Michele Haney is co-founder of the CHIME Institute and was the first vice president of the Board as well as the first coordinator of the infant/toddler intervention component of the Institute. She is the parent of two children with disabilities. Dr. Haney is a professor of early childhood special education (ECSE) at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) Michael D. Eisner College of Education. She is also co-director of Project CULTURE in ECSE at CSUN, a program to support students working on their master’s degree in ECSE with an emphasis on understanding families from diverse cultural backgrounds. She has been a teacher and administrator of both general and special education programs in early childhood. Dr. Haney has coordinated student services for several U.S. Department of Education personnel preparation projects, including the Infant Development Specialist Training Program at California State University, Los Angeles and the Transdisciplinary Approach to Preparation of Infant/Toddler Specialists at CSUN. She has co-authored and co-directed three other U.S. Department of Education personnel preparation grants at CSUN including an ECSE Model Demonstration Project to provide identification, intervention, and program development services within the large Latino community of East San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. She has served on the Los Angeles County Regional Council, which is comprised of Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) representatives, parents, and other educational agencies in the county. Dr. Haney has co-authored two books: Preschool Inclusion and Promoting Learning through Active Interaction:A guide to early communication with young children who have multiple disabilities. She has co-authored several chapters in a widely used text for working with students with severe disabilities, Community-Based Curriculum. All books are published by Paul H. Brookes. She has presented at many national and international conferences and written numerous articles in the field of ECSE.

She has a bachelor’s degree in English from Goddard College, a master’s degree in educational administration from Castleton State College, a specialist credential—learning handicapped from Mount St. Mary’s College, and a Ph.D. in special education from the joint doctoral program of California State University, Los Angeles and the University of California, Los Angeles.