ButterCup

Dr. Danila Crespin Zidovsky is the Senior Policy and Leadership Specialist at the Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative. Prior to joining Zaentz, Dr. Crespin Zidovsky served as Special Assistant to New Mexico's Secretary of Education. She has served as senior staff for multiple political campaigns, both at the national and at the local level. She was an original member of U.S. Senator Martin Hein...

Dr. Alessandra Landini is the Principal of the I.C. A. Manzoni in Reggio Emilia, with a PhD in Human Sciences, thesis in Physics Education from the Department of Education and Human Sciences at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, and a Master Degree in Organization and Management of Multicultural School Institutions from Alma Mater, Bologna. Her scientific education research project studie...

Dr. Robin McWilliam is a professor of special education at The University of Alabama . Dr. McWilliam is also the Founder and Director of the Evidence-based International Early Intervention Office (EIEIO). His research interests are in early intervention (birth to age 6), specifically models of service delivery, working with families, and child engagement. Dr. McWilliam developed the Routines-Based...

Dr. Scott McConnell has been a teacher, program director, researcher and college professor interested in preschool and early elementary education for more than 40 years. Scott is a professor emeritus of educational psychology at the University of Minnesota and Director of Assessment Innovation at Renaissance Learning. Prior to joining Renaissance, Scott was part of a multi-university team that dev...

Edward Melhuish is Professor of Human Development at the University of Oxford. He has been the Director of the National Evaluation of Sure Start (2001-2012), the Effective Pre-school Primary & Secondary Education (EPPSE, 1997-2014) and SEED projects.  He is currently undertaking longitudinal studies of 4000 children in England and Norway.  These studies contributed to social policy in the UK for f...

Prof Emer Ring is Dean of Early Childhood and Teacher Education at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. Prof Ring leads and manages one of the largest education faculties in Ireland, which provides a wide range of programmes from early childhood to post-primary level at undergraduate and post-graduate levels. She is a Lecturer in the area of Early Years Education, Inclusion and Education Policy on t...

Michelle Kang serves as the Chief Executive Officer for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), a global association advocating for high quality early learning for all children. Prior to becoming CEO, Michelle served as NAEYC's inaugural Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, in which she oversaw the strategy and daily operations for Membership, Early Learning Program...

Iheoma U. Iruka, Ph. D., is a Research Professor in the Department of Public Policy, a Fellow at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG), and the Founding Director of the Equity Research Action Coalition at FPG at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Iruka is leading projects and initiatives focused on ensuring that minoritized children and children from low-incom...

Al Spain has over 50 years of operations leadership. His background reflects a career spanning general aviation, military, airline, and corporate aviation operations. Most recently, Captain Spain served as a founder and Senior Vice President Operations of JetBlue Airways Corporation in New York. He retired from JetBlue in 2006 and prior to JetBlue, he was Vice President Flight Operations for Conti...

Dr. Timothy Almon Askew holds a B.A. degree from Morehouse College, Summa Cum Laude with Phi Beta Kappa distinction as a junior-year inductee.  He received the master's degree at Yale University.  Dr. Askew was an NCEA Doctoral Fellow  in the English Department at the University of South Florida. Pursuing an interdisciplinary degree in American Studies and focusing on American Literature and Ameri...

Dr. Walter S. Gilliam is the Elizabeth Mears & House Jameson Professor of Child Psychiatry and Psychology at the Yale Child Study Center and Director of Yale's Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy. Dr. Gilliam is Vice President of ZERO TO THREE, a past president of Child Care Aware of America; board Treasurer for the Irving Harris Foundation, and a board director for First C...

Chrisanne Gayl is an education leader with over twenty years of policy experience at the federal, state, and local levels. As Chief Strategy and Policy Officer, Chrisanne oversees Trust for Learning's overall grant-making efforts and leads its policy strategy. Chrisanne served as a Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of Education, where she was responsible for developing new policies and program...

