Diane Whitehead, President and CEO of Childhood International, has dedicated her career to issues that affect the lives of children and families. She specializes in global education, children’s education and learning, the human right to education, nonprofit leadership, management, strategic direction-setting, and program development.

Through her strategic guidance and management of this 130+year-old organization, Diane has expanded its global reach, built partnerships with education-focused organizations around the world, designed impactful programs, and participated in key international education forums and United Nations’ initiatives, a recognition of her commitment to transforming education. As Chief Executive Officer, she is dedicated to building CE International’s relevancy, reach, and impact.

Diane is the creator of Education Diplomacy and co-author of the Education Diplomacy Professional Standards. She also co-authored the International Principles of Practice for Educators to guide and inspire practitioners and to elevate the education profession by highlighting the incredible service that educators provide to both international and human development. Both Education Diplomacy and the International Principles of Practice are forging new pathways for the professional development of educators.

Diane is committed to the nonprofit sector and believes that civil society organizations are critical to delivering programming that supports access and quality in education and increases the resources dedicated to the education and care of children, particularly children facing extreme challenges such as war, conflict, migration, food and water insecurity, life threatening pollution, and climate change.

Diane has spent much of her career advocating for improved economic outcomes and social change that promotes equity and social justice, as she believes these are essential to creating change for children and a better world for all. Diane has said, “No one has the power keep people apart based on race, ethnicity, country of origin, religious beliefs, or gender. We must find a way to live together and help our world to seek peace and harmony.” She firmly believes that education is essential to providing individuals with more opportunities in life and creating a more stable and secure world.

Elizabeth Lule is the Executive Director of the  Early Childhood Development Action Network (ECDAN), where she coordinates with the Executive Leadership Council to set the network’s strategy, manages the Secretariat, and leads partner engagement and fundraising. Elizabeth is a widely recognized expert on international development and global health issues, having devoted her career to strengthening global commitments and programs addressing the needs of women, adolescents, children, and infants.

Before ECDAN, Elizabeth served in senior leadership, management, and technical positions at the World Bank for 17 years. Lule has also worked at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as Director, at Pathfinder International as their Africa Regional Vice President, and as Technical Advisor with USAID in Nigeria. She received a joint advanced degree in Medical Demography from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Justin van Fleet is President of the global children’s charity Theirworld and CEO of the Global Business Coalition for Education. He previously served as Director of the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity and Chief of Staff to the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown where the landmark “Learning Generation” report put forward a pathway to finance and deliver the ambitions of Sustainable Development Goal 4 – inclusive and equitable quality education for all. He has been a passionate advocate for financing education, playing an instrumental role in the establishment of the Education Cannot Wait Fund for education in emergencies and the new International Finance Facility for Education.

Justin was a fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Center for Universal Education in Washington, D.C. where his research focused on corporate social investments and philanthropy for global education. He has previously held various non-profit and academic posts, including as Deputy Chair for Education at the Clinton Global Initiative, an Instructor at the University of Maryland and Associate Director of the Council on Foreign Relations Center for Universal Education. He has consulted for various international and national organizations and foundations. He served on the Board of Trustees of Creative Minds International Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. from 2011-2015. Justin graduated with a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in international education policy and holds a Master degree from Harvard University in the same field. A native of Western Maryland in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains, he completed his Bachelor of Arts at Frostburg State University in international politics and Spanish. He has lived in Bolivia and Argentina.

Carlos González-Sancho works as a Policy Analyst at the OECD Directorate for Education in Skills. Since 2020, Carlos has been a member of the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) team, where he co-led the development of the Starting Strong VII and Starting Strong VIII policy reviews and analysis of the TALIS Starting Strong 2018 international survey. Previously, he contributed to other OECD education projects on data and innovation, equity, and creativity and critical thinking skills. Carlos holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Oxford.

Divya Lata leads the global Early Childhood Education program at UNICEF. Prior to this, working in senior technical and strategic advisory roles in leading international organizations, Divya has advanced child-focused policies and programs in diverse contexts in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern and Southern Europe.

Deeply committed to disability rights, Divya has a strong interest in advancing Early Childhood Intervention systems for supporting children at risk of disabling conditions. Divya has also served on the Boards of several organizations and networks focusing on Early Childhood, including as Chair of the Regional Funding Committee of the Civil Society Education Fund for Asia; the Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC), Singapore; and the Child to Child Trust, London. She has a master’s degree in child development from University of Delhi, India, and a master’s degree in Inclusive Education from University of Roehampton in the UK.

