Our Founding Directors
“We co-founded the Sustain Collaborative to bring together like-minded researchers, practitioners, and other stakeholders to accelerate research on implementation in schools, as well as share knowledge and resources related to sustained, effective, equitable, and scalable practices in schools with policy makers, practitioners, and researchers.”
Drs. Sanetti and Collier-Meek built the Sustain Collaborative before Dr. Sanetti passed away in August of 2025.
Dr. Lisa Sanetti was not only a brilliant researcher whose insights significantly shaped implementation science in education but also a generous mentor, collaborator, and friend. Read more about her legacy here.
In the gulf left by her passing, Dr. Collier-Meek will continue Sustain Collaborative to honor Dr. Sanetti’s vision of sustained practice in schools and tremendous contributions to research and practice.
Melissa A. Collier-Meek, PhD, BCBA
Co-Founder and Acting Director
Mel Collier-Meek is an Associate Professor of School Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University. She conducts applied research on the assessment and promotion of sustained practices. Committed to dissemination, she has published and presented widely. In addition, she consults with schools to support educators, school teams, and administrators to facilitate sustained, effective practices that improve student outcomes. She received the Lightner Witmer Award from the American Psychological Association for early career scholarship related to sustaining practices. She serves as an Associate Editor for School Psychology and provides reviews to leading education journals, for which she has been twice been honored as reviewer of the year.
Lisa M. H. Sanetti, PhD, BCBA
Co-Founder and Former Co-Director
Lisa Sanetti was a Professor of School Psychology at the University of Connecticut. She had extensive research and practical experiences facilitating intervention implementation at the district, school, group, and implementer levels to promote students’ academic, behavioral, social, and emotional outcomes over time. She received the Lightner Witmer Award from the American Psychological Association for her scholarship related to implementation and was an invited member of the Network of Expertise in the Society for Implementation Research Collaboration. She received over 5 million dollars in grant funding from multiple agencies and foundations and was one of the top 20 most prolific contributors to the school psychology literature.
Dr. Sanetti passed away in August 2025; read more about her legacy here.