2021 New Board Member Bios
Tamara Graves, MA ECMH-E®
Tamara Graves is responsible for training, technical assistance, and oversight of all mental health and disabilities services provided by the Mid-America Regional Council/MARC Head Start program. Tamara is a native of Kansas City and has worked in the area of early childhood for over 24 years, including time spent as a case manager at a local nonprofit behavioral health center. She received her BA in Psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia and two MA degrees from Webster University with a focus on Counseling and Management & Leadership. During her time as Mental Health and Disabilities Manager Tamara has deepened her appreciation for the value of working with young children and their families in the Head Start program as she has witnessed so many examples of resiliency. She is also a wife and mother of three children who keep her very busy.
Chad Hunter, MA, LPC, IMH-E®
Chad Hunter is a Licensed Professional Counselor. He specializes in Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health. Since 2007, he has served Head Start children, families, and staff via counseling and consultation services. His passion is to promote the mental health and wellness of infants, toddlers, preschoolers as well as their parents, teachers, and caregivers. Chad understands how quality care, early intervention, and nurturing responsive relationships from both men and women have a profound impact on children and families. In his free time, Chad enjoys weightlifting and connecting with his church small group..
Bre-Ann Slay, PsyD LP IMH-E®
Bre-Ann Slay is a licensed clinical psychologist who practices psychotherapy and conducts psychological testing with a specialization in infant and early childhood mental health, child welfare, and psychological assessment. Dr. Slay's interests include parent-child relationships, social justice, multiculturalism, and child welfare/foster care. Dr. Slay serves on the executive committee as the board secretary. Dr. Slay also writes for Psychology Today. Dr. Slay graduated with a doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the University of Denver Graduate School of Professional Psychology where she also received her master's degree in forensic psychology. Dr. Slay completed the Irving Harris Fellowship in Infant Mental Health at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. Dr. Slay also has extensive experience working in the foster care system on the Safe Babies Court Team whose goal is to provide permanency through utilizing research on early childhood relational health for families impacted by the foster care system.
Martha Smith, MSN, RN, LNHA
Martha Smith is the Missouri Title V and Maternal Child Health Director at the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, where she also serves as the state Public Health Nursing Coordinator, oversees the statewide MCH Services and Child Care Health Consultation programs, is a Branch Director in the DHSS Emergency Response Center, and participates in various statewide coalitions, advisory committees, and work groups. Martha earned her BS and a dual MS in Nursing from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, with specialized focus in Child/Family Advanced Practice Nursing and Nursing/Healthcare Administration. She began her career in nursing in 1986, was inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing in 1991, became certified as a Child/Family Clinical Nurse Specialist in 1994, and has been a licensed administrator since 2013. Her professional experience encompasses a diversity of nursing roles across the lifespan, including patient care provider, clinical nurse specialist, nurse consultant, nurse educator, healthcare regulator, healthcare administrator, and program manager/director. Although Martha has worked in a variety of healthcare settings, including primary, secondary, and tertiary care, state government, and academia, her passion is population-based maternal and child health, seen through the lens of the Life Course Perspective. In her personal life, Martha is the proud mother of 25-year-old quadruplets (2 boys & 2 girls), owns a private nurse consulting company, volunteers as a mentor for youth, young pregnant women and new moms, leads a gospel praise team, and loves to travel, especially to Alaska.