About

Libbie Sonnier, Ph.D., is the Executive Director of the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children where she leverages 20 years of professional experience supporting young children and their families. Recognized for her tenacity and deep commitment to children, Dr. Sonnier has led teams in system-wide initiatives for the betterment of children, families, caregivers, and practitioners. In her first two years with the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children, she helped secure $18M in new early care and education funding in the Louisiana budget, three new sources of recurring state revenue to expand access to quality early care and education, and guided the use of more than $300M in federal COVID relief dollars to stabilize child care. She also has doubled the organization’s research and media engagement outputs and grown its staff while securing the organization’s first seven figure grant, and nearly doubling its annual revenues.
 
Prior to taking on leadership of the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children in 2019, she served as a state director of two federal programs, where she managed multi-million-dollar budgets. She developed and implemented pilot programs for children, birth to age five, in four states across multiple agencies and community partners to improve the efficiency and efficacy of direct services for children and their families. Dr. Sonnier’s experiences conducting longitudinal and experimental research allow her to translate scientific findings into meaningful and practical policies that support better life outcomes for children. She is coauthor of multiple publications and technical reports, training curricula, and, with Drs. Sharon and Craig Ramey, The Four Diamonds Checklist and The Quality System to Achieve Results for Young Children in all Settings (Q-STAR).
 
Dr. Sonnier is the recipient of the Hulick Serving Spirit Fellowship Award for her commitment to individuals with disabilities across the life course, the Rotary Club’s Extraordinary Woman “Rising Star” Award, a New Orleans City Business 2020 Women of the Year honoree, a 2020 Leadership Louisiana participant, and was named one of 16 Women Paving the Way for Louisiana’s Future by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana in 2021. Dr. Sonnier received a Doctor of Philosophy in human development from Virginia Tech, a Master of Education in early childhood intervention and family support services from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Bachelor of Science in special education with an emphasis in early childhood intervention from the University of Southern Mississippi.