Helen Lumgair is a Montessori teacher, Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment Mediator, Education Consultant and author. Helen created the framework and initial lesson plans of the empathy-focused Think Equal curriculum which was recognised with a 2020 WISE award for innovation and the addressing of global educational challenges.

Helen recently released a book on Using Stories to Support Learning and Development in Early Childhood and previously contributed a chapter on using the process of narrative to develop empathy in early childhood in the book, Developing Empathy in the Early Years: A Guide for Practitioners.

Helen holds a BA (Hons) in Early Years Teaching, a Montessori International Diploma and is a Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment Mediator. She is passionate about developing holistic educational strategies to meet the needs of every learner, and about stories.

Elizabeth is a Social Entrepreneur who believes in innovative solutions to social problems. She is the founder of Sure Starts Children’s Centre, an inclusive school. Through Sure Starts, she is working on improving the education system by ensuring that every child access education. Using her own school as a pilot to provide an inclusive setting that promotes equality of opportunity which does not mean that all children should be treated the same, but that the unique skills and abilities of each child should be recognized and developed, and that inclusion is not optional.

Elizabeth is an experienced trainer, facilitator, a motivational speaker and she is committed to social change. She is passionate about building capacity in the workforce here in Tanzania and beyond through training, coaching and mentoring individuals within work settings. Elizabeth is zealous about empowering other women in business and leadership and currently focusing on Women SMEs especially rural women in food and agribusiness industry. She is also a mentor with African Entrepreneurship Awards. She holds Masters of Social Science in Economic of Social Studies from University of Wales, Swansea – U.K and PGD in Leadership from Aalto University, Finland in partnership with Uongozi Institute, Tanzania.

Elizabeth has over 20 years of working experience in both public and private sectors. Prior to starting Sure Starts, she was a Senior Consultant/Institutional Capacity Building Manager in the Strategy and Operations Department of Deloitte Consulting in Tanzania for three and a half years. Before joining Deloitte she worked for four years with Action in rural Sussex, U.K. a leading charity organization in Building Capacity of community organizations and she has also worked for nearly four years with the Scarman Trust and Lloyds TSB Bank in the U.K.

Terry has been involved in education and the development of young people for over 30 years, through business, with charities and as a School Governor in the UK.

Terry strongly believes that every child has the ability to succeed, provided they are given the opportunity and the encouragement to do so and they are allowed to explore, experiment and challenge themselves, albeit in a safe environment.

He has worked with all ages from primary upwards and was, for a number of years, closely involved in the training of English gap year students to work in schools in Tanzania.

Valerie has a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Rhode Island College and a master’s degree in Communicative Disorders from the University of Central Florida and is a Ph.D. candidate in Psychology.

Valerie has been a Speech Language Pathologist for the past 30 years and has specialized in the areas of cognition, language development, stuttering therapy, voice and articulation therapy.

She is a Certified Trainer in Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment Standard and Basic levels, and has training in Lindamood processes, Wilson Reading, Conscious Discipline, Balametrics, Fast Forword, Interactive Metronome, and It Takes Two to Talk. She has combined her cognitive training, teaching experience and speech and language expertise and has homeschooled students, started the Magic Forest Institute, a small private school for students with varied learning abilities, then worked at Providence Foundation, a K through 12 school and full clinic, providing intensive academic interventions and therapies to children with learning differences. She served as clinical director, principal and guidance counselor for Providence Foundation. She runs a private clinic, working with clients from age 2 to adult. She has written chapters on Social Cognition and Language and Cognition in Narrative.

Valerie’s passion is interacting with children, teachers, therapists and parents to provide training, mentoring and therapy to improve critical thinking, communication, collaboration and enhance the quality of life of all with whom she works!

Helen is a wife, mother of four, and currently works as an Early Years author, consultant and speaker. Helen started her career as a teacher, working in the primary level as a class and music teacher. In 2005 she co-founded a preschool where she developed a keen interest in neuroscience and the positive effect that prompt and specific support has on a child’s development and progress.

In 2017 Helen wrote ‘Developing Empathy in the Early Years: a guide for Practitioners’, which is one of the finalists for professional books in the Nursery World Awards 2018. Helen also writes articles for leading parent magazines such as Parenta, Education for Everybody, and the Early Years Teacher Organisation.