CL22 - II-A6, Introductory-Level: Healthy Gender Identity Development In Young Children: What Does It Mean To Be Transgender And How Can You Support Kids Who Might Be?

Brenda Blasingame joined the J.B. and M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation in 2020 as a Program Officer on the Pritzker Children’s Initiative team, focusing on strategy development in child well-being; work with and in the Latino/x and Native American communities; lived experience and parent/community leadership; and justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts. Prior to joining the Pritzker Family Foundation, Ms. Blasingame served as the Executive Director for HealthConnect One where she was responsible for leading their work on peer-to-peer support during the first 1000 days. Over the past 20 years, she worked on early childhood development in California as the founding Executive Director First Five Contra Costa; in Washington as a founding staff member of Thrive Washington; and nationally as the Senior Director of Programs and Partnerships with Save the Children in its United States division. She has a bachelor’s degree in developmental psychology from Rollins College and a master’s degree in organizational psychology from John F. Kennedy University.

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.