Alberto Rodriguez, a Colombian and Chilean national, joined the World Bank in 1997. He is a Lead Education Specialist working with the Latin American and Caribbean Region. He works on system-wide educational reform issues with particular emphasis on their effects on schools. He currently leads the policy dialogue and is Project Manager for education activities in Brazil. Dr. Rodriguez has consulted in the past in the United States, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Ecuador, Indonesia, England, Canada, Bolivia, Singapore, and Colombia among many other countries. His interests and experience are in educational administration and management, specifically in issues such as financing of education systems, decentralization, school-based strategic development, and secondary education. Prior to joining the World Bank, Dr. Rodriguez was a schoolteacher and administrator for 7 years, was an administrator in a private Bank in Bogota, Colombia for 2 years, worked at the High Scope Educational Research Foundation as Fellow and as Director of the Adolescent Division.

Angel Chan immigrated to New Zealand from Hong Kong with her family in 1997. Her local and overseas teaching experience spans preschool to tertiary level. She is currently the Curriculum Advisor of New Zealand Tertiary College, and is responsible for curriculum development. Angel is the recipient of the New Zealand Child Forum Research Network's 2006 New Researcher Award (Short listed).

Her research interests include: the learning and parenting style of Asian families, the learning and development of Chinese migrant children in English-speaking early childhood settings, socio-cultural perspectives of the value of play in young children's learning, the benefits and challenges of having teachers who speak the children's home languages in early childhood centres, the challenges ethnic minority early childhood teachers experience in mainstream early childhood centres.

Her research interests are inspired by the early childhood education that her child experienced, her observations from practicum visits, and her own teaching experience in early childhood centres and early childhood teacher education. Angel's priority at the moment is to continue to raise her 12 year old boy into a gorgeous man!

Contact: New Zealand Tertiary College
Level 2, 1 Marewa Rd
Greenland
Auckland 1546, New Zealand angel.chan@nztertiarycolJege.ac.nz . Phone: 9 5204000

Dr. Bander Alswelem is a faculty member at King Saud University in Riyadh, KSA. His research focus is on national policy affecting ECE. Currently, he is working in project commissioned by Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, and United Arab Emirates). The project aims to better develop the care and education of the preschool populations of these countries through:
(1) assessment and evaluation, (2) models to engage community and private investors in the care and education of the preschool populations, and (3) accreditation guidelines for licensing programs serving children ages 3 through 6.

Dalila has a Bachelor Degree in Early Childhood Education, a Diploma Degree in Higher Specialized Studies in Early Childhood Education Methodology and Supervision, and a PhD in Childhood Education - area of specialization: Childhood Methodology and Supervision, University of Minho. Work 12 years as early childhood education teacher in public preschools in Portugal and 13 in higher education. Is Auxiliary Professor in the Department of Child Sciences of Education, Childhood Studies Institute, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal. Has a long experience in in-service preschool teacher training, context based training, and supervision. Publications: conflict resolution in the classroom, early childhood curriculum models, children's perspectives, and childhood pedagogy. Areas of expertise: early childhood teacher training and professional development; early childhood curriculum models; supervision; pedagogy. She is a member of Childhood Association.

Dave Gleason has been involved with the World Forum on Early Care and Education since its inception. He currently serves as the President of the World Forum Foundation. He also serves as President of the Bright Horizons Foundation for Children and is on the Board of Directors at High Scope.

Contact: Bright Horizons Foundation for Children
238 St Andrews Drive, Franklin, TN 37069, United States
glease6@aol.com . Phone: (615) 429-5873

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Diane Levin is a .professor at Wheelock College in Boston, Massachusetts. She teaches about play, violence prevention, and media education (www.wheelock.edu). Her most recent books are The War Play Dilemma, Teaching "Young Children in Violent Times:
Building a Peaceable Classroom" and "Remote Control Childhood" Combating the Hazards of Media Culture." She is founder of Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children's Entertainment (www.truceteachers.org) and Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood www.commercialfreechildhood.org). For this, her fifth World Forum, Diane helped develop the "Promoting Non-Violence in a Violent World for World" theme. She has worked with Working Team Belfast and is a contributor to the new Exchange book, From Conflict to Peace Building: The Power of Early Childhood Initiatives, Lessons from Around the World.

