10th Anniversary Convening of the Basics Learning Network

Dr. Renée Boynton-Jarrett

Dr. Renée Boynton-Jarrett is a pediatrician, social epidemiologist and associate professor of pediatrics at the Boston University School of Medicine. She is the founding director of Vital Village Networks, a national initiative that has become a model for trauma-informed, community-driven approaches to promoting child well-being and resilience.

Her research examines how early life adversities and neighborhood environments shape long-term health and educational outcomes. Dr. Boynton-Jarrett is widely recognized for pioneering strategies that center community wisdom and cross-sector collaboration to reduce health inequities. Vital Village Networks partners with communities nationwide to build sustainable systems that strengthen families and promote collective well-being.

Colin Groth

Colin Groth is Chief Advancement Officer at StriveTogether, responsible for growing the organization’s impact and expanding its national reach. In this role, he oversees fundraising, field partnerships, business development, marketing and communication — guiding strategies that fuel a national movement to transform systems and improve outcomes for youth and families.

Colin serves as a key member of the executive leadership team, helping shape StriveTogether’s long-term strategy, cultivate cross-sector partnerships and elevate the visibility of place-based partnerships to drive lasting change.

Robert Sege, MD, PhD

Robert Sege, MD, PhD is an attending Pediatrician at Tufts Children’s Hospital and a Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, where he directs the Center for Community-engaged Medicine. Dr. Sege is a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Social Policy in Washington, is part of the Leadership Action Team for Massachusetts Essentials for Childhood, and serves on the boards of the Massachusetts Children’s Trust and Prevent Child Abuse America.

He received the 2019 Ray E. Helfer award from the Alliance of Children’s Trusts and the American Academy of Pediatrics. He has served on national committees for the American Academy of Pediatrics and has been lead author on several important AAP policies. His extensive speaking and publication list includes contributions to the prevention and treatment of child maltreatment and youth violence. He is a graduate of Yale College, and received his PhD in Biology from MIT and his MD from Harvard Medical School. Bob lives in the Boston area, where he and his wife Karen have raised three young adult children.

Ralph Smith

Ralph Smith is the managing director of the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, an effort to increase rates of third-grade reading proficiency for children from low-income families, including a network of more than 390 communities — with 4,100 local organizations and more than 520 state and local funders.

Previously, as senior vice president for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Smith led initiatives to help communities improve child outcomes by strengthening families and neighborhoods and taught Corporations and Securities Law and Education Law and Policy as a member of the law faculty at the University of Pennsylvania for two decades. During that time, he also served as chief of staff and special counsel for the School District of Philadelphia and as a senior advisor to Philadelphia’s mayor.

Smith led efforts to design and implement the school district’s landmark voluntary desegregation plan, negotiate some of the nation’s first education reform-driven teacher contracts, and develop Children Achieving, a district-wide blueprint supported by the Annenberg Challenge. Over the last three decades, Smith has served on major philanthropic associations and a dozen-plus social sector organizations. His private sector board service includes Leapfrog Enterprises, Nobel Learning, Book Nook, Stride K-12 , and Geisel-Seuss Enterprises.

Rob Watson

Rob Watson is the Executive Director of the Harvard EdRedesign Lab, Lecturer on Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education and faculty affiliate of the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University. At EdRedesign, he leads a team supporting 70+ communities across the U.S. to develop cradle-to-career systems of opportunity.

His work has focused on themes of civic engagement and community development in the U.S. and Latin America. Additionally, Rob co-founded and chairs the Poughkeepsie Children’s Cabinet, a collective impact organization in his hometown of Poughkeepsie, NY and Basics Learning Network partner. He sits on the boards of StriveTogether and the Children's Funding Project. Rob holds degrees from Harvard College, Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Harvard Kennedy School.

David W. Willis, MD, FAAP

David W Willis, MD, FAAP is Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at Georgetown University, within the new Thrive Center for Children, Families and Communities. There, he leads Nurture Connection, an impact network, to advance early relational health at the growing intersection of child health transformation and resilient community building in partnerships with families with a social justice commitment.

He also is the current Co-Chair of National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Forum on Children’s Wellbeing. Dr. Willis was previously a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Social Policies in Washington DC, the Inaugural Executive Director of the Perigee Fund of Seattle, WA, the Division Director of Home Visiting and Early Childhood Systems at HRSA during the Obama Administration, and an early brain and child development clinician and leader in Oregon and the American Academy of Pediatrics. He currently lives in Alexandria, VA with his wife in close proximity to his oldest son's family.