Meet the Summit Presenters

Leesa Aiken is the Director of the South Carolina State Library, where she has worked for fifteen years in various capacities before becoming the Agency Director in 2016. Ms. Aiken received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Child and Family Studies with an emphasis on Early Care and Education from Columbia College, a Master of Arts in Organizational Change and Leadership from Columbia College, and a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of South Carolina. She is a Certified Public Manager, a Master Project Manager, and holds a Senior Professional in Human Resources designation. She enjoys creating programs that provide equal access to information for all South Carolinians and believes that access to information creates opportunities for success.

Presenting: The Importance of Libraries: Books and Early Literacy Resources

11:10 - 12:10 a.m. | Breakout Session One

Aleigha Butler is parent educator and a lover of people. She has worked in the capacity of serving families for twelve years now. She started as a mentor many years prior with local nonprofits in Georgia. She moved into substitute teaching from Pre-K through twelfth grade when she was in 2010. Ms. Butler also served as a Reading & Math Specialist for two elementary schools in Rockdale County schools. In that capacity, she serviced children of all grades who were struggling or failing the testing for their grades. She has also served women of all age groups through empowerment with her online podcast called, On Fire To Inspire since December 14, 2014. She is also the author of a bilingual book entitled, A Learning Book Just For Me that teaches foundational English and Spanish.

Presenting: Building Connections One Conversation and One Story at a Time

11:10 - 12:10 a.m. | Breakout Session One

Dr. Crystal Campbell is a retired educator from the State of South Carolina School System. Through God’s grace, she was able to retire in 2011, from School District 5 of Lexington/Richland Counties where she was the EC Coordinator. She has held numerous teaching and supervisory positions all over the State, including a Teacher Specialist with the State Department of Education, Early Childhood Specialist in Dorchester District Two, Senior Instructor at the College of Charleston and an Adjunct Professor at Midlands and Trident Technical Colleges.  She received an Honorary Doctorate degree from Caanan Bible College in Charleston, SC. She is also “ABD” at the University of South Carolina, majoring in Early Childhood. She has her own consulting business (CYC Educational Consulting, LLC.) where she provides DSS training hours for child care providers, teachers, and presentations at conferences around the State. Currently, she serves as the Executive Director of Dorchester County First Steps.

Presenting: StoryWalks: Bringing Literacy Outdoors in SC

11:10 - 12:10 a.m. | Breakout Session One

Leigh Kale D’Amico is a research associate professor in the Research, Evaluation, and Measurement Center in the College of Education at the University of South Carolina. She conducts research and evaluations on projects related to early childhood education and PK-12 student success. She also serves as an instructor in the Curriculum Studies doctoral program at the University of South Carolina.

Facilitating: What Do Young Children and Their Parents Need and How Do We Meet Those Needs?

11:10 - 12:10 a.m. | Breakout Session One

1:40 - 2:40 p.m. | Breakout Session Two 

Sherrie Dueno is an early childhood consultant and expert in the field of early care and education with the Division of Early Care and Education’s ABC Quality rating and improvement system. As a South Carolina Certified Trainer and Technical Assistance Provider, she has conducted interactive and experimental presentations at local, state and national conferences. Her expertise areas are core components to implement quality learning environments, creative strategies that supports child inquiry, early childhood business management, and promoting cultural awareness in early childhood settings.

Ms. Dueno’ commitment to philanthropy has led her to a lifelong membership and activism in local, state, and national early childhood education associations including Charter Member of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. and the South Carolina’s International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina.

Facilitating: Storytelling Slam: The Power of Stories 
12:10 - 1:40 p.m. | Studio Sessions, Networking and Lunch

Sarah Eargle is the Executive Director of Newberry County First Steps, where she works to provide resources and programing for young children and their families.   Working with community partners, Newberry First Steps has established two StoryWalks® in Newberry County – one in downtown Newberry and the other in a city park.  Sarah has been in early childhood education for over 15 years, beginning as a preschool teacher, then a preschool director, and for the past 4 years as the Executive Director of Newberry First Steps.  Sarah lives with her husband in Little Mountain, SC and has two young adult daughters.

