A one-day event from HuffPost Parents for moms and dads who survived the baby years and now have children who are starting to navigate the world on their own.
You’ll connect with experts—psychologists, educators, social media pros, children’s authors, and some famous faces—who have a lot of answers. We’ll have freebies, pop-up shops, great food, and most importantly, you’ll be introduced to the kind of parents you’ve been looking to meet.
A one-day event from HuffPost Parents for moms and dads who survived the baby years and now have children who are starting to navigate the world on their own.
You’ll connect with experts—psychologists, educators, social media pros, children’s authors, and some famous faces—who have a lot of answers. We’ll have freebies, pop-up shops, great food, and most importantly, you’ll be introduced to the kind of parents you’ve been looking to meet.
Bullying is on the top of many parents’ minds, and for good reason. In this panel, we’ll hear from child psychologists, anti-bullying experts and parents who’ve experienced it first-hand. They will discuss learning empathy, understanding how their actions affect others, and how to deal with it in real time.
Our digital lives are a huge part of our identities, and kids are getting started early. In these formative years, it’s important to make children aware of the vast possibilities of the internet and social media while preparing them for the ugly realities they’ll encounter. We’ll turn to digital safety experts and mental health professionals to discuss actionable strategies to mentally and emotionally prepare for the digital onslaught.
Our kids will encounter a different world than we did when it comes to gender, sexual identity and power dynamics, and the way we raise them will be the ultimate test of whether the culture is changing for good. The key is starting early. In this panel, we’ll discuss ways to prepare them for conversations and situations they’ll encounter around sex, body image and objectification; how to help them develop a healthy respect for others’ bodies and decisions, including their own. Expect a dynamic discussion with child psychologists, trauma counselors, professors and parents alike.
We all want to raise the kind of kid we’d want our own children to be friends with: someone who is kind, creative, self-aware, independent, self-confident. This panel will feature psychologists, authors and clinical professors in a discussion about harnessing their creativity and innate talents and helping them live up to their own potential.
One of the world’s greatest players of all time, Abby is the #1 all-time leading scorer in international soccer history with 184 career goals. She is a New York Times Bestseller,
2015 World Cup Champion, TIME’s 100 Most Influential People, 2012 FIFA Women’s Player of the Year, and 2x Olympic Gold Medalist Long known as one of the most
intense competitors in U.S. history whose years of clutch goal scoring made her a fan favorite. She led the USA in scoring in the 2008 and 2011 Women’s World Cup
tournaments, and the 2004 and 2012 Olympics (she missed Beijing 2008 due to a broken leg). Her ability to wear down defenses with her physical play, aerial game and
unmatched toughness has long been a key to the USA’s success.
After winning the Women’s World Cup in 2015, Wambach retired as one of the most dominant players in the history of women’s soccer. A true leader on and off the field,
Wambach is dedicating the next chapter of her career to fighting for equality and inclusion across industries and her New York Times’ best-selling memoir, Forward, is a fearless testament to this quest.
Alicia Menendez is a co-host of Amanpour & Co., PBS’s late night interview program; co-creator and host of the Latina to Latina podcast; and a contributing editor at Bustle, the largest independent media property for Millennial women. Previously, as an anchor and correspondent at Fusion TV, she launched an award-winning primetime talk show; co-moderated a 2016 presidential forum; reported from El Salvador, Guatemala, Jordan and Rwanda; and contributed reporting to ABC’s "Nightline" and "World News Tonight" as well as ABC’s Emmy-nominated 2014 Election Night coverage. She has also shared her spirited take on current events on "Good Morning America," "The Daily Show," "The View" and "This Week". Prior to joining Fusion, Alicia was a host and producer a HuffPost Live, the HuffPost's streaming video network. Named “Broadcast Journalism’s New Gladiator” by Elle, “Ms. Millennial” by The Washington Post, and a “Content Queen” by Marie Claire, Alicia has quickly become a force in American media. A native of Union City, NJ, she lives in Miami with her husband and daughter.
