We are a diverse team of teachers, students, and scientists united in our mission to advocate for
​Black children and their communities through policy informing research. 

The research team

STEPHANIE M. CURENTON, PH.D.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
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Stephanie M. Curenton, Ph.D. is a tenured associate professor in the Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. Her research focuses on positive child growth and development and dismantling health and education inequities for racially marginalized children and families.

Stephanie studies the social, cognitive, and language development of children within various ecological contexts, such as parent-child interactions, early childhood education programs, early childhood workforce programs, and related state and federal policies. Her topical areas of expertise are language and literacy development, particularly among African American children and dual language learners, and measurement development. She has created two measures, the Conversation Compass Communication Screener-Revised measure of children’s classroom conversation skills, and the Assessing Classroom Sociocultural Equity Scale, a measure of classroom quality for racially marginalized students.

​She has authored numerous empirical manuscripts as well as books and edited volumes targeted toward practitioners or policy makers. She is a leader in the field of early childhood policy and child development. She has served as past associate editor for the two top journals in early childhood, Early Childhood Research Quarterly and Early Education and Development. She has also been awarded two research policy fellowships, one from the Society for Research on Child Development (SRCD)/American Association for the Advancement of Science(AAAS) where she worked in Office of Child Care and the other from National Child Development Institute (NBCDI). She has served on education non-profit boards for National Association for the Education of Young Children(NAEYC) and local Head Start programs.

Her research has been funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Office of Program Research and Evaluation (OPRE), the National Academy of Science Ford Predoctoral Fellowship, American Education Research Association (AERA), Foundation for Child Development, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Stephanie earned her Ph.D. in Developmental and Community Psychology from the University of Virginia. In her free time, Stephanie enjoys yoga, reading, spending time with her family, and playing with her new dog.
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JACQUELINE SIMS, PH.D.

DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH
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Jacqueline Sims, Ph.D., is the Director of Research at the Center on the Ecology of Early Development. Her work focuses on identifying and understanding contexts and practices that support the optimal development of minoritized youth, with a particular focus on how these supports can disrupt the health and educational impacts of racism and poverty.  

Jacqueline’s dissertation work on the intersection of youth achievement and health, particularly among minoritized youth, was supported by a NAED/Spender Foundation Dissertation Fellowship. Jacqueline earned her Ph.D. with distinction in Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology from the Boston College Lynch School of Education and Human Development. In her undergraduate studies at Duke University, Jacqueline was a Scholar with the Robertson Scholars Leadership Program. 
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OLIVIA NAZAIRE, B.A.

CENTER COORDINATOR
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Olivia recently graduated summa cum laude from the University of Massachusetts Lowell with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Education. She has research interests in addressing racial/ethnic disparities in youth mental health services and school-based interventions, as well as the implementation of evidence-based practices for minoritized youth and families.
 
In the summer of 2021, she participated in a NSF Undergraduate Research Experience at Ohio University where she investigated racial discrepancies in teachers’ perceptions of ADHD-related behaviors, and later won the ADHD Special Interest Group Undergraduate Poster Award at the 2021 annual ABCT Convention. 
 
Olivia started at CEED as a Research Assistant in the Fall of 2021 and is now the Center Coordinator. She continues to engage in research at both CEED and the University of Massachusetts Lowell and plans to pursue a graduate degree in child psychology in the future. In her free time, she enjoys listening to music and traveling!

ANU RAYAMAJHI, B.A.

GRANTS & FINANCE ADMINISTRATOR
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Anu Rayamajhi is the Grants and Finance Administrator for CEED. Anu has always had a passion for supporting non-profits and has an extensive background working in finance for non-profits. Anu earned her bachelor’s in communication at the University of New Hampshire and is currently working on her MBA at Questrom School of Business at Boston University.
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CATA HOPKINS, B.S.

COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST
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Cata is an independent writer and designer who specializes in content and communications for nonprofits and researchers working in urban social justice. Her background is in urban geography, and, as a former teacher, much of her work centers on the use of urban design as a tool for improving education outcomes in cities. 
 
Cata is based in New York and London, and she works with clients based both in the US and the UK. More information about her writing projects can be found at www.chmediaco.com.

KYLE DEMEO COOK, PH.D.

SENIOR RESEARCH SCIENTIST
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Kyle DeMeo Cook, PhD is a Senior Research Scientist at the Center on the Ecology of Early Development at Boston University. She is currently the project director for the Multnomah County Preschool for All Evaluation. Her research focuses on examining early education topics, such as: access to early education, the transition to kindergarten, and collaborations between early education and K–12. 
 
