Nathan Johnston-Chiszar coordinates Region VII of the Program for Infant Toddler Care Partners for Quality project for WestEd’s Center for Child and Family Studies. He is responsible for maintaining and coordinating a network of Infant/Toddler Specialists within the region that encompasses Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Stanislaus, San Joaquin, and Tuolumne Counties in California, and providing technical assistance to community college faculty and center staff located within that region. He works in collaboration with local child care planning councils and county commissions as well as other statewide training systems to ensure that requests for training are funded in traditionally underserved areas.

Previously, he worked as an early childhood educator within the military child care system, serving 4 years as Center Director in programs serving 180-200 young children daily including 50 infants and toddlers. He also spent 3 years working with caregivers of infants, toddlers, and children with special needs in the role of Training and Curriculum Specialist. During that time he served as the professional chairperson of the Local Interagency Coordinating Council, developing and implementing programs that addressed gaps in service delivery for children with special health or educational needs throughout southern Germany.

He received a B.A. degree in child development from New College of California, and a M.A. degree in human behavior with an emphasis in working with children with special needs from City University.

Prior to that he worked as a family child care provider and preschool teacher for nine years, completing his student teaching at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California during that same time.

He worked as an elementary school counselor for several years prior to working in the military child care system. He taught child development classes at the University of Maryland and Monterey Peninsula College, where he also served as the California Early Childhood Mentor Program Coordinator.