The Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health (MI-AIMH) presented its 2026 Betty Tableman Award to the Zero To Three (ZTT) Financing Policy Project (FPP) team, a Michigan team that includes Think Babies Michigan (TBMI) parent leaders, TBMI and Early Childhood Investment Corporation (ECIC) staff, TBMI partners and more.
The award was presented at the MI-AIMH Conference and recognizes the team’s exemplary service in building sustainable, equitable systems of care for Michigan’s young children and their families.
“This award is really a recognition of what becomes possible when families, practitioners, advocates, funders and policy partners stop working in silos and start building together,” said Kelly Walden of Think Babies Michigan. “The ZTT FPP team has shown that equitable systems for infants and toddlers don’t happen by accident. They happen because people commit to doing the work together. Betty Tableman modeled that for Michigan, and it’s an honor to carry that legacy forward.”
The Betty Tableman Award, established in 1995, recognizes those who are strong advocates and voices for Michigan infants, young children and their families and contribute to the community and/or public actions that promote the welfare of infants, young children and their families.
Through TBMI’s coordinated investment in the Perigee Fund and ZTT FPP partnerships, parent leaders collaborate with state agencies, advocacy organizations, and national experts. The group is working to align financing strategies and funding streams and ensure that public investments reach the families and communities Michigan’s youngest children depend on.
The award is named for Betty Tableman, a pioneer of infant mental health policy in Michigan and a Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame inductee. Beginning in 1970 at the Michigan Department of Mental Health, Tableman partnered with the University of Michigan to launch one of the country’s first state-level infant mental health training programs. By the time she retired in 1998, more than 35 such programs were operating across Michigan, serving more than 1,200 infants, toddlers and families each year.
Members of the awarded ZTT Financing Policy Project Team at the Biennial MI-AIMH Conference.
Zero to Three Financing Policy Project Team Members
- Rachelle Mckissick-Harris, TBMI Parent Leader
- Cara Sutliffe, TBMI Parent Leader
- Gillian Ogilvie, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS)
- Carolyn Dayton, Wayne State University
- Alissa Huth-Bocks, Wayne State University
- Christy Callahan, Clinton County RESA
- Maddie Elliott, Michigan’s Children
- Kelly Walden, Early Childhood Investment Corporation/ Think Babies Michigan
- Danie Rice, Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health
- Chy’Leetzia Johnson, Starfish Family Services
- Renee Dyer, Central Michigan Community Mental Health
- Amy Zaagman, Michigan Council for Maternal and Child Health
- Ta’Sheena Williams, Michigan Council for Maternal and Child Health
- Janet Timbs, Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP)
- Meghan Schmeltzer, Zero To Three