{"id":66913,"date":"2021-09-01T17:55:22","date_gmt":"2021-09-01T17:55:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/casel.dev\/?page_id=66913"},"modified":"2026-01-26T14:30:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T20:30:16","slug":"casel-weissberg-scholars","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/casel.org\/about-us\/our-mission-work\/casel-weissberg-scholars\/","title":{"rendered":"CASEL Weissberg Scholars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">CASEL leads the CASEL Weissberg Scholars program to inspire the next generation of innovators who will strengthen the vision of social and emotional learning (SEL). The program provides educational and professional development and creates a collaborative community of early career scholars who are eager to make a difference with SEL.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><b><i>Inquiries? <\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Please send questions to <\/span><\/i><a href=\"mailto:cwscholars@casel.org\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">cwscholars@casel.org<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n  \n          <div class=\"interruptor blue full\">\n      \n      <div>\n                        <div>\n                    <span class=\"h3\">\n            What is an early career scholar? \n          <\/span>\n                    \n          \n                                                                                                            <p>Early career scholars are defined as individuals who are in their first five years, meaning they received their Ph.D., Ed.D., or equivalent research degree between January 2020 and October 2025, and have demonstrated experience and a commitment to collaborative research approaches<\/p>\n\n                                                                    <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    \n\n\n    \n\n\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Support the program today!<\/strong> You can<a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/donate\/?hosted_button_id=CK2SVW3YUC9BE\"> donate to CASEL Weissberg Scholars online<\/a> or mail a check to CASEL Lockbox P.O. Box 95253, Chicago, IL 60694-5253. Please note CASEL Weissberg Scholars on your check. <em>The program was made possible with generous seed funding from Pure Edge, Inc.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n  <div class=\"testimony-content\">\n    <figure class=\"testimony\">\n  <blockquote>\n    The CASEL Weissberg Scholars Program is the most meaningful honor of my professional life. I am excited that my colleagues and I will provide learning experiences and supports to early career scholars who will advance evidence-based practices and policies to improve the positive development and life opportunities of millions of young people.\n  <\/blockquote>\n  <figcaption>\n        <cite class=\"author-info\">\n      <strong>Dr. Roger P. Weissberg<\/strong>\n          <\/cite>\n  <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n    <div class=\"icon\">\n      <svg viewBox=\"0 0 18.97 297\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n  <path d=\"M.669.523C23.309 108.37 19.736 205.873 0 297l18.97-.523C17.534 205.121 20.04 101.074 18.07 0z\" fill=\"#fff\"\/>\n<\/svg>\n    <\/div>\n  <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"program-overview\">Program Overview<\/h2><a class=top href=\"#top\">Back to top<\/a>\n\n\n\n<p>CASEL is committed to supporting those that are seeking a career in the field of SEL and are working at the intersection of research and practice. The CASEL Weissberg Scholars program is a two-year program that will enable early career scholars to gain valuable exposure to the SEL field and allow them to interact with thought leaders in SEL research, practice, and policy. <a href=\"https:\/\/casel.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/Weissberg-Scholars-Overview_2025-27-Cohort.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Download an overview here.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Early career scholars are defined as individuals who are in their first five years, meaning they received their Ph.D., Ed.D., or equivalent research degree <em>(between January 2020 and October 2025 for the upcoming cohort)<\/em>, and have demonstrated experience and a commitment to collaborative research approaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Selected scholars will be provided mentorship from senior scholars in the field of SEL and receive guidance and support in the scholar\u2019s pursuit of educational and professional goals to innovate and advance SEL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><iframe title=\"Inaugural Cohort of CASEL Weissberg Scholars\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9t11vXEKqBo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Led by the Scholars Program Advisory Committee: Drs. Kimberly A. Schonert-Reichl (University of Illinois at Chicago) with <em>Paul Goren (Northwestern University), <\/em>Marc Brackett (Yale University), Mark Greenberg (Penn State), <em>Danielle Hatchimonji (Lurie Children&#8217;s Hospital)<\/em><\/em>, <em>and Julia Mahfouz (University of Colorado Denver).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-2025-2027-cohorts-work-ahead\">The 2025-2027 Cohort\u2019s Work Ahead<\/h2><a class=top href=\"#top\">Back to top<\/a>\n\n\n\n<p>The selected CASEL Weissberg Scholars commit to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Two year engagement<\/strong>, beginning in November 2025.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mentorship<\/strong> with a leader in SEL research, practice, or policy. Mentors will be matched with each CASEL Weissberg Scholar based on shared interests. <em>Previous mentors have included advisory committee members, CASEL leaders, and research experts such as Anne Gregory (Rutgers University), Elise Cappella (New York University) Camille Farrington (University of Chicago), and Kate Zinsser (University of Illinois at Chicago).&nbsp;<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Participation<\/strong> in monthly virtual seminars with other Scholars and SEL leaders&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Development of an<strong> Individual Professional Development Plan<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Annual <strong>end-of-year repor<\/strong>t to support CASEL\u2019s continuous improvement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>CASEL Weissberg Scholars will also have access to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Attendance at the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/selexchange.casel.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Exchange<\/a><\/em>, <\/strong>the annual SEL conference hosted by CASEL. (<em>Note: all expenses will be covered.)