Since joining TECA in 2014, Mara has worked to expand the grassroots organization into a vibrant online resource and community for parents of twice exceptional (2e) children. As the mother of a 2e child, she experienced first-hand both the scarcity of resources and information available to help parents raise these uniquely challenging children and the sense of isolation that comes from having a differently wired child. Before joining TECA, Mara spent her most of professional life as a development consultant working for numerous local, national and international organizations addressing such issues as human rights, education, mental health, social justice, medical research, leadership development and the arts. Mara received her BA in philosophy from Bryn Mawr College. She lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and amazing teenaged daughter and son.

Dr. Jaime A. Castellano is an award-winning educator, an award-winning principal, and an award-winning author and scholar. He is one of our nation’s preeminent scholars and leading authorities on the education of Hispanic and Latino students, and in identifying and serving gifted, advanced, and high-ability Hispanic and Latino students, English language learners, Native Americans, students of poverty, and Hispanic preschoolers, aged 3-5. His next book titled Identifying and Serving Diverse Gifted Learners: Meeting the Needs of Special Populations In Gifted Education is in peer-review status. It is expected to be released in early 2022. Dr. Castellano currently is a professor at Florida Atlantic University in the Department of Exceptional Education and is a Case Manager for Multilingual Psychotherapy Centers in West Palm Beach, FL working with gifted students diagnosed with mental health challenges because of trauma, toxic stress, and adverse childhood experiences. He currently lives in Boynton Beach, FL in Palm Beach County, FL.

Amanda is a graduate of New York State Partners in Policymaking and a support parent for Parent to Parent of NYS. Prior to becoming a full-time mom and advocate, Amanda held various business intelligence and management positions. Amanda received her B.A. in Economics from Saint John Fisher College and earned a M.S. in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University.

After earning a Master of Arts and Master of Education in Counseling Psychology at Columbia University in New York City, Kathleen worked for 15 years as an inpatient Psychiatric Treatment Coordinator/Social Worker in a community hospital in Berkeley, CA. In 2009, Kathleen started a private practice to include cognitive-behavioral consulting and coaching for organizing issues and chronic disorganization with children and adults. She and her family have lived in Piedmont for 16 years.

Ken has served in administration capacities for Gifted Education for over 25 years. He currently serves as Specialist for students with gifts/talents and learning disabilities for Baltimore County Public Schools in Towson, Maryland. His interests include applications of research and practices concerning academic and cultural diversity relationships. A special interest focuses on educational equity and interventions that support students’ access, support, and opportunities for learning in exceptional educational learning environments. Ken serves as a member of the Council for Exceptional Children; the Board for The Association for Gifted of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and the Editorial Review Board for Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted. He is a past member of the NAGC Board of Directors and the Executive Board for the Division for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners of CEC. ​

After struggling with finding the right education for her children and the right career for herself, Wafaa finally realized that sometimes a good fit needs to be tailored. At that point, Wafaa had a medical degree, a degree in adolescent mental health, and Montessori training. She then decided to go back to school and sought a special education degree to gather the information she needed for individualizing education, specifically for twice exceptional students. Her previous medical and psychology degrees coupled with the special education and Montessori training armed her with knowledge of child development and best practices in education. Wafaa founded Sphinx Academy in 2013. She works closely with Sphinx Academy staff, families, and the surrounding community to fulfill the school’s mission for creating a transformative educational model for gifted and twice exceptional students.

Samantha Gabrielli brings over a decade of early childhood teaching experience to GiftedNYS. Her time in the classroom spans a variety of communities in the private, public, and charter school systems. She recently completed her specialization in gifted education at Rutgers University and published a piece on student voice and the gifted child in “Parenting for High Potential,” an NAGC publication. Samantha’s commitment to advancing gifted education in New York State comes from both personal and professional experience. As a former student in gifted programming and currently a teacher of gifted students, she’s witnessed firsthand the impact an environment driven by a belief in high potential has on the outcomes for all learners. She believes teacher training in gifted education is the key to unlocking change in equity and access to programming and in unleashing individual abilities despite systemic obstacles.

Barry B. Gelston is a licensed math educator who works with gifted homeschool learners and is the Principal of Mr. Gelston’s One Room Schoolhouse which provides individualized gifted education services for homeschool families. Barry is currently the President of the Gifted Homeschoolers Forum, which focuses on the needs of gifted learners and families by providing a supportive community, which includes resources, publications, and online education. Mr Gelston is also a member of the NAGC Social and Emotional Development committee and is a former director of Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG).