Andrea Beaty is the author of Iggy Peck, Architect; Rosie Revere, Engineer; and Ada Twist, Scientist; among other children’s titles. Her newest book is Rosie Revere and the Raucous Riveters, published in October 2018. She is an advocate for STEM and her books have been read around the globe and in space on board the International Space Station. She lives just outside Chicago.
Called a “modern-day Fred Rogers” by his wife, ANGELA C. SANTOMERO, M.A., is the co-creator of Blue’s Clues and the creator of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Creative Galaxy, Super Why!, and Wishenproof. Her work has been cited in numerous publications including Malcolm Gladwell’s bestseller, The Tipping Point. She lives in New York with her husband, daughters, and their two dogs. Preschool Clues is her first book.
Brian is the Global Head of Revenue Operations for Oath, a Verizon Company. Brian has been in and around the NY Ad Tech Market for the past 18+ years after starting his career as an Industrial Engineer for manufacturing companies. Brian is a proud parent of two children. His daughter is a Junior at Vanderbilt University and his son ,17, is affected with a genetic condition called Fragile X Syndrome. To help other Fragile X families Brian co-founded the Fly with Me Fund with his wife and has also served as the President of the Board of the National Fragile X Foundation. Brian currently serves as a global co-lead for Oath's Neurodiversity Employee Resource Group (ERG) and enjoys helping to drive inclusion at work for both individuals affected by Neuro disorders and employees who are caregivers to those affected.
Carvell Wallace is a writer and podcaster based in Oakland, California. He is a contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine, writes the Slate Parenting Advice column Care and Feeding and is the co-host of the parenting podcast Mom And Dad Are Fighting. In addition to parenting, he covers culture, film, sports, cinema, and race issues for GQ, ESPN, The New Yorker, MTV, Pitchfork, Vice, The Guardian and many others. His book, The Sixth Man, written with Andre Iguodala is due out from Dutton in 2019. He was a stay-at-home dad for seven years and is now the always proud and oftentimes struggling father of a 12 year old and a 15 year old.
Christopher Albrecht has taught 4th and 5th grades at Fred W. Hill School in Brockport, New York for 21 years. During his time at the school, he has served as a student advisor on a variety of committees and, in 2015 Albrecht began an after school running program for 4th and 5th grade students with a focus on building self-confidence in special needs children. He’s also active in the local community, as a Boy Scout leader and a mentor for Girls on the Run. He’s received numerous teaching awards, and most recently was named the 2018 New York State Teacher of the Year. As the New York State Teacher of the Year, Christopher has worked hard to increase discussion and focus on the themes of service and charity of all students and teachers statewide. Albrecht used 100% of the prize money to buy books for NYS schools. Since September, he has visited over 50 classrooms giving out over 4,000 books to students and teachers all over New York State. Albrecht will release his first book, “Unconventionally Successful,” later this year. Concurrently, he’s working on a research project, “Common Threads” in conjunction with the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, about teacher/student memories. Albrecht lives in Brockport with his, Jennifer. Their three kids are in college.
Corinne Zola moved to Westchester with her 2-year-old son and infant daughter and quickly found herself feeling isolated in her new suburban car-bound life. With nowhere to go in the dead of winter that didn't involve a mall, she found herself regularly driving back to New York City with her kids to visit the Museum of Natural History and the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, places to spend quality hours, see other kids and moms, and share enriching memorable experiences with her family. Seeing the void for this kind of experience in Westchester, Zola set out with a small, but driven committee of other moms to create the Westchester Children's Museum. Founded in 2002, literally sitting around a kitchen table, the vision for the Westchester Children’s Museum was to create an engaging, inclusive, creative place for play and a catalyst for building confidence and critical thinking skills in our children. The overarching goal is to be a safe and welcoming environment for the broadest audience of children possible, most particularly those without access to this kind of enrichment in their own communities and schools. The Westchester Children’s Museum began offering children’s museum-style education outreach programs in schools and community centers in 2010 and opened its doors to the public in an historic landmark site in 2016. It has now welcomed nearly 150,000 visitors and is embarking on its Phase 2 expansion.