Contact: Wheelock College
200 The Riverway .Boston, MA 02215-4176, United States
dlevin@wheelock.edu. Phone: (617) 879-2167

Dlasumbo Apampa is a Chief Research Officer with the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) in Nigeria. She has over ten years' experience working in Early Childhood Education, as a researcher, writer, and trainer. She has also been involved in advocacy and policy-making for ECE in her country.

Contact: NERDC 3, Jibowu Street
Yaba Lagos 234 1, Nigeria
sumapan@yahoo.com. Phone: 234 8033071867

Cassie Landers holds a Doctorate in Education, as well as a Masters in Public Health both from Harvard University. Since 1985, Dr. Landers has worked with UNICEF o promote policy and program guidelines in support of young children and their families. A major interest throughout her work has been the design of materials and strategies to support parents and families in their role as primary caregivers. She is currently a consultant for the Open Society Institute. In that capacity she has developed early childhood programs for Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Cassie Landers is currently an Assistant Professor at Columbia University School of Public Health.

Contact: Department of Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health
Columbia University, 60 Haven Avenue, B-2, New York 10024, USA
cl689@columbia.edu. Phone: 1-212-753-5467

Dr. Lamb-Parker has been a member of the Columbia University faculty since 1994.
She has devoted her career to research/evaluation, and practice with economically disadvantaged young children and their parents. Her expertise is in infant and child development, early childhood mental health interventions, parent education and empowerment, curriculum and instrument development, adult training and development,
and community development. She holds a PhD in clinical psychology and an MA degree in early childhood education and development. She also has been a teacher and director for ECD programs in the US.

Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
60 Haven Ave. B-2, New York, NY 10024, USA
Flp1@columbia.edu. Phone: 1-212/304-7310

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D. Judith L. Evans has devoted her career to the field of international early childhood care and development. She is currently an Adjunct Professor at the University of Victoria, in Canada. Previous employment has included: Director of the Department of Programme Documentation and Communication at the Bernard van Leer Foundation, the Director of the Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Development, Programme Officer with the Aga Khan Foundation, and Vice-President of the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation. She has worked as a consultant with UN agencies, the World Bank and many of the International NGOs, working on programme development and evaluation projects, and she has worked with governments on the development of policy. She has written numerous articles that bring together research and practice on various early childhood issues, and most recently she produced an early childhood programming manual, Early Childhood Counts that provides a framework for the development of early childhood programmes in the Majority World.

980 Seapearl Place, Victoria, B.C. V8Y 2X3, Canada
jevans@shaw.ca. Phone: 1-250-658-1539, Fax: 1-250-658-1521

Dr. Karen Liu is a professor of early childhood education at Indiana State University. She serves as the programcoordinator40r the Early Childhood Undergraduate and Graduate programs. Liu's work is reflected in her published monographs and journal articles. As an internationally recognized early childhood educator, Liu has served as the keynote speaker, consultant, workshop trainer, and invited speaker in Taiwan, China, Japan, and Hong Kong. She also presented her work in Brazil and Denmark. She was profiled in the Who's Who among Asian Americans. Liu was elected to a board position for several early childhood professional organizations and had received numerous service awards. Liu is currently serving as the President of the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) from 2007-2009. She was awarded the Holmstedt Distinguished Professor title in 2002. She is also a certified trainer for infants & toddlers care and education programs.

Contact: ACEI, Indiana State University
803 College of Education, Terre Haute, IN 47809, United States
kli.u@isugw.indstate.edu . Phone: 812-237-2856

Pia works in the area of international child development and early childhood policy, national and international intervention evaluation and development research. She has conducted development of national standards and indicators for monitoring the development and well-being of children in several countries around the world. Current projects include providing technical assistance to over 12 countries (e.g. China, Ghana, Jordan, Macedonia, Paraguay, South Africa). Her early intervention work includes home-based literacy to early health and psycho educational interventions. In theoretical research her expertise lies in the development of young children’s early literacy skills.

Yale University, P.O Box 207900, 230 South Frontage Road,
New Haven, CT 06520-7900, USA
Email: pia.britto@yale.edu. Phone: (203) 785-3903 Fax: (203) 785-7402

Dr. Saifer is an early childhood education and research specialist and adjunct professor at Portland State University. Currently, his primary areas of research are in program evaluation and the impacts of federal educational policy. He also administers a large early literacy demonstration/research project. Dr. Saifer is a former preschool teacher and the author of Practical Solutions for Practically Every Problem: The Early Childhood Teacher’s Manual, among other publications. He has been an education specialist for Head Start programs in four Northwest U.S. states and worked for the Open Society Institute with the Step by Step program.

