Advisory Council
Bernard Spodek
Bernard Spodek is Professor Emeritus of Early Childhood Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he has taught since 1965. He received his doctorate in early childhood education from Teachers College, Columbia University, then joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His research and scholarly interests are in the areas of curriculum, teaching, and teacher education in early childhood education. Dr. Spodek has lectured extensively in the United States, Australia, Canada, China, England, Greece, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Portugal, and Taiwan. He is also past president of the Pacific Early Childhood Educational Research Association (PECERA)
William Ade
William Ade is a Verizon Senior Sales Director and leads the Sales Capture organization for Verizon Federal in Ashburn, VA. His primary responsibilities since 1990 have been securing major federal government telecommunications contracts. Prior to his transition into the government sales sector, Ade worked in early childhood education, serving in management and teaching roles in day care, Head Start, and special education environments. He received a Ph.D. in Early Childhood Teacher Education from the University of Illinois.
Iram Siraj-Blatchford
Iram Siraj-Blatchford is Professor of Early Childhood Education at the Institute of Education, University of London. She is an expert in mixed method and qualitative research and analysis, and case study work. Currently, she is working on longitudinal studies as a principal investigator in a number of countries, including the UK, Australia, and Ireland. She is a specialist, early years adviser to governments and ministries in the UK, where she is conducting reviews of research on child outcomes for the Centre for Excellence and Outcomes (C4EO), and serves as an adviser to numerous governments, internationally. Dr. Siraj-Blatchford currently serves as the President of the British Association for Early Childhood Education.
Mariajosé Romero
Mariajosé Romero joined the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP)in January 2002 to assist in the development of Child Care and Early Education Research Connections–a web-based hub for child care and early education policy and research. The former co-director of Research Connections, Dr. Romero specializes in the impact of class, race/ethnicity, and gender on developmental and educational experiences and outcomes during the early childhood years, with a focus on racial minorities and immigrants in the U.S. She has conducted evaluations of federally funded education and prevention programs, as well as research for non-profit organizations in the United States and Colombia, and has taught in higher education institutions in both countries. Dr. Romero is currently serving as Coordinator of Teacher Education Programs & Associate Professor at LaGuardia Community College, City University of New York.
Cynthia Adams
Cynthia M. Adams has extensive experience in the realm of social entrepreneurism, fund raising, and grants development. Her experience includes serving on grant review boards for foundations, corporate giving programs, and government agencies. During her career, she has served as development director for a variety of nonprofits, and she successfully launched the Economic Development Center in Fairbanks, Alaska. In 1999, Ms. Adams launched GrantStation.com, an online funding resource for organizations seeking grants throughout the world. Today, GrantStation has grown to over 20,000 members worldwide, with a quarter of a million readers of its weekly e-newsletter, the GrantStation Insider.
Divya Jalan
Divya Jalan is Chairperson of Action for Ability Development and Inclusion (AADI), based in New Delhi, India. AADI serves children with disabilities through classroom-based programs and also provides services across all of northern India’s rural areas. In addition, Dr. Jalan is a board member of Goodearth Education Foundation, an organization working in the area of primary school education in two states—Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Dr. Jalan serves as an Executive Committee Member of The Rehabilitation Council of India, which is a statutory body set up by the government of India to monitor, accredit, and facilitate training programs in the area of disability across the nation. Dr. Jalan is practicing professional, both teaching and training teachers and other professionals in the areas of child development, education, and disability.
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