Rebecca E. Gomez, EdD, holds the Rauch Postdoctoral Fellowship at the National Center for Children and Families (NCCF), Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research interests include exploring the impact of state-level governance on early childhood systems, the impact of professional development systems on improving workforce quality and stability, and multilevel governance approaches in early childhood. Some of the studies in which Gomez has participated include analyses on the effect of governance on state-level systems-building for a number of U.S. states, on the availability and quality of services for young children and their families on Long Island, on states’ early learning standards, and on the impact of professional development systems on improving teacher qualifications across a number of countries. Before joining NCCF, Gomez worked for a variety of state and national early childhood organizations, including the Pennsylvania Early Learning Keys to Quality program, NACCRRA, and the State of New Hampshire’s Child Development Bureau. She has also held adjunct faculty positions in the Early Childhood departments at West Chester University and Granite State College. She earned her MEd in Early Childhood from the University of New Hampshire in 2004, and her BA in American Studies from Rutgers University in 2001. She was named a Children’s Defense Fund Emerging Leader in 2004 and a NACCRRA Emerging Leader in 2005. She is a former member of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Early Learning Council and the NAEYC Governing Board.