H. Melvin “Mel” Ming is a broadcast executive who has delivered enriching media and experiences to audiences for the past 35 years. Mel retired in 2014 from Sesame Workshop where he worked for 15 years, the last three years he was President and CEO overseeing the gold standard children’s program Sesame Street and its worldwide distribution. He previously held executive positions at the Museum of Television and Radio (now Paley Center for Media), WQED Media in Pittsburgh, WNET in New York City and NPR in Washington.

Mel was born in Bermuda and attended Temple University graduating with a B.A. in Accounting. He later served in the U. S. Army during the Vietnam War. Mel is a certified public accountant. Mel has served as an independent director of Westwood One radio and Dial Global. Mel believes that good media should inspire its users to have consistent benefits beyond mere entertainment. He is committed to the creation and distribution of media that teaches, images that inspire, and media experiences that build knowledge and skill that are life enhancing. Close.

Marilou Hyson is a national and international consultant on early child development and education.  She focuses on young children’s social and emotional development and has examined early childhood educational interventions and policies, emphasizing teacher professional development as a strategy for improving early learning environments and outcomes.

Internationally, Marilou has been a senior advisor to UNICEF, the World Bank, and Save the Children, supporting work in countries including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Rwanda. She has advised on the development of teacher competency standards; the design and evaluation of professional development programs for teachers in low-income rural areas; and digital resources to support families with young children in Europe and Central Asia.

After serving as Professor and Chair of the University of Delaware’s Department of Individual and Family Studies, Marilou was Associate Executive Director for Professional Development at the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Marilou previously served as editor-in-chief of Early Childhood Research Quarterly and co-chaired SRCD’s Policy and Communications Committee. She received a Ph.D. from Bryn Mawr College in child development and early childhood education and was an SRCD Fellow in the US Department of Education. Close.

Walter is a nationally recognized fiscal training and technical assistance consultant specializing in federally funded government and nonprofit organizations. Mr. Frye has extensive experience assisting clients with regulatory issues concerning governance, financial and administrative compliance with grants awarded by the Office of Head Start, Department of Health and Human Services. He has a wealth of knowledge in the application of grant regulations to both primary grantees and sub-contractors/sub-recipients. The Fiscal Institute, LLC conducts trainings for Head Start grantees on a nationwide  basis, and it is a frequent trainer at Regional and State Head Start Professional Development Conferences.

Since 2004, Frye has served some of the largest social service agencies providing Head Start services in capacities as Interim Executive Director, Compliance Director, and Chief Financial Officer.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Frye was the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Frye Williams & CO CPA, which became New Jersey’s largest minority-owned firm. He has been on the accounting faculty of Fairleigh Dickinson University and Essex County College and was Senior Auditor and Tax Accountant at Deloitte & Touche.

Frye received a B.S. from Morgan State University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Frye is a life member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. Close.

Professor McBride Murry’s research focuses on examining the significance of context to everyday life experiences of African American families and youth; specific consideration is given to the implications of racism and other social structural stressors that marginalize families, for cascading influences on parenting and family functioning, mental and physical health, quality of life, and developmental outcomes and adjustment among youth. She has translated research from
longitudinal research studies to inform the design, development and implementation of two RCTs to test their efficacy in youth risk behavior engagement. These programs, The Strong African American Families (SAAF) and the Pathways for African Americans Success (PAAS), not only prevented high risk behaviors but also demonstrated spillover effects on the enhancement of several educational-related outcomes among youth as they transition from middle childhood through high school. Professor McBride Murry’s overarching goal is to disseminate her evidence-based preventive intervention programs for uptake in community-based organizations, as well as schools and primary health care settings and in faith-based organizations, and examine their efficacy and effectiveness in real-world settings. She is President of the Society for Research on Adolescence (2020-2022), serves on boards of directors and governing councils, including the National Academy of Medicine, and holds positions on numerous editorial boards. Close.