Sam is the founder of GridByte, a multi-practice engineering and technology consultancy. He is an intersectional S.T.E.M. servant leader skilled in developing and mentoring cross-disciplinary professional teams to create best-in-class products and services across a range of verticals including executive management consulting, renewable energy, artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms + software engineering, nano-scale semiconductor technology, telecoms, digital advertising, automotive, beauty, and so on. Increasingly, his work has expanded to vision and create innovative technology, systems, and policy advocacy solutions for twice-exceptional (2e), thrice-exceptional (3e), and gifted students in California. In this vein, Sam recently founded Zone2e, a non-profit open-source educational tech incubator dedicated to developing data-driven intersectional solutions to elevate the social, emotional, and academic learning (SEAL) of these students.

Dr. Joanna Haase is a psychotherapist in private practice, who works with gifted individuals and their families to help them understand, navigate and embrace the joys and challenges of giftedness. She has over 28 years experience in treating clients with eating disorders, anxiety and depression. Dr. Haase is the co-founder of both Gifted Research and Outreach, and California Gifted Network which partners with schools to create support and programing for gifted and talented students.

Cynthia Z Hansen, Ed.D., ET/P, delights in mentoring creative gifted students and adults, helping them to embrace their unique, asynchronous, learning profiles which may include executive function delays or dyslexia. Ms. Hansen is an AET Educational Therapist/Professional in private practice, a SENG Model Parent Group facilitator, and a consultant to public and private schools. As President of the Tri-County GATE Council, Cindy collaborates and supports the gifted communities in Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties in California. She is on the board of the Association of Educational Therapists and has been on the board of the California Association for the Gifted. Ms. Hansen received her Master of Education and Teaching Certificates from UCLA and earned her post-masters certificate in Gifted and Talented Education at UCSB. She recently completed her doctorate in Cognitive Diversity in Education at the Bridges Graduate School.

Carlota has worked with the Boulder Valley School District for over 30 years in a variety of positions. She was a K-12 native language tutor for eight years, district language assessor for two years and a licensed teacher since 2003. Most recently, she was a Talented & Gifted Specialist and Math Interventionist in grades K-5 at a bilingual school. For the 2020-21 school year, Carlota is teaching 5th grade at Boulder Universal which is the district's fully online school. Besides promoting bilingual education, she has over 10 years experience in coordinating STEM educational opportunities. Carlota has a Masters degree in Education with a specialization in Instruction, Curriculum, Content and Assessment from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She completed coursework for certifications in Linguistically & Culturally Diverse Education and Gifted & Talented Specialist. In 2019, she completed the Executive Leadership program at the University of Colorado in Denver and earned an EdD in Executive Leadership with a focus on Equity. The doctoral program also included an emphasis in Creating Opportunities in Latino Communities.

Femke Hovinga is a gifted expert and social entrepreneur from Zeist, The Netherlands. She is pursuing her PhD in Strategic HRM, with her research focused on giftedness at work. Besides this, Femke is the founder of several organizations with a focus on GT / 2E people. Talentissimo, a platform for 145+ IQ, SCALIQ, developer of psychometrical instruments such as IQ tests and InterIQ, recruitment for gifted/2E individuals.

Carolyn is founder and director of the non-profit Hoagies’ Gifted, Inc., which operates Hoagies’ Gifted Education Page. She is a software engineer by training and trade, with bachelors and masters degrees in software engineering. She has spoken at conferences and has written for gifted newsletters and journals around the world. Carolyn was honored at the Gifted Development Center’s 20th anniversary conference as the "Gifted Information Queen of the Internet". She was awarded the NAGC Annemarie Roeper Global Awareness Annual Award, the NAGC Community Service Award, the Pennsylvania Association for Gifted Education (PAGE) Neuber-Pregler Award for Outstanding Advocacy Efforts to Assure Quality Education for the Gifted, and the SENG Service Award for exceptional volunteer service.

