Durham PreK Team
Durham PreK is supported by many people across many different agencies. Below you will find information on the Early Years Durham PreK Team.
Durham PreK is a true collaboration between local child care initiatives and organizations to achieve the vision of equitable access to high-quality pre-K for all children in Durham County. To view the collaborative team, click below.
Meet the Staff
Tammorah Mathis
Durham PreK Director
Prior to serving as the Durham PreK Director, Tammorah served as the Director of Afterschool Programs for Orange County Schools in the School Community Relations Department. She was previously with the NC Department of Public Instruction (NC DPI), Federal Programs Monitoring and Support Division, as a Program Administrator for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program.
Tammorah shares that she thoroughly enjoys her career working with programs, students and families, along with networking with other entities who are engaged with positive youth development. She is a native of Bladen County, NC via Fort Benning, Georgia. Prior to joining NC DPI, she served as the Dean of Students and Response to Instruction (RtI) Administrator at W.G. Pearson Elementary School in Durham Public Schools.
Tammorah has over 20 years of experience supporting young people in Out-of-School Time Programs beginning with middle school programs in Durham Public Schools. She has instructional leadership experience as an exceptional children’s teacher and worked earlier in various support roles as a classroom assistant, bus driver, cafeteria staff member, out-of-school time group leader, volunteer and member of the PTA for over 25 years across North Carolina.
Tammorah currently serves as the Co-Chair of the North Carolina Center for Afterschool Programs Advisory Board. She earned a Master’s Degree in School Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an undergraduate degree in Political Science, with a concentration in Public Administration, from North Carolina Central University.
Tosh Adams
Outreach and Family Engagement Coordinator
Tosh Adams serves as the Outreach and Family Engagement Coordinator for Durham PreK, bringing over 13 years of experience in early childhood education and administration. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from North Carolina Central University and a Doctorate in Theology, along with a background in English and Early Childhood Education.
Throughout her career, Adams has taught students from prekindergarten through high school and previously served as a preschool administrator. She also worked as an Education Specialist for a statewide nonprofit organization, where she led youth recruitment and programming focused on leadership development and healthy decision-making.
In addition to her professional work, Adams is a dedicated community advocate. She currently serves as Vice Chair of Durham Advocates for Exceptional Children (formerly D-SNAC) and as Vice Chair of the City of Durham Human Relations Commission. Her work reflects a strong commitment to supporting children, families, and the broader Durham community.
Marilyn Agostini
DPK Program Manager I
Marilyn Agostini serves as the DPK Program Manager. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology with a minor in sociology from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Her career in the Early Childhood Education field started fifteen years before as a Bilingual NCPK Lead Teacher for three years at Childcare Network in Sanford. From there she moved into the program side of NC PreK as the NCPK Coordinator for the Lee County Partnership for Children & Families. For ten years, she worked one-on-one with families to enroll them in NC PreK and assisted with translating in Spanish to help them navigate their PreK experience. She has also provided technical assistance in the centers with teachers and directors helping to prepare centers going through the Star-Rated licensing process. For as long as she can remember, she has worked with children and young adults in many capacities from being a nanny, nursery worker, youth leader, and a teen camp counselor.
Marilyn started her journey into Durham PreK as the NC PreK Coordinator for Durham's Partnership for Children, a partnering agency of Durham PreK. She looks forward to the opportunity to continue to serve the families of Durham County while helping to expand and support Durham’s universal pre-k mission and goals.
Maggie West
Workforce Support Manager
Maggie joins the Durham PreK team with over 15 years of experience designing and implementing holistic, person-centered and community-driven supports in nonprofit organizations and higher education in Durham and Orange Counties. Prior to joining Durham PreK, she served as the Coordinator for Student Wellness and Basic Needs at Durham Technical Community College, where she was responsible for building the capacity of the College to better provide wraparound resources to support student success, addressing student access to stable housing, healthy food, reliable child care, mental health services, health care, scholarships, and much more. Her role included a special focus on cultivating a community of support for student parents, including coordination of the Student Parent Success Network and extensive one-on-one support to parenting students. In this capacity she had the opportunity to get to know Durham PreK and Child Care Services Association, collaborating to ensure parenting students could find and afford high-quality child care in our community.
Prior to joining Durham Tech, Maggie served as the Co-Director and Co-Founder of the Community Empowerment Fund (CEF) for 10 years. CEF supports over 1,000 Members annually in Durham and Orange Counties experiencing homelessness or financial insecurity to gain employment, secure housing, and build financial wellbeing through relationship-based support and integrated service delivery. Maggie co-founded the organization as an undergraduate at UNC Chapel Hill, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy and Latin American Studies.
