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 Heinrich’s staff, as well as senior staff during his successful reelection campaign, when only a handful of Democratic representatives won their races across the country. Dr. Crespin Zidovsky has taught both in South Korea and New Mexico, and for numerous nonprofits focused on early education and social justice. She holds a Doctorate in Education Leadership from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Emily Wiklund Hayhurst is the Assistant Director of Learning Design and Communications at the Zaentz Early Education Initiative, where she develops professional learning programs, multimedia resources, and action-oriented tools for early education leaders, practitioners, and policymakers. Emily graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, earning a master’s degree in human development and psychology while participating in the Zaentz Fellows Program. Before coming to Harvard, she served as an early childhood educator in Washington, D.C.

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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 studies a vertical science curriculum based on storytelling and the use of metaphor, between early childhood and secondary school. Her doctoral thesis examined the approach to the study of energy in primary schools and the multi-metaphoric nature of the concept of energy.

Her other areas of interest range from general didactics to innovative teaching. As a General Didactics’ expert at UNIMORE, she provides integrative teaching activities at the university. She collaborates with the "Metaphor and Narrative in Science" research center and provides teacher training on inclusive didactics as a national trainer for AID (Italian Dyslexia Association). Other areas of research focus on the use of descriptive evaluation in first and second grade secondary schools and teacher training as a community of practice, with particular attention to the development of creative skills in STEAM, integrating school and museum settings. Since 2020, she has been studying a vertical curriculum of Heritage and Citizenship with her institute, which leads teachers and students to immerse themselves in the city's territory and museum and cultural heritage.

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 Model of Early Intervention (Birth-6) and am involved in its implementation in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, and the U.S. Dr. McWilliam developed the international community of practice called The RAM Group, to provide research and technical assistance on the Routines-Based Model. Dr. McWilliam teaches doctoral students, lectures, conducts workshops, and writes. He serve as the International Editor of the scholarly journal Infants & Young Children and serves on numerous editorial boards.

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 developed Individual Growth and Development Indicators, and he’s conducted research on their use in preschool classrooms. His professional interests focus on young children’s paths to becoming proficient readers, and the ways that systematic interventions like multi-tiered systems of support can help all children achieve that goal. He earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology at Portland State University and his master’s degree in school psychology and PhD in educational psychology at the University of Oregon. Scott lives in Minnesota, and he and his wife Laurie Davis are parents of four adult children.

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 families, early years services and education, including universal provision of pre-school for all 3 & 4 year-olds and establishing 3500 Children’s Centres, Every Child Matters and 10-Year Childcare strategies, and early education for 2-year-olds for the 40% most disadvantaged.  He has given evidence to parliamentary committees and is an advisor to research councils in Norway, Finland, Portugal, Germany, Netherlands, Australia,  Korea, Canada, USA, Chile, and the European Commission, OECD and WHO.

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 the Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Care and Education (BA ECCE) and the Bachelor of Education (BEd) programmes. Prof Ring’s previous experience includes Head of Department of Reflective Pedagogy and Early Childhood Studies (2011-2019). She engages in, and has led a wide range of national and international research in education related to early childhood, primary, post-primary, and special school contexts, including presenting at conferences and seminars and publishing widely. Prof Ring led the design, development and evaluation of the multiple-award winning Leadership for INClusion in the Early Years (LINC) Programme focused on supporting inclusion in early childhood settings. She has extensive experience in the development of inclusion across the education system and has recently completed a publication for the National Council for Special Education focused on charting the development of special education in Ireland 1922-2022