Kelsey Smith, LCSW, IMH-E®
Executive Director
She is committed to racial justice and equitable opportunities for all children to grow and prosper. Kelsey was a founding member of Power of Two, a New York City child welfare organization focused on dismantling systems of oppression to support the city’s youngest residents, and has a background in attachment-based parenting and home visiting. In 7 years, Kelsey helped the organization grow to serve all 5 boroughs of New York City and reach thousands of children and their families. Kelsey has extensive experience in organizational growth and program development, cultivating and maintaining relationships, program design, training and implementation, and consultation. She is an organizational leader who leads with integrity and authenticity.
Kelsey holds a master’s degree from New York University School of Social Work and became Endorsed as an Infant Family Specialist in 2022.
Jess Taylor-Pickford, LCSW, IMH-E®
Endorsement Director
Enthusiastic about Endorsement and reflective supervision/consultation, Jess sought Endorsement as an Infant Mental Health Specialist in 2017 and as an Infant Mental Health Mentor (Clinical) in 2020. She provides reflective supervision to individuals and groups, supporting supervisees in shifting the ways in which they view, wonder about, consider, understand, and respond to the pregnant women, infants, young children, and families whom they serve. Additionally, Jess enjoy bringing reflective practice into her current policy, systems, and partnership work.
Jess has extensive clinical experience working directly with infants, toddlers and their families in a variety of settings, including early care and education centers, in homes, and in a private practice setting. She graduated from Smith College School of Social Work in 2011. Her desire to support this unique population comes from a strong held belief that all children should be seen, valued and supported just as they are—which is what she is working towards in parenting her own young children too!
Julissa Thompson, BA, IBCLC, CLC
Training Coordinator
Julissa has a background in psychology, early childhood education, and breastfeeding/chestfeeding research. She brings the experiences of a nanny of over a decade, preschool teacher, and parent coach to her current roles as NCIMHA Training Coordinator and Board Certified Lactation Consultant in a local Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Her passion for cross-cultural understanding, parental and child well-being, and her Caribbean heritage coupled with her love for learning (and food!) have taken her to 18 countries between Denmark and Barbados for personal and professional journeys. In her free time, she collects unicorn decor and dreams of more travels, more roti, and a world where social equity is the standard that we all hold ourselves to.
Julia Albrecht, IMH-E®
Endorsement Central Service Coordinator (ECCS)
Based in Michigan and employed by the Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health (Alliance), Julia is contracted to provide specialized support and guidance to our North Carolina Infant and (soon) Early Childhood Mental Health Endorsement (I/ECMH-E®) applicants. Julia has extensive experience providing home visiting services to infants, toddlers, young children and their families in a rural area of Michigan. She recently transitioned to the Alliance after having experienced how Endorsement and access to reflective supervision/consultation supported her in approaching her direct service work in a whole new way. Julia is excited to provide Endorsement applicant support here in North Carolina and to interact with applicants as they embark on their Endorsement journey.