ISSA Conference, 2024
After a long-awaited return, the ISSA Conference is back in person in 2024! This year, we are thrilled to reconvene our community of Members, partners and like-minded peers, early childhood enthusiasts, experts, and advocates.
Why should you attend?
Dr. Natnael Asres Yamnew is the Director of Programmes and Strategic Partnerships at the African Centre for Early Childhood Development (AfC-ECD) in Addis Ababa, where he leads multi-sectoral programme design, regional scale-up initiatives, and evidence-driven policy collaboration across government, academic, and community systems.
Tatiana Drauschke-Muradyan is Global Advocacy Officer at Dubai Cares, where she leads the organization’s work on Early Childhood Development and oversees its Digital Transformation and Connectivity portfolio. With a background in Economics and Multilateral Governance, she brings a systems-thinking approach to philanthropy, policy, and program design.
Nafisa Shekhova is the Global Lead, Education & Early Childhood Development at the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF). She provides strategic direction and technical guidance to country teams to ensure programme quality and alignment with the AKF’s global strategic framework.
Nirmala Rao, Ph D is Serena H C Yang Professor in Early Childhood Development and Education, Chair Professor of Child Development and Education, and Director of the Consortium for Research on Early Childhood Development and Education (CORE), Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong.
Professor Michel Vandenbroeck, PhD is Professor Emeritus at Ghent University in Belgium. He has been working in the field of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) since 1986. During the first 20 odd years he was involved in continuous professional development of ECEC professionals and pedagogical innovation projects. During the next 20 odd years, he worked as professor in family pedagogy at Ghent University.
Professor Mathias Urban, PhD is Desmond Chair of Early Childhood Education, and Director of the Early Childhood Research Centre (ECRC) at Dublin City University, Ireland (DCU). He works on integrated early childhood systems, governance, professionalism, diversity and equality and social justice in working with young children, families and communities in diverse socio-cultural contexts.
Larry Cooley is President Emeritus of Management Systems International (MSI) and a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. A specialist in the fields of organizational development and large-system change, he has served as advisor to cabinet and sub-cabinet officials in 7 US Federal Agencies and more than a dozen foreign countries.
Joan Lombardi, Ph.D. is an Adjunct Professor and Principal Advisor, Stanford Center on Early Childhood, Stanford University. She is also a Senior Advisor and cofounder of Georgetown Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues, Georgetown University.