Kyle has worked in both academic and non-profit research settings. She has extensive experience working with state agencies, school districts, early education programs and other local leaders to design, conduct and disseminate education research that is requested and relevant to policymakers and practitioners. Her research has been funded by the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families’ Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE). From 2016-2018, Dr. Cook was awarded a Head Start Research Scholar grant from OPRE for her research on coordination efforts between Head Start programs and elementary schools during the transition to kindergarten. In 2020 she was named an Early Career Scholar for the New York City Early Childhood Research Network.
 
She also has also taught undergraduate and graduate level courses in research methods and child development. Kyle holds a bachelor’s degree in Human Development, master’s degree in Educational Research, Measurement and Evaluation, and a PhD in Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology from Boston College. 
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NNEKA IBEKWE-OKAFOR, PH.D.

RESEARCH SCIENTIST
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Nneka Ibekwe-Okafor, Ph.D., is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Wheelock College of Education and Human Development at Boston University and a graduate Teaching Fellow at Harvard University. Her research sits at the intersection of developmental science, early childhood education and social policy.

Nneka investigates the social and environmental determinants of children’s academic development by examining how poverty, racial discrimination, structural inequalities, and educational inequities influence access to quality early care and education and the developmental outcomes of racially marginalized learners from birth to kindergarten. Her research has a particular focus on identifying protective factors across various ecological levels in efforts to promote the optimal developmental outcomes of Black children and families developing in low-income environments. The goal of her research is to inform social policies and practitioner-led interventions through the science of human development.

As a former Society for Research in Child Development Predoctoral State Policy Fellow for the Delaware Department of Education, Nneka evaluated state level early learning initiatives, developed policy briefs and worked with legislators to improve policies affecting children from low-income families. In the Center for the Ecology of Early Development, she is the Postdoctoral Fellow for the Researchers Investigating Sociocultural Equity and Race (RISER) Network, which is a network of scholars committed to unpacking how racism is an environmental context that erodes health and education opportunities.
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XIMENA FRANCO-JENKINS, PH.D.

RESEARCH SCIENTIST
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Ximena Franco-Jenkins, PhD, is an advanced research scientist at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Early Childhood Portfolio Lead at the National Implementation Research Network (NIRN). She has more than 15 years of experience in life-span developmental psychology and applied research, primarily with ethnically diverse children and families within clinic, school, and community settings. Her work integrates children's socio-emotional development and educational and family environments and is aimed at developing culturally robust assessment and intervention strategies for early care and education teachers working with Dual Language Learners (DLLs).
 
Franco-Jenkins currently serves as Co-PI on an IES-funded study examining associations between language of instruction and academic outcomes in Spanish-English dual language academic settings. Within NIRN, Franco-Jenkins primarily serves as Co-PI in a study focus on evaluating the effective implementation of seven high-quality middle-years math curriculum across 19 school districts in the US targeting Latino/a and Black, students living in poverty, students designated as English Learners and students with disabilities.
 
Franco-Jenkins served as Co-PI on the study of Nuestros Niños Program: Promoting School Readiness for English Language Learners funded by the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). It was a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test the efficacy of a professional development intervention for teachers of DLLs in preschool programs in three states.
 
Franco-Jenkins’s work also involves policies and practices related to state quality rating and improvement systems for early childhood. She served as PI on the North Carolina Statewide Birth-5 Needs Assessment project and Co-PI on the evaluation of the North Carolina's Quality Rating Improvement System.
 
Franco-Jenkins currently serves as a member of the Finance and Audit Committee of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD).
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JOHANA CHAPARRO-MORENO, PH.D.

POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATE
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Johana Chaparro-Moreno, PhD., is a Postdoctoral Associate and part-time instructor in the Wheelock College of Education and Human Development at Boston University. Her research integrates theories, advanced statistical methods, and technological advances from the fields of child development, literacy, and engineering to design culturally- and linguistically-sensitive methodologies to analyze linguistic experiences in early childhood education settings and investigate how individual differences in these experiences lead to differences in listening comprehension growth among children from marginalized groups. 

As a Graduate Research Associate in the Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy (CRANE) at the Ohio State University, she was the coordinator of the IES-funded project Speech-Therapy Experiences in the Public Schools-2 (STEPS-2), which uses the Interaction Detection in Early Childhood Settings to automatically transcribe and process videos of school-based speech-language therapy sessions. Besides collaborating in STEPS-2 at CRANE, her current research focuses on the learning experiences that boost the development of listening comprehension among dual language learners and the translation of this knowledge into pedagogical practices.  
 

