AC21 - B1 - Compassionate Response: A Public Health-First Responder Partnership to Promote Trauma-Informed Approaches and Young Children's Resilience

Abigail M. Jewkes Velikov, PhD, EdM, is the Senior Director of Child and Family Resilience & Innovative Partnerships at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, where she previously served as the inaugural senior director of the Early Childhood Health and Development Unit. For over 10 years, she was faculty in early childhood and child development, and her research has been published in numerous scholarly books and journals. As part of her post-doctoral training, she directed a longitudinal study of young children's development and learning from preschool through the early elementary grades funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development. She is an author of The Ounce Scale, a former journal editor and has served on the executive boards of national professional organizations. Throughout her career she has been focused on ensuring all children thrive through a holistic set of supports beginning at birth. Dr. Velikov earned her PhD from the University of Michigan, her master's degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and her Bachelor of Science degree from Boston University's Sargent College of Allied Health Professions.

As Senior Director at ZERO TO THREE, Rebecca Parlakian leads a project portfolio on child development, parenting, and high quality teaching. She has co-authored five curricula, including the Early Connections parent cafe© curriculum and Problem Solvers, an early math curriculum. Rebecca holds a Master's degree in infant/toddler special education from the George Washington University.