Jennifer Pulcinella was introduced to the world of exceptionalities when her daughter was born prematurely at 26 weeks while Ms. Pulcinella was on vacation in Las Vegas. Two nights into what was planned to be a 6-night stay, an eclamptic seizure resulted in a 1lb, 4oz baby girl. She and her husband resided for 3 months in a Ronald McDonald (RM) House in Las Vegas and another 3 months in the RM House in Philadelphia while their daughter struggled to breathe. After 3 years with a tracheostomy, their daughter was finally succeeding on her own. It took many people to help her get to that point, but preemies don’t always catch up by 3 years. When her handwriting wasn’t becoming legible, the little leftie needed support. She had an IEP throughout her school years until she graduated from Cape Henlopen High School. The challenges of having a child with medical and developmental needs, mixed with the desire to pay it forward, brought Ms. Pulcinella to the GACEC. She currently serves as the Chairperson of the GACEC Infant and Early Childhood Committee and resides in Lewes, DE. Her story is also a good fit with the Delaware Healthy Mother Infant Consortium (DHMIC) and the Delaware Perinatal Quality Collaborative (DPQC), in which she is a parent advisor. Ms. Pulcinella is a 1986 alumnus of Cape Henlopen High School, is a 2005 Partners in Policymaking graduate, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Delaware. In her advocacy, her focus is on the birth-to-3 service system, reducing infant mortality, and pre-eclampsia awareness. Ms. Pulcinella serves on the GACEC in the role of parent of a child with a disability and represents Sussex County.

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