EMiLY WEISS, PH.D.

POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATE
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Emily Weiss is a Postdoctoral Associate at the Wheelock College of Education and Human Development.  Her research examines the development of self-regulatory, behavioral, and social-emotional capacities that enable young children from diverse backgrounds to thrive in early education. She specializes in latent variable modeling, psychometrics, and longitudinal analysis to investigate patterns of individual differences and the proximal and sociocultural contexts that shape children’s developmental trajectories.
 
Prior to joining CEED, Emily completed her PhD with distinction in Quantitative Methods at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, MA in Statistics from The Wharton School, and MS in Applied Developmental Psychology from Portland State University. 
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TAYLOR BOYD, M.ED.

RESEARCH FELLOW
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Taylor is a Research Fellow at CEED working on the ACSES Project and Racial Literacy Project. She grew up in Toronto and moved to Boston to pursue a M.Ed at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Before joining CEED, she worked in New York City at a language research lab at NYU then in public schools supporting the implementation of measures for student social-emotional learning. She is excited to continue collaborating with researchers and practitioners to promote equitable learning experiences and outcomes for all students. In her spare time, she loves trying new bakeries and spending time in the nearest park.
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KAELEIGH HERNANDEZ, M.S.W.​

RESEARCH FELLOW
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Kaeleigh is a Research Fellow at the Center on the Ecology of Early Development. Prior to joining, she served as the Assistant Director of Early Education Policy for a statewide advocacy nonprofit in Texas. At CEED, she conducts research on sociocultural classroom interactions and explores ways to embed equity measures across various early care and education systems. In addition, she is interested in identifying ways to promote equity in access to quality resources in efforts to promote the health and educational wellbeing of racially marginalized learners. Originally from Kansas City, Missouri, she moved to Texas after completing her graduate degree in Social Work. In her free time, you can find her reading and spending time outside with her dog, Olive.
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CECILIA JARQUIN TAPIA, B.S.

RESEARCH FELLOW
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Cecilia Jarquin Tapia recently graduated from Boston University with a B.S in Health Sciences and a minor in Public Policy Analysis. She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Public Health with concentrations in Epidemiology/Biostatistics and Maternal & Child Health. As a Research Fellow at CEED, Cecilia contributes to the ACSES project and runs the center’s Twitter account. In the future, Cecilia hopes to take part in addressing the health disparities among minority and low-income communities. In her free time, you can find her exploring Boston or reading a good book. 

SHENIQUA JEFFREY, B.S.

RESEARCH FELLOW
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Sheniqua Jeffrey is a third-year doctoral student in the Applied Developmental Psychology program in the Department of Psychology at Fordham University. She works in her mentor, Dr. Joshua Brown’s lab, studying the implementation and impacts of school-based social-emotional learning interventions. Her research interests include understanding protective contextual factors for children in educational settings, the promotion of racially marginalized children’s social and emotional development and overall wellbeing, and bridging research with actionable policy. Currently, her work focuses on the impact of race-ethnic match between children and their teachers on children’s social-emotional competencies and academic skills. In addition, she is interested in understanding teachers’ implementation of culturally responsive teaching practices to create developmentally challenging and supportive educational environments that are optimal for children’s social-emotional development, particularly for minoritized children. Prior to attending Fordham, she worked as the primary program evaluator for an innovative new college readiness program at the Harlem Children’s Zone where her interest in social-emotional learning was ignited. 
 
Sheniqua earned her B.S in Human Development with a minor in Design and Environmental Analysis from Cornell University. 
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SARA MORAN, M.P.P.

RESEARCH FELLOW
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Sara is a Research Fellow at the Center on the Ecology of Early Development. Her work with CEED focuses on identifying barriers and improving outcomes for marginalized children and families through early childhood initiatives. Sara holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy with a focus in Quantitative Research from the University of Houston. Prior to joining CEED, she served as the Associate Director of the Center for Social Measurement and Evaluation for a statewide research and advocacy organization in Texas and before that as a Data Analyst with the University of Houston’s Measurement and Evaluation Center. Sara is excited to be a part of CEED’s work toward achieving improved outcomes for marginalized children and families.
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AMBER SANSBURY, M.ED.

