Dana Suskind is Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at the University of Chicago Director of the Pediatric Cochlear Implant Program, and Founder and Director of the Thirty Million Words® Initiative. This innovative initiative is an evidence-based intervention designed to ameliorate early language disparities in typically-developing children in disadvantaged families. Based on scientific research that shows that early language exposure is vital to a child’s brain development, Dr.

Fuhua Zhai is an Associate Professor at Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service and a Research Associate at Columbia University Population Research Center. His research interests include early childhood education, early interventions, child maltreatment and child welfare, cultural values and child rearing practices, and cross-national child and family policies and programs. He has been using experimental designs and rigorous statistical methods to estimate impacts of programs and policies, especially those targeting children from low-income families.

Dr. Mary Young is pediatrician and specialist in global health and child development with broad experience in both developed and developing countries. For the past three decades, she worked at the World Bank, guiding efforts in international public health and child health and development. During her tenure at the World Bank, she led global efforts to inform world leaders and policymakers about Early Childhood Development (ECD). Dr. Young advised clients through policy dialogues, sector analyses and project design and management.

Matthew Wiswall is a Juli Plant Grainger Professor of Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Faculty Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Professor Wiswall is an applied microeconomist who conducts research on child development, education, and applied econometric methodologies. His research has been funded by the US National Science Foundation and the US Department of Education, and published in academic journals including the Journal of Political Economy, Review of Economic Studies, and Quarterly Journal of Economics.

Larry Schweinhart is an early childhood program researcher and speaker throughout the United States and in other countries. He has conducted research at the HighScope Educational Research Foundation in Ypsilanti, Michigan, since 1975 and served as its president since 2003. He became president emeritus in 2013. He has directed the HighScope Perry Preschool Study through age 40, the Michigan School Readiness Program Evaluation, HighScope's Head Start Quality Research Center, and the development and validation of the Child Observation Record.

Arthur J. Rolnick is senior vice president and director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, and an associate economist with the Federal Open Market Committee. As a top official of the Federal Reserve Bank, Mr. Rolnick regularly attends meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee - the Federal Reserve's principal body responsible for establishing national money and credit policies.

Rolnick received a B.S. in Mathematics and a M.S. in Economics from Wayne State University, and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1973.

Margaret L. Holland is an Associate Research Scientist at the Yale School of Nursing. Prior to joining Yale University School of Nursing, she was an assistant professor at the University of Rochester School of Nursing. In addition, Dr. Holland was a research associate in the School of Nursing and a general academic fellow in the Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine and Dentistry, both at the University of Rochester.

Thomas Hoffer, Ph.D., has been with NORC for over 20 years, and brings nearly three decades of experience working on the design, execution and analysis of education surveys. Most of Hoffer's analysis and writing has been oriented toward policy and program evaluation. He currently serves as Principal Investigator for the NSF's Graduate Research Fellowship Program evaluation.