Dr. Elizabeth Villegas is a research scientist II in Child Trends’ Early Childhood Development program. She specializes in understanding the needs of young children, their families, and the workforce that supports them, particularly among Hispanic communities.  

 Dr. Villegas uses qualitative methods to examine how early childhood systems and programs promote improved outcomes for children and families. With 12 years of experience in applied, community-based research, she examines the intersection of health, education, and well-being, with particular attention to social-emotional development, mental health, and sociocultural issues. A Spanish-English bilingual and bicultural expert, Dr. Villegas ensures that her research and data collection materials are relevant to the population and accessible to linguistically diverse communities. Dr. Villegas also excels at facilitating focus groups, conducting community-based research, and synthesizing data to inform policies that enhance child development, health, and positive workforce outcomes.  

Dr. Villegas has a distinguished background in research and project management. She served as a pre-doctoral fellow with the Society for Research in Child Development at the National Institutes of Health Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, where she honed her skills in policy-focused writing and translating research into actionable recommendations. Prior to joining Child Trends, Dr. Villegas was a project director on five evaluation efforts related to Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs, providing critical insights into these communities’ strengths and needs. At Child Trends, Dr. Villegas has led data collection initiatives to understand program outcomes, including evaluations of a well-being initiative from the Sesame Workshop and a COVID-19 relief funding program. She contributed to several state-level evaluations of early childhood initiatives (South Carolina, North Carolina, and Minnesota) by reviewing and analyzing program outcomes from the early care and education workforce and families and from administrative data. She has also supported large-scale studies for the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on topics such as high-quality access to child care and the role of licensing in early care and education.