Dr. Kelli Odden is a Professor of Education at Mayville State University. Dr. Odden has many years of teaching experience in elementary, special education, early childhood, and as an administrator. She teaches diversity, special education, and early childhood courses. She is actively involved in the National Association for Early Childhood Teacher Educators as the organization’s President-Elect. Her research interests focus on social and emotional guidance in early childhood, adult mental health, educational leadership, humor as a teaching strategy, and relationship building as a teaching tool. Working with professionals in the field and pre-service teachers daily is an absolute joy! 

Dr. Ursula Thomas is currently the Associate Chair of Cultural and Behavioral Sciences and Professor of Education at Georgia State University-Perimeter College. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Thomas served as the Director of Field Experience and Assessment for Teacher Education at Perimeter College. Dr. Thomas has written and presented extensively and has seven (7) books published or in press and over 45 publications. Her most recent book is Cases on Servant Leadership and Equity (2023). Dr. Thomas also serves as a consultant throughout the country advising districts on diversity and inclusion, and teaching and curriculum development in public school settings. Dr. Thomas’s accreditation experience in early childhood programs and teacher education program development has garnered external funding for her institution and community engagement partners. She possesses national and international accreditation review leadership for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)/Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) and the American Council on Education (ACE). She has also served as a Donald H. Wulff Diversity Fellow. Her research agenda includes early childhood, diversity, social justice, culturally relevant pedagogy, cultural mediation, multicultural education, gender issues in curriculum and teaching, service learning, technology, and leadership.

Lauren Hogan is currently serving as a strategic advisor and writer at the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), where she has held a number of leadership positions over the past decade, with responsibility for a portfolio including federal and state policy and advocacy, higher education accreditation, professional recognition, position statements, and applied research, and with an unwavering focus on centering the voices of educators, shared leadership, innovation, diversity, and equity. Lauren previously served as the Vice President of Programs and Policy at the National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI). She began her career working with an after-school program in Louisville, Kentucky and later served as the director of an early literacy and family support program in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She also served as a Rappaport Public Policy Fellow in the Department of Social Services in Boston, MA. Lauren earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a Master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Stephanie Feeney is Professor Emerita of Education at the University of Hawaii where she taught and directed undergraduate and graduate early childhood programs for many years. Stephanie served on the Governing Board of NAEYC, on the Board of the NAECTE (she was a founding member) and on committees addressing professional ethics, school readiness, and child and program standards. Her publications include Who Am I in the Lives of Children? (12 editions), Professionalism in Early Childhood Education: Doing Our Best for Young Children, Ethics and the Early Childhood Educator (3rd ed.) and Teaching the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct (2 nd ed.). She has written extensively about ethics, professionalism, and early childhood curriculum, written five children’s books about Hawaii and lectured and taught throughout the United States, and in Canada and Asia.