Susan B. Neuman is a Professor of Teaching and Learning at New York University specializing in childhood education and early literacy development. Previously, she has been a Professor at the University of Michigan and has served as the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education. In her role as Assistant Secretary, she established the Early Reading First program, the Early Childhood Educator Professional Development Program and was responsible for all activities in Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Act. She has served on the IRA Board of Directors (2001-2003), and other numerous boards of non-profit organizations, and served as Co-editor of Reading Research Quarterly (2011-2018), ILA flagship research journal. Her research and teaching interests include early childhood policy, curriculum, and early reading instruction, prek-grade 3 for children who live in poverty. Neuman has received two life-time achievement awards for research in literacy development, and is a member of the Reading Hall of Fame, and a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association. She has written over 100 articles, and authored and edited 12 books. Her newest edited by Cabell, Neuman & Patton-Terry is the “Handbook of the Science of Early Literacy” (2023) published by Guilford Press.

Dr. Kelli Servizzi is the Director of Kindergarten Readiness at the Indiana Department of Education. Her 21 years of experience in education include working as an assistant professor of special education and a developmental preschool, kindergarten, K–4 resource, and 5th–6th grade intensive intervention teacher. Her first job was Director of Communications for USA Diving, where she managed the website, magazine, and media relations. Kelli completed her bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in special education at Butler University. She earned a master’s degree in educational administration and a doctorate in elementary education, early childhood, and reading from Ball State University. Kelli is the secretary and the chair of the communications committee for NASLEE.

Anna Severens has a Master’s degree in Leadership and Policy in Early Care and Education from Wheelock College in Boston, MA and has over 25 years of experience in this field. She has served with the Nevada Department of Education for the last 16 years serving as the State PreK Administrator and Education Programs Professional. During this time she has served on the NevAEYC State Board, Nevada State Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC), Governor's Commission for National Service, been a member and served on the Executive Committee of the National Association for State Leaders in Early Education (NASLEE, formerly known as NAECS-SDE), was a CEELO (Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes) Fellow, and led several state teams with The National P-3 Center leading Nevada's B-3 (Birth-3rd Grade) efforts for the last 10 years. Her main work and passion include providing support and technical assistance to NV State PreK subgrantees and State PreK expansion and program management, Birth-3rd grade alignment (P-3/B-3), and Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) Kindergarten to name a few.