Under the direction of Dr. Deborah Pope, the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation has become a strong voice supporting public education and increasing diversity in children’s literature. During her tenure, the Ezra Jack Keats Book Award has launched the careers of many of the most exciting artists now working in the field of children's literature; the EJK Bookmaking Competition, in grades 3 - 12, has expanded from New York City to San Francisco, Baltimore and Atlanta; and EJK Mini-Grants continue to help educators make learning fun, in classrooms and libraries across the country. Dr. Pope was instrumental in translating Keats's classic, The Snowy Day, into an Emmy Award-winning Amazon animated movie and in bringing about the creation of a series of USPS Snowy Day postage stamps. Dr. Pope has consulted on arts-in-education programming for the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and Department of Education, served on granting panels for the New York State Council on the Arts, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and was a board member of the Roundtable Coalition of Arts-in-Education Providers. To have all children see themselves in the books they read, to enhance self-esteem and promote literacy is the central focus of the Foundation.
Doyin Richards is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, contributor to NPR and HLN, and a charter member of the TODAY Show’s Parenting Team. He’s passionate about raising his two young daughters, helping to create a generation of woke kids, and inspiring moms & dads reach their full potential as parents. In his spare time, he likes to workout, root for the Los Angeles Lakers, and eat Swedish Fish. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his family.
Elizabeth Kandel Englander is a professor of Psychology and the founder and Director of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center at Bridgewater State University, a Center which delivers programs, resources, and research for the state of Massachusetts and nationwide. She is a nationally recognized researcher and expert in the area of bullying and cyberbullying, childhood causes of aggression and abuse, and children’s use of technology. She was named Most Valuable Educator of 2013 by the Boston Red Sox because of her work in technological aggression and how it interacts with peer abusiveness in general. Dr. Englander was a Nominee for the 2015 National Crime Victims’ Service Award and is the Chair of the Cyberbullying Workgroup for the Institute of Child Development and Digital Media, collaborating with the National Academy of Sciences. Each year Dr. Englander trains and supervises graduate and undergraduate students and collaborates with multiple agencies around the State of Massachusetts and across the nation.
Dr. Englander writes for both academic audiences and for the public. She was the Special Editor for the Cyberbullying issues of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry-CONNECT and the Journal of Social Sciences, and has authored more than a hundred articles in academic journals and books. She is the author of Understanding Violence, a standard academic text in the field of child development and violent criminal behavior, and of Bullying and Cyberbullying: A Guide for Educators, published by Harvard Education Press. She has also written a variety of research-based curricula and educational handouts for communities and professionals. Reflecting her interest in educating laypeople, Dr. Englander has answered questions in a column for the New York Times (online edition), and she writes the column Bullying Bulletin Board, which is syndicated by Gatehouse Media in hundreds of newspapers nationwide.
Erica Reischer, Ph.D. is a psychologist, author, and parent educator. She is the author of the best-selling book, "What Great Parents Do: 75 Simple Strategies for Raising Kids Who Thrive," which has been translated into 16 languages.
Her work with parents and families has been featured in Time Magazine, Real Simple, Parents Magazine, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, NPR, and more. Dr. Reischer's own writing about children and families appears in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Psychology Today, The Greater Good Science Center, and The Atlantic.
Dr. Reischer earned a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in Psychology / Human Development, and is an honors graduate of Princeton University. A former consultant with McKinsey & Company, she sits on the advisory board for Happy Healthy Kids and leads classes at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, Habitot Children's Museum, and the University of California.
Dr. Howard Stevenson is the Constance Clayton Professor of Urban Education, Professor of Africana Studies, in the Human Development & Quantitative Methods Division of the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the Executive Director of the Racial Empowerment Collaborative at Penn, designed to promote racial literacy in education, health, community and justice institutions. Backed by a $12 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and based at REC, Howard also directs Forward Promise, a national philanthropic office that promotes a culture of health for boys and young men of color, to help them heal from the trauma of historical and present-day dehumanization, discrimination and colonization.
