legislatures throughout the United States passed transformative policies for children and families. This exciting, evidence-based legislation includes a historic investment in child care in Vermont, Medicaid expansion in North Carolina,