23rd Annual Early Years Conference

Schedule

Our sessions have been tailored for early education providers and will address topics from administration to best practices. Highlights include the following:

Friday

• Licensing: Essential updates and best practices to support compliance with confidence
• EveryChild California: Practical strategies to support administrators and successfully operate a California State Preschool Program contract
• Keynote Speaker Julie Kurtz: Will offer two sessions after an inspiring keynote
• Infant–Toddler Support Sessions: Focused learning to strengthen care for our youngest learners
• Child Care Alliance: Opportunities to be involved at the leadership level with Child Care Alliance and Implementing UTK
• State ASPIRE Representatives: Supporting the Classroom Assessment Scoring System as a leader

Saturday

• Licensing: Essential updates and best practices to support compliance with confidence
• State ASPIRE Representatives: Engaging sessions about powerful conversations with children
• Positive Behavior Management: Practical strategies responding to behavior with intentional actions

View the conference schedule

Keynote speakers

Friday - Julie Kurtz, M.S., LMFT

Being a Brain Architect: Helping Children Reduce Stress and Reach Their Optimal Zone of Resilience

Early childhood educators are true brain architects. From birth to age 6, children build more than one million new neural connections every second — more than at any other stage of life. Your daily interactions shape this architecture in powerful ways, supporting either healing and resilience or stress and dysregulation.  In this keynote, participants will explore what it means to be a brain architect and how reframing challenging behavior as communication opens new pathways for connection, compassion, and growth. Learn how to strengthen children’s resilience by understanding their stress responses and supporting their developing brains with intention and care. 

Julie Kurtz is an author and international speaker consulting and training on trauma and resilience. Julie is the Founder and CEO for the

Center for Optimal Brain Integration® where they aspire to give every child and adult a voice who has experienced toxic or traumatic stress.
 
She is a co-author of: 

• Trauma-Informed Practices for Early Childhood Educators: Relationship-Based Approaches that Support Healing and Build Resilience in Young Children
• Culturally Responsive Self-Care Practices for Early Childhood Educators
• Trauma Informed Practices for Early Childhood Leaders: Creating and Sustaining Healing and Engaged Organizations
• Trauma-Responsive Family Engagement in Early Childhood: Practices for Equity and Resilience
• Supporting Young Children to Cope, Build Resilience and Heal from Trauma through Play: A Practical Guide for Early Childhood Educators
• Reducing Stress in Schools: Restoring Connection and Community (Harvard Education Press)

 Author of the award winning children’s books:

• Understanding My Brain: Becoming Human(E)! (Ages 4-10)

 Her greatest joy is being a grandma to her beloved grandbaby Callen Wayne.

Saturday - Dr. Nermeen Dashoush

Behind the Behavior: Executive Functions for a Changing World

Educators today are supporting children in a world that is constantly evolving. In early learning spaces, everyday moments of distraction, frustration, and big emotions offer powerful insight into how children are developing the executive function skills they need to learn, connect, and adapt. 

This keynote celebrates the essential role educators play in shaping these foundational skills. Executive functions, including attention, self-regulation, working memory, and flexible thinking, are central to children’s academic success, emotional well-being, and sense of belonging. When behavior is understood through a developmental lens, daily classroom moments become meaningful opportunities to strengthen these skills. 

Grounded in developmentally appropriate and whole-child practice, this talk combines inspiration with action. Educators will walk away with clear, practical ways to nurture executive functions through everyday routines, interactions, and learning environments. Together, we will look ahead to the future children are growing into and the powerful role educators play in helping them thrive. 

Dr. Nermeen Dashoush is a clinical associate professor of early childhood education and the program director for learning design and technology at Boston University, where she teaches courses in teacher education, child development, STEM education, and family and community engagement. She began her career as a classroom teacher and has since dedicated her work to improving access to high-quality learning experiences for young children. 

As chief academic officer and a founding educator of MarcoPolo Learning, Dr. Dashoush has co-created innovative digital platforms that provide high-quality resources designed to support children and the educators and caregivers they interact with. She is also a lead advisor for PBS KIDS content and a two-time Emmy-nominated educator and content creator, recognized for her contributions to children’s educational media that promote curiosity and meaningful learning experiences. 

Dr. Dashoush has served as a reviewer for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), authored the National Science Teaching Association’s (NSTA) position statement on science learning for young children, and received multiple research grants, including from the NSF and the Caplan Foundation, to advance understanding of effective learning methods.