NWREL, 101 SW Main St., Suite 500, Portland, OR 97204 USA
saifers@nwrel.org and saifer@comcast.net , Tel: 503-275-9150, 503-296-8507

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Greg coordinates the Early Childhood Education program at Pierce College in Lakewood; Washington. Their program offers their students an Associate degree in Early Childhood Education. Their degree is designed to train highly qualified early childhood professionals and their credits are widely accepted by baccalaureate programs in Washington State. In the 23 years he has been in our profession, He has never been as excited as he is now. He believes the global community is waking up and realizing the need for quality care and life experiences for their children and that their responsible to offer these experiences. Children first!

Contact: Pierce College
9401 Farwest Drive SW, Lakewood, WA 98498, United States
gbrazell@pierce.ctc.edu. Phone: 253 964 6696

Gwendolyn Coe, President-Elect of OMEP-USNC (Organisation Mondiale pour l'Education Prescolaire-United States National Committee) is Professor of Early Childhood at University of Wisconsin-Platteville in Plattelville, Wisconsin. Dr. Coe is also President of the Wisconsin Association for Early Childhood Teacher Educators (WAECTE) and serves as the Statewide Evaluator for Family Literacy in Wisconsin. Gwendolyn has taught in public schools, owned a private preschool, served as Director of Early Childhood Education for the State of Missouri, overseeing the Parents as Teachers Program, and served as Director of the Francis Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

Contact: University of Wisconsin-Platteville
1 University Plaza, Platteville, WI 53818, United States
coe@uwplatt.edu . Phone: 608-342-1294

Henry Kemoli Manani is the National Programme Co-ordinator of the National Centre for Early Childhood (NACECE) at the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE). She has been working for children for the last 20 years at NACECE. NACECE started as a pre-school research project in 1972 and later was established as a National Programme in 1984 by the Ministry of Education. NACECE is based at KIE and has a network of sub-centres in all districts, cities, and municipalities in the country. NACECE has developed into a regional centre catering to training needs of the Africa region. The mission of NACECE is to take the lead and network with other stakeholders to promote ECD programmes for Kenyan children in areas of cognitive, psychomotor, socio-emotional, aesthetic, moral, spiritual, and cultural development.

Contact: NACECE - Kenya Institute of Education
Desai Road off Muranga Rd, PO Box 30231 00100, Nairobi, Kenya
nacece@africaonline.co.ke. Phone: 254 203 746972

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Jackie Silberg, aka "Miss Jackie," is a renowned early childhood author, song writer, advocate, and keynote speaker. She has won awards in both the education and parenting fields. Her 26 books that feature imaginative games, music, and songs for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners are published in 23 countries. Jackie's music appears in over 50 curriculums, college texts, and Early Childhood publications. During her prolific career, she has founded and directed a music school, performed a musical program on a children's television show, and written and produced a television show focused on children's needs called "Just Kids." Jackie has a B.A. in Education, a M.S. in Child Development, and has done Graduate work in Piano and Composition. To find out more, please visit her website www.jackiesilberg.com

Contact: Miss Jackie Music Co
5000 W. 112th St. Leawood, KS 66211-1713, United States
jsilberg@interserv.com . Phone: (913) 663-5003

Judy Herr is an author, consultant, speaker, and professor of Early Childhood Education at University of Wisconsin-Stout. She has served as an Associate Dean for Curriculum and Instruction, Early Childhood Education Undergraduate Program Director, Graduate Program Director, and Director of the Child and Family Study Center. The students at the University of Wisconsin-Stout selected Dr. Herr to receive an award for Outstanding Teaching in April, 2006, for recognition of outstanding efforts to stimulate and guide their intellectual development

Contact: Univ of Wisconsin-Stout
Home Economics Building, Room 119 Menomonie, WI 54751-3567, United States
her~u@uwstout.edu . Phone: 715 232 2553

Kathy is the principal consultant of ABCs of Children's Care & Education, with an extensive knowledge in the Early Childhood, Health, Education, and Political communities. Twenty-five years' experience provides expertise for in-home and licensed childcare start-up, financial and human resource management, professional training seminars, and environmental designs for playrooms and playgrounds. As CEO & Senior Policy Consultant with the Association of Day Care Operators of Ontario, she writes Childcare Today. Management and political issues, conferences, strong membership benefit programs, and an Annual Walkathon raising money for Sick Kid's Hospitals round out this position. At heart, Kathy is a "children's advocate" working to ensure that legislative policy does not negatively affect the interest, developmental levels, and the well-being of children. She was part of the Canadian Host Team for WF 2005.

