Whitney Sanders, MFA

Whitney Sanders is the Research Operations and Project Coordinator at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. She provides operational and administrative support to YCEI’s research community to facilitate the execution of ongoing research studies and promote the impactful work of the Center’s research activities in the service of creating a robust, formal, and public research identity that supports and furthers RULER as a leader in the SEL field. She holds a B.A. in English from the University of Central Missouri and a M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing from Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU).

Previously, she served as Project Coordinator for the RULER Early Childhood team at YCEI, providing administrative support for Dr. Craig Bailey’s “Pilot and Refinement of RULER in Chinese Kindergartens” project which focused on cultural adaptation of RULER for early childhood education contexts in China.

Prior to joining YCEI, Whitney served as Program Manager for GEAR UP, a federally-funded 6-year grant partnership between SCSU and the New Haven Public School district dedicated to preparing New Haven youth for success in postsecondary education. She also supported the Director for the Educational Care Collaborative, a home-school-community grant initiative, to cultivate the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of young children (K-3) and improve access to mental health services in Hamden Public School district. In addition to her work on grant-funded projects, Whitney taught as an adjunct lecturer at SCSU.

Outside of the center, Whitney is a strong advocate that creative arts can improve social, emotional and cognitive development as well as academic performance. She shares her passion for creative expression with others. In her free time, Whitney writes, paints, plays piano, dances, and devotes time to travel with friends and family.