Alumni
Advisory Board
The Psychology and Child Development Advisory Board is group of alumni and other professionals that collaborates with the Psychology and Child Development Department to support the Department’s objectives of improving the overall academic experience of our students and fostering strong alumni involvement.
Meet the Board
Kara Samaniego | Board Chair
Kara Samaniego is the Assistant Director of Wellbeing at Cal Poly. Her office is responsible for overseeing Safer, the campus’ sexual misconduct advocacy and prevention program, as well as general campus wellbeing strategic initiatives. She relies on her background in management, program development, and crisis intervention to serve the campus and is a California state-certified sexual assault and domestic violence counselor. Prior to her work with Campus Health & Wellbeing and Safer, Kara worked as the Client Relations Manager at a graphic communications company where she led a team of project managers to improve workflow and enhance the customer experience. As a two-term AmeriCorps Fellow for a hospice organization, Kara created a new program that provided in-home pet care for hospice clients and assisted with large-scale event coordination. Kara graduated cum laude from Cal Poly with a B.S. degree in Psychology and a minor in Women and Gender Studies, and later returned to Cal Poly to earn her MBA.
Mia Pritts | Vice Chair
Pronouns: She, Her, Hers
Mia Pritts has spent more than 25 years working in Early Care and Education (ECE), with expertise spanning child care operations, provider support, business strategy, and systems development. After more than a decade working directly in center- and home-based programs, she held leadership roles at Early Learning Ventures and Wonderschool, where she helped develop and scale tools, services, and partnerships designed to strengthen the child care sector.
Today, Mia works as an early childhood consultant, collaborating with organizations including Opportunities Exchange and National Association for Family Child Care on initiatives related to shared services, technology modernization, provider sustainability, and systems change. Her work frequently brings together providers, policymakers, funders, and community leaders to develop practical solutions that better support children, families, and the early childhood workforce.
Mia is especially passionate about elevating home-based child care as a critical component of the nation’s early learning infrastructure. She holds a BS in Family and Community Services and Early Childhood Education from Michigan State University and an MA in Educational Psychology from University of Colorado Denver.
Fran McIntyre-Dalmau | Board Member
Fran McIntyre founded Children’s’ Creative Learning Centers (CCLC) in 1992. During her tenure at CCLC, she provided executive leadership and support for several new center openings, design and construction, long-term strategy development and client relations. Fran has more than 25 years of experience in early childhood education. Her passion has been developing both corporate child care programs and working alongside HR professionals, helping them create the most valuable benefits for their employees. Over the years, Fran has participated in various roles with both state and national child-care organizations, including the National Association for the Education of Young Children. In 2005, she was named Alumni of the Year at Cal Poly. In 2015 Fran founded her own consulting firm, Pendulum Dependent Care Solutions, where she is able to further her passion in advising both HR and Early Childhood Education professionals to ensure that they are providing the highest quality offering. Fran earned her B.S. degree in Human Development and Psychology in 1990.
Lynn Davis | Board Member
Lynn Davis has over 30 years of experience in the corporate world as a senior level technology executive and consultant. Currently she is President of Lynn Davis Consulting and a Certified Executive Coach focusing on elevating Managers to Leaders and helping her clients be their best. She is certified in Tilt 365, an assessment tool for individuals and teams supporting self-awareness and self-knowledge while highlighting how one shows up. It was her background in Child Development and Education that provided her with a strong foundation to be successful in Leadership in the corporate world. She spent 20 years at Bechtel and later moved to Landor Associates where she provided leadership as Executive Director of ERP. She is currently chairperson for the Cal Poly College of Liberal Arts Circle of Giving program. Lynn recently moved back to the Central Coast area, which has felt like home since her days as a student. She holds a B.S. degree in Child Development and an Elementary Teaching Credential from Cal Poly. Lynn has published 2 articles: The Octopus vs. The Eight Headed Monster and The Lucky 13 Client-Consultant Etiquette.
Doug Epperson | Board Member
Pronouns: he, him, his
Doug Epperson earned a B.S. in Philosophy and an M.S. in Educational Psychology from the University of Utah before earning a Ph.D. in Psychology (Counseling Psychology specialization) from The Ohio State University. He began his academic career as an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Iowa State University (ISU), where he rose through the ranks to professor. During his time at ISU, he held many leadership roles, culminating in terms as Department of Psychology Chair and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Associate Dean.