Contact: ABCs of Children's Care & Education C/O ADCO PO Box 208
Foxboro, ON KOK 2BO, Canada
kdaycare@kos.net . Phone: (613) 395-6111

Kay M. Albrecht, Ph.D., is president of Innovations in Early Childhood Education. She specializes in writing, management consultation, and director and staff development and training. Teaching in some capacity has been the bulk of Kay's life work, beginning with her first assignment as preschool teacher in a laboratory setting. She has continued her work with young children and the adults who teach them ever since. She has been the director of a nationally credited early childhood program and on the faculty at 4 universities. A frequent contributor to Exchange, she is the Academic Editor of Exchange Magazine and she serves as a consultant on special projects. She is the author of Out of the Box Early Childhood raining Kits. She co-authored, along with Unda Miller, the Innovations series published by Gryphon House and
The Right Fit: Recruiting, Selecting and Orienting Staff published by New Horizons.

Contact: Innovations in Early Childhood Edu., Inc.
11414 Cedar Creek Dr Houston, TX 77077-5114, United States
innovations-ka@houston.rr.com. Phone: (281) 679-1061

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Contact: ACRC Ltd 8 Upper Cliff Road
Northwood 2066, Australia
doyley_87@hotrnail.com . Phone: +612942704921

Larry Schweinhart is has been president of High/Scope Educational Research Foundation since 2003 and a researcher there since 1975. High/Scope Foundation lifts lives through education by research, curriculum development, teacher training, and publishing. Its teacher training in the High/Scope curriculum is available throughout the world, with institutes and teacher education centers in ten countries. Its research studies include the High/Scope Perry Preschool Study, which found that a high-quality, active learning preschool program had beneficial lifetime effects and strong return on investment; and the lEA Pre-primary Project, conducted in 15 countries. For more information, see www.highscope.org.

Contact: High/Scope Educational Research Foundation 600 N. River St.
Ypsilanti, MI 48198-2821, United States
Ischweinhart@highscope.org . Phone: 734 485 2000

Linda Hutchinson has spent over 35 years in the field of early childhood education in the U.S. She received her early childhood undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland and M.Ed. and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and recently attended the Harvard Institute for Child Care Design. She has been a regular classroom teacher, a special education classroom teacher, a university professor; the director of preschools, childcare, and university laboratory schools; and is currently a principal at the public pre-K center in Rock Hill, SC and an affiliate faculty member at the Institute for Families in Society (IFS) at the University of South Carolina. Linda is co-developer, along with colleague Dr. Elsbeth Brown, of a training, mentoring, and remodeling childcare improvement project (BASICspaces) that has been funded by state, federal, and nonprofit grants. The grants target centers with the highest needs, primarily those that serve children living in families that are overburdened and underresourced. She intends to keep training, mentoring and advocating until early care and education ih the United States is a national priority, adequately supported by both government and private industry.

Contact: University of SC/Rock Hill SD 3
2426 Cornell Ave. Charlotte, NC 28211, United States
Ihutchin@rock-hill.k12.sc.us . Phone: 704 365 5256

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Linda H. Southward, Ph.D. is a Research Fellow & Professor at the Social Science Research Center (SSRC) of Mississippi State University. She also coordinates the Family & Children Research Unit of SSRC and serves as the Director of the MS KIDS COUNT program, funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. In addition, she serves as Chair of the Child Health Early Education & Research (CHEER) Consortium of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Her research interests include conducting health research in child care and early education settings.

Contact: Social Science Research Center
Mississippi State University, P.O. Box 5287
Mississippi State, MS 39762, United States
linda.southward@Ssrc.msstate.edu. Phone: 662-325-0851

Lydia Foong has been involved in early childhood education for 16 years. She holds a St Nicholas Montessori Diploma (UK), a Certificate in Prim(3ry Education (Montessori), Bachelor of Education
from University of Greenwich, and Master of Educational Management (University of Malaya). She has vast experiences in teaching, managing Montessori early childhood settings, and lecturing both locally and in the UK. She is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Education and Social Sciences at SEGI College (Malaysia). She is passionate in promoting quality early childhood education in Malaysia, and in helping to raise the level of professionalism in early childhood education in her home country.