Emily Friedman is the Head of Business Impact at the Global Business Coalition for Education. Previously, she was the Director of Strategy and Impact at WeWork, focused on the future of work, investing in social entrepreneurs, and designing company-wide impact policies. Before that, Emily served as the Deputy Director of the Clinton Global Initiative at the Clinton Foundation, working to elevate and support young social entrepreneurs from around the globe.

Emily has also led social impact campaigns for GOOD and Participant Media in Los Angeles in partnership with the Gates Foundation. She is the founder of an English language program in Costa Rica and developed and led a tourism-centered economic development initiative in Colombia. She holds a master’s degree in International Educational Development from Columbia University and received her B.A. in Political Science from Skidmore College.

Nancy Fishman serves as the National Director of ReadyNation, a business leader network of more than 2,000 cross-sector executives that promotes public policies and programs that build a stronger workforce and economy through smart investments in infants, toddlers, older children, and their families. Prior to joining ReadyNation, she was the State Director of the Pennsylvania Governor’s Early Learning Investment Commission. The Commission, composed of 75 senior-level business executives across the commonwealth, supports public investment in high-quality early care and education as a workforce and economic development strategy. 

Nancy is an accomplished nonprofit leader with nationally recognized expertise in mobilizing business leaders to support education and in establishing partnerships to create positive change at many levels. Recently she appeared on CNBC news to talk about the impact of the childcare crisis.

Sarah Hesz is an Associate Director at the Royal Foundation. She is responsible for stewarding the Royal Foundation Business Taskforce, a group of eight businesses convened by the Princess of Wales. Last year the Business Taskforce authored a report which laid out the business case for prioritizing early childhood. Before joining The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, Sarah ran start-ups which focused on providing better support for parents.  

Malin Liljert has 20+ years of international work experience in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the U.S., and Oceania. Before joining The Centre for Child Rights and Business in 2012, she worked on international development cooperation in four countries for over a decade. Malin has been part of the growth and expansion of The Centre for more than 10 years, where six years were spent at The Centre’s office in Beijing. 

As Director of Child Rights in Business Consultancy services, Malin is leading and growing the work on The Centre’s consultancy services to business clients, public sector partners, and other stakeholders. Malin also leads The Centre’s work in the US, which strongly focuses on child labor risk assessments in US supply chains. Furthermore, Malin is also responsible for The Centre’s engagement in Mexico, including on-site worker needs assessments in Mexican supply chains.

Dr. Sara Watson is Director of CE International’s Center for Business Champions. Sara founded and was the National and then Global Director of ReadyNation/ReadyNation International, designing, fundraising for, and leading the joint organization for 14 years. Her hands-on work included personally persuading more than a thousand executives to join campaigns for early childhood investments, and supporting them to take action. She worked with local partners in Brazil, Australia, Romania and Uganda to create their own networks of business champions for early childhood.

Sara has spoken at more than 15 international meetings of child development and business leaders on how to build partnerships between the sectors.  She led the organization of more than a dozen national (U.S.) and two Global Business Summits on Early Childhood and the first European Business Forum on Early Childhood for audiences of business executives. Sara also co-chaired ECDAN’s Advocacy Task Force in 2016-2018.  Before creating ReadyNation, she led The Pew Charitable Trusts’ national advocacy campaign for pre-K.  Dr. Watson is now an independent consultant and the founder and principal of Watson Strategies, LLC. She serves in a consulting capacity with CE International. Sara holds Master of Public Policy and Ph.D. degrees from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Michael Carren is a highly experienced Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), ESG, and Nonprofit executive consultant with expertise in social responsibility strategy, strategic philanthropy, corporate environmental sustainability, and corporate governance program development, implementation, and evaluation. He currently serves as Co-Founder and Principal for Camber ESG Consulting and has served as Vice President and Head of Strategic Philanthropy for The Guardian Life Insurance Company, Chief Strategy and Operating Officer for The United Way of New York City, Global Director of Employee Engagement, Financial Education, Disaster Response and Military and Veterans Affairs Giving for JPMorgan Chase,  Manager of Community Relations for Chrysler Financial, and Senior Philanthropy Manager for Capital One.

Nina Vollmer (she/her) is the Director of Children’s Rights and Sustainability at Global Child Forum, where she focuses on promoting the rights of children in relation to the private sector.