Dr. Epperson served as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Washington State University from January 2009 to August 2012. Attracted to Cal Poly’s learn-by-doing ethos and its strong leadership, faculty, and staff, Dr. Epperson joined the university as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts in August 2012. Throughout his 6-year term in this position, he was a strong advocate for the traditional liberal arts disciplines while adding a new, collaborative, multidisciplinary perspective that facilitated deeper integration of liberal arts expertise and values across the university. With the support and diligence of department chairs and faculty, four new interdisciplinary minors and one new interdisciplinary major were brought online.
Veronica Fruiht | Board Member
Veronica Fruiht is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Dominican University of California in San Rafael, CA. She graduated from Cal Poly in 2007 with a B.S. degree in Psychology and from Claremont Graduate University with an M.A. (2010) and Ph.D. (2014) in Positive Developmental Psychology. As a researcher, her interests center around the mentoring relationships of young people and how supportive relationships help adolescents and emerging adults set and achieve academic and professional goals. She looks for ways to improve and foster mentoring relationships in her local community by consulting for mentoring programs, speaking to mentors about best practices, and serving a Girl Scout Troop leader in San Rafael.
Jenny Luciano | Board Member
Jenny Luciano graduated from Cal Poly with a B.S. degree in Journalism and a minor in Speech Communications. For the past 30 years, she has spent her career in non-profit management field working in fund development, marketing, communications, public relations, government relations, program delivery and volunteer management. Jenny started her career in New York State working for Cornell Cooperative Extension's 4-H Youth Development programs, and furthered her career in Santa Barbara and Silicon Valley working for a wide range of organizations including food banks, public policy/leadership, homeless shelters, and people with developmental/intellectual disabilities. Jenny and her family moved back to the Central Coast in 2015 where she took over leadership of the Child Development Resource Center in San Luis Obispo; a therapeutic preschool for low income and at-risk toddlers and young children. In March 2018, she became the CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Luis Obispo County. Throughout her career, Jenny has raised more than $70 million collectively for the organizations she has served.
Justin Shinnefield | Board Member
Justin Shinnefield is a Senior Partner with Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo. For almost 20 years, he has represented California public school districts, county offices of education, private schools, community college districts, and special education local plan areas in various aspects of education law, specializing in special education and student issues. He advises clients on all matters related to serving the needs of disabled students and has extensive expertise on topics ranging from Section 504 disability discrimination complaints and student disciplinary matters to special education administrative proceedings. Justin regularly provides presentations and legal trainings in the area of special education law. He has presented before dozens of school districts and organizations, including the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) and the California School Boards Association (CSBA). He is a proud graduate of both Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo (B.S. in Human Development & Psychology, 1994) and Pepperdine University (J.D.).
Gavin Hannegan | Board Member
Pronouns: He, Him, His
Gavin Hannegan graduated summa cum laude from Cal Poly in 2024 with a B.S. in Psychology and minors in Child Development and Queer Studies. During his time at Cal Poly, Gavin served on student advisory boards for the College of Liberal Arts and the Psychology and Child Development department; published a series of evidence-based blog posts advocating for LGBTQ-inclusive therapy practices under the supervision of Dr. Hannah Roberts; and held the positions of vice president and president of Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology. After graduating, Gavin worked as a Child Development Specialist with Mariposas Project, an early intervention program. Alongside occupational therapists, physical therapists, and speech-language therapists, Gavin supported young children with developmental delays through an interdisciplinary, family-centered model. He also volunteered with Coastal Performing Arts Foundation, a local non-profit theater organization, as their Marketing and Publicity Lead. Gavin is currently a master’s student in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at San Francisco State University, where he is receiving specialized clinical training in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and gender-affirming voice care.
Faculty Representatives
Carrie Langner | Department Chair
Pronouns: She, Her, Hers
Carrie Langner, Ph.D. serves as the Psychology & Child Development Department's Chair. Dr. Langner earned her doctoral degree in Social and Personality Psychology from the University of California Berkeley.
Laura Cacciamani | Associate Chair
Pronouns: She, Her, Hers
Laura Cacciamani, Ph.D. is the Psychology & Child Development Department's Associate Chair. Dr. Cacciamani earned her doctoral degree in Psychology with an emphasis on Cognition & Neural Systems from the University of Arizona.