SEGi College is a leading private college in early childhood education in Malaysia. Its long established partnership with Montessori Centre International (UK), and the University of Southern Queenland, Australia, reflects its commitment to excellence in early childhood education.

Contact: Segi College
Persiaran Kewajipan Usji, Subang Jaya 47600, Malaysia
lydiafoong@segLedu.my . Phone: 603 86001777

Lynne Moore [M.Ed (EC); BA; DipT (EC); DipT (primary)] Lynne began her career in early childhood as a director in community kindergartens in Victoria, Australia. Her experiences since this time include lecturer at universities and TAFE institutes and various positions in government departments. Lynne is currently the co-cordinator of C&K College of Early Childhood and curriculum co-ordinator for C&K. Passionate about early childhood and quality experiences for all children, Lynne is the writer of Building Waterfalls - a living and learning curriculum framework for adults and children (birth to school age). She is an executive member of the Early Childhood Teacher's Association of Queensland and Editor of the journal Educating Young Children. Established in 1907, C&K is Queensland's oldest and largest community-based early childhood association. With approximately 400 services across the state, including kindergarten, long day care, and family day care, C&K has promoted the interests of young children and their families for a century.

Contact: C&K
14 Edmondstone Street, Newmarket 4051, Australia
I.moore@candk.asn.au. Phone: 07 3552 5306

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Maria Jennifer B. Tordecilla. Since 1993, she has been working as a faculty member of the Department of Family Life and Child Development, College of Home Economics, University of the Philippines. She teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses such as Child Development, Assessment of Children, Curriculum and Programs for Preschool Children, and Practice Teaching I and II. She also had opportunities to handle 3-5 year old children in the laboratory preschool of the department. Ms. Maria has Masters' degrees in Psychology and Family and Sexuality Studies, and is currently pursuing doctoral studies in Education, major in Guidance.

Contact: Department of Family Ufe and Child Development College of Home Economics, University of the Philippines, Diliman Quezon City, 1101, Philippines
jbtordecilla@yahoo.com . Phone: 6329261552,639178379154

Mary Jo Graham is a professor of early childhood education at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. A majority of their students are from rural areas, often the first person in their family to go to college. She grew up on a farm. Her first job teaching was in a kindergarten in Tadjerouine, Tunisia, as a Peace Corps volunteer. She also taught primary grades in Akron, Ohio, and then came to West Virginia with my husband. She worked with child care programs in West Virginia before joining the faculty at Marshall University.

Contact: Marshall University
220 Township Road 1273, Chesapeake, OH 45619, United States
graham@marshall.edu . Phone: 304-696-6478

Masa NAKAMURA (Mr.) is a professor at Tokiwa University in JAPAN. His current interest lies on the relationship between personality emotion and child behavior such as plays. With his students, he is
analyzing the role of plays in making human relationship among kids. He EXPECTS that some factors of play MUST effect personality formation. So far he has found that those who engage deeply in computer games tend to look at their human relationship more negatively as well as their own capacities and lives. Whereas, those who prefer playing outside and enjoying sports tend to be more positive toward life. His other interests include lifelong learning behavior and social education of both youths and adults. He is looking for a universal behavior patterns of the youth. He is developing various devices to help all children in the world to share equal opportunities on joyful and happy moments such as astronomical phenomena. He thinks even blind or visually impaired people should have an equal opportunity of enjoying the universe.

Contact: Tokiwa University
2-2829-105 Honchos, Otawara-shi 324-0041, Japan
ngc2068@tokiwa.ac.jp . Phone: 0287-22-3610

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Masyitch Chusnan is a delegate from Indonesia, representing of Association of Early Childhood Teachers and Educational Personnel. The main function of this organization is how to develop the teacher's capability regarding to the early childhood care and education. Beside that it also helps the ECE teachers to acquire their right on enhancing their welfare life. She is also a chairwoman in one of the biggest women's organization in Indonesia called Aisyiyah (this organization is part of Muhammadiyah, the Moslem organization).

