CDC's Act Early Ambassador to NJ & State Parent Lead for EC Initiatives
SPAN Parent Advocacy Network
Deepa is the CDC’s "Learn the Signs. Act Early." Ambassador and the Division for Early Childhood Recommended Practices (aRPy) Ambassador for New Jersey. She is also the State Parent Lead for New Jersey’s Early Childhood Initiatives - Help Me Grow, Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems CoIIN, and Home Visiting. She works for the SPAN Parent Advocacy Network where she also leads other projects focused on improving early childhood and family engagement outcomes. Deepa is committed to helping individuals with disabilities and their families to navigate systems of care because of her own experiences as an immigrant mother. She is also committed to enhancing family-professional partnerships, supporting parent leadership development, and ensuring that families are partners in decision-making at all levels.
Deepa is NJ’s Association for Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) Family Delegate and the NJ Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disorders (NJLEND) Family Fellow. She is also the recipient of the 2020 Merle McPherson Award for her exemplary contributions to further family-professional collaborations within state Title V programs and AMCHP. In collaboration with the NJ state team, she has helped create several NJ-specific resources to address gaps in connecting to services when developmental concerns are identified in young children.