With more than a decade of experience in human rights advocacy and sustainable development, Nina has been instrumental in developing Global Child Forum’s strategies connecting corporate responsibility and child rights, including its benchmark “The State of Children’s Rights and Business” that assesses over 1800 global companies’ reporting on impact on children across the value chain. She collaborates with stakeholders across sectors to drive innovative solutions to support businesses in enhancing children’s well-being and protecting their rights. A frequent speaker on these topics, Nina brings insights on the intersection of business and children’s lives, inspiring industry leaders to prioritize sustainable practices that benefit future generations.

Rashanda Perryman is a Senior Manager at Vanguard and leads the company’s corporate philanthropic initiatives. She manages a dynamic team responsible for proposing and funding impactful initiatives, projects, and organizations. The team has a dedicated focus on enabling communities to flourish by supporting organizations that promote financial well-being and enhance the futures of young children.  Her team also works to ensure that Vanguard is responsive to the communities in which its employees live and work. Rashanda currently serves as the Board Chair of the Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia – a coalition of over 100 philanthropic member organizations serving the Philadelphia region. She is also the past Chair of the national Early Childhood Funders Collaborative, a philanthropy serving organization made up of 75 funders dedicated to supporting early development and learning across the nation.

Prior to joining Vanguard, Rashanda served as a program officer at the William Penn Foundation in Philadelphia, a public policy analyst at the Children’s Defense Fund in Washington, D.C., and policy specialist at Start Early (FKA the Ounce of Prevention Fund) in Chicago. She began her career as a pre-k teacher and a case worker in child care subsidy programs. She has had a myriad of volunteer roles including co-chairing the former mayor of Philadelphia’s A Running Start early learning committee, was a founding committee member of the Philadelphia Black Giving Circle, and a fellow with the Association of Black Foundation Executives. Rashanda has a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from Clark Atlanta University and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Texas at Arlington.  She and her husband live right outside of Philadelphia with their two daughters.

Ana Maria Flores is Coordinator of the Business Coordinating Council Network (CCCE) for Early Childhood.

Fuen Garcia is Coordinator of Projects and Alliances in Early Childhood at the FEMSA Foundation. Throughout her career, Fuen has focused on corporate sustainability. She is convinced that every person or company with a voice has the power to change the world; all that’s missing is the knowledge to do it.

Gloria Njambi Ndekei is the Executive Director of Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) Foundation, the social arm of KEPSA that aims to strengthen the socio-economic transformation agenda for KEPSA’s global competitiveness. She has more than 28 years cumulatively of valuable work experience in the government, private sector, and development world, having worked in the United Nations for 12 years. She has demonstrated provision of transformational leadership in public and government to achieve a global and national development agenda. Gloria has promoted Small and Micro Enterprises (SMES), and empowered women and women groups to access finance, access markets and acquire business development skills. 

Gloria was instrumental in initiating the private sector gender sector board, and has developed the capacity of a number of women in business associations. She was awarded a Presidential Order of the Grand Warrior in the year 2012 for her role in women empowerment in Kenya. Gloria was engaged as a director in charge of programmes by Jubilee Party in 2017, where in collaboration with organizations that support political parties, she built the capacity of vulnerable and special interest groups to participate in party programmes. These were women, persons living with disabilities, youth and members of marginalized communities. She built the capacity of women candidates towards party nominations for 2017 elective posts. She reached over 19,500 women leaders directly and 1.5 million women indirectly through media, women groups and door to door campaigns to bridge the gap between women voters, women opinion shapers and women candidates. Gloria is trained in Gender Employment and Poverty, Gender Audit facilitation from Turin Campus in Italy, and is certified in a number of ILO accredited entrepreneurship development tools. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work (Second Class Honors, Upper Division), and a Master of Arts degree in Armed Conflict and Peace Studies.

Sarah Hesz is an Associate Director at the Royal Foundation. She is responsible for stewarding the Royal Foundation Business Taskforce, a group of eight businesses convened by the Princess of Wales. Last year the Business Taskforce authored a report which laid out the business case for prioritizing early childhood. Before joining The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, Sarah ran start-ups which focused on providing better support for parents.  

Dr. Sara Watson is Director of CE International’s Center for Business Champions. Sara founded and was the National and then Global Director of ReadyNation/ReadyNation International, designing, fundraising for, and leading the joint organization for 14 years. Her hands-on work included personally persuading more than a thousand executives to join campaigns for early childhood investments, and supporting them to take action. She worked with local partners in Brazil, Australia, Romania and Uganda to create their own networks of business champions for early childhood.

