I2D2 RESOURCE HUB TEAM
Meet The Trusted Team Behind the System
In 2015, Heather Rouse and Cassandra Dorius came together to leverage their combined three decades of experience in education, human services, public health, and integrated data systems.
They gathered leaders from across Iowa’s departments serving young children and their families, secured training and technical assistance to develop Iowa’s model and governance structure, and obtained funding to stand up the system and use it to demonstrate value for informing policy and program improvement. I2D2 was born.
In collaboration with strong Early Childhood Iowa partners spanning diverse systems in the state, this partnership has paved the way for Iowa success. In the words of former ECI Board Chair, the tandem of Rouse and Dorius brings a “palpable level of commitment, a deep understanding of a very complicated system, and a passionate and motivating approach” to the work, which has increased the national visibility of the state of Iowa and Iowa State University as leaders in the use of administrative data systems to inform evidence-based decision-making.
Dr. Abraham joined the team in 2020 as the new leader of integration and analytics, and has elevated the work of I2D2 by advancing data and technology capacities and helping the team continue to build systematic responses to state partner needs. The team continues to grow, and we are grateful for all the contributions and continued partnerships.
Meet our Leaders
Heather Rouse
Director
MEET OUR TEAM
Taylor Nagle
PROGRAM MANAGER
Taylor joined the I2D2 team in early 2023 and currently serves as Program Manager. Currently, she is a MBA student at Iowa State University and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Iowa. With a career background in public health research administration, advocacy, and non-profit management, she brings valuable leadership insights and public relation skills to the I2D2 team. Taylor guides I2D2 projects from start to finish: managing contracts, project initiatives, scoping projects and timelines, and ensures deliverables are met with our partners.
Christine Lippard
Research Scientist IV
Christine has collaborated with the I2D2 team since the 2019 Iowa’s Early Childhood Statewide Needs Assessment. Christine’s passion has always been to improve the experiences young children have in group settings and to support the providers teaching and caring for them. Christine has overseen data collection for several projects and collaborates on various analyses and dissemination efforts.
Giorgi Chighladze
Data Scientist
Before joining the I2D2 team as a data scientist in 2021, Gio worked as a data manager and analyst for multi-institutional cross-disciplinary projects involving more than dozen land-grant universities across the Midwest, government institutions and state organizations. Over six years he has curated data from agricultural and environmental studies, and has published two datasets in the National Agricultural Library.
Jamy Rentschler
Data Analyst
Jamy Rentschler joined the team in 2025 as a Data Analyst. In 2023 she earned her Ph.D. in Sociology with a minor in Quantitative, Qualitative, and Psychometric Methods from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Subsequently, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship with the Nebraska Academy for Methodology, Analytics, and Psychometrics. Her primary research interests include poverty, public policy, survey research methodology, and quantitative methods. A self-proclaimed data wonk, Jamy is passionate about using rigorous methodological approaches and advanced statistical methods to produce high quality data to inform social policy.
Hannah Kim
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Hannah joined the I2D2 team in 2022 as a graduate research assistant and began her position as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in 2026 after earning her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from Iowa State University. With a background in Economics and International Studies, her research focuses on early childhood, families, and public policy.
She is particularly interested in understanding how young children and families experiencing adversity access education, health, and social services, and how these experiences and outcomes vary across individual, family, and community contexts. Her work utilizes integrated administrative data, advanced quantitative methods, and mixed methods approaches.
In 2024, she received a federal dissertation grant from the U.S. DHHS Administration for Children and Families to support her research on equitable access to Head Start among eligible children.
MEET OUR GRADUATE STUDENTS
Fattaneh Arabzadehjafari
Graduate Research Assistant
Fattaneh Arabzadeh is a Ph. D. candidate in Human Development and Family Studies at Iowa State University and a Graduate Research Assistant with I2D2. Her research focuses on child and family well-being, mental health service access and disparities, early childhood systems, and the use of integrated data to inform policy and practice.
Since joining I2D2 in 2022, Fattaneh has contributed to state and federally funded projects aimed at improving outcomes for children and families. Her work includes managing and analyzing large-scale administrative and survey data, developing indicators for statewide dashboards, and producing reports and data products that support evidence-based decision-making. She also contributes to early childhood home visiting projects through data management, data cleaning, and quantitative analysis.
