Graham has been a fierce advocate for Florida’s youngest citizens, exemplified by her national recognition and longtime leadership as Director of Florida State University’s Center for Prevention and Early Intervention Policy (CPEIP). For her tireless dedication to improving the lives of countless families, Graham has been named the 2023 recipient of the Chiles Advocate Award, presented by Children’s Week Florida™ and administered by the Children’s Forum.
For 30 years, Dr. Graham has provided the vision and leadership to establish CPEIP and FSU as leaders in trauma education and infant mental health policy, programs, and best practices. She and her team created the internationally acclaimed FSU Partners for A Healthy Baby Home Visiting curricular series, which has served over 20 million families and is FSU’s second highest royalty venture. Alongside her mentor Dr. Wil Blechman, Dr. Graham pioneered the statewide infant mental health movement, co-founding the Florida Association for Infant Mental Health, building clinical capacity, and infusing infant mental health across systems.
As a member of the Florida Supreme Court Committee on Children, she helped spearhead a statewide ‘baby court” initiative, integrating mental health into courts to break the multigenerational cycle of trauma. Dr. Graham and FSU colleagues created the Trauma & Resilience Organizational Certification to support trauma awareness around the globe. Dr. Graham started her career as Principal of the Mailman Center for Child Development’s Debbie School at the University of Miami, where she also earned her doctorate.
She is a Fellow of Zero to Three National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families and is a recipient of the Florida Tax Watch Productivity Award for Early Childhood Court, the Legal Services of North Florida Children’s Advocate Award, and the Florida Bar’s Medal of Honor. Mimi and her husband Don Hinkle have five children and three grandchildren who keep them young at heart.
