Out In The Hall

This week Keri and Tim meet with Neal and Shai with the Center of Excellence for Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation. They are doing some fantastic work on expanding access to mental health consultants by, get this idea, making more of them. Anyone who works in ECE sees this incredible need. Join us for this great episode with actual solutions to a complex problem.

This week, Keri and Tim reconnect with our old friend Dr. El Brown, whom we first met last year at the NHSA Parent and Families Conference. After catching up, Dr. Brown jumps right into the deep organizational thinking that makes Head Start one of a kind — and what matters most to you as practitioners and leaders. BOOM!

This week, Keri and Tim sit down with Andrea Tauteoli to talk family services. Most everyone agrees that strong parents build great kids and Andrea believes this wholeheartedly, sharing her expertise and wisdom with programs like Keri's. This is great stuff.

This week, Keri and Tim sit down with NHSA's own Bob Bissen, Senior Director of Government Affairs, who leads much of our legislative outreach. With so much happening on the administrative front right now, this conversation couldn't be timelier as we dig into why Congress remains such a vital ally for Head Start. And as a bonus, Bob is just a blast to talk to.

This week, Keri and Tim sit down with Jonas Royster, who's turned hard-won life experience into a mission: leadership for the people who need it most. Jonas works hand-in-hand with programs serving communities much like Head Start's, and he brings real perspective on what it takes to show up for people.

This week, Keri and Tim sit down with the most timely guest yet, Monica Rollins. Monica is an experienced ECE teacher who has found her calling in yoga and self-help helping both staff and students center themselves. With the program year starting for most, now is the time to start practicing what we preach. Monica is offering some great resources for free, here. Namaste!

Keri and Tim dive deep into the human psyche with leadership and HR expert Craig Lloyd. Craig walks us through why he finds the Predictive Index invaluable for building strong Head Start teams, and how to use it to create a safe and productive workspace.

This week, Keri and Tim sit down with longtime fatherhood expert Mike Hall to talk about what it really takes to run an impactful fatherhood program — and why strong dads matter more than ever. Plus, a few dad jokes make their way into the conversation (you've been warned).

Keri and Tim sit down with Trauma Informed Care expert Keri Jones-Fonnesbeck to unpack why the Head Start workforce carries such relatable lived experience — and how trauma-informed practice shows up at work and at home. Bonus: the two Keris had never met before this recording, and they hit it off instantly.

This week Keri and Tim return and sit down with Genein Letford, M.Ed. of Lyrics 'N Leadership Institute to explore how young brains develop and why hands-on, sensory experience still matters in an AI-saturated world. Genein unpacks concepts like the brain as an "analog organ," vocabulary-building through word substitution, emotional granularity, and how music and the arts build lifelong "cognitive reserve", framing early arts exposure as both a school-readiness tool and a safeguard against future cognitive decline.