Elita Amini Virmani is an Associate Professor at Sonoma State University in the Department of Early Childhood Studies.
Prior to joining Sonoma State University, she was the Director of Training for the Program for Infant/Toddler Care at WestEd’s Center for Child & Family Studies where she developed trainings and materials geared toward improving teacher, trainer, home visitor and parent capacity for sensitive, responsive, and reflective practice. In 2016, Amini Virmani was recognized as an Exceptional Emerging Leader by the Exchange Child Care Magazine's Leadership Initiative.
Amini Virmani aims to support the social-emotional health and well-being of young children through relationship-based interventions. In particular she is focused on ways that reflective practice and supervision promote parent and teacher capacity to see from the child’s point of view. Amini Virmani believes that as we learn to see from the child’s perspective we gain important insights into ways to be more sensitive and attuned to supporting their healthy social-emotional growth and development. Dr. Amini Virmani sees it as our social responsibility to ensure that all young children are seen for who they are and honored for who they are, central to which is their cultural and linguistic identity.
Amini Virmani received an MS in child development and a PhD in human development from the University of California, Davis.