Lisa Long is a Project Director for Childcare Provider Professional Development at the Social Science Research Center of Mississippi State University. Ms. Long directs the Early Childhood ECHO Project at MSU and collaborates with the Early Childhood Leadership Institute in partnership with the Graduate Center for the Study of Early Learning of the University of Mississippi. Her work promotes the growth of leaders in early care and education and educational opportunities for early childhood professionals and families with young children. Ms. Long manages the administrative and programmatic operations of the Child Development Associate Scholarship Program and Project ECHO for Childcare Providers.

Previously, she led professional development training content creation and dissemination through the Mississippi Thrive Child Health and Development Project to improve the developmental health of children ages 0-5 in Mississippi. Her other work at the SSRC has included writing policy briefs, a survey of Mississippi’s public school kindergarten teachers about school readiness among their students; and the co-design of a curriculum for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students to assist young children in developing healthy eating and activity habits, an NIH-funded Science Education Partnership Award Project. 

Before joining MSU in 2012, Ms. Long worked both internationally and domestically with the nonprofit organization, Save the Children, as their Senior Education Specialist in Early Childhood Development. Ms. Long holds a Master of Arts in International Educational Development with an emphasis in Early Childhood Education. 

Long's work is supported in part by MAFES.