Maggie is grateful for the opportunity to bring these experiences and community-based relationships to the Durham PreK team in her role focused on supporting current and aspiring early educators as they obtain higher education and greater compensation within a community of peer support.
Adrienne Stephens
Communications & Public Engagement Coordinator
Adrienne Stephens is the Communications and Public Engagement Coordinator for Durham PreK. Stephens assists a cross-departmental team of professionals supporting Durham PreK, collaborates with community stakeholders, supports program sites, and develops program-wide communications and marketing campaigns. All of these efforts help to communicate services, advance priorities, and engage community members.
Adrienne holds a Bachelor's in Mass Communications with a concentration in Journalism from North Carolina Central University. brings with her to Early Years over ten years of communications, social media and public relations experience, and a passion to make a difference in the lives of children. Over the years, she has gained creative and innovative skills through internships and working for institutions and non-profits such as Duke University’s School of Medicine and PBS NC.
Adrienne is also a published author of the children’s book series, “The Beauty in Me,” which promotes positive self-esteem and self image.
Tabitha Williamson
Durham PreK Administrative Coordinator
Tabitha Williamson is the Durham PreK Administrative Coordinator. Williamson has worked with children for 17 years, and brings a strong knowledge and skillset in the areas of childcare and preschool to the team.
Tabitha graduated from Alamance Community College with an Associates Degree in Early Childhood Education.
Her passion is to help all children receive high quality early education. She is very dedicated to helping children learn and grow to reach their highest potential.
Kathy Guerrero
Family Support Specialist
Kathy served the Child Care Resource and Referral agencies for twenty years in different capacities including: Lead Trainer, Community Education Manager and Special Programs Lead Specialist.
She earned her Bachelor's in Early Childhood Education from Purdue University in 2002 and earned her master's degree from Indiana Wesleyan University in 2013. She has extensive experience working with the Latino community by helping to improve the quality and services provided to Spanish speaking families and the community at large. She joined the DPK Team in 2021 as the DPK Family Support Coordinator and transitioned to a supportive role in 2026.
Beverly Williams
Technical Assistance Manager
Beverly Williams
Technical Assistance Manager
Beverly Williams has been working with children for almost 30 years after graduating from ECU. In her career, she has worked in childcare centers as a floater, a teacher, a head/lead teacher, a program coordinator and, finally, a director. She has also worked as a Rated License Assessor for NCRLAP. She has been with Early Years for over 10 years where she has thoroughly worked with childcare centers, family child care homes, Head Start programs and the public schools.
Nita McAdoo
Instructional Support Manager II
Nita McAdoo
Instructional Support Manager II
Nita has worked for Early Years since 2006. Primarily serving in the role of mentoring/coaching supporting early educators as they grow in the early childhood field. Nita completed both her B.S. and M.S. at North Carolina Central University majoring in Family and Consumer Science with a minor in Counseling. Nita stated she absolutely loves working with early educators who are a part of Durham PreK. The joy in seeing classrooms providing quality experiences for all children brings joy to her heart. Nita’s hobbies include watching sports, going to the beach, and hanging out with her grandson, Austin!
Cecilia Gaytan Avilla
Family Support Specialist
Cecilia has worked at Early Years since January 2019. She began as a temporary staff member for pre-K, then transitioned to an administrative assistant role. As an administrative assistant, she continued her work with pre-K during peak months. Now, she is a full-time Family Support Counselor.
Cecilia graduated in December 2021 from NCCU, with a BS in Psychology and is a certified Spanish interpreter.
Kamika Leigh
Lead Durham PreK Birth-Kindergarten Quality Enhancement Coach
Kamika Leigh
Lead Durham PreK Birth-Kindergarten Quality Enhancement Coach
Kamika obtained a Bachelor of Science in Child Development from Meredith College, Masters in Health Services Administration from Strayer University, and Masters of Education in Birth-Kindergarten Interdisciplinary Studies: Emphasis in Leadership and Program Administration from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Currently she holds a Birth-Kindergarten SPII license, Administration Level III and CLASS PreK Observer certification.
She has eleven years of experience working in the early childhood education field, with 8 years teaching students ages birth-5 years old. For two years she held a position as an administrator and one year as an evaluator at a developmental day center, serving students with developmental and intellectual disabilities. In her role as a B-K Technical Assistant Specialist, she provided technical assistance including modeling and coaching for teachers utilizing the Classroom Assessment Scoring Systems. She serves as a mentor through collaboration with the Early Educator Support, Licensure, & Professional Development Unit for teachers in DPK only classrooms, and supports directors with program improvements using the Program Administration Scale.