Lin Lim, Ph.D., is the Dean of Students and Communications at Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity in Education. She holds a doctorate in psychology from Boston University, an Academic Graduate Certificate in Mind, Brain, and Education (Johns Hopkins University Graduate School of Education), and an Academic Graduate Certificate in Twice-exceptional Education (BGS). Her parenting journey with her two gifted outliers, one twice exceptional and the other radically accelerated, drives her to create better understanding and nurturance for complex outliers across the lifespan. She shares her work with national and international organizations including National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC), World Council for Gifted and Talented Children (WCGTC), Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), Texas Association for the Gifted & Talented (TAGT), Schools of the Future (SOTF), International Talent Education Institute, Victorian Association for Gifted and Talented Children (VAGTC), National Summit for Educational Equity, California Association for the Gifted (CAG), William & Mary University 2e Conference, Cal State LA University, Teaching and Education Summit, and Texas Education Agency and amongst others. With a diverse academic background and wide experience across fields, Dr. Lim’s current interests include interdisciplinary embodied complex dynamic systems thinking and practical applications around positive parenting, education, and human development. She founded Quark Collaboration Institute, a non-profit that focuses on human dignity and wellbeing across the lifespan for all. She is an international speaker, author, and active volunteer serving on the boards of several gifted-related non-profits - Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG), Gifted Homeschoolers Forum (GHF), Gifted Education Family Network, and PGRetreat.org. She currently serves as the President of SENG through the end of 2023. Areas of Expertise: Embodied Cognition, Complex Dynamic Systems Framework, Brain-targeted Teaching (BTT), Attitudes and Beliefs, Interdisciplinary Human Developmental Science, Translational Neuroscience, Parenting, Diversity, Asian Studies, Cross-cultural Studies, and Gifted Complex Outliers.

Rosa Medina is a bilingual educator with a B.A. in psychology and a Master’s in education from the University of Colorado at Boulder. For the last 10 years she has been involved in gifted education working to increase the identification of Latino students in gifted programs in the Boulder Valley School District and advocating for the inclusion of Latino families at gifted events in Colorado. Rosa is the past chair of the Special Populations Committee for the Colorado Association for Gifted and Talented (CAGT) and has been a general board member since 2015. She is also the mother of two profoundly gifted children.

Paula Prober is a psychotherapist, consultant, blogger, and author in private practice in Eugene, Oregon, USA. Over the 35+ years she has worked with the gifted, Paula has been a teacher and presenter at universities, webinars, podcasts, and conferences. She consults internationally with gifted adults and parents of gifted children. She has written articles for psychotherapy.net, Psychotherapy Networker, Advanced Development, Rebelle Society, Introvert Dear, Highly Sensitive Refuge, Thrive Global, and Eugene Register-Guard. Her first book, Your Rainforest Mind: A Guide to the Well-Being of Gifted Adults and Youth, is an in-depth look at giftedness including case studies, strategies for greater self-understanding and growth, and numerous resources. Her new book, Journey Into Your Rainforest Mind: A Guide For Gifted Adults And Teens, Book Lovers, Overthinkers, Geeks, Sensitives, Brainiacs, Intuitives, Procrastinators, and Perfectionists is a compilation of her most popular blog posts and includes specific strategies to guide readers back to authenticity, purpose, love, and to finally deciding what color to paint the living room. Visit her blog at rainforestmind.com

Julie Skolnick, M.A., J.D., Founder of With Understanding Comes Calm, LLC, passionately guides parents of gifted and distractible children, mentors 2e adults, and advises educators and professionals on bringing out the best and raising self-esteem in their students and clients. Julie is the author of Gifted and Distractible: Understanding, Supporting, and Advocating for Your Twice Exceptional Child. She serves as Secretary to the Maryland Superintendent’s Gifted and Talented Advisory Council, is the SENG Maryland liaison, a policy advisor to UPP, and an active member of NAGC. A frequent speaker and prolific writer, Julie is also the mother of three twice exceptional children who keep her on her toes and uproariously laughing.

Paulina van Eeden Hill, CAE is the Executive Director of the Texas Association for the Gifted & Talented. As Executive Director, Paulina provides strategic leadership to the association and the TAGT dedicated staff team. Paulina is an experienced association executive with more than 10 years' experience in leading Texas education associations. She previously served as the TAGT Deputy Executive Director, leading professional development activities, events, business development, and governance. Prior to TAGT, Paulina served the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) and Texas PTA in various roles. She brings a strong network within the Texas K-12 education community as well as creativity focused on increasing participation and elevating association member experience. Paulina is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor's of Science in Communication Studies.