Presenting: StoryWalks: Bringing Literacy Outdoors in SC

11:10 - 12:10 a.m. | Breakout Session One

Xumei Fan is currently working at the Research, Evaluation, and Measurement Center at the University of South Carolina. Her research interests include classroom assessment, educator evaluation, campus climate for diversity, and mixed methods design.

Facilitating: What Do Young Children and Their Parents Need and How Do We Meet Those Needs?

11:10 - 12:10 a.m. | Breakout Session One

1:40 - 2:40 p.m. | Breakout Session Two 

Tricia Gordon is the Executive Director of Barnwell County First Steps. She has been in that position since October 2021, having previously served on its Board of Directors.  She previously served in the world of libraries, with more than 25 years of experience in both school and public libraries. She was most recently the Library Manager of the Barnwell County Public Library. In 2021, she was the co-recipient of the Public Library Employee Excellence Award from the Friends of South Carolina Libraries. Her volunteer service includes the Rotary Club of Barnwell County, Winton Assembly, HEALing Partners of Barnwell County, Barnwell Farmer’s Market Task Force, Barnwell Digital Economic Ecosystem, and the Census 2020 Complete Count Committee.

Presenting: StoryWalks: Bringing Literacy Outdoors in SC

11:10 - 12:10 a.m. | Breakout Session One

Rachal serves as the first state-level lead for South Carolina in the Two-Generation role by coordinating cross-agency work, system-wide adoption of policies, programs and approaches that benefit whole families, specifically young children and the adults in their lives. Rachal comes from the SC Respite Coalition where she served as the executive director. She is a licensed Master Social Worker and takes a holistic family approach to policy and program development.

Facilitating: Family Voice: Centering Parent Stories
12:10 - 1:40 p.m. | Studio Sessions, Networking and Lunch

Amy Holbert is a Licensed Independent Social Worker of Clinical Practice (LISW-CP), is the Chief Executive Officer of Family Connection of S.C. Ms. Holbert has over twenty-five years of experience working in a variety of clinical, policy and leadership positions primarily in the field of maternal child health.  Ms. Holbert currently serves on the national Board of Directors for Parent-to-Parent USA, and is S.C.’s Family State Representative for AMCHP.  Ms. Holbert is Governor appointed to the SC’s Interagency Coordinating Council. She is appointed by the State Director for the Department of Health and Human Services, to the Medical Care Advisory Council for the agency. Amy is passionate about improving the lives of children and their families.  She approaches her work through the lens of being a parent, having navigated the healthcare and educational systems for her two sons with medical and behavioral health needs.

Presenting: A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words: Shattering Misconceptions
1:40 - 2:40 p.m. | Breakout Session Two 

Kenna Hoover serves as the 4K Language and Literacy Coach for SC First Steps 4K. She has a degree in Early Childhood/Elementary Education and her master’s degree in The Teaching of Reading. She has been an early childhood educator for 18 years. Her passion is reading, teaching children to read, and teaching adults’ best practices to help their children become passionate about reading and writing. Kenna's goal is for students to leave preschool believing that they are readers and writers.

Presenting: Nursery Rhymes: Why Teach Them?

1:40 - 2:40 p.m. | Breakout Session Two 

Dr. Katrina Spigner Hutchins, affectionately known as “Dr. K” is the founder and CEO of Re-Source Solutions, LLC, an Organizational Excellence consulting company. As a Certified Executive Coach, Consultant, Inspirational Speaker, Author, Professor, and Philanthropist, Dr. K has gained decades of experience in corporate, governmental, higher education, philanthropic, non-profit and faith-based sectors. As a scholar, Dr. K’s research is focused on the power of women’s voices. As such, her fourth book, “The Voice Positioning System: 7 Ways to Harness Your Power and Master Your Influence” has been the catalyst for voice transformation for thousands of readers and voice workshop session participants. Dr. K earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia College and a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of South Carolina. She earned her Doctoral degree in Education with a concentration in Organizational Leadership from Northeastern University. 

