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Patricia Mullings Franco has been active in the professional development of caregivers and teachers of young children through universities across the country for many years. A large portion of that work has been with Head Start and Early Head Start Programs.

Alice Nakahata retired from a faculty position at City College of San Francisco. During her many years at that institution, she taught Early Childhood Education and Parent/Child Guidance classes. In addition, she served as grants coordinator, state preschool supervisor, and foster parent trainer. In recent years, she volunteered in teaching classes for Roots of Empathy, a national and international program for school aged children, designed to encourage sensitive relationships among children.

Emily Newton is a Senior Research Associate with WestEd. She conducts research and produces written products for projects on infant-toddler care, early childhood education, and formative assessment tools, including the Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP). She was a principal writer/editor on the Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Program Guidelines, 2nd Edition. In her previous role as a consultant with WestEd, she also contributed to multiple projects as a child development research expert.

Arlene Paxton is the Content Area Team Director for Infant and Toddler Care at WestEd. In addition she is the director of the Program for Infant/Toddler Care Regional Support Network, a collaboration with the California Department of Social Service, Child Care and Development Division. With more than 20 years of experience working to design and develop systems that support professional development for early educators serving children birth to age 3 and their families, Ms.

Sandy Petersen works as a private consultant with infant-toddler programs. Since 1999 until her retirement in 2016, she held a variety of positions at ZERO TO THREE, mostly with the Early Head Start National Resource Center.

Prior to joining ZERO TO THREE, Petersen was a coordinator of training and technical assistance for early childhood at the Colorado Department of Education, involved in policy work and directing the training project When Children Soar with the Wind.

Eva Marie Shivers is the executive director and founder of the Indigo Cultural Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Shivers is a nationally recognized researcher on issues related to early childhood education, culture, community, and provider-child relationships. Prior to relocating to Arizona and founding the Indigo Cultural Center, Shivers was a faculty member in the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh.

Miriam Silverman is a clinical psychologist, Certified Substance Abuse Counselor and Infant-Family and Early Childhood Mental Health Reflective Practice Facilitator Mentor with the Infant- Parent Program at University of California, San Francisco. She provides infant-parent psychotherapy and child-parent psychotherapy to young children and their parents who are at risk for, or are currently experiencing, significant problems in their relationship.