Sandy Petersen is currently a State Specialist for the National Infant Toddler Child Care Initiative at Zero to Three. For the previous five years, she has been the Senior Early Childhood Associate for the Early Head Start National Resource Center in Region VIII.

Prior to joining Zero to Three, Petersen was coordinator of training and technical assistance for early childhood at the Colorado Department of Education, involved in policy work and directing the training project When Children Soar With the Wind.

Petersen's earlier work includes teaching college, doing infant-parent psychotherapy at the Infant-Parent Program in San Francisco, doing home-based early intervention with Rose Bromwich, and teaching in and directing child care programs.

Petersen received a Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a Master of Arts in Educational Psychology from California State University, Northridge, and completed coursework for a joint Doctoral Program in Early Childhood Education from University of California-Berkeley and San Francisco State University.