Speakers: Breakout Sessions #3

Facilitator: Lizzy Ghedi-Ehrlich

Scholars Strategy Network

Ghedi-Ehrlich is Managing Director at the Scholar Strategy Network. Since beginning her career at SSN in 2011, she has witnessed and contributed to the development of many elements of the organization.

Facilitator: Shannon Kelly

Scholars Strategy Network

Kelly is Director of Trainings at the Scholar Strategy Network, where she leads the development and delivery of public engagement training programs for academics. Her focus is on enhancing curricula, cultivating external partnerships, and evaluating the efficacy of SSN’s training programs

Facilitator: Becca Murdoch

Society for Research in Child Development

Murdoch is the Policy Manager at the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD). In this role, she supports SRCD and its partners in advancing evidence-based child and family policymaking. Before joining SRCD, Becca completed her master's in education policy at Vanderbilt University.

Priya Amilineni

Office of Representative Mark Takano (CA-39)

Amilineni is a Legislative Assistant in the office of Representative Mark Takano, where she covers a variety of domestic policy issues, including health and social welfare. Previously, she worked in state government and as an appointee at the Biden-Harris administration.

Adriane Casalotti

National Association of County and City Health Officials

Casalotti is the Chief of Government and Public Affairs for the National Association of County and City Health Officials, whose mission is to improve the health of communities by strengthening and advocating for local health departments. She leads the Association's efforts on policy development, communications, and federal advocacy.

Caleigh Lynch

Office of VA State Delegate Rodney Willett

Caleigh is the Chief of Staff in the office of State Delegate Willett, where she researches legislative policies to support his work as the Chair of the House Health and Human Services Committee, interacts with advocacy groups and lobbyists, and ensures the smooth daily operations of the office and staff.

Facilitator: Paola Maynard-Moll

Scholars Strategy Network

Maynard-Moll is Executive Director of the Scholars Strategy Network, where she leads work to connect researchers with policymakers, civic organizations, and journalists. Since joining SSN in 2014, she has helped grow the network’s membership, chapters, and national infrastructure for public scholarship.

Mike Gavin

Alliance for Higher Education

Gavin is President and CEO of the Alliance for Higher Education. He previously served as President of Delta College and founded Education for All, a movement supporting academic freedom, civil rights, and institutional autonomy. He is the author of The New White Nationalism in Politics and Higher Education.

Rachel Homer

Democracy Forward

Homer is Director of Democracy 2025 and Senior Attorney at Democracy Forward. She previously served as Chief of Staff in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of the General Counsel, Counsel at Protect Democracy, and a litigator at the U.S. Department of Justice, with work spanning voting rights, civil rights, and democracy issues.

Bethany Letiecq

George Mason University

Letiecq is Professor in George Mason University’s College of Education and Human Development. Her research uses family-centered, community-based participatory methods to study inequities affecting marginalized families. She also serves as President of GMU’s AAUP chapter and Vice President of United Academics Local 6741.

Katharine Zeiders

University of Arizona

Zeiders is Professor of Human Development and Family Science at the University of Arizona. Her research draws on stress process and risk and resilience models to examine youth and family well-being, including the biological, individual, and family factors that shape stress processes over daily and longer-term developmental contexts.