Dr. Harvey Karp has been a pediatrician and child development specialist for over 30 years. He is on the faculty of USC School of Medicine and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The popularity of Dr. Karp’s ideas has made him America’s most read baby doctor and his work is translated into over 20 languages. Praising his innovative concepts, the New York Times proclaimed, “Roll over Dr. Spock!”

Dr. Karp’s book/DVD, The Happiest Baby on the Block teaches simple techniques to quickly reduce crying (even most cases of colic) and boost an infant’s sleep. His book/DVD The Happiest Toddler on the Block presents novel and rapidly effective ways to build cooperation and patience and stop many tantrums in seconds. Over a million parents, from working moms to superstars like Madonna, Michelle Pfeiffer and Pierce Brosnan, have used Dr. Karp’s techniques for making their children happy.

Thousands of specially trained Happiest Baby educators lead classes teaching pregnant couples his baby calming/sleep promoting ideas in hospitals, military bases, clinics and teen parenting programs throughout the US and many other countries to help parents feel more confident and to prevent the terrible consequences of persistent infant crying and parental exhaustion (e.g. postpartum depression, breastfeeding failure, marital stress, child abuse, SIDS, etc). 

Dr. Karp is an advisor to Parents, Ser Padres and American Baby magazines.  He’s part of Barnes and Nobles’ Expert Circle and he’s a parenting coach for AOL. He has appeared numerous times on Good Morning America, The View, Larry King Live, Dr. Phil, etc.  And his work has been featured by the Associated Press, The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, People Magazine, and more.

In addition to his passion for teaching about the normal needs of young families, Dr. Karp is an outspoken advocate in the fight to stop environmental threats to children. Over the past 20 years, he has been a spokesman on environmental issues for the NRDC, PSR, EWG, AAP and the State of California.  He helped launch two of the nation’s premiere watchdog organizations on children’s environmental health. He is also an advisor to National Geographic’s “Green Guide” and editor and contributor to the critically acclaimed green-living guide, Healthy Child/Healthy World (Plume, 2009). Last year Dr. Karp’s work inspired the passage of a new federal law banning a toxic plastic — phthlates — from the toys of young children.

Dr. Karp and his wife reside in Los Angeles and his daughter is a student in New York City.

Richard N. Brandon, Ph.D. is Senior Research Fellow at the Evans School of Public Affairs, and directs the University of Washington’s Human Services Policy Center (HSPC). Before joining the UW in 1989, Dr. Brandon served 15 years as professional staff member and staff director of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee. Prior to that he directed systems analysis and budgeting for the New York City Department of Mental Health. He also has been a consultant on a variety of human service and financing issues, to state and local governments, the American Association for Retired Persons and the Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology and Government.

Major HSPC projects under Dr. Brandon’s direction include: Financing Universal Access to Early Care and Education (ECE) for America’s Children, which developed a computerized policy simulation model, and has been helping leaders in several states explore different methods of providing financial access to high quality ECE for all families; the Education Finance Modeling Project, which is helping state educational leaders to explore the costs of alternative approaches to providing all children effective education from preschool through high school; Washington Kids Count, which works to improve policies for children and families by analyzing data on the well-being of children and stimulating communities to develop local action agendas.

Dr. Robin E. Cole has been practicing medicine at the Seattle Women’s Clinic since 1987. Robin received a masters degree in genetics before completing medical school and an OB/GYN residency at the University of Washington. She was named one of Seattle’s Best Doctors in 2000, and has a special interest in high-risk obstetrics, adolescent medicine and menopause.

Robin balances time between her private practice and teaching in the University of Washington’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She is a member and past president of the Seattle Gynecology Society, and frequently speaks to students and local media on women’s health issues. As a board member of the Kodiak Club and gynecology consultant with the Woodland Park Zoo, Robin’s professional experience also includes the delivery of a baby gorilla.

Jack Faris, Ph.D.  is a consultant to the Rural Development Institute, Swedish Hospital and other clients.

Dr. Faris earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He was an associate professor with tenure at Towson University in Maryland until returning to Seattle in 1985 to join the advertising agency Cole & Weber in 1985. He was team leader for the Boeing advertising account for 12 years and was executive vice president and general manager of the agency. In 1999 he became director of community strategies for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and participated in the launch of the foundation’s global health initiatives. In 2000 Dr. Faris was appointed vice president for University Relations at the University of Washington. He served as president of the Washington Biotechnologg and Biomedical Association from 2005 to 2008.

Dr. Faris also serves on the advisory board of the Seattle Children’s Research Institute and the steering committee of Foster Promise, a consotrium working to improve the quality of foster care across the state.

