GSE Events

Albert M. Greenfield and William T. Carter Lecture on Early Childhood Well-Being and Families

Add to Calendar Icon 2018-10-29 16:30 2018-10-29 18:30 15 Penn GSE Event: Albert M. Greenfield and William T. Carter Lecture on Early Childhood Well-Being and Families The 2018 Lecture will address policy, research, and practice as they relate to the question: What must we do at child, family, and community levels to promote school readiness and school success?
Penn Law School, Golkin Hall, Fitts Auditorium 3501 Sansom Street Philadelphia PA, 19104
Wintre Foxworth Johnson, Dee Asaah DD/MM/YYYY
Monday, October 29, 2018 - 4:30pm to 6:30pm
Penn Law School, Golkin Hall, Fitts Auditorium 3501 Sansom Street Philadelphia PA, 19104
flyer for Greenfield-Carter lecture, information in body text below

Preparing children for school and ensuring their well-being and health are among our most important national priorities. The newly created Lecture focuses on improving the well-being of young children and families facing segregated disadvantage that reduces their possibilities for educational success. The 2018 Lecture will address policy, research, and practice as they relate to the question: What must we do at child, family, and community levels to promote school readiness and school success? The Greenfield-Carter Lecture has been established by Professor John W. Fantuzzo, Albert M. Greenfield Professor of Human Relations, and Professor Vivian L. Gadsden, William T. Carter Professor of Child Development, to highlight and seek solutions to the problems facing young children and their families and communities. It is being held in conjunction with activities sponsored by Penn Futures, an interdisciplinary and inter-professional partnership among the Graduate School of Education, School of Nursing, and School of Social Policy and Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. The Lecture builds upon ongoing collaborations between leaders from the City of Philadelphia and national leaders to advance a vision of enhancing child development from birth to age 8 and supporting parents, families, and communities.

Speakers

Dr. Tammy Mann
Dr. Mann has been involved in work at the national, state and local levels for the past 25 years focused on addressing the needs of children and families, especially those living in economic and socially challenged environments. A practitioner at heart, Dr. Mann has had a longstanding interest in effectively translating research to practice. Prior to her work at The Campagna Center, she served as Executive Director of the Frederick Patterson Research Institute and as Deputy Executive Director at ZERO TO THREE. Dr. Mann has played an active role in the field of early childhood development through numerous service and professional endeavors. She has served on numerous national committees and authored articles and books on issues that address the emotional well-being of young children and the role of culture in development.  Dr. Mann currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Foundation for Children Development, the Buffett Early Childhood Institute, and as a former Chairman and Commissioner for Alexandria’s Children Youth and Families Collaborative Commission.  She was elected as an at-large member to serve a four-year term on the Governing Board of the National Association for the Education of Young Children in 2012. In 2016, she was appointed President of the NAEYC Governing Board for a two-year term. A former Public Policy Fellow with the American Psychological Association, Dr. Mann has also held adjunct and affiliate appointments at Howard University and George Mason University, respectively.  She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia and completed her Masters and Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, with an Interdisciplinary Specialization in Infant Studies, at Michigan State University.

Dr. Samuel Meisels
Samuel J. Meisels, one of the nation’s most accomplished and respected early childhood voices, is the founding executive director of the Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska and holds the Richard D. Holland Presidential Chair in Early Childhood Development. He came to Nebraska in 2013 after more than 11 years as president of Erikson Institute, the nation’s foremost graduate school in child development. At Erikson he expanded programs, facilities, and research and strengthened engagement with schools, communities, and families. Prior to Erikson he had a distinguished 21-year career as a professor at the University of Michigan School of Education and a research scientist at Michigan’s Center for Human Growth and Development, where he conducted research concerning high-risk and disabled infants and young children and developed assessments for birth – 8 year olds that are widely used throughout the U.S. and abroad. Earlier he served as professor in the Department of Child Study at Tufts University and director of the Eliot-Pearson Children’s School as well as senior advisor in early childhood development for the Developmental Evaluation Clinic of Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr. Meisels began his career as a preschool and kindergarten-first grade teacher in Cambridge and Brookline, Massachusetts. He is Professor Emeritus and Research Scientist Emeritus at the University of Michigan and President Emeritus at Erikson Institute.

