IDEAL LEARNING - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Teacher
- Director, Educare Practice Educare Learning Network / Expert
- Educator Development Equity Head Start IL Practice Parents & Familes Research
Andrea Pearson is a teacher at heart. She has spent her career working to improve outcomes in partnership with children, families, and staff in early childhood and elementary learning environments. Her passions include creating relevant and impactful professional learning experiences for adults, ensuring all children and families have access to high quality education, helping teachers and leaders reignite their "spark" and exploring innovative solutions to the challenges many staff and families face as they seek ways to become their very best. As Director, Educare Practice at Start Early: Champions for Early Learning (formerly The Ounce), Andrea focuses on bringing a diverse group of leaders and practitioners together around a unified vision to elevate the early childhood field and each program, professional, family and child within it. Andrea's work is focused on cultivating and mining innovations across the 25-school Educare Learning Network, supporting leaders in the intersection of program, policy and research and facilitating collaborative partnerships among the Educare staff and leaders. Andrea leads the practice consultation team in creating and facilitating high quality professional learning experiences and providing practice consultation, training and technical assistance for early childhood professionals and leaders around the country. Andrea has more than 20 years of public and private K-12 education experience as a teacher, counselor, principal, board member, and consultant. She is honored to serve on the Ideal Learning Round Table, a group whose Ideal Learning Principles are deeply aligned with the Educare Model, and whose focus is ensuring that all children, especially those in under resourced communities, have access to high quality early learning experiences.
She has worked in public, private and international schools in the U.S., Brazil and India, as well as in the nonprofit sector. Andrea has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish from the University of Iowa and a Master of Science degree in Elementary Education from Northern Illinois University. She and her spouse enjoy their most treasured role as parents to their two toddler boys.
Job Titles:
- Brady Education Foundation / Grace Charitable Foundation / McCall Kulak Family Foundation
- Managing Director / Principal Czekaj Ventures LLC D / B / a Czekaj Artistic Productions / Expert
Ania Czekaj-Farber has been a Montessori parent since 2004, when her first child attended a Primary classroom. She has been actively involved in Montessori education since then, following her three children through the Primary and Elementary programs and supporting the school's teachings, vision, and community. Ms. Czekaj-Farber is one of the founding supporters/Board members of Trust for Learning. Ms. Czekaj-Farber worked at National Economic Research Associates in New York after emigrating from Poland; she transferred from the Warsaw Main School of Trade and then graduated from the economic program at Hunter College of New York with bachelor's and master's degrees. Ania is also an opera singer, Broadway producer, and the head of Czekaj Artistic Productions. She strongly believes that music education and performing art education in the early stages of children's development are vital, and she is a strong advocate of music and theater education being crucial parts of elementary and high school curricula. Ms. Czekaj-Farber is also a Trustee of the Westport Country Playhouse's Board.
Job Titles:
- Expert
- Founder and Executive Director of Montessori Partnerships for Georgia
- Head Start IL Practice Movement Building
Annie Frazer is the founder and executive director of Montessori Partnerships for Georgia, a nonprofit that expands access to Montessori through a network of public and community-based Montessori schools. As part of her work, she directs the Ideal Learning Head Start Network, supported by Trust for Learning. A Montessori child and public school graduate, Annie holds an AMI Montessori elementary diploma from the Bergamo Montessori Training Centre and AMI Montessori certification at the adolescent level. Annie worked for ten years as a Montessori adolescent guide and administrator. She has worked as a middle school teacher in DeKalb County Schools and has served on the faculty of the AMI Montessori Orientation to Adolescent Studies.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor and Director of the Juniper Gardens Children 's Project at the University
- Educator Development Equity Research
Brian Boyd, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor and Director of the Juniper Gardens Children's Project at the University of Kansas. As Director of a center rooted in community-based, applied research, he has been heavily engaged in research that involves the most vulnerable, and often marginalized, populations. As a special educator by training, much of his research has involved the development and evaluation of evidence-based practices and building community partnerships to implement these interventions within school-based contexts. His more recent work has focused on how issues of implicit bias and race affect the lives and outcomes of children of color, including those with disabilities.
