Meet the Presenters of Caring for Children-Caring for Others Virtual Conference
Presenters for Virtual Child Care Conference
Annette Serwanga
M.A.Ed. Early Childhood Consultant,Educator
Annette was raised in Sacramento, CA and has taught for 19 years. She earned her Masters in Education from Mills College Oakland, CA in 2016. Her background ranges from teaching infants-Pre-K at various Montessori Schools in the Bay Area and Sacramento,CA. She has also been an Internal Consultant,Coach for The Child Unique Montessori in Alameda,CA. She specializes in working with Toddlers, young children who display challenging behaviors. She now resides in Maryland with her husband.
Jay Whitney
Owner/CEO ChildcareBrokers.com
Since 2002, he has helped individuals & companies with: - Over 100 Financing & Refinancing of Childcare Centers - Over 100 Sales & Acquisitions of Childcare Center - Over 200 Valuations of Childcare Centers - Over 50 Profit & Valuation Consulting for Childcare Centers
Prerna Richards
CEO & Founder Together We Grow
Prerna Richards has been in the Early childhood education field for the past 35 years. Her professional journey has allowed her to work in many different roles, she has been a teacher, director, education specialist, vice president of ECE division. She is a registered master level trainer with the Texas Early Childhood Professional Development System Most recently she started her own consulting business, Together We Grow providing professional development, coaching, and consulting for educators and families. She is currently also working as a Texas rising star assessor. She is very passionate about supporting the teachers who are providing care for the young learners. Every child deserves the best start in life that trained and prepared educators can provide.
Laura Eldredge
Co-founder, The SEEDS Network, LLC
Laura Eldredge has prior experience as a preschool teacher and curriculum coordinator for a NAEYC accredited program in CT. She trained teaching staff in the implementation of preschool curriculum; and developed a computer-based classroom portfolio management system. Prior to entering the field of early childhood education, Laura spent 16 years in information technology and holds degrees in Computer Science, Business Administration, and will be completing a masters degree in Instructional Technology from the University of Saint Joseph this August. She also managed a professional development program at the University of Hartford, and currently runs a corporate training program.
Tressa Giordano
Co-founder, The SEEDS Network, LLC
Tressa Giordano has extensive experience in working with youth ages infant through high school, providing support and training for parents, creating large-scale community events and trainings, working with town and community departments, and networking with statewide agencies. Tressa is the Executive Director at AHM Youth & Family Services and is also a certified QPR Gatekeeper Instructor (Question, Persuade & Refer for Suicide Prevention), a certified Dancing Mindfulness Instructor, as well as a certified Zumba® Fitness Instructor. Tressa holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Early Childhood Education, and continues to successfully train and coach early childhood professionals in implementing CT Early Learning Development Standards, the CT DOTS and NAEYC accreditation.
Kristin Miller
Owner of Eteachingme, Master TX Trainer, Child Care Certified Health and Safety Consultant
Kristin Miller holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education and a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She has over 18 years of professional, direct experience in early education. She is the educational services company owner of eTeachingMe, an independent curriculum writer and publisher, a Master registered Texas Trainer, and a Certified Child Care Health and Safety Consultant. Her husband and 3 children reside in Georgetown, Texas.
Richard Cohen, M.A.
Early Childhood Education Professor, Motivational Speaker
Richard has proudly been an early childhood professional for 36 years. He has been an infant, toddler, preschool and kindergarten teacher as well as a center director. Richard has also served in many key national leadership roles. Currently, he is a college professor and international motivational speaker. For more information about Richard please visit richardcohen.com or Zen and the Art of Early Childhood Education on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
Nancy L. Seibel
Founder and Principal of Keys to Change
Nancy's career has always been based in what she values most: family, integrity, compassion. For decades her work focused on bettering the lives of young children and their families. Her focus on prevention of child abuse brought her into close contact with early care and education providers and other child and family professionals. She is now a coach and writing facilitator heart-centered, passion-driven professionals from burning out to fired up.
Leigh Anne Kraemer-Naser
Instructor of Early Childhood Education at Northern Pennsylvania Regional College.
Leigh Anne has been working in education for over 15 years. She has experience as a teacher in middle school, multi-age classrooms, preschool, and at the college level. She has a BA in Elementary Education and an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction. In addition to classroom experience, Leigh Anne was the director of Curriculum and Programming at The Ophelia Project, the director of Curriculum Solution Center, and is now an Instructor of Early Childhood Education at Northern Pennsylvania Regional College.
Crystal Elliott-O'Connor
Principal Consultant Early Childhood Education and Family Support
Crystal serves as Adjunct Faculty on the community college, and university levels and has launched a new early childhood training and professional development consultancy, Get Back 2 Basics! She holds a Master of Arts in Teaching, Early Childhood Education from National Louis University and is currently co-authoring a book with cross-discipline colleagues, entitled, Give Your Child a Promising Start!