He is a nationally recognized clinical psychologist and researcher on negotiating racial conflicts using racial literacy for independent and public K-12 schooling, community mental health centers, teachers, police and parents. Two mental health research projects funded by National Institutes of Health examine the benefits of racial literacy. The PLAAY (Preventing Long-term Anger and Aggression in Youth) Project uses basketball and racial socialization to help youth and parents cope with stress from violence and social rejection. Dr. Stevenson also co-leads the SHAPE-UP: Barbers Building Better Brothers Project which trains Black barbers as health educators to teach Black 18-24 year old males to reduce their risk of -- HIV/STDS and retaliation violence -- while they are cutting hair.
His recent best-seller book, Promoting Racial Literacy in Schools: Differences that Make a Difference, is designed to reduce racial threat reactions in face-to-face encounters. Howard’s research and clinical work have been funded by W.T. Grant Foundation, Annenberg Foundation, and the National Institutes of Mental Health and Child Health and Human Development. He is the father of two sons, Bryan and Julian.
Dr. Nicole Pernod is a licensed clinical psychologist, yoga instructor, and healthy living enthusiast. She is a native New Yorker and completed her graduate degree in clinical psychology at Pace University. Dr. Pernod incorporates yoga with other empirically supported clinical interventions and has extensive experience working with children, adults, couples, and families. She is passionate about bridging the medical and holistic worlds and is honored to help her clients tap into their strengths. Dr. Pernod has a private practice in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Visit her at http://drpernod.com and @bhavani_wellness.
Emily McCombs is the Deputy Editor of HuffPost Personal and previously served as the Editorial Director of HuffPost Parents. She also ran the So You Want To Raise A Feminist Facebook group and newsletter. In a former life, she was a founding editor at xoJane.com, where she was the Executive Editor for 5 years. She has a 6-year-old son.
Dr. Nicole Pernod is a licensed clinical psychologist, yoga instructor, and healthy living enthusiast. She is a native New Yorker and completed her graduate degree in clinical psychology at Pace University. Dr. Pernod incorporates yoga with other empirically supported clinical interventions and has extensive experience working with children, adults, couples, and families. She is passionate about bridging the medical and holistic worlds and is honored to help her clients tap into their strengths. Dr. Pernod has a private practice in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Visit her at http://drpernod.com and @bhavani_wellness.
Eric Snow is President and co-founder of WATCH D.O.G.S. (Dads Of Great Students), one of the largest and most effective Family and Community Engagement programs in the country. Eric leads a dedicated team of family and education advocates, each year engaging hundreds of thousands of men and their families deep into the educational processes of thousands of schools across 45 US states and DoDDS schools in Germany, Italy and Japan, impacting the lives of millions of our nation’s children.
Gregg Murset is the Co-Founder and CEO of BusyKid, a leader in teaching kids how to earn and manage money. A Certified Financial Planner and consultant, Murset has become a leading advocate for sound parenting, child accountability and financial literacy. As a father of six, it was his idea to throw away the family paper chore chart and piggy bank to find a way to combine the chore chart with the technology his kids were using.
In 2014, he was named Chairman of 2014 “Smart Money Week” for the state of Arizona, as well as, the National Financial Educators Council Financial Education Instructor of the Year. A firm believer that financial education should be a priority in our schools, Murset has conducted hundreds of media interviews pushing inclusion or parental involvement. He also isn’t afraid to promote change through his actions. In 2014 he took his family on a pair of RV trips where they traveled nearly 10,000 miles in 31 days. Along the way the Murset family performed normal household chores for families in need and organizations requesting volunteers. He is considered a pillar of his Arizona community and is regularly attending his kids sporting events or taking them on weekend camping trips.
For more than 20 years, Murset has led a very successful personal insurance and financial services practice. A graduate of Arizona State University with a degree in finance, he has also earned multiple professional designations in his industry including CFP® – Certified Financial Planner, ChFC- Chartered Financial Consultant, CLU- Chartered Life Underwriter and REBC- Registered Employee Benefits Consultant.
Jamila Souffrant is a podcaster, writer and founder of JourneyToLaunch.com where she shares her journey to reach Financial Independence and helps others do the same. As a money expert who “walks her talk” she helps brave Journeyers; gain clarity around their finances and create an actionable plan to reach their goals.