Dr. Boyd's work has been funded by both the Institute of Education Sciences and the National Institutes of Health. Currently, he serves on multiple national boards that are dedicated to improving the outcomes of individuals with disabilities and those from historically underserved communities.
Job Titles:
- Director of Ideal Learning Initiatives Trust for Learning Centennial, CO / Expert
Job Titles:
- Chief Strategy & Policy Officer Co - Director Trust for Learning Washington, DC / Expert
Job Titles:
- Educator Development Equity Head Start IL Practice Parents & Familes Research
- Executive Director Educare Learning Network Chicago / Expert
Cynthia D. Jackson is dedicated to producing high quality early learning that achieves positive outcomes for children and parents. As Executive Director of the Educare Learning Network, Senior Vice President at Start Early: Champions for Early Learning (formerly The Ounce), she leads a generative, coast-to-coast network of 25 high quality birth-to-five schools that function as innovative learning hubs for the field of early childhood care and education. In collaboration with Educare Network leaders, and early childhood stakeholders, Cynthia advances practice, research, policy, and innovative solutions for greater positive system-wide impact. She is devoted to dismantling inequitable systems of injustice to construct high quality equitable early childhood systems that create accessible opportunities for all. Previously she was national director of training and technical assistance for Healthy Families America, Prevent Child Abuse America and Director, Family Focus, Inc. Midwest Learning Center for Family Support. She holds a Master of Science in health education and counseling from the University of North Texas and Bachelor of Science in community and school health education from the University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign.
David Nee retired from the Graustein Memorial Fund in March 2014 after 20 years as executive director. The Memorial Fund is known for its dedication to early childhood and K-12 education, with strong emphasis on community engagement and advocacy. David had previously been executive director of the Florence Burden Foundation and the Ittleson Foundation, for a total of 33 years as a foundation leader. David currently consults part-time for the Social Impact Exchange, working to help effective early childhood programs and initiatives grow to larger scale. He graduated from Harvard College, holds a master's in English from Yale University, and an MBA from Boston University. Mr. Nee is married and has two sons and three grandchildren.
Job Titles:
- Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant National Center of Excellence for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation / Expert
Job Titles:
- President
- Educator Development IL Practice Parents & Familes Research
- President and Cofounder Tools of the Mind / Expert
Deborah J. Leong. Ph.D. is president and cofounder of Tools of the Mind and professor emerita of Psychology at Metropolitan State University of Denver, where she taught cognitive and developmental psychology for 36 years. Deborah developed Tools of the Mind with Dr. Bodrova in 1995. Tools of the Mind is a professional development program and a comprehensive curriculum for Pre-K and Kindergarten children based on Vygotskian theories about learning. Tools is designed to empower teachers with the understandings and tools they need to create positive classroom cultures, facilitate intentional playful learning, and support the development of self-regulated learners who achieve to their full potential - closing the achievement gap for low income, minority and DLL students. Tools has also developed a set of technology applications based on the Vygotskian approach to learning and executive functions to support in person learning at school or learning at home. Deborah has her Ph.D. from Stanford University in Psychological Studies in Education, her M. Ed. from Harvard University, and her B.A. from Stanford University. She was a Fulbright Fellow to the University of Patagonia, Argentina. Deborah has been a participant of the Ideal Learning Roundtable since its inception.
Job Titles:
- Director of State Advocacy Montessori Public Policy Initiative / Expert
- Public Policy
Denise Monnier is a Montessori parent, advocate, and advocacy coach, striving for public policy that supports universal access to Montessori education. More than 15 years of teaching in and leading Montessori schools made her deeply aware of the need for equity in and access to high quality education. Denise‘s journey into education policy began when she founded an early childhood outreach program. Later, as a head of school and through her involvement in the Association of Illinois Montessori Schools where she currently serves as Executive Director, her advocacy efforts turned to statewide and national advocacy. Her work with MPPI is centered around supporting our state advocacy groups and equipping them with the tools and training they need to be effective advocates for children. Joining the Ideal Learning Roundtable has been an opportunity for Denise to broaden her perspective working collaboratively with the other members and bringing strength to the larger voice that connection has created.
