Katherine Kempe is Senior Director for Professional Recognition and Advancement with the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) where she leads Power to the Profession, a national collaboration to establish a unified framework for the early learning profession. Kat has extensive experience working in Minnesota’s early learning community focusing on community engagement and elevating the voices of parents and early learning professionals at the state Capitol, most recently as Senior Policy Advocate at Think Small. Kat is driven by a passion to create policies and systems that lead to the optimal environments to support the healthy development of children and the adults who care for them.

Scott Parker is a supervisor in the Child Development Services Unit at the Minnesota Department of Human Services. The unit provides state and federal resources to support initiatives that improve quality in child care settings. Scott has worked in the early childhood field for over 25 years. Prior to coming to DHS he worked in the Child Care Aware System in both Minnesota and Washington state. He has also held positions as a preschool and school age teacher and child care center director.

Debbie is an early childhood education supervisor at the Minnesota Department of Education. She is author of So This Is Normal Too? And co-author of Play: The Pathway from Theory to Practice. She has been an early childhood teacher, workshop leader, and member of the board of directors of the MnAEYC. She is passionate about increasing quality care and education by enhancing the skills of those who work with young children.

Dianne has over 25 years of experience in the non-profit sector. She has directed five early childhood programs serving inner-city, low-income, ethnically diverse populations. She has overseen many human services programs in the areas of behavioral health; in-home parenting; youth outreach and out-of-school-time services; shelter and services to homeless families and individuals; and many other family and community programs. Most recently, she served as Senior Policy Aide for Mayor Betsy Hodges working on issues of early childhood, education and youth. Part of her work includes spearheading the mayor’s Cradle to K Cabinet, focused on children prenatal to three years old to ensure they are ready for early childhood education opportunities. Haulcy previously was the Chief Operating Officer of The Family Partnership. Haulcy has a BA in Sociology from Spelman College and an MA in Public Affairs from the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota. Known for her leadership in the early childhood field, she currently serves on the Governor’s Early Learning Council, the Parent Aware Advisory Committee, and is the co-chair of the Northside Achievement Zone Early Childhood Action Team as well as Think Small’s Executive Leadership Team.

Mrs. Monson serves as the Executive Director of the Minnesota Children’s Cabinet, which is housed within the office of Governor Mark Dayton and Lt. Governor Tina Smith. Prior to her time at the Governor’s office she served as the Program Coordinator for Minnesota’s Help Me Grow system and as the Minnesota Department of Health’s Early Childhood Policy and Systems Coordinator. Kelly also has various experiences within local school districts, county government and non-profit entities. Kelly is a MN licensed birth-five educator and parent educator. Kelly holds a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Development and a Master’s of Public Affairs from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School. Despite the many years of formal education, Kelly says some of her greatest learning has come from her own two children Spencer (17) and Lily (13).