Stephanie Mari-Edwards - Quality Support Specialist
Start Date: 2013

Stephanie is a native of Colorado and has spent the past 30+ years working with children and their families. When she moved back to Northeast Colorado from the Denver area several years ago, she knew she wanted to continue to change the lives of children. She began working for ECCLPS as a Cavity Free at Three Advocate in 2012. She quickly began to receive her certifications in several classroom-rating scales such as the "ERS", "CLASS", "TPOT", "TPITOS" and "LENA GROW". She is an "Expanding Quality for Infants and Toddlers" instructor and coach. Stephanie is also an Approved Trainer and facilitates classes for parents and early educators, such as: Love & Logic, touch-points and the Pyramid Model. Stephanie is proud to hold a coaching credential along with a Level IV professional development credential. Her current position at ECCLPS is their Quality Support Specialist and she is looking forward to continuing to support and build relationships with our Early Educators so our children may thrive in a high-quality environment with highly trained caregivers.

Michelle Sharp - Executive Director
Start Date: 2014

Michelle is a Colorado Native, born and raised in the Pikes Peak Region. She moved to Sterling in 1990 to attend Northeastern Jr. College and has made Northeast Colorado her home for the last 32 years. Michelle has been working in the non-profit sector for over 16 years and understands the disparities of living in rural Colorado and having to drive 2 hours 1 way to receive services. She has her Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology Programming and provides all the technical assistance, website and data information for ECCLPS. Michelle became a Certified Professional Coach in 2021 and is the PDIS System Coordinator and QI Navigator for ECCLPS through Colorado Shines, and is a trainer for Safe Sleep, Pyramid Model, Touchpoints, Getting Ahead in a Just Gettin' by World and Cultural Awareness.

Michelle started working for ECCLPS in April 2014 as the Program Support Manager and became the Executive Director in February 2017. Besides being the Executive Director, she is also the financial manager, grant writer and supports all of our early childhood champions on the business side of their childcare facilities. She was awarded the Northeast Colorado Health Department Rising Star Leadership Award and completed the 2017 Community Resource Center Leadership Cohort. Michelle is passionate about helping others and being involved in the community.

Stacey Zink - Program Coordinator
Start Date: 2016

Stacey joined ECCLPS in November of 2015 as the Coordinator. She is a graduate of Northeastern Junior College and the University of Northern Colorado with a bachelor's degree in elementary education. Stacey has over fifteen years combined experience in both elementary and preschool classrooms. Her true passion is early childhood education and the impact it has on children and their families. She understands the importance of quality and highly trained early childhood educators to help children grow and develop to their full potential. Stacey is a native of Northeastern Colorado and is committed to ensuring that children in the area receive high quality early childhood experiences.

Stacey is a certified pre-licensing trainer & guides people through the process to become licensed family home child care providers. She oversees early childhood professional development trainings, Resource & Referral, fundraising, event planning and the Dolly Parton Imagination Library Program.

Aileen Miranda - Program Assistant
Start Date: 2022

Aileen is brand new to the field of early childhood education. She joined our team as Program Assistant in March of 2022. She stumbled into the position with us completely by accident, but is immensely excited to be a part of the ECCLPS team, and is looking forward to a long, satisfying future in the development of our youth. Aileen is originally from Greeley, but has been in Sterling since April of 2015. She attended Northeastern Junior College, and received an AAS degree in Production Agriculture. She also works with Family Resource Center and is involved in the Supervised Visitation program there. She is very passionate about working with children and families of broken homes, particularly in these changing and uncertain times. She enjoys outdoor activities such as, gardening, fishing, caring for chickens and cats, and most of all spending time with her mom, who is her biggest inspiration.

Bailee Jones - UPK Facilitator
Start Date: 2022

Raised primarily in the Northeast region of Colorado and with strong family roots in the area and her connection to ECCLPS, Bailee jumped at the opportunity to help serve her community’s UPK needs. Bailee is a home grown Colorado Native, she has always had a passion for helping those around her as well as interacting with new faces. She graduated from UNC Greeley in 2020 with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a minor in Sociology. Bailee has experience working alongside NE BOCES and the ECCLPS team, she is also well versed in navigating online platforms and new technology. With these combined skills, she is looking forward to helping troubleshoot and navigate the UPK program. She currently resides in Denver, CO and also works in Real Estate. She loves exploring the city, trying new foods and activities, and staying active. Please feel free to reach out to her at 970.580.6033 or [email protected] with any questions or concerns relating to UPK.