Because of her money habits, Jamila and her husband saved $169,000 in two years and are debt free besides their mortgage. She is also a mom of three young children and currently lives in NYC. Her mission is to teach, inspire and help others reach Financial Freedom & Independence.
The Journey To Launch podcast was named one of “27 Podcasts You Need To Start Listening To In 2018" by BuzzFeed. Jamila is also the resident financial expert on a weekly segment on News12, the most watched local TV news-station in NYC and has been featured in other notable media outlets such as Money Magazine, ESSENCE Magazine, Business Insider, Refinery29, CNBC & CBS.
Jeanette Jennings is a proud mom of four: Arial 22, Sander & Griffen 20, and 17-year-old transgender girl Jazz, and is married to her soulmate Greg. Jazz, who was assigned male at birth, was diagnosed with Gender Dysphoria at age 3 and transitioned to a girl at 5. Jeanette and her family decided to share Jazz's story with Barbara Walters on 20/20 when Jazz was 6. Since then, she's been a fierce advocate for transgender youth. Jeanette spreads her message of unconditional love, tolerance and acceptance through media and speaking at events all over the US. Jeanette is the President and co-founder of the Transkids Purple Rainbow Foundation, which helps transgender youth. She and her husband Greg are the recipients of Equality CA's Ally award, and the Ackerman Institute's Family Award. Jeanette and her family filmed a documentary for Oprah's OWN network in 2011, called, "I am Jazz: A family in Transition". Currently, she and her family are the subjects of TLC’s GLAAD Award winning docu-series, "I am Jazz". Jeanette is a member of the HRC's Parents for Transgender Equality Council and moderator for the Parents of Transgender Children on Facebook. She often collaborates with GLAAD, the Trevor Project, Equality CA, Equality Florida and HRC.
As an on-camera host and senior producer at Yahoo Finance, Jeanie Ahn is all about celebrating smart money moves and inspiring women and families to take control of their life and finances. Sharing advice on everything from getting rid of debt, to growing your wealth and building your career, Jeanie is passionate about bringing real stories and real advice to real people. At home in NYC, she's a full-time tidy-upper, booboo kisser, and time-out chair manager of two little rascals.
Jill Murphy is vice president and editor-in-chief at Common Sense Media and serves as a strategic leader within the organization. Jill joined Common Sense in January 2005, built the editorial department with founding editor-in-chief Liz Perle, and served as deputy managing editor and later managing editor before becoming editorial director in 2010. She oversees the ratings and reviews for all media channels including movies, TV, games, websites, apps, music, and books. She also develops and manages the content strategy for parenting advice through the parenting blog, tips, and Q&As. Jill also works closely with content partners including DirecTV, Comcast, Netflix, Target.com, CNN.com, and more to further leverage the library of Common Sense Media reviews and advice.
In her time with Common Sense Media, Jill has been instrumental in evolving the company's rating, reviews, and advice to keep up with where parents are. She has overseen the creation of our For Your Family recommendation engine, worked to refine and enhance the rating process, and continues to insure the latest research on kids and media is incorporated into Common Sense advice and reviews. She has been involved in countless product launches and content migrations, all while keeping the team on schedule to produce over 2,500 new reviews and hundreds of recommendation lists and parent advice articles, each year.
Jill's commitment to Common Sense affords her the opportunity to help families avoid the TV shows she is devoted to. She serves as the resident expert on any and all reality TV, late '80s/'90s sitcoms, and other useless pop culture trivia that she claims is "for work." Jill holds a BA from San Francisco State University in broadcast and electronic communication arts, with an emphasis on writing and media literacy.
Kim Cavill is a sex education teacher and teen pregnancy prevention specialist in Chicago. She has dual qualifications in Secondary Education and Disability studies. Utilizing an evidence-based, inclusive approach, she teaches thousands of people about sex, pregnancy prevention, risk reduction, and consent in a open, sex-positive way, though she's very sad when students don't get her Ferris Bueller references.