In addition to serving as founding executive director of the Buffett Early Childhood Institute, Meisels holds appointments on all four University of Nebraska campuses as professor of child, youth and family studies (UNL), public health (UNMC), education (UNK), and public administration (UNO). One of the nation’s leading authorities on the assessment of young children, he has published over 200 research articles, books, monographs, and assessments. Meisels was president of the board of directors of Zero to Three, the National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families, has lectured throughout the U.S. and abroad, and is an advisor and consultant for numerous local, state, and national organizations including the Office of Head Start, the National Academy of Sciences, state departments of education, foundations, public policy groups, and school districts. He holds a Bachelor’s degree with high honors in philosophy from the University of Rochester and Master’s and Doctoral degrees from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In 2010 Meisels was awarded an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Roosevelt University in Chicago.

Distinguished Local Respondents

Michael DiBerardinis, Managing Director, City of Philadelphia

Michael DiBerardinis assumed his role as Managing Director for the City of Philadelphia on January 4, 2016. As Managing Director, DiBerardinis reports directly to the Mayor and oversees and coordinates activity across most major operating departments of city government.

Once described by the Philadelphia Daily News as “a high-energy, no-bull official, who sees potential on the horizon at all times,” DiBerardinis is committed to providing quality day-to-day service to citizens while simultaneously implementing the major policy goals and initiatives of the Kenney Administration.

Prior to becoming Managing Director, DiBerardinis served as Deputy Mayor for Environmental and Community Resources. In that role, he provided leadership for departments that managed more than 10,000 acres of land, 150 recreation centers and playgrounds, 150 neighborhood and regional parks, 54 library branches and thousands of programs and events throughout Philadelphia.

As Commissioner of the Department of Parks and Recreation, DiBerardinis raised over $34 million in government grants, philanthropic funding and private partnerships; oversaw the merger of the Fairmount Park Commission and the Department of Recreation; renovated City-owned ice skating rinks; restored summer swimming season at all public pools and expanded outdoor recreation offerings.

DiBerardinis’ portfolio includes the Free Library of Philadelphia, where he has facilitated deeper connections between the library system and the School District of Philadelphia, preserved hours of afterschool programming in neighborhood branches and led a public/private fundraising initiative for building renovations.

DiBerardinis previously served the citizens of Pennsylvania as the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources under Governor Edward G. Rendell. In this Cabinet-level position, he protected 150,000 acres of land in Pennsylvania—more than had been conserved in the previous 30 years combined—and led the creation/development of Pennsylvania Wilds, a project that dramatically increased economic development and ecotourism in Pennsylvania’s northern counties.

DiBerardinis’ long history of public administration includes serving as Recreation Commissioner to the City of Philadelphia from 1992 to 2000, where he developed a preventative maintenance program for facilities, reopened previously shuttered swimming pools and playgrounds, established employee training procedures and increased variety and access to recreational programs, resulting in the addition of 28,000 participants.

At his core, DiBerardinis remains the community organizer he was in the 1970s, deeply committed to connecting with citizens—understanding their expectations, considering their solutions, negotiating their contributions—and providing the good government that all Philadelphia neighborhoods deserve.


Carol Austin, Executive Director, First Up (formerly the Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Young Children) 

Since June 2016, Carol Austin has served as the Executive Director of First Up. For 50 years, First Up has worked to ensure access to high quality early care and education for every child in southeastern Pennsylvania, through training and coaching support for teachers and program directors; targeted technical assistance supports to elevate program quality; and, statewide advocacy efforts, strategic partnerships and leadership development to transform the ECE ecosystem.

Prior to joining First Up, Austin worked for more than twenty years on education reform at the secondary education level and on workforce development for youth. She holds a Master of Education in Urban Education from Temple University and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Rosemont College.


Event Contact

Wintre Foxworth Johnson, Dee Asaah
wintref@gse.upenn.edu, gordondasaah@gmail.com