
 |  | Linda J. Armstrong is a consultant for children and youth programs throughout the United States. As an active member of non-profit organizations, she has served in a variety of leadership positions for more than thirty years. Linda is a published author of educational research and has been an adjunct professor for universities in the U.S. and New Zealand. She holds three degrees in education and has received numerous awards and recognition for her work. |
 |  | Beth is a bilingual educator of young children and strives to create better communication within our increasingly diverse society. She is the founder of the internationally acclaimed Boca Beth language learning series which has garnered various parenting awards including the 2008 Editor's Choice Award from the Family Review Center and the Learning Magazine 2007 Teachers' Choice Award for the Family. |
 |  | Debbie Clement, an arts enrichment specialist, has spent more than 30 years serving young children. As a singer-songwriter, author-illustrator, educator, and teacher-of-teachers, Debbie has taken her songs, dances, and books to children around the world. Debbie has a liberal arts degree from Wittenberg University. |
 |  | Christina Cross has presented hundreds of highly informative workshops, keynote presentations, seminars, and training sessions specific to the family child care field. She also consults, trains, and provides technical assistance to local, state, and national associations and agencies, specializing in peer mentoring, association and leadership development, and CDA and NAFCC accreditation. As a former NAFCC accredited family child care provider, Chris is well acquainted with both the rewards and challenges of the family child care profession and is dedicated to the growth of the profession.
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 |  | Patricia Dischler has owned and operated Patty Cake Preschool in Prairie Du Sac, Wisconsin, for over fifteen years. She is a frequent presenter of workshops on issues related to professionalism in family child care and has published several articles in early childhood magazines and newsletters. Publications: From Babysitter to Business Owner: Getting the Most Out of Your Home Child Care Business (Redleaf Press, 2005) Patricia presents workshops on several family child care topics, including “Babysitter to Business Owner,” a workshop based on her book and designed to help caregivers turn the job they love into a career they'll keep; “Your Space/My Space,” a workshop that discusses the elements of space in a family child care setting; and “Fabulous Field Trips,” which offers tips and resources for broadening the world of the children in family child care. |
 |  | Enrique "Hank" Feldman, a two-time Grammy-nominated composer and artist, is president and director of education for the non-profit Fostering Arts-Mind Education (FAME) Foundation, director of Evolved Learning Conferences, and a former professor of music and education. Enrique has presented at numerous NAEYC conferences and has produced and performed on seven compact disks. |
 |  | Chamayne N. Green earned a bachelor's degree in business and a master's in early childhood. She has fourteen years of experience as a family child care provider and is an early childhood development consultant and trainer for home and center providers. Chamayne is founder and owner of Child Source, LLC, which offers training, consulting, and staff development to family child care providers. |
 |  | Jeff A. Johnson has more than 18 years of child care experience. A former director of a child care center, Jeff Johnson became a Family Child Care Provider in 2003 with his wife, Tasha. Their program focuses on emergent learning in a play based environment. According to Jeff, "The best thing about our program is the great kids we get to work with each day. Our days are spent with laughs, conversation, play, exploration, discoveries, and fun. We enjoy creating an environment conducive to 'light bulb moments'—you know, the moments where kids grasp new ideas. It is wonderful to get to see them rediscover the world." Jeff travels around the country presenting on topics such as combating stress and burnout in family child care and inexpensive, easy-to-make toys that promote learning. |
 |  | Nikki Darling-Kuria is a family child care professional, an adjunct college professor at Frederick Community College in Maryland, and develops curriculum for early care and education programs. With over 15 years of experience in early childhood education, Nikki has served the field in various ways as a state licensed and nationally accredited family child care provider, communications chair for the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC), local community newspaper columnist, and writer for NAFCC's publication, The National Perspective. |
 |  | Debra Pierce is an educator, CDA trainer and advisor, and a credentialing representative of the Council for Professional Recognition. She has a master’s degree in early childhood education and has taught in preschool, kindergarten, and first and second grade classrooms. She has also served as a parent educator in the national Parents as Teachers program. Currently, she is professor of early childhood education at Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana and also conducts CDA train the trainer workshops across the country. |
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