Job Titles:
- Building Impact / Expert
- Equity Movement Building Research
- President and Founder of Building Impact
Dr. Alex Johnston is president and founder of Building Impact, a philanthropic advising practice that engages forward-thinking funders to catalyze systemic change on the issues that matter most. Previously, Alex co-founded and served for seven years as CEO of ConnCAN, an advocacy organization focused on advancing educational equity in Connecticut. Alex is a board member of FaithActs for Education and a former member of the New Haven Board of Education. In addition to Trust for Learning, Alex serves on advisory boards for the Center for Reinventing Public Education and Education Resource Strategies. Alex got his start in education at the Common School in Amherst, Massachusetts. He is a graduate of Harvard College and received a Ph.D. in politics from Oxford University's Lincoln College on a Rhodes Scholarship. In past lives, Alex has been the pastry chef at a gastropub, director of operations at a housing authority, and a licensed home-improvement contractor.
Job Titles:
- Dean and Professor Emeritus
- Educator Development IL Practice Parents & Familes Research
- Expert
Dr. Brenda Fyfe is Dean and Professor Emeritus, School of Education at Webster University. She serves on the boards of the North American Reggio Emilia Alliance, the Ideal Learning Roundtable of Trust for Learning, Education Dean for Justice and Equity, and the Association for Constructivist Teaching. Dr. Fyfe has authored multiple journal articles and book chapters on the Reggio Emilia approach to early education and recently co-authored a report for Trust for Learning called, Ideal Pathways: How Ideal Learning Approaches Prepare and Support Ideal Childhood Educators (2020). She is currently working in collaboration with several teacher-educators from the U.S. and Reggio Emilia, Italy to research how Reggio-inspired education supports emergent bilingual and multilingual children and families.
Job Titles:
- Educator Development Equity Head Start IL Practice Parents & Familes Public Policy
- Expert
Dr. Celia C. Ayala has more than 40 years of early childhood leadership experience in schools, Head Start, and government. She has dedicated her career to advocating for early learning investments, quality improvements, policy, workforce development, and resources for children and families. Dr. Ayala currently holds leadership and advisory positions in the Congressional Pre-K Caucus and Child360 (formerly Los Angeles Universal Preschool), and serves as Spanish media spokesperson for the National Institute for Early Education Research's annual "The State of Preschool" report. Most recently, Dr. Ayala served as Chief Executive Officer for Los Angeles Universal Preschool, helping over 200,000 children receive the best start to school and life throughout Los Angeles County and beyond. Over her career, she has also served as a public school teacher, principal, curriculum and instruction director, and assistant superintendent. She holds firmly to the belief that educating children depends upon a long-range, holistic approach that involves family, educators, and the larger community. Dr. Ayala received a doctorate in education from the University of Southern California; her master's in education administration from California State University, Los Angeles; and her bachelor's in Spanish and Sociology from the University of Southern California.
Job Titles:
- Public Policy
- Trust for Learning / Expert
Dr. Libby Doggett is leveraging her leadership and management skills honed over 40-plus years through work in schools, Head Start, and child care with children with and without disabilities to build public will and strong, diverse local coalitions in Texas to improve children's readiness for Kindergarten. Recently, Doggett served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Early Learning at the U.S. Department of Education, overseeing both the Early Learning Challenge and the Preschool Development Grant programs. In that role, Doggett provided birth to age eight expertise and policy guidance to the Secretary and served as the Department of Education's early learning liaison to the White House, the Department of Health and Human Services, and other federal and state agencies. Prior to returning to the Department of Education, wherein the nineties, Doggett served as executive director of the Federal Interagency Coordinating Council for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with disabilities and their families, Doggett worked with the Pew Charitable Trusts. There, she directed the Pew home visiting campaign, where she oversaw a robust research agenda and worked with advocates in target states to build political and public understanding and support for data-driven investments that align with federal guidance. Prior to that, Doggett directed Pre-K Now, a 10-year campaign to advance high-quality, voluntary pre-K for all three- and four-year-olds in states across the country. Through its successes, Pre-K Now significantly increased the investments and number of children attending state-supported pre-K. Doggett has devoted her career to expanding access to ideal learning opportunities for all children. . She began her career as a bilingual first-grade teacher at Ortega Elementary School in Austin and holds a doctorate from the University of Texas in early childhood special education.