Stand For The Silent has been in operation since 2010. Kirk Smalley is the president and sole speaker in partnership with his wife, Laura Smalley, of Stand For The Silent, an anti-bullying and suicide prevention non-profit dedicated to empowering our world's youth while teaching them to have compassion for others. Together they have endeavored to keep this movement alive in memory of their son, Ty, who passed away in May 2010 having been a victim of bullying for over two years. Stand For The Silent doesn’t only speak to people about these tragedies, they also offer tools and resources to the schools they visit so they are able to continue the fight against bullying after Smalley has left. Their greatest hope is that one day it will no longer be necessary for them to tell their story or continue this mission. Since 2010, they have spoken to over 1,364,000 students and adults about the effects of bullying and suicide.
Lydia Polgreen is Editor-in-Chief of HuffPost. She was named to that post in December 2016 after
spending nearly 15 years at the New York Times, where she led an initiative to expand its audience
outside the United States, with an initial focus on Latin America. Previously, Lydia was Deputy
International Editor, the South Africa bureau chief, a correspondent for the New Delhi bureau and chief of
the West Africa bureau.
Before joining The Times, Lydia was a reporter in Florida and New York state. She began her career as
assistant editor and business manager for The Washington (D.C.) Monthly. Lydia was a 2006 recipient of the George Polk Award for foreign reporting, in recognition of her travels deep into the war-torn western regions of Sudan to report on the carnage in Darfur. She received the
2008 Livingston Award for international reporting, for her series, “The Spoils”, an account of how mineral
wealth has brought misery and exploitation to much of Africa. In 2007, she was named a Young Global
Leader by the World Economic Forum.
Melissa Bernstein is the co-founder of Melissa & Doug, the global toy company committed to igniting imagination and a sense of wonder in all children so they can discover themselves, their passions, and their purpose. She credits her creativity to a childhood of boredom, relying on only her imagination to fill the blank canvas — with magic. Concerned this generation of children is missing out on the kind of unstructured downtime that enables them to find their passions and purpose through exploration, Melissa is leading a movement to Take Back Childhood. She dreams of a day when kids are free from over-scheduling, undue pressure, and digital distractions so they may discover themselves, develop into free thinkers, and realize their full potential.
Michael Kimmel is one of the world’s leading experts on men and masculinities. He is the SUNY Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at Stony Brook University. Among his many books are Manhood in America, Angry White Men, The Politics of Manhood, The Gendered Society and the best seller Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men. With funding from the MacArthur Foundation, he founded the Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities at Stony Brook in 2013.
A tireless advocate of engaging men to support gender equality, Kimmel has lectured at more than 300 colleges, universities and high schools. He has delivered the International Women’s Day annual lecture at the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of Europe, and has worked with the Ministers for Gender Equality of Norway, Denmark and Sweden in developing programs for boys and men. He consults widely with corporations, NGOs and public sector organizations on gender equity issues. He was recently called “the world’s most prominent male feminist” in The Guardian newspaper in London.
Nicole Dreiske founded Facets Multi-Media and helped build the largest international film library in America over the course of thirty-seven years. Dreiske’s Mindful ViewingTM methods have most recently been implemented in her pioneering work with the ICMC’s WorldScene and Women’s View programs, reaching hundreds of at-risk individuals in shelters, detention centers and jails each year. These transformative programs constitute a new, interdisciplinary approach for helping abused, homeless and incarcerated adults build confidence, self-determination and skills to find employment. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) supports Dreiske’s work through the prestigious FilmWatch program.
Dreiske presents keynotes and lectures at universities, conferences and cultural centers throughout the U.S. She consults with arts, education, tech and civic organizations, on strategic and intentional programming and has launched numerous film festivals nationally and internationally. She innovates approaches for integrating technology and media into twenty-first lives in healthy ways that empower us and elevate our empathy and humanity. Her acclaimed Screen SmartTM program uses field-tested techniques to improve literacy skills, critical thinking and social emotional learning in young children.
She is the author of THE UPSIDE OF DIGITAL DEVICES: How to Make Your Child More Screen Smart, Literate and Emotionally Intelligent (HCI Books; May 2018).
