Omaha, Neb. — The Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska has appointed Catherine Huddleston-Casas as associate director of early childhood workforce planning and development. 

Huddleston-Casas will serve in this newly created position at the Institute and will work closely with Susan Sarver, who directs the Institute’s early childhood workforce development program. Huddleston-Casas will play a lead role in facilitating the Institute’s efforts to better understand needed improvements in early childhood workforce preparation and workplace supports and help build a consensus approach for statewide action. 

Huddleston-Casas has worked with the Buffett Institute since June 2015 as a consultant and senior associate in the workforce development program. She was a tenured faculty member in the Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies (CYAF) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln from 2001 to 2014. Her research and teaching focused on family economics and policy. Earlier in her career, she served as research coordinator for the HealthPartners Research Foundation (now HealthPartners Institute for Education and Research) in Bloomington, Minnesota, and spent a year as a congressional fellow in the office of U.S. Senator Paul D. Wellstone of Minnesota, helping craft policy protecting child witnesses of domestic violence. 

“Cathey’s research and teaching bring new areas of expertise to the Institute,” Sarver said, “and her background in policy and consulting with non-profits bring additional knowledge and skill sets to this position. She is a tremendous asset to our team.” 

Huddleston-Casas said, “Working to strengthen the early childhood workforce and shore up the early learning opportunities for all children and families across Nebraska is critical to the mission of the Buffett Early Childhood Institute.  I am excited to collaborate with such a talented team of professionals to do this work.” 

Huddleston-Casas earned her Ph.D. in family social science from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, and her master’s degree in human development and family studies and bachelor’s degree in psychology, both from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Huddleston-Casas will begin work at the Institute on July 15.