Job Titles:
- Equity Public Policy Research
- Founding Director and Professor of Practice Children 's Equity Project at Arizona State University / Expert
- Professor of Practice and Director for Policy at the Center for Child
Dr. Shantel Meek is a Professor of Practice and Director for Policy at the Center for Child and Family Success in the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University. She is the Founding Director of the Children's Equity Project (CEP), a multi-university initiative that aims to close opportunity gaps between children from historically marginalized communities and their peers. Dr. Meek previously served as a consultant in early childhood policy and strategy at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington D.C. Prior to founding the CEP, Dr. Meek served in the Obama Administration as a Senior Policy Advisor for Early Childhood Development at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and as a Senior Policy Advisor for Education in the Domestic Policy Council at the White House. During her time in the Obama Administration, Dr. Meek advised senior officials at HHS and at The White House on a wide array of policy issues including promoting equity and reducing disparities in early education. She also worked on drafting official guidance and regulations related to Head Start and the Child Care and Development Block Grant and worked closely with States and communities on implementation. Dr. Meek played a key role in President Obama's My Brother's Keeper Initiative, leading the early childhood policy component of the initiative. Prior to her work with the Obama Administration, Dr. Meek served as a Clinical Interventionist for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families at the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center in Phoenix, where she worked one-on-one with children, taught in a toddler classroom, implemented educational consultation and inclusion support services at public schools, and trained families and paraprofessionals on evidence-based strategies to support the development of young children with ASD. She holds a B.A. in Psychology and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Family and Human Development from Arizona State University. Dr. Meek is the granddaughter of Mexican immigrants and her personal experiences as a Latina and first-generation college graduate from a small town on the U.S.-Mexico border inform her work and contribute to her drive to improve the learning conditions of children from historically marginalized communities. Today, she lives in Washington D.C. with her husband and two children, both of whom are dual language learners.
Job Titles:
- CEO of AVANCE, Inc
- Chief Executive Officer AVANCE, Inc / Expert
Dr. Teresa Granillo is the CEO of AVANCE, Inc., a non-profit that creates pathways to economic mobility for predominately Latino families through innovative, two-generation education and support for families with young children.
Prior to the non-profit sector, Dr. Granillo was a professor at UT Austin in the School of Social Work. Dr. Granillo has spent over two decades working to ensure that Latinx children and families have all the mental, physical, social, and economic resources to thrive. She is particularly passionate about the power of education.
As a Latina first-generation college graduate, she knows firsthand how education can end the cycle of poverty.
Dr. Wendy Waithe Simmons is a State Services Liaison with the Build Initiative and a member of the Ideal Learning Roundtable (ILR). Most recently, she was the inaugural Executive Director of New Haven ChILD (NH ChILD), a place-based pilot that grew out of the ILR's work. It was conceptualized by ILR members (Bank Street College of Education and the Friends Center for Children) with support from the Trust for Learning (TFL) and other ILR members. Wendy values the work of ILR and the opportunity to expand Ideal Learning across the city of New Haven.
Wendy is also a licensed psychologist with more than 30 years of experience working with children and families. Throughout her career, she has engaged with children and families through teaching, direct clinical service, consultation, program development, and research in both educational and clinical settings. She believes that all children deserve to have the opportunity to have multiple pathways towards success. She has a specific interest in developing and implementing programs for children from a variety of backgrounds who have been experiencing social, behavioral, and/or academic challenges, particularly for children birth through five years of age.