<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Contribute to CASEL\u2019s learning products<\/strong>, such as: blogs, webinars, briefs\/syntheses, conference presentation or posters, Congressional briefings, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<section class=\"accordions\" id=\"accordion-1\">\n      <div class=\"btn-no-deco push-right\">\n      <button class=\"expand-all\">Expand All<\/button> \/ <button class=\"collapse-all\">Collapse All<\/button>\n    <\/div>\n        <ul class=\"accordion-list\">\n      <li class=\"accordion-wrap accordion-wrap-faqs\">\n      <label for=\"requirements-1\">\n        Applicant Eligibility Requirements:\n      <\/label>\n      <input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"requirements-1\" class=\"js-accordion-trigger\">\n      <div class=\"accordion-outer\">\n        <ul>\n          <li>\n            <ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Applicants must have <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">received a Ph.D., Ed.D., or equivalent research degree between January 2020 and October 2025.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Applicants\u2019 previous experience or current work is in settings that include, but are not limited to, domestic or international, university\/college, school districts, research organizations, policy institutes, non-profits, or state or federal governments or ministries.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Applicants must demonstrate experience\/commitment to collaborative research approaches on SEL that include at least one of the following: educators, families, community, policymakers, children and youth.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Applicants\u2019 should conduct research that takes place in real-world settings.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Applicants demonstrate potential to become innovators in SEL research, practice, and policy.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Applicants should identify area(s) in which participation in the CASEL Weissberg Scholars program will expand their expertise, and specific details should be provided in their application.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n          <\/li>\n        <\/ul>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/li>\n    <\/ul>\n      <ul class=\"accordion-list\">\n      <li class=\"accordion-wrap accordion-wrap-faqs\">\n      <label for=\"materials-1\">\n        Application Materials\n      <\/label>\n      <input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"materials-1\" class=\"js-accordion-trigger\">\n      <div class=\"accordion-outer\">\n        <ul>\n          <li>\n            <ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Selection is based on the applicant\u2019s potential to become an innovator in SEL research, practice, and policy. The application should make a cohesive argument for how the applicant will expand their expertise by participating in the CASEL Weissberg Scholars programs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For more detailed information on the application process and material, view the application overview. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/casel.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/Weissberg-Scholars-Overview_2025-27-Cohort_06-2025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>Download the PDF<\/b><\/a>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Curriculum vita or resume <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(please do not include acronyms)<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Career Statement Narrative <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(four-page limit)<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sample publications\/reports or equivalent <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(submit up to three).\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Professional references, listing names, titles, emails, phone numbers, and organizations (three required).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Provide a personal identity statement that describes how your personal identity influences your work in the SEL field (maximum 200 words).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Optional:<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Provide the names of up to three senior scholars in the field of SEL who you would like to serve as your mentor. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Note: we may not be able to accommodate all requests<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n          <\/li>\n        <\/ul>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/li>\n    <\/ul>\n  <\/section>\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"honoring-dr-roger-p-weissberg\">Honoring Dr. Roger P. Weissberg<\/h2><a class=top href=\"#top\">Back to top<\/a>\n\n\n<p><iframe title=\"CASEL Weissberg Scholars Program\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/C9RvuWB0PII?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/casel.org\/remembering-roger-weissberg\/\">Dr. Roger P. Weissberg <\/a>(1951-2021) and his research work played a unique role in the evolution and maturation of the field of SEL. To honor his efforts as a collaborator, mentor, and founding thought leader in the field, CASEL created the CASEL Weissberg Scholars Program to bring together scholars and educators who embodied Dr. Weissberg\u2019s commitment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Weissberg was CASEL\u2019s chief knowledge officer and board vice chair, and Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. For <a href=\"https:\/\/casel.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/Weissberg-Promoting-All-Children-APS.pdf\">four decades<\/a>, he trained scholars and practitioners about innovative ways to design, implement, and evaluate family, school, and community interventions. His more than 260 publications focused on positive youth development programming to enhance the social, emotional, and academic learning of children and adolescents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"2025-2027-casel-weissberg-scholars\">2025-2027 CASEL Weissberg Scholars<\/h2><a class=top href=\"#top\">Back to top<\/a>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/files.casel.org\/CASEL-Weissberg-Scholars-1.png\" alt=\"A photo of the 2025-2027 Weissberg Scholars cohort\" class=\"wp-image-82040\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n<section class=\"accordions\" id=\"accordion-2\">\n        <ul class=\"accordion-list\">\n      <li class=\"accordion-wrap accordion-wrap-faqs\">\n      <label for=\"2025-2\">\n        About the 2025-2027 Weissberg Scholars\n      <\/label>\n      <input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"2025-2\" class=\"js-accordion-trigger\">\n      <div class=\"accordion-outer\">\n        <ul>\n          <li>\n            <p><strong>Blake A. Colaianne, Ph.D.,<\/strong> is an Assistant Research Professor in the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center at Penn State University, where he also serves in the Department of Human Development &amp; Family Studies. His research intersects developmental science, prevention science, and contemplative education to examine the social and emotional development of adolescents and emerging adults. He has developed and evaluated novel mindfulness- and compassion-based courses for high school and university contexts, particularly focusing on social development as a key lever of change. He is the inaugural Director of the Learn to Flourish Hub, a research and design hub at Penn State that engages college students as co-designers in developing and testing well-being interventions to support student flourishing. As a former public high school teacher, Dr. Colaianne has extensive experience in curriculum design and building school\u2013research partnerships.