Announcing the Michele Fallon Award

“This field is full of humble and unassuming rock star workhorses,” Michele Fallon, recent recipient of her new namesake award, said. To define a workhorse, we look for those who are doing extraordinary things in ordinary settings. The work they’re doing is not glamorous; it is challenging. Michele is an exemplary workhorse, and it was with this in mind that the Michele Fallon Award was created.

It was a labor of love to help launch and sustain the Infant & Early Childhood Division of the Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health. What began as a small, siloed section of MACMH is now a robust, renowned leader in the multidisciplinary infant and early childhood field. Michele is a former Infant & Early Childhood Division Advisory Board co-chair and recently retired member of MACMH’s Board of Directors. With great humility, Michele emphasizes the multifaceted team effort it took, and continues to take, to enhance the programs and vitality of the infant and early childhood work at MACMH.

Michele’s impact spans far beyond MACMH. In partnership with the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery, she developed the “Nursery Way” curriculum to support staff in serving children and families impacted by trauma. She taught in the Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Program at the University of Minnesota and has been part of the team that developed the Faculty Symposium on embedding infant and early childhood principles into existing curricula across disciplines. Michele developed trainings for the Department of Human Services and was integral to the launch and expansion of mental health consultation in Minnesota. In addition to her work in Minnesota, Michele has forged partnerships in other states, including Connecticut, where she and Jane Ellison co-developed an ongoing training about trauma as part of a collaboration between Head Start and Child Protection Services.

We will present the Michele Fallon award to a professional each fall at the Infant & Early Childhood Multidisciplinary Conference. Michele hopes to see it continue to recognize not just thought leaders and rock stars but focus on the invaluable accomplishments and contributions of the workhorses – those who are exceptional in quiet ways.