Additionally, she is an Adjunct Professor in the Early Childhood Department at Gateway Community College and a Member of the Expert Advisory Panel for the University of Connecticut's Pre-K to 3 Leadership Program. Prior to NH ChILD, Dr. Simmons was the Director of Education and Equity at Connecticut Voices for Children (Voices), a research, state policy, and advocacy organization. While at Voices, she advocated for equitable policies in early care as well as education for children and youth from birth through college and/or career. She was also the Director of the Connecticut College and Career Readiness Alliance and Manager for the Voices' Associate Policy Fellows Program, a program introducing and supporting recent college graduates to state policy advocacy. For almost 10 years, she worked at the State Education Resource Center (SERC), where she started as a consultant providing professional learning across various settings. Professional learning content included racial equity, special education, positive behavior intervention and supports, school improvement systems and structures, professional learning communities, and data teams, as examples. She had several leadership roles at SERC before becoming the Director for Development, Community Affairs, & Equity and the first Director of the SERC Foundation.
Dr. Simmons received her doctoral training in School Psychology at the University of South Carolina and post-doctoral child clinical training at the Child Study Center at Yale University where she was also an Associate Research Scientist. She is an avid reader, wife, and mother of two lovely daughters.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder and Tools Knowledge Advisor Tools of the Mind / Expert
- IL Practice Research
Elena Bodrova, Ph.D. is currently the Knowledge Advisor at Tools of the Mind. In collaboration with Dr. Deborah Leong, she developed Tools of the Mind program based on Vygotskian and post-Vygotskian theories of learning and Luria's theories of brain development. Dr. Bodrova's work on applying Lev Vygotsky's theory to education started in Russia where she worked at the institute for Preschool Education and continued in the U.S. where she worked as a visiting professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver and later as a Principal Researcher at Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning. Dr. Bodrova is the coauthor with Dr. Leong of multiple articles and book chapters on early literacy, assessment, play, and self-regulation. Dr. Bodrova holds a Ph.D. in Child Development and Educational Psychology from Russian Academy of Pedagogical Sciences and an M.A. in Child Development and Educational psychology from Moscow State University, Russia.
Job Titles:
- Alliance for Public Waldorf Education / Expert
Liz Beaven has thirty-five years experience in Waldorf education as a class teacher, school director, adult educator, researcher, and speaker. She is the president of the Alliance for Public Waldorf education and has been actively engaged for almost two decades in the expansion of the Waldorf approach into public education since the early 1990's on curriculum and methodology, professional development, school support, educator development, and research. She is deeply committed to expanding access to education inspired by the core principles of Public Waldorf education and to the ongoing adaptation of Waldorf education to the needs of a diverse population of students, families, teachers, and their communities. She completed undergraduate and graduate education in New Zealand and returned to education after many years in the field to gain a doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of California, Davis.
Liz joined the Ideal Learning Round Table in 2017; she has found this to be a rich opportunity to provide a broader context for Waldorf education and to expand engagement around essential questions of access, equity, and diversity in early childhood care and education. She recently engaged in research on "Ideal Pathways" for teacher preparation and co-authored a resulting report for the Trust for Learning. Ideal Pathways: How Ideal Learning Approaches Prepare and Support Early Childhood Educators. This research reinforced her conviction in the importance of a well-prepared, diverse population of teachers. Liz enjoys speaking and writing about the Ideal Learning Principles, their alignment with Waldorf education, and their importance for the healthy development of all children.
As a Waldorf teacher, parent, and now grandparent, Liz is acutely aware of the vital, formative nature of a child's early years and the pressures placed by our society on children, parents and teachers. She is exploring possibilities for new forms of educator preparation and parent and teacher support through the virtual approaches that became essential due to COVID-19.
