Rebecca Shearer is a child clinical and school psychologist at the University of Miami and has worked both as an early childhood practitioner and researcher with very young children and families living in impoverished urban areas for the past 20 years. Her research is guided by a "whole child" developmental-ecological systems perspective which is child-centered and considers both proximal and broader system-level influences on children's development over time. Her research is grounded in a community-based partnership model whereby research is conducted in close collaboration with key contributors to children's development. This process starts with genuine dialogue about children's needs and considers the strengths and intervention capacities of large programs; I feel this approach helps to ensure that research is relevant to community members and holds the greatest promise to inform system-level interventions that can benefit low-income children and families.