Dr. Faris has served on the Talaris advisory board since 2005. He counsels Talaris on issues related to marketing and advertising, literacy and creating a culture of learning.

Dr. Danette Swanson Glassy is a primary care pediatrician working and living on Mercer Island, Washington. Danette attended the University of Washington School of Medicine, and completed her residency at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle. She has been practicing medicine in the Seattle area for 14 years.

Danette is a dedicated advocate for children’s issues, locally and nationally. She is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care, and the chair of the AAP’s Special Interest Group in Child Care. She previously served as the president of the Washington Chapter of the AAP, and is currently the AAP’s key contact for early care and education.

Joyce Taylor, an Emmy-award winning anchor with an extensive career in television is among the most recognized news anchors in the Northwest. In May 2002, Joyce returned to the Home Team to co-anchor the station’s top-rated KING 5 Morning News and KING 5 News at Noon with Brad Goode and Rich Marriott. Joyce also co-anchors Seattle Live on KONG 6/16, the local morning news and entertainment show which launched in August 2004.

She began her career as a weathercaster at KING-TV’s sister station, KREM 2 News in Spokane, Wash., right after college. She then headed east to WFMY-TV in Greensboro, N.C., to work as a reporter and weathercaster and was later promoted to anchor the station’s No. 1 weekend newscast.

Joyce returned home to the Northwest and the KING-TV family in 1988 to anchor KING 5 Weekend News. She later would anchor KING 5 morning news and launch KING 5 News at Noon with anchor Dennis Bounds. In 1993, Joyce moved to Seattle’s KIRO-TV anchoring various newscasts including the 6:30 p.m. news, 7-LIVE with Joyce Taylor and then moved on to anchor KIRO’s weekday morning news and noon newscasts.

Throughout her career, Joyce has been recognized for her excellence in broadcasting. She received a regional Emmy in 1998 for Best News Anchor for her live reporting from London of Princess Diana’s tragic death.

Joyce has a twin sister who is an elementary school principal in California and is one of five children. She grew up in Tacoma where her parents still reside and is a graduate of Wilson High School and Western Washington University in Bellingham, which recently named her one of the college’s “100 Outstanding Alumni of the Century.”

Locally, she lends her talents to a number of causes. She is an active WWU alum and spent six years on the Alumni Association’s Board of Directors. She is also a long-time member of a fund-raising committee for Seattle Emergency Housing Service.

Joyce is an avid runner and recently completed her first triathlon and the Seattle Half-Marathon. She lives in Bellevue with her husband and two children.

Paula Smith has been head of school at the University Child Development School in Seattle for the past seven years. In her 15 years with the University Child Development School, Paula has taught at the elementary level, developed curriculum, and served as director of admissions and the assistant head of school.

Paula received her master’s degree in educational leadership and policy studies from the University of Washington. She currently sits on the board of the Washington Federation of Independent Schools, and serves on the public engagement task force sponsored by the Seattle Public Schools and the Alliance for Education.

Joan Lombardi is one of the leading experts on early childhood development and child and family policy. She is the director of The Children’s Project LLC. Through The Children’s Project, she serves as an advisor to a number of foundations and policy initiatives and helps create innovative projects with a wide variety of national and international organizations. Joan served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for External Affairs in the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the first Director of the Child Care Bureau. She is the author of Time to Care: Redesigning Child Care to Promote Education, Support Families and Build Communities (Temple University Press, 2003) and co-editor of A Beacon of Hope: The Promise of Early Head Start for America’s Youngest Children (Zero To Three Press, 2004).

In 2004, Joan launched the Global Leaders for Young Children program in partnership with The World Forum Foundation, which has provided leadership support to 19 early education leaders from 8 countries. In addition, in 2004 she served as a Senior Fellow with The Global Fund for Children in Washington D.C. Joan serves on the Education Leadership Council of Save the Children, and participates in the US Chapter of the Global Campaign for Education and Global Action for Children.

Dr. Michael H. Levine is executive director of the National Campaign for International Education in the Schools, the Asia Society’s initiative to ensure that children and youth learn about other world regions, cultures and languages. Michael is also a senior associate at the Yale University Bush Center in child development and public policy, where he focuses on early learning program and policy development.

Previously, Michael served as executive director of the I Am Your Child Foundation, working to expand public awareness and policy interest in young children’s healthy development and school readiness. He received his Ph.D. in social policy from Brandeis University’s Florence Heller School, and is a frequent adviser to the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. He also serves on the national advisory boards of Scholastic, Inc. and Child Magazine.