Job Titles:
- Co - Chair, Trust for Learning President, Brady Education Foundation Trust for Learning, Brady Education Foundation / Expert
Job Titles:
- Chief Media & Philanthropy Officer Co - Director Trust for Learning Washington
- Educator Development Equity Movement Building Philanthropy Research
Ellen leads media, fundraising, and racial equity efforts at the Trust and studies infant and toddler development at University of Maryland. Having served as executive director of the Trust from 2018 to 2022, she now co-leads the Trust with Toscha Blalock & Chrisanne Gayl. Prior to joining Trust for Learning, Ellen taught English and music to children from Pre-K to high school and developed issue-based storytelling campaigns as a consultant. While earning her Master's of Education at Harvard University, she studied the history of progressive education models in the U.S. and antiracist pedagogy. At the Trust, she works closely with our board and philanthropic funders to steward the organization's development and aims to incorporate antiracism and inclusion in all areas of our work. Through our media efforts, Ellen amplifies the voices of colleagues around the country as they work toward ideal learning environments for all young children from birth - age eight.
As a developing scientist, she is focused on bringing antiracist practice into academic research and led the development of Trust for Learning's evidence brief in early 2022. She spent two years working in the Early Learning Project lab at Georgetown University, and is now examining the relationship between adversity, language and socio-emotional development in preschoolers while working toward her PhD in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science. Learn more about her current research in University of Maryland's LEAD lab here.
Job Titles:
- Founding Executive Director of Urban Sprouts
- Founding Executive Director Urban Sprouts Child Development Center University City, Missouri
Ellicia Lanier is the founding Executive Director of Urban Sprouts, a diverse Reggio Emilia school focusing on early childhood education. With over 20 years of experience in the field. Lanier is passionate about her work and committed to realizing her vision of social justice through early childhood education.
Lanier is committed to developing and administering programs that enrich the lives of children and their families. As an Adjunct Instructor at St. Louis Community College, she has distinguished herself as a leader in social-emotional development education and early childhood management. Among her proudest achievements at St. Louis Community College is extending non-traditional early childhood Education (ECE) courses to the community, in partnership with the Boeing Company.
Lanier demonstrates radical collaboration by contributing to equitable early childhood systems building and partnerships that support child well-being. In addition, she recently hosted Chelsea Clinton's visit to St. Louis in partnership with Child Care Aware of Eastern Missouri. She has also spearheaded innovative community programs by leading Urban Sprouts expansion of a $2.1 M NMTC investment project in 2017, including partnering with Youth in Need to serve families equitably through Head Start. In collaboration with Webster University, she co-hosted a conference attended by 20 Reggio Emilia providers based in China highlighting advanced interaction between children, teachers, and their peers.
Ellicia Lanier and Urban Sprouts are members of the First Steps to Equity collaborative and the focus of a case study for the first steps to equity report. She is a founding member of Ready by Five, an early childhood campaign that led to the win of Prop R in St. Louis City. She is currently the Vice-Chair of the Regional Early Childhood Non-Profit in St. Louis, MO.
Job Titles:
- Associate Vice President, Education Center Bank Street College of Education / Expert
Job Titles:
- Research Professor, Fellow, & Founding Director the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC / Expert
Job Titles:
- Director of Research
- Codirector Center for Early Education Research and Evaluation ( CEERE ) HighScope Educational Research Foundation
- Educator Development IL Practice Research
Jeffrey A. Beal, Ph.D., is the Director of Research, Evaluation, and Development at HighScope Educational Research Foundation located in Ypsilanti, MI. He directs a full research and development team charged with the development, refinement, and validation of HighScope's early childhood curricula and child and program assessments as well as conducting research that benefits the early childhood education field. Dr. Beal has presented nationally and internationally on topics ranging from easing preschool to kindergarten transitions to preschool classroom quality measures. Dr. Beal completed his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership at Oakland University.
