Small Talks Recap:

Tracy is the Founder and Principal at Verve, a placemaking consultancy. She considers herself a placemaker, pedestrian, community member, cyclist, researcher, writer, strategist, and change agent. She came to placemaking from design and from commitment to public spaces and the people who use them. For 25 years, she created and maintained lush, texturally engaging and ecologically sound gardens for residential and corporate clients.

Additionally, for 4 years, she served as an elected Commissioner on the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and has volunteered with several community non-profits, including currently as a board member at Think Small. Tracy holds a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, with a focus on leadership, policy, and advancing the common good.

Daniel Gumnit is focused on developing systemic solutions to childhood and family homelessness and is a passionate advocate for improving access to early childhood development programs for children living in poverty. He is actively involved with community and policy organizations and serves on the State’s Early Childhood Systems Reform Steering Committee, the Executive Committee of MinneMinds, Minnesota Department of Education’s Education Access for Homeless Children Ages 0-4 Working Group, and the Board of Directors of the East Town Business Partnership.

Mr. Gumnit’s experience includes broad executive leadership spanning publicly traded, privately held and nonprofit organizations. Previously, he served as Twin Cities PBS’s Director of National Program Development. Prior to entering the not-for-profit field, Mr. Gumnit worked in television and interactive media for 13 years with the Interpublic Group. He has a BA from the University of Minnesota, an MBA from the University of St. Thomas, and was a 2016-2017 Policy Fellow at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Mr. Gumnit has led People Serving People since August 2011.

Jamie Bonczyk is the Executive Director of Hopkins Early Learning Center. She started her journey as a Pre-k teacher in both Minneapolis and Chicago, where she discovered the wonders that intentional anti-bias experiences can bring to children. After receiving a Masters in Early Childhood Leadership from Roosevelt University, Ms. Bonczyk spent 10 years in program administration for Head Start grantees on the south and west sides of Chicago and for Parents In Community Action, Inc. in Hennepin County. During this time Jamie completed a Head Start management Fellowship at UCLA. Ms. Bonczyk is a Master trainer in the MN Early Childhood Professional Development system and has presented on wellness in the workplace including how staff beliefs and values impact the culture of Early Childhood Learning Centers at both local and national conferences including: MNAEYC, ILAEYC, NAEYC, NHSA and McCormick Early Childhood Leadership.

In 2015, she joined the Exchange Leadership Initiative created by Exchange Magazine. This has given her a national platform to share her voice about topics she is passionate about. In September 2019, Exchange published the article, The Impact of Race and White Fragility on Our Lives As Educators. A piece Ms. Bonczyk co-authored with Hannah Riddle de Rojas of Semillitas Training. Personally, Jamie is the mother of a 1st grader and has current lived experience trying to navigate Early Childhood Education and Care programs and the messages that they send home about who matters in the eyes of her daughter.

Betty Emarita advances early care and education policy, working on state and national levels in the US with foundations, state agencies, and nonprofit organizations and institutions, with a particular emphasis on family engagement. Betty is co-leading the Family and Community Knowledge Systems Data Project, which she initiated in partnership with the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation. With support from the W.K.Kellogg Foundation, BUILD, the Blandin Foundation, the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation, the Minneapolis Foundation, and the Knowledge Fund, the project developed FaCET, two survey tools that measure and promote family and community engagement.

Betty has consulted with a variety of state, national, and municipal agencies and organizations, including the National League of Cities, Minnesota Department of Education, the city of Minneapolis, the city of St Paul, Washington State Department of Early Learning, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Thrive by Five on the Washington State Early Learning Plan.

Her report, Family, Friend, and Neighbor Care Best Practices in Five Cultural Communities has influenced state and national policy discussions. She developed a Home Visitation Guide to Family, Friend, and Neighbor Caregivers for Think Small, a statewide advocacy and service organization and the former the former Minnesota Early Childhood Resource and Training Center. She was a consultant to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. She is a member of the Minnesota Start Early Funders Coalition.