Contact: The SocietY of Indonesian Early Childhood Komplek Depdiknas, Gd.E Lt. 7, Direktorat PAUD, J 1. Jend. Suditman, Senayan, Jakarta DKI Jakarta, Indonesia
niw_padu@yahoo.com . Phone: 62-8129289099

Meryl was elected in 2004 to attend the Working Forum in Belfast as a Global Leader representing South Africa. She then attended the 2005 World Forum Foundation Conference in Montreal. She was a Pre-Primary teacher for 28 years and 12 of those a Principal of Pre-Primary schools. She left teaching to become an Educational consultant in the middle of 2004. At the same time she became a co-director of Synergy Schooling in Cape Town with Robin Booth. Website www.synergyschooling.co.za. This school has flourished over the last two years and they currently have 60 students from pre-pre (3 years) to grade 6 (12 years) old. Their school is unique and is based on interactive learning with a focus on interpersonal development and relationship building. They have developed an eclectic approach of their own with the support of creative and innovative teachers. They have their own emergent curriculum and use our National Outcomes Based Curriculum and Assessment Standards to guide them. She supports schools in the community by doing Whole school Assessment and then work with the Principal in supporting the needs of the teachers in in-service training and curriculum development.

Contact: 21 Rambler Rd,
Diep River Cape Town 7945, South Africa
meryl@adeptco.za

Paul Connolly is Professor of Education at Queen's University Belfast and also Director of the NFER at Queen's Centre for Educational Research. He has researched and published widely on issues relating to diversity and inclusion in the early years. Previous books include: "Boys and Schooling in the Early Years" (2004, Routledge); "Too Young to Notice: The Cultural and Political Awareness of 3-6 Year Olds in Northern Ireland" (2002, Northern Ireland Community Relations Council); and "Racism, Gender Identities and Young Children" (1998, Routledge). Full details on his current research and publications can be found on his website at: www.paulconnolly.net

Contact: Queen's University Belfast
69/71 University Street, Belfast BT7 1HL, Northern Ireland
paul.connolly@qub.ac.uk . Phone: 44 28 9097 5952

Contact: Early Childhood Initiative Foundation
3250 SW Third Ave. Miami, FL 33129, United States
mbarrios@childreadiness.org . Phone: 305 646 7229

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Roger Neugebauer, along with his wife Bonnie, publishes Exchange - The Early Childhood Leaders Magazine Since 1978, a management magazine for directors of early childhood programs.
Exchange, now in its 30th year of publication, is delivered bimonthly to over 27,000 early childhood professionals in the United States, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and New Zealand.
Bonnie and Roger Neugebauer are also the founders of the World Forum on Early Care and Education, and Mr. Neugebauer has a Master's Degree in Day Care Administration from Lesley College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is married and has four children.

Contact: Exchange Press, Inc.
17916 NE 103rd Ct, Redmond, WA 98052, United States
ccroger@childcareexchange.com . Phone: 425-883-9683

Selena Fox is Chief Executive of New Zealand Tertiary College based in Auckland, New Zealand. In so doing, she leads one of the largest private provider of specialist early childhood teacher education in New Zealand. Professional areas of interest and expertise include exploring dimensions of leadership and management and extensive knowledge of International distance, online teaching, and learning education experiences.
Selena is a member of the New Zealand Ministry of Education's Tertiary eLearning Reference Group, and is involved in developing eLearning Guidelines for the support of eLearning in New Zealand tertiary institutions. Selena has lead New Zealand Tertiary College's expansion of its distance study options with the development of ecelearn, an early childhood specialist online teaching and learning initiative, alongside Chip Donohue and the New Zealand Tertiary College academic and IT teams. Developments include www.ecelearn.com. a website dedicated to excellence in early childhood teacher education and professional development, providing. Bxemplary online teaching, learning, and management solutions for the early childhood profession; and "The ecelearn guide to learning online" co-developed with Chip Donohue. Internationally, Selena leads the World Forum global team of early childhood National Representatives as the International Relations Coordinator for Exchange and the World Forum on Early Care and Education.

Susan is the Chief Executive Officer of the Early Childhood Council Inc., a position she has held since 1999. The Early Childhood Council (www.ecc.org.nz) is the largest representative body of licensed early childhood centres in New Zealand, with over 1000 community-owned and commercially-owned member centres. She has also previously owned and managed a number of early childhood centres. She is regularly sought for membership on government working groups and committees on matters relating to early childhood education, public policy, and business issues. She has been a member of the Education Forum, a policy advocacy organisation based in Wellington, New Zealand (www.educationforum.org.nz) since 2002 and a member of the Business New Zealand Affiliated Industries Group (www.businessnz.org.nz) since 2003.