Job Titles:
- Director of Evaluation at HighScope Educational Research Foundation
- Director of Evaluation HighScope Educational Research Foundation / Expert
Jill Claxton is the Director of Evaluation at HighScope Educational Research Foundation. She has collected program and child data and trained others to do so both nationally and internationally in her 30+ years with HighScope. She has coordinated and supervised several projects, which entail monitoring multisite research efforts, serving as a liaison with partner sites, establishing guidelines for representative sample selections, and disseminating data findings. She served as the project coordinator for the design, development, and validation of the Family Child Care Program Quality Assessment, Infant-Toddler Program Quality Assessment, and Classroom Coach. The children in care across the various projects have ranged in age from infancy through early elementary school attending early childhood center settings, home-based care settings, children cared for in their own homes and elementary schools. Ms. Claxton contributed to an examination of the costs and benefits associated with the expansion of Michigan's state-funded preschool program, the Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP) and the validation of Great Start to Quality (GSQ), Michigan's state-level program quality rating and improvement system (QRIS). Ms. Claxton is currently leading the data collection efforts for the Educare Flint, Michigan evaluation project in partnership with American Institutes for Research. She is certified in classroom observations, including Pre-K-3 CLASS, Classroom Coach, and ITERS-3. Jill completed an MA in Educational Psychology with a concentration in research and evaluation and a BS in Special Education for Hearing Impairments from Eastern Michigan University. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Oakland University, in Early Childhood Education, with an expected graduation date in 2022.
Job Titles:
- Director, Reading Foundational Skills and Intervention EL Education / Expert
Job Titles:
- Director of Professional Learning National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector
Katie Brown oversees professional development and research at the National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector, a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting the more than 500 public Montessori schools across the United States. Katie began her career as a language arts teacher in traditional and charter schools before being introduced to Montessori during her time at the South Carolina Department of Education. Katie went on to earn her Ph.D. in urban education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where she studied outcomes for African American students in public Montessori schools. As a member of the Ideal Learning Roundtable, Katie works to expand access to Ideal Learning by helping public schools deliver high-quality, personalized education through Montessori.
Job Titles:
- Director of Education Child - Parent Centers Inc
Job Titles:
- Executive Director Colorado Department of Early Childhood / Expert
- Executive Director for the Colorado Department of Early Childhood
Lisa Roy is the Executive Director for the Colorado Department of Early Childhood. Lori was the Director Of Program Development at the Buffett Institute, and also served as executive director of the Early Childhood Department at Denver Public Schools. There, she managed a $57 million budget that supported more than 5,000 3- and 4-year-olds within the District and 2,500 half-day slots with community providers. Roy was responsible for managing more than 40 staff members in support of licensing, coaching, and operations. One of her roles was to partner with the City of Denver (Children's Affairs, Human Services, Denver Public Library), Mile High United Way, and the Children's Museum to increase language and literacy skills for children from birth to Grade 3.
Previously, Roy has done consultant work for Grantmakers for Education as the organization's equity impact group lead and served as the executive director of the Timothy and Bernadette Marquez Foundation, focusing on improving educational opportunities and increasing access and options in health care and human services for underserved or under-represented populations. Roy worked in Washington, D.C., for the Center for the Study of Social Policy as a senior associate, supporting the Child Healthy and Prepared to Succeed in School agenda for the Annie E. Casey Foundation. She also served as a grant officer for the Piton Foundation and Daniels Fund, as a Head Start administrator for the City and County of Denver, and as a director of early childhood programs for the Clayton Foundation and Catholic Charities.
She holds a doctorate in executive leadership for educational equity from the University of Colorado at Denver and a master's degree in counseling psychology and counselor education, also from the University of Colorado at Denver, and a bachelor's degree in psychology and speech community from the Metropolitan State College of Denver (now Metropolitan State University of Denver).
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor, Narrative and Movement Building National Association for the Education of Young Children / Expert
Lucy Recio serves on the Leadership Team at NAEYC as the Senior Advisor for Narrative and Movement Building. In this role, Lucy provides strategic and operational leadership that integrates the voices, stories, and experiences of early childhood education professionals to inform, guide, and grow NAEYC's programs, services, and impact and advance NAEYC's vision for an equitable, diverse, well-prepared, and well-compensated early childhood education profession. Her work is anchored by her roots as a community organizer and rests on more than a decade of building dynamic and effective issue advocacy campaigns, programs, and systems to inform policy and legislation, shape public understanding and perception, and create processes for meaningful constituent engagement and advocate mobilization.