Shannon B. Wanless, PhD
Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology in Education and is the Director of the Office of Child Development, in the School of Education, University of Pittsburgh
Shannon B. Wanless, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology in Education and is the Director of the Office of Child Development, in the School of Education, University of Pittsburgh. Shannon's work draws on her experience as a former Head Start teacher and Fulbright scholar and focuses on supporting the adults who help young children thrive. Her research and practice uses scientific evidence and community voice to address real-world challenges in diverse settings.
Applied Behavior Analysis Coach, Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax, VA.Alex Grant-Presser is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh's Master's program in Applied Developmental Psychology. Her work focuses on combining applied behavioral analysis and social justice and equity in schools settings for children across developmental stages.
Ashley Shafer, M.S.
Doctoral Student in the Department of Psychology in Education, in the School of Education, University of Pittsburgh.Ashley Shafer is a doctoral student at the University of Pittsburgh studying Applied Developmental Psychology with a minor in Research Methods. She has served as the President for the Council of Graduate Students in Education (CGSE), is a Student Fellow at the Center for Urban Education (CUE) and the Office of Child Development. Her interests include early childhood development, social-emotional learning, teacher well-being, positive racial identity, and organizational change.
Cynthia Jackson
Education Specialist
Cynthia has a Master Degree in Early Child Education has taught in the Early childhood field for 33 years and continues to have a passion for young children and new teachers coming into the field.
Beth Green the Music Lady, M.Ed, I.T.A.
Certified Teacher Trainer and
Beth Green, the Music Lady, M.Ed., is a Certified Teacher Trainer for early childhood teachers, childcare providers and children's librarians, having presented at NAEYC, and many state, regional and local early childhood organizations (Keynote Presenter), teaching best practices in early childhood environments. Beth has her M.Ed., with a specialty in Integrated Teaching Through the Arts, and has been a professional early childhood music specialist for 21 years, providing musical enrichment programs to her client preschools and family childcare homes, centers and in her private studio, and most recently online. Beth’s curriculum includes sign language, fine and large-muscle locomotor movement songs, early literacy through story-songs, Spanish, arts integration, props, puppets, instruments and other manipulatives, neuro-scientific tidbits about why each of these elements is important, and suggested methods that each teacher can easily implement, to have an even more musical center or school, even when they do not have a musical background.
Dr Kathryn Murray
CEO Future Strong Education Consultancy
Dr Kathryn Murray has 35 years experience in early childhood education, teaching in the classroom, lecturing at university level, consulting to national and international early childhood organizations and coaching parents. She is a global speaker and is passionate about personalizing teaching to individual children by understanding their approach to learning. Kathryn couples this with designing engaging indoor and outdoor environments that addresses the learning needs of all children. Kathryn's company Future Strong Education supports teachers and families across the globe.
Kimberly Honnick
Owner and CEO of Harnessing HOPE
Dr. Kimberly Honnick is Owner and CEO of Harnessing HOPE (Helping Other People Excel) Coaching and Consulting Services, LLC. She also serves as Director of Educational Programs and Services for the Montclair Child Development Center, a Head Start Agency. Dr. Honnick has served in public education for 28 years in both teaching and administrative roles. She has presented at various conferences domestically and internationally. In 2017, Dr. Honnick was awarded Learning Forward’s Principal as Leader of Professional Learning Scholarship and in 2020, GFEL (Global Forum for Education and Learning) awarded her as one of the Top 100 Leaders in Education. Dr. Honnick advances curriculum and instructional designs and empowers stakeholders to transform their practice through coaching and leadership opportunities. She leads instructional programming, professional learning and coordinated services, including designing innovative practices, maximizing staff talent, and aligning partnerships. Passionate about supporting future educators and leaders, Dr. Honnick serves as an Advisory Board Member for Pace University Lubin School of Business’ Transformative Leadership Program. She is passionate about Leadership, Special Education, Student Support Services, and Personalized Learning and has served as an expert in these fields.
Jewel is currently a Educational Consultant at Educational Training Solutions in Lansing, Michigan. I am US Army veteran who served ten years and she has been in education almost 20 years. She holds a AA and BA in Child Development, Masters in Business Management and currently completing my doctorate in Educational Leadership.
Wilma is the founder of Simcha Preschool a faith-based program in Santa Cruz. She also opened the Tamien Children’s Center for Bright Horizons sponsored by the Santa Clara Transit Authority and later served a regional manager for Bright Horizons for 4 additional years. She then took the position of Director of Children’s Services at UC Santa Cruz where she served for 6 years before retiring. In addition, she served as the chair of the Santa Cruz Child Care Planning Council, President of Peninsula Association for the Education of Yong Children (PAEYC) and sat on the California Association for the Education of Young Children Board both in the 1990s/2000s. She has taught in the early childhood education department at UC Santa Cruz Extension, Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz as well as currently for Pacific Oaks College in San Jose CA. As an instructor, she teaches both in the bachelors and graduate programs in Human Development. She is on the planning and development committee as treasurer for Educators for Peaceful Classrooms and Communities, Inc. she conducts teacher, parent and community workshops and classes. A. She is currently serving on the Santa Cruz County Children’s Council and the California Central Coast Children’s Advocacy Council.