Facilitating: First Steps AmeriCorps: It's All in Your Story - The Power of Serving SC Families
12:30 - 1:30 p.m. | Studio Sessions, Networking and Lunch

Before joining IMLS, Huerta Migus served as Executive Director of the Association of Children's Museums (ACM) in Arlington, Virginia, the world's largest professional society promoting and advocating on behalf of children's museums and children’s museum professionals.

Throughout her career, Laura has been devoted to the growth and education of children, particularly those from underserved and under-resourced communities. Under her leadership, ACM pursued innovative and effective partnerships to leverage the power of children’s museums worldwide.

In 2018, Laura was named as an Ascend Fellow of the Aspen Institute, and in 2016, she was recognized as a Champion of Change for Summer Opportunity by the White House. She is a noted speaker and author on topics of equity and audience-focused museum practice for institutions including the Board of Science Education of the National Academies of Sciences, the U.S. Play Coalition, and various university texts.

Presenting: Forging Creative Collaborations for Great Childhood Experiences

11:10 - 12:10 a.m. | Breakout Session One

1:40 - 2:40 p.m. | Breakout Session Two 

Mary-Elizabeth has been the director of the Abbeville County Library System for twenty years.  As such, she is a leader in the Abbeville Community and a frequent partner for programs and outreach.  Mary-Elizabeth is somewhat unusual in the library world because before she was in library administration, she was a children's librarian.  Her work with children has always been a source of joy and excitement for her (and when the staff can't find her working at her desk on paperwork, they know to look for her reading to kids in the children's room).

Presenting: The Importance of Libraries: Books and Early Literacy Resources

11:10 - 12:10 a.m. | Breakout Session One

Van-Kim Bui Lin is a senior research scientist at Child Trends and is the co-director for the Early Childhood Systems Building unit of the Early Childhood department. As Vietnam refugees, her parents both found their way to Cayce, South Carolina where they met, dated in the libraries of USC, and eventually married. Van-Kim is now based in Baltimore, MD, but she uses her research and technical assistance expertise to support systems-builders at the local, state, and federal level. Her focus is on leveraging early childhood data systems to improve early childhood policies, practices, and programs. Ultimately, she is committed to ensuring that all children have access to high-quality early learning experiences.

Presenting: More than Numbers: Using Data to Tell Your Story

1:40 - 2:40 p.m. | Breakout Session Two 

As the Children and Teen Services Manager at Richland Library, Heather McCue works with staff at all locations to develop, plan, coordinate and support diverse programs and initiatives for children, teens and their families.  She is a proud early literacy advocate, editor-in-chief for Kids in Print, Richland Library’s literary magazine, and the co-lead of the Let’s Talk Race team. She has been recognized as a Mover and Shaker by Library Journal, SCLA's Outstanding Librarian of the Year and was awarded the Peggy Parish Prize.  Throughout Heather’s life, her driving force is the utter belief in the power of people and stories to change lives, uncover the truth and bring communities together.

Presenting: StoryWalks: Bringing Literacy Outdoors in SC

11:10 - 12:10 a.m. | Breakout Session One

Sonia Manzano is a first-generation American of Latino descent who has affected the lives of millions of parents and children since the early 1970s, when she was offered an opportunity to play “Maria” on Sesame Street.

Manzano was raised in the South Bronx where her involvement in the arts was inspired by teachers who encouraged her to audition for the High School of Performing Arts. She was accepted there and began her career as an actress. A scholarship took her to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and in her junior year, she came to New York to star in the original production of the off-Broadway show Godspell. Within a year, Manzano joined the production of Sesame Street, where she eventually began writing scripts for the series. She was thrilled to help write the story line for “Maria’s” marriage and birth of “Maria’s” baby, played for a while by Manzano’s real-life daughter Gabriela.