Gregg Auerbach provides a sound investment approach for ultra-high-net-worth individuals, families and nonprofits to help them achieve their investment goals. He joined J.B. Hanauer & Co. in 1991 — it became RBC Wealth Management in 2009. He provides comprehensive wealth management, identifies clients’ investment objectives and performs individualized client portfolio construction. Gregg assists clients in understanding their risk profile by providing intelligent investment advice founded on fundamental investment principles. Then he helps clients in developing an appropriate investment portfolio.

Gregg is proud to use the Certified Portfolio Manager title from the Academy of Certified Portfolio Managers (ACPM). The CPM® program included extensive coursework and examination, followed by a five-day seminar at Columbia University led by internationally recognized professors. The CPM® curriculum involves indepth study of fundamental analysis, option valuation, foreign currency exchange, credit default swap structure and valuation analysis, and asset allocation. Gregg is among more than 350 individuals who attained this certification, establishing himself as a forerunner in portfolio management.

Gregg earned his doctorate in dental surgery from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Carol Davila and is fluent in English, Hebrew, and Romanian languages. Close.

Dr. Cynthia García Coll is a Developmental Psychologist, who was a professor at Brown University for 30 years. Her research focuses on the interplay of sociocultural and biological influences on child development, with particular emphasis on at-risk and minority populations. She received her Ph.D. in Personality and Developmental Psychology from Harvard University. Dr. García Coll has served on the editorial boards of leading academic journals, including being the Senior Editor of Child Development and Developmental Psychology. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science and has received lifetime contributions awards from the Society of Behavioral and Developmental Pediatrics, Tufts University, Erikson  Institute, the Society for Research in Adolescence and the Society for Research in Child Development. She has been on the governing boards of the Rhode Island Foundation, the Society for Research in Child Development and the Foundation for Child Development, and served as member and chair of the Scholars Program at the W. T. Grant Foundation. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the McArthur Foundation, the W. T. Grant Foundation, and Spencer Foundation. Close.

Dr. Elena Fuentes-Afflick obtained her undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in Public Health (Epidemiology) from the University of California, Berkeley. She completed her residency and chief residency at UCSF, followed by a research fellowship at the Phillip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies. Dr. Fuentes-Afflick’s scholarly work has focused on the broad themes of acculturation, immigrant health, health disparities, faculty misconduct, and faculty development. She has served in leadership roles in the Society for Pediatric Research (Council and President), the American Pediatric Society (Council and President), was elected to membership in the National Academy of Medicine in 2010 and elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2020. Close.

Lynn A. Karoly is a RAND senior economist whose research has focused on the well-being of children, youth, and families; human capital investments from birth to adulthood; economic disparities; social welfare policy; and labor market behavior. Much of her recent research has focused on early care and education (ECE) programs, with studies on the use and quality of ECE programs, the system of publicly subsidized ECE programs, professional development for the ECE workforce, ECE quality rating and improvement systems, and ECE program cost and financing. Another area of her expertise is the application of benefit-cost analysis (BCA) and related tools such as cost analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis to social programs, with recent analyses of the economic returns to early childhood interventions and youth development programs. Other research has examined issues pertaining to poverty, inequality, immigration, welfare reform, self-employment, and retirement.

In addition to her research, Karoly served as director of RAND’s Office of Research Quality Assurance from 2004 to 2014 and director of RAND Labor and Population from 1995 to 2003. Her professional service includes roles as the 2017 president of the Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis and editorial positions for the Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis and The Journal of Human Resources. She was as a member of the National Academies of Sciences (NAS) Committee on Financing Early Care and Education with a Highly Qualified Workforce and previously served on the NAS committee that produced Advancing the Power of Economic Evidence to Inform Investments in Children, Youth, and Families (2016). Karoly received her Ph.D. in economics from Yale University. Close.

Since joining Lazard in 2004, Mr. Lewis has advised a number of global corporations. In addition, Mr. Lewis chairs the Firm’s Global Investment Banking Managing Director Promotion Committee.