RESEARCH FELLOW
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Amber B. Sansbury is a Ph.D. Candidate in Education, focused on Early Care & Education (ECE) Policy at George Mason University. She is originally from Columbus, Georgia and began her career in research later in life. After completing her undergraduate education in 2009, she thrived in a policy career throughout the East Coast and DMV area. She is deeply committed to shared policymaking and action to challenge anti-Black structures in schools. Her dissertation examines the cultural values and race-related beliefs that motivate African American parents’ and African American ECE teachers’ shared racial socialization and identity development processes. Amber believes that family engagement can be a powerful means to build responsive and goal-oriented relationships in ECE settings. With this in mind, she looks forward to collaboration with CEED, Head Start, families, and state agencies through research partnerships after graduation in May 2024.
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EMILY STOLZ, M.Ed.

RESEARCH FELLOW
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Emily is a Research Assistant the Center on the Ecology of Early Development. Prior to joining CEED, she completed her Master's in Education in the Human Development and Education program at Harvard University's Graduate School of Education. She previously worked as an elementary school teacher and is interested in the sociocultural factors that influence the quality of interactions between teachers and students. In her free time, she enjoys being outside, reading, and playing with her cat, Franklin.
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WALLACE GRACE, M.A., M.B.A.

GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANT
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Wallace Grace is a Doctoral Candidate in Education Policy Studies – Social Sciences and Education at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. His research interests are in child development, early childhood education, public policy, and human-centered design, and how race, gender, socioeconomic status, and their related social mechanisms impact child development within and across social contexts. In particular, Wallace is interested in examining how developmental environments influence children’s cognitive, social, emotional/affective, and intellectual and experiences and outcomes, and how policies and programs can be designed to positively influence these outcomes.

Prior to his Ph.D. work, Wallace worked in a variety of school, district, and educational nonprofit settings around the country in teaching, research, policy analysis and program design and innovation roles. He holds a M.A. in Cultural and Educational Policy Studies from Loyola University Chicago, a M.B.A. from Carnegie Mellon University, and a B.S. in Economics from Miami University (Ohio).
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CRISTINA GRANDA, m.a.

GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANT
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Cristina Granda (she/her) is a doctoral student in Learning Sciences and Human Development at the University of Washington. She holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology from University of California Los Angeles and a master’s degree in Child Study and Human Development from Tufts University. Her work experiences center on infants and toddlers, from being an early childhood educator to facilitating parent support groups. Her main research interests are how parents and caregivers learn to raise children, particularly prenatally through toddlerhood, and the systems that offer them support to do so.

​During her time as a Research Scientist CEED, she focused on language environments in early childhood caregiving and classroom settings. In her doctoral studies, she has been providing technical assistance to community-based organizations participating in the Best Starts for Kids Prenatal to 5 Innovation Fund in King County, Washington. Recently, she has been working with the RISER network on a qualitative analysis of Black parents and caregivers' responses to the RAPID-EC survey.
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EMILY MILLER, M.S.

GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANT
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Emily is a PhD candidate in Social Welfare at Case Western Reserve University. Emily's research interests broadly include the impact of collective and community trauma on mental health, and the roles that social support and relational health play in promoting wellbeing. She works with the Center on Trauma and Adversity at Case Western Reserve University providing consulting and research services that focus on trauma-informed, healing-centered approaches for community organizations and agencies. In addition to her doctoral degree, Emily is currently pursuing certifications in Healing Centered Engagement and the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics. 
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NICOLE XIE, M.A.

GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANT
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Nicole is a Research Assistant the Center on the Ecology of Early Development. Prior to joining CEED, she completed her Master's in Developmental Psychology at George Mason University. She previously worked as a Research Intern in a non-profit organization. Her broad research interest is in the social and emotion learning factors that influence the interactions between teachers/caregivers and children. In her free time, she enjoys petting her or other people's dog.

TAYLOR BOLAN

RESEARCH ASSISTANT
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Taylor is a freshman from New York City. She is currently pursuing a major in Psychology on a pre-health track. As for her future career aspirations, she is choosing amongst psychiatry, neurology, and neuropsychiatry. At CEED, she is interested in investigating the effects of generational trauma and how different education styles impact a child's psychological and emotional development. In her free time, she enjoys reading psychological thrillers and suspense novels and spending time with friends. 
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CHRISTINE HUANG

RESEARCH ASSISTANT
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Christine is a junior from New York City. She is currently pursuing a major in Health Science with an entrepreneurship concentration. In the future, she hopes to become a genetic counselor. At CEED, she is particularly interested in studying the various teaching methods have on children's psychological and educational development. In her free time, she enjoys exercising and learning new languages.
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Aisha Ray is a Professor Emerita of Child Development at Erikson Institute and a Distinguished Fellow in the BUILD Initiative. 

