Melissa Mendez has worked the past 20 years in the field of infant and early childhood mental health. Melissa spent the first five years of her career with Head Start programs in Jackson County, Michigan and then moved to Connecticut in 2006 to work as an Early Childhood Consultant at Wheeler Clinic. Melissa is currently Director of Early Childhood Programs at Wheeler and is also a part-time Professor of Child and Family Clinical Practice in the MSW program at Southern Connecticut State University. Melissa served as President of the CT-Association for Infant Mental Health Health from 2015-2018 and is still active with the work of CT-AIMH. Melissa authored, illustrated, and published several children's books in 2020 that are focused on children's social emotional health and development.