Mr. Lewis was elected a Managing Director of Morgan Stanley in 1989, becoming the firm’s first African-American Managing Director. Between 1994 and 2004, Mr. Lewis was head or Co-Head of the Global Banking Department, the Global Mergers & Acquisitions Department and Morgan Stanley Realty. In his final role as Co-Head of the Global Banking Department, Mr. Lewis was responsible for the firm’s global industry practices and regions which accounted for revenue in excess of $2 billion. Mr. Lewis was also Chairman of the firm’s charitable foundation, Chairman of its diversity task force, member of the firm’s Political Action Committee, and held leadership roles on several other internal committees.

Mr. Lewis is a member of the Economic Club of New York and currently serves on the boards of a number of nonprofit organizations including Uncommon, the New York City Police Foundation, The Posse Foundation and Research Alliance for NYC Schools. He is also a member of the Harvard Management Company, which is responsible for the Harvard University endowment. In the past, he has served as Co-Chairman of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Treasurer of the National Urban League, Chairman of A Better Chance and as a member of the boards of Phillips Academy, the American Museum of Natural History, the Executive Committee of the USGA, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the New York Philharmonic, Morehouse College, the Central Park Conservancy, the NCAA Advisory Board, Harvard’s Committee on Alumni Affairs and Development, Harvard’s Task Force on Students, Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Chicago), Freddie Mac and Darden Restaurants. Mr. Lewis serves on the board of Ariel Investment Trust.

Mr. Lewis was born in Richmond, VA. He graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, MA in 1974 and received the Academy’s highest award, the Aurelian Honor Society Award. Mr. Lewis graduated with honors from Harvard College in 1978 and received a MBA from Harvard Business School in 1982. Close.

Tammy Mann has worked at the intersection of research, practice and policy in early care and education for more than 25 years. She has devoted her career to improving life outcomes for children, youth and families. For the past 8 years she has served as President and Chief Executive Office of The Campagna Center, a community based nonprofit in Alexandria, Virginia that provides cradle to career education and social development programs to over 2,000 children, teens and adults. Currently she is actively involved in several initiatives aimed at improving early care and education opportunities across her community and our region. She serves on a number of Boards and Advisory Committees as was most recently appointed by Governor Northam to serve a four-year term on the Virginia State Board of Education. She has authored articles and books on topics related to policy and practice issues that address the emotional well-being of young children and the role of culture in development. She is a former Public Policy Fellow with the American Psychological Association as has held adjunct affiliations with Howard University and George Mason University. Close.

Joseph Tobin is the Elizabeth Garrard Hall Professor of Early Childhood Education at the University of Georgia. He has previously taught at Arizona State University, University of Hawaii, and the University of New Hampshire and is an AERA Fellow. His research interests include cross-cultural studies of early childhood education, immigration and education, children and the media, preschool teaching expertise, and qualitative research methods and especially video-based methods for studying young children, preschool teachers, and preschools. He has led four multinational research projects on preschools, with significant funding from the Spencer Foundation and the Bernard van Leer Foundation and supervised 30 doctoral students, some of whom are now professors of early childhood education at research universities. Tobin’s books include Preschool in Three Cultures (Yale University Press, 1989); Making a Place for Pleasure in Early Childhood Education (Yale University Press, 1993); Pikachu’s Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of Pokemon (Duke University Press, 2000); Good Guys Don’t Wear Hats: Children’s Talk about the Media (Teachers College Press, 2003); Preschool in Three Cultures Revisited (University of Chicago Press, 2009); Children Crossing Borders: Immigrant Parents and Teacher Perspectives on Preschool for Children of Immigrants (2013); Teaching Embodied: Japanese Preschool Teaching as Cultural Practice (University of Chicago Press, 2015) and Preschool and Im/migrants in Five Countries (Peter Lang, 2016). His current research projects include “Deaf Kindergarten’s in Three Countries: France, Japan, and the United States” and “The Development of Expertise in Preschool Teachers in Three Cultures: Japan, China, and the United States.” Close.