Gnanaskandan has a BA Degree in Social Sciences. She also has an advanced certificate in Pre School Education, A Diploma in child Psychology and Child Development and followed a course on helping children with learning difficulties. She is a teacher at C.M.S Ladies College Colombo 7. She is the teacher in charge of the Junior English Uterary Society and the Scrabble Club at my school. Suvendrini is a member of the Governing Board and function as the secretary to the board of the Methodist Memorial Montessori Moor Road Colombo 6. She conducts free English tuition classes for children of the Lower income Bracket. Her vision is to improve the quality of Pre School Education in my country, especially among the marginalised children, in order to ensure that her country will have a more educated and well balanced future generation.

Taljana Vonta is the Head of the Developmental Research Center for Pedagogical Initiatives in Slovenia and is a Higher Education Teacher at the Faculty for Education in Koper, Slovenia. Her research work is connected with early childhood education, especially with issues regarding the quality of the field. She has been involved in International Step by Step Association's (lSSA) activities from the time when it was established and was actively involved in creating ISSA's teaching and program standards and other initiatives connected with quality early childhood education. Starting in 2004, she has served as the President of the ISSA Board.

Ty Durekas is the Chief Executive Officer of Children's Creative Learning Centers (CCLC); a subsidiary of Knowledge Learning Corporation. The organization operates over 120 early childhood programs for employers across the United States and offers consulting services and near-site programs as well for employees small and large. Our organization is actively committed to quality programs; over 70% of our programs are accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEVC) or are in the process of being accredited. Only 11% of 110,000 centers in the United States meet the stringent quality requirements the academy has set to define quality programs. Ty has been very active in the early childhood field for 15 years and has championed several innovative approaches in increasing the availability, quality, and affordability of care for families.

Contact: Children's Creative Learning Centers, Inc. 794 East Duane Ave
Sunnyvale, CA 94085, United States
tdurekas@cclc.com . Phone: (408) 732-2500 x260

Vinita Bhargava, PhD, is a Reader and presently Head of the Department of Child Development at Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi. Together with undertaking research projects, she teaches courses in child development, research methods, ear1y childhood care and education, and child welfare. Dr Bhargava has worked with various agencies in the field of adoption policy and practice in India. As a founding member of the Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA), an autonomous, nodal agency set up under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, and the "NOC' committee member for screening applications for inter-country adoptions, she has contributed significantly to national policies on adoption. She has written numerous papers and reports, as well as a manual for trainers in ear1y childhood development for the Government of Maldives. She has authored a book entitled "Adoption in India: Policies and Experiences," published by SAGE Publications. Dr Bhargava and her husband have two children, one of whom is adopted. They have founded a support group for adoptive parents called APNA (Alternative Parenting Network Association) in New Delhi

Wyveme Smith is an early Childhood lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the Charles Sturt University, Albury, New South Wales. She has just taken up this position after 5 years at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ), Australia, where she was also the coordinator of the Faculty's Child and Family Unit, where parents came with their children to a playgroup each morning. Wyverne supported parents as they guided their children's playas well as giving them guidance in areas such as child development, education, and behavior management . Wyverne is also a "practitioner" in the Triple P (Positive Parenting Program), a program that is now enjoying worldwide popularity. Wyverne believes that supporting and working with parents is the best way to ensure that children have a good start in life.

Currently the founder of EDGE Consulting Partners, She has spent 28 years in many roles in the early childhood field, as child care center director, policy maker, funder, advocate, and executive director of a large national organization (www.NACCRRA.org).
Her current interests include the impact of HIV / AIDS on young children and best practices for addressing it, professional and leadership development in early chi,ldhood education, grassroots organizing, NGOs and effective advocacy, as well as the intersection of policy and politics in bringing about positive change for young children.

Himpaudi is an association to develop competence, knowledge, professional protection, welfare, and services for educator and educational manager. HIMPAUDI is in charge to enhance the society's role in developing early childhood education (ECE). HIMPAUDI socialized the program of early childhood in Indonesia and collaborate with other institution throughout Indonesia. This association was established on Monday, June 6, 2005 in Jakarta and was officially declared by the representatives all over Indonesia on Wednesday, August 31, 2005 in Batu Malang East Java. Vision: to establish professionalism and good character of educators and educational manager of early childhood education in Indonesia by the year of 2015.