Dr. Ray has participated in the fields of child development and early education for 48 years.  Beginning as a Head Start teacher, she has taught learners from preschool to graduate school; supported the development of community-based programs serving culturally, racially and linguistically diverse children, families and practitioners; and led professional development efforts for the early childhood workforce serving infants through elementary school learners. Her areas of research, speaking and writing include racial equity, policy, and professional development systems in early childhood; multigenerational Black family child rearing; and the role of fathers in child rearing in low-income Black communities. At BUILD she helps to lead the Equity Leaders Action Network.  

Dr. Ray stepped down in 2015 from the position of Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty at Erikson Institute. Dr. Ray also serves as a senior advisor to the president of the National Black Child Development Institute and the NBCDI Policy Leadership Fellowship program.  In addition, she has a long history of community activism and is currently working with others on issues related to the relationship of the Black community to early education, police violence, and racial justice. 
 
Dr. Ray has a Doctor of Philosophy degree and Master’s degree in developmental psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; a Master’s in Early Childhood Education, Loyola University of Chicago/Erikson Institute; and a Bachelor’s degree in history, Grinnell College, Iowa.
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Amy O’Leary is director of Early Education for All: A Campaign of Strategies for Children, an advocacy and policy organization that works to ensure that Massachusetts invests the resources needed for all children, from birth to age five, to access high-quality early education programs. Amy joined SFC in 2002 as the early childhood field director and has also served as the Campaign’s deputy director.

Prior to joining SFC, Amy worked as a preschool teacher and program director at Ellis Memorial in the South End of Boston.

In March 2017 Amy was elected President-elect of the governing board of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Her four-year term started in June of 2017 serving as President from June 2018-2020. She serves on the adjunct faculty at Boston University Wheelock College of Education and Human Development and Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester.

In July 2020, Amy was appointed an Alumna Trustee for a four year team to serve on both the Skidmore College Board of Trustees and Alumni Board of Directors.

​Amy is a member of the Massachusetts Kids Count Advisory Council and the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care Advisory Committee. Amy also serves on the Board of Directors of the Children’s Investment Fund in Boston. In addition, Amy presents at national, state and local conferences and provides technical assistance to advocates and elected officials in other states.
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Dr. Mary Churchill is the Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives and Community Engagement at Boston University Wheelock College of Education and Human Development.

Before joining Wheelock Dr. Churchill was a part of the leadership team at Salem State University.

Born in Flint, Michigan, Dr. Churchill was the first in her family to attend college, graduating from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Sociology at Northeastern.

Dr. Churchill has worked with faculty to develop graduate programs in Nonprofit Management, Human Services, TESOL, Criminal Justice, and Global Studies. 

Dr. Churchill is an advocate for diversity and inclusion in higher education working specifically to promote women and people of color. ​
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Over the past 48years, Joan has made significant contributions in the areas of child and family policy as an innovative leader and policy advisor to national and international organizations and foundations and as a public servant.

Joan directs Early Opportunities LLC,a strategic advisement service focused on the development of young children, families and the communities that support them. In this role she serves as an advisor to the Buffett Early Childhood Fund and the Pritzker Children’s Initiative, among others, and is a strategic partner with the Center for the Study of Social Policy. In addition she is a Senior Scholar at the Center for Child and Human Development at Georgetown University where she focuses on global early childhood initaitives.

Joan served in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as the first Deputy Assistant Secretary for Early Childhood Development (2009-2011) and as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and External Affairs in Administration for Children and Families and the first Commissioner of the Child CareBureau among other positions (l993-1998).

​She is the author of numerous publications including Time to Care: Redesigning Child Care to Promote Education, Support Families and Build Communities and Co-Author of Beacon of Hope: The Promise of Early Head Start for America’s Youngest Children.
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Walter S. Gilliam is the Elizabeth Mears & House Jameson Professor of Child Psychiatry and Psychology at the Yale Child Study Center and the Director of Yale’s Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy.

He is the current board president of Child Care Aware of America; a member of the board of directors for ZERO TO THREE, the Irving Harris Foundation, First Children’s Finance, and All Our Kin; a research fellow of the National Institute for Early Education Research; and former Senior Advisor to the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Dr. Gilliam is co-recipient of the prestigious 2008 Grawemeyer Award in Education for the coauthored book, A Vision for Universal Preschool Education. His scholarly writing addresses early childhood care and education programs, school readiness, and developmental assessment of young children.

​His work has frequently been covered in major national and international news outlets, and he actively provides consultation to state and federal decision-makers in the U.S. and other countries.
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