Lucy first joined NAEYC in 2016 and has served as both NAEYC's Senior Public Policy Analyst and Director of Advocacy. She has led grassroots mobilization, digital engagement, and national story collection campaigns to increase public investments towards child care and early learning, quadrupled NAEYC's advocate capacity and engagement, driven equity and power building conversations within the early childhood education space, and helped secure more than $54 billion in COVID-19 relief dollars for the child care sector.
Lucy holds a bachelor's degree in international culture and politics, with a concentration in justice and peace studies from Georgetown University and a master's in public administration from CUNY-Baruch College, a distinction she received as a National Urban Fellow.
Job Titles:
- Founding Partner & Co - Chair Trust for Learning / Expert
- Founding Partner of Trust for Learning
Marianna Kulak McCall is a founding partner of Trust for Learning. In researching high-quality learning options around the country, she has spent years exploring why so many families lack access to the education that would give their children the best start in life. Marianna believes every child deserves the right to reach their full potential. She also believes that system-wide change happens when policymakers, communities, advocates, and funders work together. In addition to founding Trust for Learning, Marianna is a trustee of the McCall Kulak Family Foundation, which focuses on education. She is also active in statewide and national education advocacy.
Marianna has previously worked on international development efforts in the nonprofit sector for Save the Children, where she coordinated international relief efforts, as well as for the Financial Services Volunteer Corps, where she was the regional director for Eastern Europe and Russia. Her private-sector experience includes serving as director of operations for Astrum International Corporation in Moscow, Russia, where she represented several American manufacturers and opened the first American retail stores in Moscow. She previously served as a director of Delus Corp, a registered NY investment advisor. Marianna has served on several non-profit boards. Marianna earned degrees from Georgetown University (B.S.), University of Connecticut (MBA), and Bank Street College of Education (MS.Ed.)
Job Titles:
- Site Co - Director and Mentor Coach All Our Kin New Haven, CT / Expert
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- Director of Operations & Grants Management Trust for Learning / Expert
Job Titles:
- Early Childhood Applied Practice Manager HighScope Educational Research Foundation / Expert
Shannon Lockhart is an Early Childhood Applied Practice Manager for the HighScope Educational Research Foundation where she has worked with both the research and early childhood departments for over 30 years. Shannon is an experienced early education professional with dedication and commitment for providing high quality early childhood experiences for birth to five globally. She is grounded in child development, curriculum, theory, and research. Her expertise includes development in curriculum, training, coaching, and observation based assessment (child and program) as well as adult and professional learning. She is a HighScope Certified Trainer and Teacher.
Throughout her 30 years of working at HighScope, Shannon has assisted and co-led numerous research projects (International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement Preprimary Project, Eastern Caribbean and UNICEF project; Head Start Quality Research Center Project, Michigan School Readiness Project; development of the infant-toddler and preschool Child Observation Record Assessment; development of the infant-toddler and preschool Program Quality Assessment). Currently she is responsible for the design and development of innovative resources for improving HighScope's curriculum (birth to 5), and adult and professional learning services both nationally and internationally with HighScope's international institutes. She also trains educators nationally and internationally.
Shannon holds a Master's Degree in early childhood education and has been an adjunct professor for Rochester College and Oakland University for 10 years. She has been a guest lecturer to several colleges and universities; keynote speaker in Columbia, Mexico and Michigan and conducts early childhood workshops across the United States and internationally. She is an author of various articles, videos, and publications.
In 2018, Trust for Learning graciously asked HighScope to participate in the important work of the Ideal Learning Roundtable. ILR's Ideal Learning Principles are integrally aligned with the HighScope Curriculum and as a member of the ILR, Shannon has participated in its active work and continues to integrate the Ideal Learning Principles within the work of the HighScope Foundation as well as collaborating with other early childhood organizations to further the movement of providing Ideal Learning experiences for all children.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder and Coordinator Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America ( WECAN ) Expert
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- Director of Movement Building Trust for Learning Bridgewater, MA / Expert
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- Chief Learning & Evaluation Officer Co - Director Trust for Learning Havertown, PA / Expert
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- Executive Director Montessori Public Policy Initiative / Expert
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- Distinguished Professor in Education
- Distinguished Professor in Education University of North Carolina Chapel Hill