Christy Farmer
B-K Quality Enhancement Coach II
Christy Farmer
B-K Quality Enhancement Coach II
Christy has over 20 years of experience working in the field of early childhood education. She holds a Master’s degree in Elementary Education and a Birth-Kindergarten Certification as well.
Christy has taught in a variety of settings, including public schools, private child care centers, and Head Start. As a Quality Enhancement Coach with DPK, she brings these experiences with her into each classroom she serves.
She is committed to supporting early educators in the important work they do, serving children and families each and every day.
Joy Turner
Director of Data and Provider Relations
Joy Turner
Director of Data and Provider Relations
Joy Turner is the Director of Data and Provider Relations at Early Years. Joy received her Bachelor of Social Work degree from NC State University and her Master of Social Work degree from UNC-Chapel Hill, with a focus in Community Management and Policy Practice. Joy's background includes HIV testing and counseling, volunteer management, and adult and family literacy program coordination. Her work with a family literacy program for immigrant families with young children sparked an interest in early childhood that led her to Early Years. Joy enjoys her behind the scenes role of tracking data, answering provider questions, and keeping databases updated to help children receive the quality care they need to be successful in kindergarten and beyond. For Durham PreK, Joy oversees attendance collection and payments and assists providers with payment related questions.
Katherine Brandt
Provider Supplements and Data Manager
Katherine Brandt
Provider Supplements and Data Manager
Rachel Osborne
Durham PreK Data Manager
Rachel Osborne
Durham PreK Data Manager
Rachel Osborne is the Durham PreK Data Manager at Early Years. She received a Bachelors of Psychology from the State University of New York at Geneseo and a Masters of Social Work from UNC Chapel Hill with a focus on Community Management and Policy Practice.
Rachel’s passion for working with children and families led her to work as a nanny throughout high school and college, as a Program Assistant at Women, Infants and Children (WIC), and most recently as a Child Care Subsidy Caseworker. While pursuing her Masters in Social Work, she selected an internship with Early Years’ System Research and Development division. Upon graduation, she sought employment with Early Years in order to continue supporting ECE providers and enabling families to access high quality ECE. For Durham PreK, Rachel assists with payments and program evaluations.
Michelle Hearon
Scholarship Senior Director
Michelle Hearon
Scholarship Senior Director
Cate Laster
Durham PreK Outreach, Communications, and Family Engagement Specialist II
Cate serves as our Durham PreK Outreach, Communications, and Family Engagement Specialist. She is a recent graduate of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she double majored in Psychology and Human Development & Family Studies.
She joined our team as an intern through UNC’s School of Education and has since been promoted to a full-time position!
Her passion for helping kids began with her experience as a babysitter and tutor throughout high school, as well as a volunteer for multiple youth camps. At UNC, she was involved in philanthropic efforts for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Carolina for the Kids, among other youth-based organizations. This will be her first post-graduate professional role, and she is excited to contribute to the team and make a difference in the lives of Durham’s youth!
Lindsay Herrmann
Family Support Coordinator
Lindsay Herrmann is the Family Support Coordinator for Durham PreK. She has more than three years of experience helping families navigate child care options and access financial assistance resources across nine counties in North Carolina. She previously served as a Consumer Education and Referral Specialist, where she supported families by connecting them with high-quality child care and essential community resources.
Lindsay has also worked on a specialized Exceptional Family Member Program Respite Care project, a partnership with Child Care Aware of America focused on supporting military families with exceptional needs.
She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is currently completing her Master’s degree in Birth–Kindergarten Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Lindsay is passionate about strengthening family support and improving access to early childhood resources.
Jennifer Fisher
BK Quality Enhancement Coach II, Durham Apprenticeship Program
Jennifer brings over 20 years of experience as an early childhood educator, most recently including 18 years as a Lead Teacher in NC PreK and Durham PreK classrooms.
She has extensive experience mentoring and coaching teachers, including serving as a model classroom provider and facilitating professional development workshops.
We are lucky to have her in this role, as she will be providing training, technical assistance, and support to apprentices and mentors in the Durham Early Childhood Educator Apprenticeship Program.
Join the Team!
Are you interested in working on the Durham PreK team? You can find our job openings by clicking the link below. Please pay special attention to the application instructions as they may vary between positions.