Conference Keynote Speakers
4C for Children welcomes the following internationally-known speakers who will give keynote addresses at the 2020 Leadership and Early Childhood Conference.
Thursday, Oct. 22, from 2-3 p.m.: Holly Elissa Bruno
Keynote Title: Happiness Is Running Through the Streets to Find You—Even in a Pandemic!
Holly Elissa Bruno, MA, JD, is a best-selling, award-winning author and international keynoter. Her sixth book, Happiness Is Running Through the Streets to Find You, sold out almost immediately after publication.
A lawyer, she has served as assistant attorney general for the state of Maine and assistant dean at the University of Maine School of Law. While working as associate professor and dean of faculty at the University of Maine-Augusta, Holly Elissa was selected as “Outstanding Professor.”
She is an alumna of Harvard University’s Institute for Educational Management. She teaches leadership and management courses nationwide for Wheelock College. She has also authored a ground-breaking textbook, Leading on Purpose: Emotionally Intelligent Early Childhood Administration.
She is a frequent contributor to Child Care information exchange and her articles appear in NAEYC’s Young children journal. Holly Elissa’s keynotes have received stellar reviews from audiences from Reykjavik to Phoenix, Tulsa to Tampa and and Washington, DC to Chicago.
Friday, Oct. 23, from 10-11 a.m.: Dr. Kimberly Diamond-Berry
Keynote Title: Courageous Conversations about Racial Equity for 21st Century Educators
Dr. Kimberly Diamond-Berry is director of early childhood applied practice at the HighScope Educational Research Foundation. She joined HighScope in August 2017 where she works to strengthen the research-practice-policy link in the organization, locally, and across the state Michigan. Dr. Diamond-Berry helps develop and implement processes that ensure the translation of the science of early childhood into current practice and policies.
She supports dissemination and communication efforts concerning new findings and evidence about approaches, curricula, and interventions that work best for young children and those who care for, support, and teach them in educational settings. She also partners with local and statewide early childhood stakeholders to raise awareness of early childhood issues through informal and formal meetings, forums and conferences.
Before joining HighScope, Dr. Diamond-Berry was the senior technical assistance specialist with the Quality Improvement Center for Research-Based Infant-Toddler Court Teams (QIC-CT) at ZERO TO THREE. She has spent more than 30 years advocating for the healthy development of children of all ages and their families through multicultural counseling, community psychology, private practice and in educational settings. She has lectured and been an adjunct professor of counseling and psychology at Loyola University Chicago, Northern Virginia Community College, and Bowie State University. A licensed clinical psychologist and an endorsed Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Mentor, Dr. Diamond-Berry received her doctorate in counseling psychology from Loyola University Chicago.
Saturday, Oct. 24, from 10-11 a.m.: Drew Dudley
Keynote Title: The Leadership Test
Drew Dudley is the founder and chief catalyst of Day One Leadership, Inc., which helps organizations around the world increase leadership capacity. His clients have included some of the world’s most dynamic companies and organizations, including McDonald’s, JP Morgan Chase, and over 75 colleges and universities.
Prior to founding Day One, he spent eight years as the director of one of Canada’s largest leadership development programs at the University of Toronto, and served as national chair of one of Canada’s largest youth charities, which mobilized 35,000 volunteers to raise a million dollars annually to support the work of Cystic Fibrosis Canada.
Drew has spoken to over 250,000 people on five continents, been featured on The Huffington Post, Radio America, Forbes.com, and TED.com, where his “TED talk” has been voted “one of the 15 most inspirational TED talks of all time.” TIME, Business Insider and Inc. magazines have all named his talk as one of their “10 speeches that will make you a better leader.”
Drew’s first book, This Is Day One: A Practical Guide to Leadership That Matters, debuted at #6 on The Wall Street Journal bestseller list, and has gone on to become an international bestseller.
