Nereyda Hurtado grew up in Mexico and immigrated to the United States as a teenager. She holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Nereyda is a passionate early childhood education professional, committed to efforts to close the opportunity gap by helping children gain the skills necessary to succeed in school and in life. 

She started her career as a researcher at Stanford University where she conducted studies on language development and parenting practices with bilingual and Spanish-speaking families in the Bay Area. After a decade, she transitioned to the nonprofit sector where she supported her organization with program development, management, implementation and evaluation. At the same time, Nereyda also worked as a SEEDS coach and trainer for several years, supporting family childcare providers and SEEDS coaches. Nereyda is excited to join the FluentSeeds team and looks forward to building lasting, empowering relationships with early childhood educators while supporting them in their professional growth.