The 5th Annual Heart Centered Teaching Institute Speaker Biographies

Keynote Speaker

Kelly Ramsey

Kelly is a passionate educator that transcends traditional methods in instruction to build a workforce that is reflective, engaged, and innovative. She has spent the past 35 years in the field of early care and education as a classroom teacher, child care center director, training coordinator, education manager and college professor. Kelly is a member of the Brazelton Touchpoints Center National Facilitator Team and the owner of Developing People, Inc. Kelly is a published co-author of "Families and Educators Together: Building Great Relationships that Support Young Children". Her work re-centers the focus on families and creating a collaborative partnership between home and school to support children at all stages of development.

Featured Speaker

Nadia Jaboneta

Nadia Jaboneta lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her husband and 3 children. She is a program coordinator and classroom teacher at Pacific Primary preschool in San Francisco, California. She has 23 years experience in Early Childhood Education teaching young children, training teachers, consulting and facilitating workshops. She is passionate about social justice and is proud to have immigrant parents from Lima, Peru. Nadia attended San Francisco State University for both her Bachelor's and Master's degree. She has written numerous articles for the magazine Teaching Young Children, focused on the anti-bias education practices she uses in her classroom. She also is the author of two books, one entitled “You Can’t Celebrate That: Navigating the Deep Waters of Social Justice Teaching” and “Children’s Lively Minds: Schema Theory Made Visible.”

Featured Speaker

Brian Silveira

Brian Silveira, Lead Teacher/Program Coordinator has worked at Pacific Primary for 25 years and is still thriving and growing in his commitment to serving young children and their families. Brian worked in community-based and public preschools before landing in his dream job at Pacific Primary. His experiences in those diverse schools have informed his philosophy and life mission to make the world a safe and just place for all children. He is currently the co-chair of the LGBT Interest Forum for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC ), and has presented on the topics of equity, bias and allyship both locally and nationally. He has been published in Teaching Young Children magazine and has been recognized by several national interest forums for his work supporting men in ECE, peace educators and the LGBT community.

Featured Speaker

Rusty Keeler

Over the past 20 years, Rusty Keeler has worked with hundreds of community, school, parks, university, and child care leaders to dream, design, and construct beautiful outdoor environments for children in more than 30 states and throughout the world. Keeler is one of the pioneers in the movement to reconnect children to nature and his designs reflect his sincere desire to create a more beautiful world in which to grow and explore. Keeler is the author of the book, "Natural Playscapes: Creating Outdoor Play Environments for the Soul" (Exchange Press: 2008) and "Adventures in Risky Play" and is a frequent keynote speaker and presenter at conferences, communities, and colleges worldwide.