Meet Our Trainers

Playworks trainers bring years of experience in education and youth development, and an ongoing commitment to safe, healthy and inclusive play for all children.

Dana LoVecchio began with Playworks in 2002 as a site coordinator at a Playworks school and was quickly promoted to serve the entire area. After a year-long sabbatical to teach high school in Los Angeles, California, Dana returned to Playworks as a member of the training team.

At Playworks, Dana is responsible for delivering our renowned training and technical assistance services to hundreds of clients throughout the United States.  Dana is our resident training quality control expert and plays a key role in ensuring that our approaches in training external clients are closely aligned with the best practices that have made our direct service program so successful. Dana will be relocating to New York City in the fall of 2009 to spearhead our new play partnership with the National Head Start Association in providing training and technical assistance to multiple Head Start Center teachers and families throughout New York, Los Angeles and other key markets.

Dana is grateful to not only have playful and dedicated colleagues, but to have the opportunity to share the impact of play and physical activity with the communities she serves. Dana is also an up-and-coming comedienne and performs at comedy clubs in her spare time.

Jeremy Lansing received his B.S. in Psychology from the University of Oregon and his M.A. in TESOL Education from Tel-Aviv University.  Over the past fifteen years, Jeremy has worked in a variety of youth development fields; including stints as an Early Intervention Specialist at a child abuse and neglect prevention agency in Oregon, an elementary age camp counselor, a middle school basketball coach, and a high school English teacher in the Middle East.  He continues to work with Israeli and American teens as the Israel Education Specialist for the Diller Teen Fellowship Program bringing leadership and communication tools to teens. In his spare time Jeremy is a recreational surfer, rock climber, and a crisis counselor. 

Playworks Training Associate Nilsa Rodriguez was born and raised in Lancaster, PA and moved to sunny California in 2004. Nilsa has a Master’s in School Counseling Education and a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Prior to her employment with Playworks, Nilsa was a behavior specialist providing therapeutic services to autistic children and their families. Nilsa has also worked extensively with behaviorally challenged children in various settings and has witnessed first hand the powerful influence of play in a child’s development. She is grateful to be a part of an organization where adults are serious about play and are mindful about incorporating it into their own day.