Ryan G. Beale is a licensed psychotherapist, author, founder of Therapy.Live, and a co-author of the Prepare U Mental Health Curriculum. He began his career creating meaningful tools and technology in 2006 when he founded Chattertree.com, a private family social network that went on to connect more than 10,000 families from over one hundred countries around the world.
A pivotal event in Ryan’s life occurred when he and his family lost his brother Steve to suicide. Since then, Ryan has made addressing mental health problems and the associated stigma preventing individuals from seeking care his top priority. Ryan’s passion for mental health and wellness led him to return to school where he completed a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology. He has worked as a Crisis Interventionist in his county helping adolescents and adults find hope in their darkest of hours as well as seeing clients in private practice. In 2015 he founded Therapy.Live and with his team created Prepare U. Ryan’s work in mental health and education has been featured in local and national news, he is a frequent guest on national TV and radio shows addressing the conversation from both a professional lens and a lived experience. Ryan is a father of three daughters, a martial arts expert, and enjoys spending his free time enjoying the outdoors.
Sachi Feris is the principal blogger and workshop facilitator for Raising Race Conscious Children, an organization that aims to support teachers and parents in talking about race and diversity with young children. She has a B.A. from Bates College, an M.A. in Sociology and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and an M.P.A. in Public Policy from Baruch College’s School of Public Affairs. She’s been a longtime advocate for social justice education and bringing issues of race and equity to our youngest children. She’s also the founder of Border Crossers, a nonprofit dedicated to racial equity. She currently teaches Spanish part-time at a Brooklyn elementary school, and has three children with her husband.
Sada Malladi is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Vimana. Vimana is a comprehensive device and software solution to detect and reverse digital addiction, while providing safer internet access to families. Sada brings in 20 years of technology industry experience, where he held various leadership roles at prominent Silicon Valley companies. He is experienced in delivering several cloud and mobile products to mass markets.
As a father of two young girls, defining moment for Sada arrived when his five year old was constantly on phone. He had no clear visibility into age appropriateness of the content, or the amount of time his child was spending on screens. Vimana was created from his frustration with lack of tools to nurture healthy digital habits, and his vision to use technology to fight digital addiction.
Adoption of mobile phones and social media among teens and tweens have exploded annually to 95% due to the raise of Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram, Parents are worried about excessive usage of digital devices as it is causing 50 % increase in suicide rate from cyberbullying & depression, and a drop of 14 points in SAT scores. Vimana solves this by going beyond just blocking sites. Vimana offers insights and tools for parents to help stop & reverse digital addiction among their children.
Sada is a technology enthusiast and evangelist. He holds a master’s degree in Computer Engineering from University of Nebraska. Whenever he is not busy being a father, Sada enjoys reading and playing ping pong and tennis.
Sarah Rich is a writer and editor focused on culture, design, food, and parenting. Her most recent book, Leave Me Alone With the Recipes: The Life, Art and Cookbook of Cipe Pineles (Bloomsbury, 2017), tells the story of an unsung feminist hero of midcentury design. She has also written recently about masculine identity development in early childhood. She lives in Oakland, CA, with her husband and two kids.
Titania Jordan started her own full-service marketing consulting firm after gaining experience as an account executive with Lincoln Financial Media, working with clients like Whole Foods, Nikon, Samsung, and Zerorez to create copy, radio ad campaigns, and digital promotions targeting women in the Atlanta market. She served as the CMO of KidsLink, co-founder and CMO of PRIVET, and most recently as Executive Director of Band of Coders Girls Academy and currently serves as Chief Parenting Officer of Bark.us.