Sara has spoken at more than 15 international meetings of child development and business leaders on how to build partnerships between the sectors.  She led the organization of more than a dozen national (U.S.) and two Global Business Summits on Early Childhood and the first European Business Forum on Early Childhood for audiences of business executives. Sara also co-chaired ECDAN’s Advocacy Task Force in 2016-2018.  Before creating ReadyNation, she led The Pew Charitable Trusts’ national advocacy campaign for pre-K.  Dr. Watson is now an independent consultant and the founder and principal of Watson Strategies, LLC. She serves in a consulting capacity with CE International. Sara holds Master of Public Policy and Ph.D. degrees from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Victor Graça is Superintendent of Fundação Abrinq pelos Direitos da Criança (FADC), a leading nonprofit organization that
mission is to defend the rights and exercise of citizenship of children in Brazil. In this role, he oversees the strategic planning, fundraising, partnership development, and program implementation of FADC, working with a diverse and dedicated team of professionals and volunteers.

Victor has more than 25 years of experience in the social sector and is passionate about creating positive social impact and empowering the next generation of leaders and citizens. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication/Advertising and specialty in Administration for Third Sector Organizations from Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV), and in Fundraising from Indiana University – Center on Philanthropy. He is also certified in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) from Exame Academy, with expertise in social responsibility and broader social impact initiatives.

Elizabeth Lule is the Executive Director of the  Early Childhood Development Action Network (ECDAN), where she coordinates with the Executive Leadership Council to set the network’s strategy, manages the Secretariat, and leads partner engagement and fundraising. Elizabeth is a widely recognized expert on international development and global health issues, having devoted her career to strengthening global commitments and programs addressing the needs of women, adolescents, children, and infants.

Before ECDAN, Elizabeth served in senior leadership, management, and technical positions at the World Bank for 17 years. Lule has also worked at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as Director, at Pathfinder International as their Africa Regional Vice President, and as Technical Advisor with USAID in Nigeria. She received a joint advanced degree in Medical Demography from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Emily Gustafsson-Wright is a senior fellow at the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution. She specializes in applied microeconomic and policy research within the fields of education, health, and early childhood development (ECD) in low- and middle-income country contexts. She is widely recognized as a global expert on innovative financing mechanisms including public-private partnerships, payment by results, and social and development impact bonds. She has also led the Childhood Cost Data initiative at Brookings since 2014 with the goal of increasing the volume, quality, and use of data on the costs of education and ECD, including developing the Standardized ECD Costing Tool (SECT) and its successor, the Childhood Cost Calculator (C3).

With 25 years of experience in development, her previous professional experience includes working at the World Bank, the UNICEF Innocenti Research Center, and the Amsterdam Institute for International Development. She holds a doctoral degree in economics from the Tinbergen Institute at the University of Amsterdam, as well as a Master of Science in applied economics and finance and a Bachelor of Arts in global economics from the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Louise Albertyn has more than 15 years of experience in education, spanning early childhood development through adult learning, with both South African and global exposure. At the Education Outcomes Fund, as a Senior Associate in the Learning and Engagement team, she focuses on community building and capacity strengthening at the intersection of Outcomes-Based Financing (OBF) and Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE).

Louise’s leadership experience includes the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation, located at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business, focusing on innovative education models and pathways to employment. She has also supported projects in diagnosing learning deficits. Louise holds qualifications from the University of Cape Town, including a Postgraduate Certificate in Education and a Bachelor of Arts. She is dedicated to fostering partnerships and evidence-based strategies for sustainable educational change.

Warren Farrer is the Chief Executive Officer of the DO MORE FOUNDATION, an organisation he was instrumental in establishing during his tenure as RCL FOODS’ Corporate Social Investment Executive. With over 19 years at RCL FOODS, Warren transitioned from marketing roles at prominent South African companies—including Dunlop Tyres, BMW South Africa, Lion Match, and Adcock Ingram—to focus on corporate social investment. He holds a B.Comm (Honours), a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management, and an MBA, and is currently pursuing doctoral studies. Warren leads a dynamic team dedicated to enhancing early childhood development (ECD) services, reflecting his deep commitment to improving the lives of young children in vulnerable communities. His strategic leadership and collaborative approach have significantly advanced the foundation’s mission to create lasting positive change in society.