Kamrunnahar
Graduate research assistant
Kamrunnahar joined the I2D2 team in 2025 as a graduate research assistant and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies at Iowa State University. Her research focuses on the intersection of public policy, gender, and child well-being, with a particular emphasis on early childhood development and broader human development outcomes. Her recent work examined the relationship between women’s education and fertility patterns in Bangladesh, using nationally representative data from the 2022 Household Income and Expenditure Survey.
At I2D2, Kamrunnahar has worked on Head Start research, the Early Childhood Iowa Statewide Needs Assessment, and analyses of child geographic mobility patterns across the state using four cohorts of integrated birth through Kindergarten (2014–2018) data. She brings prior experience in teaching at the university level, as well as research assistantship on policy-focused projects. She has been recognized with the Dean’s Award, Gold Medal for academic excellence, and the James Socknat Memorial Scholarship 2025 for her contributions to research on gender, higher education, and policy. Her work is dedicated to informing policies and practices that promote equity, support young children and families, and advance human development outcomes.
Sujin Cho
Graduate research assistant
Sujin joined the I2D2 team in 2026 as a Graduate Research Assistant and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies at Iowa State University. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, she worked as a researcher in childcare policy in Korea.
Her research interests include the impact of public policy on individuals and families, as well as policy delivery systems across families, schools, and government agencies. She also contributes to projects with quantitative data analysis and research support activities.
MEET OUR UnderGRADUATE STUDENTS
Lily Batzold
Student Program Assistant - COMMUNICATIONS
Lily Batzold joined the I2D2 team in 2026 as an Undergraduate Program Assistant with a communications focus. She is currently a Senior at Iowa State University studying Marketing. Lily is committed to transforming data into accessible stories that resonate with diverse audiences.
Adreanna Pham
Student Program Assistant - DOCUMENTATION
Adreanna joined the I2D2 team in 2025 as an Undergraduate Program Assistant for project support and documentation. She is currently a Senior studying Management Information Systems with a Minor in Communication Studies.
Rishita Kollu
Student Program Assistant - Data Specialist
Rishita joined the I2D2 team in 2026 as an Undergraduate Program Assistant for project support and documentation. She is currently a Junior at Iowa State University, majoring in Computer Engineering with a minor in Cybersecurity. Rishita is passionate about uncovering hidden insights in data and transforming complex information into meaningful, accessible stories that can be understood by a broader public.
Meet Our Affiliated Partners
Cass Dorius
Co-Founder & Senior Advisor
Cassandra “Cass” Dorius is I2D2’s co-founder, a dedicated public scientist, and a researcher with the U.S. Census Bureau. Her career is driven by a commitment to making science accessible to all. At Iowa State University, she has established programs such as Data Science for the Public Good to bring data knowledge to people. Dr. Dorius is driving positive change for people and communities through data.
Ji-Young Choi
Associate Professor at Ohio State University
Ji-Young is an Associate Professor of Human Sciences at The Ohio State University. Her research interests center on studying how early care and education programs and policies can promote the early development of linguistically and economically diverse children. Ji-Young collaborates on I2D2’s Head Start awards.
Quentin Riser
Assistant Professor at UW-Madison
Quentin Riser is an Assistant Professor in Human Development and Family Studies in the School of Human Ecology at UW-Madison. His research examines the ways in which birth, child, family characteristics, and public policies influence children’s cognitive and social-emotional development as well as family well-being.
Riser’s work aims to inform the development and implementation of evidence-based policy and interventions at local, national, and international levels.
Laura Betancur
Research Associate at Urban Institute
Laura Betancur is a Research Associate at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. Her research aims to increase understanding of how children’s and families’ contexts shape their well-being, focusing on disadvantaged populations in the U.S. and in low- and middle-income countries.
Sharon Zanti
Director of Policy and Research for the Virginia Office of Education Economics
Sharon Zanti is a policy and research leader focused on using data to strengthen public systems and inform decision-making. She specializes in connecting research to policymaking and integrating data across education, workforce, health, and human service systems to support equitable, evidence-informed policy.