Dr. Tammy Lewis Wilborn is a Board-Certified Licensed Professional Counselor, Board Approved Clinical Supervisor and a National Certified Counselor. She is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Counseling at the University of New Orleans and Owner and Chief Clinical Officer
of Wilborn Clinical Services, a multi-service practice based in New Orleans, Louisiana that provides clinical mental health counseling, clinical supervision, training, and consultation. Dr. Wilborn has 15+ years of clinical experience working with a diverse clientele of children,
adolescents, and adults. She is an in-demand speaker who has presented extensively on cultural responsiveness,
women’s empowerment, mental health, child and adolescent counseling, and wellness to national, regional, state, and local organizations; and professional associations. In 2016, Dr. Wilborn founded the annual Black Women’s Wellness Conference, an annual wellness
conference held in New Orleans, LA to promote mental health and well-being in Black women. She is a published author of a book chapter, Labels Hurt and Relationships Heal (Springer Publisher, 2016) and a co-author on a counseling article, Contributions of Supervisees: A
Strength-based Element to Supervision (Texas Counseling Association, 2003). Dr. Wilborn is a multimedia wellness expert who has contributed to The Times-Picayune, Wbtv.com, WBOK 1230 AM, and the Dr. Jeff Show with “America’s Psychologist” Dr. Jeffrey Gardere. She is an
executive producer on Things with Feathers (2017), a short film about childhood sexual abuse (CSA) that seeks to break the silence and stigma around CSA. A leader in her field, Dr. Wilborn was named an Emerging Leader in 2016 by the Southern Association of Counselor Education
and Supervision and is the President for the Louisiana Association for Counselor Education and Supervision.
Ashley Simpo is a writer and digital content strategist. Shatia Strother is the program coordinator for a housing justice organization. The two friends live in Bed Stuy and co-mother their combined three children under one roof. Their story was featured in HuffPost and has since triggered a national conversation about what raising children looks like today, the myths around co-parenthood and single motherhood and why the housing struggle hits single-parent families the hardest.
Stacia Brown is a mother, a freelance writer, and an audio producer based in Baltimore, MD. She was the founder of Beyond Baby Mamas, an online community for single parents of color. She has since created Hope Chest, an epistolary podcast of messages written from mother to daughter. She is also the creator and host of The Rise of Charm City, an audio documentary series about Baltimore City history. She has written about parenting and culture for The Washington Post, New Republic, Buzzfeed, The Atlantic, and various publications.
Naomi Wadler is an 11-year-old student activist who led a student walk out at her elementary school in Alexandria, Virginia on the one month anniversary of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman High School in Parkland, Florida, adding an additional minute for Courtlin Arrrington, an African-American student who was murdered shortly after the Parkland shooting in her Alabama high school.
She went on to speak at the March for Lives on March 24, 2018 and continues to work to promote common sense gun control legislation and encourages the world to remember the many African-American girls lost to gun violence around the country.
Naomi is committed to supporting girls of color to stand in their power. Currently, she is a member of the Kidbox Youth Board of Directors, where she is working to raise money for Safe Shores; the DC Child Advocacy Center, working with both DoSomething.org and The March for Our Lives to promote the importance of voting, and advocating for changing in disciplinary practices in schools.
Julie Wadler brings 25 years of business experience to her leadership and coaching practice. A fierce advocate and compassionate listener, Julie works with a diverse clientele of corporate, NGO and government leaders. As a mom and an active ally in the community, Julie believes in working with people to have difficult conversations about important topics. She doesn’t claim to be an expert on mothering, but her two girls make her look pretty good.
Samantha Barnes is passionate about food and family. As the Founder/CEO of Raddish, a monthly cooking club and curriculum, she works everyday to empower kids in the kitchen.
During her time as a middle school teacher, Samantha realized that many of her students were aspiring foodies… yet they lacked kitchen experience, education, and know how. She launched her first kids’ culinary venture in 2006, and soon was teaching thousands of children across Los Angeles through after-school classes, summer camps, and cooking parties. Today, Raddish aims to be the world’s premier kids cooking brand through subscription and curriculum products, delivering monthly culinary experiences that nurture kids’ confidence in the kitchen and beyond.
Samantha is the mom to an 8 and 6 year old, and believes the kitchen is the ideal place to learn, discover, and create alongside her kids. She knows what it takes to be a successful and driven mom in the workplace, and as CEO, she is committed to running a results-oriented and flexible company built on autonomy, working smart, and work/life balance.
Samantha and her companies have been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Sunset Magazine, NPR, Better Homes and Gardens, the Today Show, Parents Magazine, the Washington Post, MasterChef Junior, and the Food Network. Samantha attended Deerfield Academy and Bowdoin College, and lives and cooks with her family near the beach in Los Angeles.