Dr. Natalie Danner is the Early Childhood Content and Engagement Coordinator for the Illinois Early Learning Project. She has worked as an early childhood teacher educator in Nebraska, Oregon, and Connecticut.  Dr. Danner has over ten years of experience as an inclusive early childhood (Pre-K & K) teacher and school leader in New York City and Arizona, specializing in the Montessori approach. She...

Dr. Bo Stjerne Thomsen is Vice-President, Chair of Learning Through Play, and member of the Leadership Team at the LEGO Foundation. As Chair and senior expert on how children and adults learn through play, he provides consultation at a bilateral, regional and multilateral level to international partners and leaders. He represents the LEGO Foundation and the LEGO Brand Group at international forums...

Rhian Evans Allvin Chief Executive Officer National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Rhian Evans Allvin serves as the chief executive officer of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), a position she has held since August 2013. She is responsible for guiding the organization's strategic direction as well as overseeing daily operations. NAEYC is...

I talk to three facilitators of the BizKids Club held through the Orange County Library System, which introduces kids to business and entrepreneurship. Michael Linden is a Technology Trainer for the Orange County Library System, where he's served the public for 15 years. He delivers in-person and online classes with a focus on accessibility, adaptation, and personal safety in computer applications...

Jennifer Ledford, PhD, BCBA-D, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education in the Early Childhood Special Education and Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) programs. Dr. Ledford has expertise in single case research design, response prompting procedures, and classroom-based peer-mediated instruction. Her current research relates to improving use and synthesis of research in specia...

David Dotson is currently the CEO of The Dollywood Foundation. During his 20 year tenure at The Dollywood Foundation, he has led the expansion of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. The program works with 2000 local partners to gift a new book each month to over 1.4 million preschool children in 5 countries. The Imagination Library has gifted 130 million books since the program's inception.  The F...

Entrepreneur, investor, business leader, rocket-scientist. Passionate about building, scaling and leading market transitions. Startup mindset; global outlook. Devout believer in the power of transformation and disruption to change and improve lives, communities, organizations – and the world. Author of Path to the Stars: My Journey from Girl Scout to Rocket Scientist, which details Sylvia's person...

Zibby Owens is a CEO, author, influencer, podcast host, and media personality. She is the creator and host of award-winning podcast, " Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books ," in which she conducts warm, inquisitive conversations with authors as wide-ranging as Alicia Keys and Lena Dunham to Delia Owens and Jennifer Weiner. Before the pandemic, Zibby ran a literary salon, hosted her own book fairs, a...

Bill Isler is President Emeritus of  Fred Rogers Productions and a long time educator and advocate for children.  He began his career as a teacher and administrator, and later joined the Pennsylvania Department of Education, where he served as Executive Assistant to the Secretary of Education, Commissioner of Basic Education and Senior Program Advisor for Early childhood Education before joining t...

Arthur Sims is a graduate of Morehouse College (B.A.,  magna cum laude , 1990). He completed his law degree at Cornell University Law School (J.D., 1994).  Subsequently, he was involved in further study at University of Central Florida and the Rosen College of Hospitality Management (2001-2002, 2004-2006). Mr. Sims has diverse legal and business experience in the areas of general corporate, sports...

Mr. Harris Rosen, the president and owner of Rosen Hotels & Resorts, and Dr. Chuck Dziuban, Director of the Research Initiative for Teaching Effectiveness at the University of Central Florida, discuss the Parramore and Tangelo Park programs.  These programs benefit the children, families, communities and the public at large.  They stress that not only are these philanthropic programs to help those...

Dr. Julie Wei is an internationally recognized award-winning Pediatric Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeon, speaker, creator of online courses for parents, and author of A Healthier Wei and co-author of Acid Reflux in Children. She currently serves as the Division Chief of Pediatric Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, and Audiology. Dr. Wei is a Professor of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at...

Dr. Amanda Wilkerson is an Assistant Professor of Urban Education at the University of Central Florida in the College of Community Innovation and Education. Wilkerson has written educational materials and coordinated forums on significant social, educational, and community matters. Emerging social justice advocate and scholar, Dr. Wilkerson serves as the guest editor for the Urban Education Resear...