Presenting: Stories: More than Child’s Play

3 - 4:15 p.m. | Closing Plenary

Leigh Ramey is the Youth Services Consultant for the South Carolina State Library. She has a B.A. in Corporate Communications/minor in Spanish from the College of Charleston and a master’s degree in Library and Information Science from the University of South Carolina. Leigh spent 12 years working as a youth services librarian for the Greenville County Library System and five years as a youth services supervisor in Aurora and Westminster, CO. She is currently an adjunct instructor with University of South Carolina’s School of Information Science. Leigh has enjoyed working with children and teens of all age groups and is especially interested in bringing early literacy awareness to families across the state, sharing resources for diverse and inclusive programming and literature for youth, and learning about innovative and unique approaches to library outreach. Her favorite books to read are fairy tales, ghost stories, British thrillers, and always Harry Potter.

Presenting: The Importance of Libraries: Books and Early Literacy Resources

11:10 - 12:10 a.m. | Breakout Session One

Timena is a native of Martinsvile, VA. She studied at The University of Georgia and The University of South Carolina Upstate and holds a bachelor's degree in Communications. During her senior year at Upstate, Timena was invited to attend a community meeting in Gaffney, S.C. where Dr. Dan Wuori shared groundbreaking research on the 30-million-word gap. As a result of that gathering, Talk to Me, a community partnership initiative was formed, and in the Fall of 2015, Cherokee County First Steps hired Timena as its Partnership Coordinator. She serves board member for the community organizations KNOW2 and Gaffney Little Theatre. She and her husband Rickie currently reside in Gaffney, SC with their two amazing teen daughters, where they founded and now lead Innov8tion Point church.

Presenting: Building Connections One Conversation and One Story at a Time

11:10 - 12:10 a.m. | Breakout Session One

Sachi is a nonprofit leader who drives social impact by building and managing partnerships and empowering scrappy teams. At Listen4Good, she is the Associate Director of Partner Services and helps philanthropic and nonprofit partners meet their strategic goals through access to L4G’s robust set of feedback resources. No stranger to high-quality feedback systems, Sachi previously worked at YouthTruth Student Survey, a project of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, where she led partnership development and coached school and district leaders through the process of interpreting student and family feedback and using it to accelerate improvements. As a part of her role, she also facilitated funder learning communities to explore ways of integrating student feedback into education philanthropy. Earlier in her career, Sachi worked in education at the school, district, and state level, and for organizations ranging from a tech startup to a state department of education.

Presenting: Rebuilding Institutional Trust through Listening and Actionable Feedback

11:10 - 12:10 a.m. | Breakout Session One

John D. Trybus, Ph.D. is a story scientist on a mission to help change makers around the world create and tell more effective stories that bring their missions and visions to life. He leads Georgetown University’s Center for Social Impact Communication in Washington, D.C. where he created and teaches the only academic program in the world focused on social impact storytelling which is also the focus of his research. Prior to academia, Dr. Trybus’ work spanned sectors in pursuit of making impact. He served as the traveling advisor to famous scientist Dr. Jane Goodall, as a strategist at the British Embassy, and as a social innovation consultant at Waggener Edstrom Worldwide working on corporate social responsibility projects for brands such as Tiffany & Co., L’Oreal Paris and Coca-Cola. Dr. Trybus has collaborated with hundreds of impact-focused organizations around the world including National Public Radio, Knight Foundation, IBM, CASA/GAL and the U.S. Department of State.

Presenting: The Future of Storytelling for Social Impact

9:30 - 10:50 a.m. | Welcome and Opening Plenary

Presenting: An Ecosystem Approach to Social Impact Storytelling - in 3 parts

11:10 - 12:10 a.m. | Breakout Session One

12:10 - 1:40 p.m. | Studio Sessions, Networking and Lunch

Cassie Welch is the Children’s System Coordinator at Charleston County Public Library. She has a B.A. in Elementary Education (K-6), an Early Childhood Certification (PK-3), and a Master’s in Library and Information Science. She has over a decade of experience in education and libraries working with young children and their caregivers. She believes in the necessity of diverse children's literature and the importance of helping parents and caregivers develop their child's early literacy skills.

Presenting: The Importance of Libraries: Books and Early Literacy Resources

11:10 - 12:10 a.m. | Breakout Session One