NAREA Team

Margie Cooper, Standing Chair

Georgia

As a founding board member of NAREA, Margie Cooper, PhD, brings her passion for the well-being of young children, families, educators, and communities to her roles. She has served education as an elementary and preschool educator, a preschool co-director, an adjunct professor, an author, and a volunteer in various projects and organizations. She first studied in Reggio Emilia in 1991 and has returned nearly annually. She is responsible for the NAREA office, serves as co-representative of NAREA within the Reggio Emilia International Network, and is a founding board member of Fondazione Reggio Children. Locally, she is founder and CEO of the not-for-profit Inspired Practices in Early Education through which Project Infinity was established, a longstanding collaboration among schools for young children inspired by Reggio Emilia.

Barbara Carlson, Co-Chair

Massachusetts

Barbara Carlson is executive director of Infant Toddler Children’s Center (ITC) in Acton, MA. Previously, she was director of Radcliffe Child Care Center (RCCC) in Cambridge, MA, and before that she was assistant director of early childhood education for Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities (FCBDD) in Columbus, Ohio. Prior to these most recent roles, Barbara has been a classroom teacher and served in a variety of leadership positions in diverse settings, both public and non-profit. Regardless of her position, it is her joy and pleasure to spend her days in the company of children, teachers, and parents, and to be a partner-in-learning so that together we may give value to the precious time of childhood. Barbara is a founding member of NAREA and currently serves as co-chair on our board of directors.

Karyn Callaghan

Ontario

Karyn Callaghan, MEd, is a NAREA board member, president of the Ontario Reggio Association, and a participant in the Reggio Children International Network. She is also a consulting editor for Innovations. Karyn has been a keynote speaker at conferences across North America and in Asia and Australia. She co-authored the book Documenting Children’s Meaning: Engaging in Design and Creativity with Children and Families with Carol Anne Wien and artist Jason Avery, and it was published by Davis Publications. Karyn was a professor in college and university ECE programs, learning with children, educators, and families for over 40 years.

Brenda Fyfe

Missouri

Brenda Fyfe, EdD, is dean and professor emeritus, School of Education at Webster University. She has authored multiple journal articles and book chapters on the Reggio Emilia Approach to early education. She serves on the boards of the North American Reggio Emilia Alliance, Education Deans for Justice and Equity, the Association for Constructivist Teaching, and the Ideal Learning Roundtable of the Trust for Learning. She is currently working in collaboration with a group of teacher-educators from the U.S. and Reggio Emilia, Italy, to research how Reggio-inspired education supports emergent bilingual and multilingual children and families.

Jeanne Goldhaber

Vermont

Jeanne Goldhaber, EdD, is an emerita faculty member in the early childhood program at the University of Vermont, where she worked closely with faculty, teachers, and students at Campus Children’s School. She is a consulting editor for Innovations and serves on the NAREA board. Jeanne is also a member of RIVET 2.0 (Reggio Inspired Vermont Early Education Team), a group of early childhood teachers and teacher-educators who have a long history of collaboration and friendship. She is co-author of Pinching, Poking and Pretending: Documenting Toddlers’ Explorations with Clay as well as articles and book chapters that reflect her interest in documentation and the role it plays in the promotion of reflective practice and professional development.

Susan Redmond

South Carolina

Susan Redmond is the pedagogical coordinator at First Baptist Day School in Greenville, South Carolina, where, in 1986, she began her career working with children and families as a classroom teacher. Inspired by the infant-toddler centers and preschools of Reggio Emilia, Susan works to elevate the image of the child within her own community as well as through initiatives of Project Infinity, a collaborative research project based in Atlanta, Georgia, comprised of Reggio-inspired schools for young children. Susan studies frequently in Reggio Emilia, has supported her school in hosting The Wonder of Learning and Mosaic of Marks, Words, Material Exhibitions in Greenville, and serves as a member of the NAREA Board.

Lella Gandini (1934–2025)

Massachusetts

Lella Gandini, EdD, was the Reggio Children liaison in the United States for dissemination of the Reggio Emilia Approach. She was an associate editor emeritus for Innovations in Early Education: The International Reggio Emilia Exchange, a NAREA board member, and a co-editor of The Hundred Languages of Children. Lella’s contributions to the advancement of understanding the Reggio Emilia Approach in North America are legion.

NAREA would not exist without her investments of time, wisdom, and commitment to building relationships over decades of life throughout the United States and Italy. She joyfully tended to her belief that the humanistic values embodied in Reggio Emilia’s approach to early education could take route in North America. The immense gratitude of NAREA’s friends, members, staff, and board will continue to be expressed in the ways we carry her memory and example forward.