Early Childhood: Advocacy, Policy and Social Change

Sunday, April 13. 10:00am-11:30am. Fidalgo Room.

Description 

For young children to thrive, they need families and caregivers who can nurture their development, and communities that support the parental role and provide positive early childhood development experiences. Yet for far too many young children – both locally and internationally – public policies do not provide this critical support. More than one in five children in the United States live in poverty, and children here and around the world lack access to adequate health and early development services. Join us to discuss the conditions of young children, the current state of child and family policies and strategies to advocate for compassionate public policies, domestically and globally, on behalf of early childhood.

Presenter Bios 

Moderator: Joan Lombardi, PhD, Birth to Five Policy Alliance

Joan Lombardi, PhD is a Research Professor at the Public Policy Institute, Georgetown University, Washington, DC; and the Chair of the Birth to Five Policy Alliance. She serves as an advisor to a number of foundations and innovative policy initiatives within the United States and around the world. Joan has served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for External Affairs in the Administration for Children and Families, US Department of Health and Human Services, and as the first director of the Child Care Bureau. In 2004, she launched the Global Leaders for Young Children program in partnership with The World Forum Foundation and served as a senior fellow with The Global Fund for Children. Currently she is on the Educational Leadership Council of Save the Children and on the board of Global Action for Children and Voices for America's Children. Joan is the author of Time to Care: Redesigning Child Care to Promote Education, Support and Build Communities, and co-editor of A Beacon of Hope: The Promise of Early Head Start for America's Youngest Children.  

Matthew E. Melmed, ZERO TO THREE

As Executive Director of ZERO TO THREE, Matthew Melmed has significantly expanded the organization's impact in promoting the health and development of infants and toddlers, with a commitment to translating what we know into what we do for America's youngest children. Since 1995, he has guided the tremendous growth of the organization's activities in support of professionals, policymakers, and parents in their efforts to improve the lives of infants and toddlers. Under his leadership ZERO TO THREE launched a number of major initiatives, initiated national parental awareness campaigns, and forged strong partnerships with corporate and nonprofit partners. Mr. Melmed is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Harpur College, and received his Juris Doctor degree from the Faculty of Law and Jurisprudence at S.U.N.Y. Buffalo. He began his career as a staff attorney for Connecticut Legal Services in 1978, and served for 13 years as Executive Director of the Connecticut Association for Human Services. Mr. Melmed serves as Chairman of the Board of the Food Research and Action Center, the nation's leading domestic anti-hunger policy organization. He also is a board member of Generations United and has been a director on such boards as the I Am Your Child Foundation. He is the recipient of several community, state, and national honors.   

Graciela Italiano-Thomas, PhD, Thrive By Five Washington

Dr. Graciela Italiano-Thomas is one of the nation's leading early learning experts and brings more than three decades of education and early learning experience to Thrive by Five Washington. She has served as CEO of Los Angeles Universal Preschool, CEO of Centro de la Familia de Utah, and as a senior consultant to the National Head Start Bureau. Among the many honors Graciela has received for her service to the community are the National Education Association's George I. Sanchez Human and Civil Rights Award for contributions made to the education of Latinos in the United States, and the YWCA of Salt Lake City's Award for Community Activism and Leadership. She has served on a number of boards of community organizations and is a member of several professional associations, including the National Education Association and the National Head Start Association. She was named to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's Council of Education Advisors, was a member of the Advisory Board of Pre-K Now, and was recently named to the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Partnership for America’s Economic Success Advisory Board. Graciela was an associate professor of education and holds a doctorate in education and institutional management from Pepperdine University. Dr. Italiano-Thomas joined Thrive by Five as its founding CEO and President in 2006.  

Jon Gould, Children's Alliance

Jon Gould joined the staff of the Children's Alliance in 1997. As Deputy Director, he coordinates the organization's public policy, mobilization, lobbying, communications, and outreach activities. Jon graduated from Cornell University in 1989 with a BA in history, and then moved to Seattle, where he began working as a community organizer with the Seattle Tenants Union. After an experience as a guest trainer at the Children's Alliance's first Advocacy Camp, Jon accepted a staff position. Prior to becoming Deputy Director, Jon served as the organization's Community Action Director. Jon has a long history of community involvement in housing, human service, children's and other issues. He has held board leadership positions in several housing, human service, and political action organizations in Washington. In 2003, he earned a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Washington's Evans School.