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Juyeon Lee, PhD,<\/strong> is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work and Social Administration at the University of Hong Kong and the Director of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.selasia.org\/\">SELASIA+<\/a> research lab. Her current research focuses on school-based SEL for both students and educators in East Asia. She is leading various collaborative projects with school districts and community partners to generate rigorous and actionable evidence to promote positive school climate and individual well-being across diverse educational contexts in Asia. Her studies investigate the mechanisms and contexts of successful implementation and equitable outcomes, with the goal of informing the sustainability and scalability of SEL in real-world school settings. With a particular emphasis on the roles of teachers, Dr. Lee developed the <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.sel.2025.100093\">Multidimensional Assessment of Teacher Social-Emotional Competence (MATSEC)<\/a> and conducts multimethod studies to better understand and promote teachers\u2019 social-emotional competence, well-being, and SEL practices. She is currently leading a project to develop and evaluate a culturally relevant SEL program for Asian educators. Beyond Asia, she collaborates with the CalHOPE Student Support Project in California and serves as an expert panel member for the OECD Survey on Social and Emotional Skills (Round 3). For further details, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/web.socialwork.hku.hk\/faculty-members\/prof-juyeon-lee\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Dr. Tonje M. Molyneux<\/strong> is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Preventive Pedagogy Specialist at Wellstream: The Canadian Centre for Innovation in Child and Youth Mental Health and Substance Use at the University of British Columbia (UBC), where she helps generate innovative school- and community-based solutions for strengthening youth mental health and minimizing substance use harms. She earned her Ph.D. in Human Development, Learning, and Culture from UBC, where her dissertation research with young adolescents led to the development of the Comfort, Care, and Connection framework for understanding school belonging, a critical partner to SEL.<\/p>\n<p>With over twenty years of experience spanning classroom teaching, school-based mental health promotion\/risk prevention program development, and educational research, Dr. Molyneux brings a unique perspective that bridges research, practice, and policy. Her scholarly interests include child and adolescent mental health and well-being, SEL, school belonging, school-based prevention programming, risk and protective factors, social determinants of health, implementation science, and educator retention and well-being. Dr. Molyneux specializes in participatory research methodologies that center student and educator voices and is committed to translating research into practical, culturally responsive approaches that support both educator well-being and positive mental health outcomes for all students.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Dr. Paloma Perez<\/strong> focuses primarily on promoting mental and behavioral health in schools through the implementation and cultural adaptation of evidence-based practices. She contributes to multiple research projects supporting positive youth development and violence prevention, with an emphasis on contextually relevant interventions. She currently leads the adaptation of the Coping Power program for urban schools in Guadalajara, Mexico, and more recently started investigating how interventions can be effectively translated into digital environments as part of a newly funded initiative by Thriving Youth in the Digital Environment at the University of Virginia.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Dr. Bernardette Pinetta<\/strong> grew up in Los Angeles as the daughter of Guatemalan and Mexican immigrants, where she witnessed how inequitable our educational system is towards communities of color, and the need for culturally relevant and social justice-oriented education. As an interdisciplinary scholar, she weaves together theories from education, psychology, and political science to contextualize how youth of color develop their ethnic-racial identity and how such views serve as key mechanisms for their orientation toward social justice. As a community-engaged scholar, she partners with schools, organizations, and young people to cultivate learning environments that are both culturally affirming and consciousness-raising. In addition to communicating her work via academic publications in journals such as Child Development, American Journal of Community Psychology, and Journal of Research on Adolescence, Dr. Pinetta works closely with schools and community organizations to develop policy and practice recommendations and outputs. She earned her doctorate from the Combined Program of Education and Psychology at the University of Michigan; and holds a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in Education from UCLA. Her work has previously been funded by the William T. Grant and Ford Foundation.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Sarah K. Ura<\/strong> is an assistant professor of Learning Sciences in the Department of Education and Human Development at Clemson University. Influenced by her background in educational psychology and social work, her research investigates the systems, practices, and institutions that contribute to children\u2019s negative school outcomes with a particular focus on classroom management practices, culturally responsive and trauma-informed approaches, and teachers\u2019 social-emotional competence. Her work centers on advancing equity by supporting teachers\u2019 social-emotional development, especially at the preservice level, where foundational mindsets and instructional habits are formed. Central to her scholarship is the understanding that educators\u2019 own SEL skills shape classroom climate, influence student\u2013teacher interactions, and ultimately affect students\u2019 academic and social outcomes. Using a range of methodological approaches and developing accessible training spaces for preservice teachers\u2014including practice simulations and TikTok-based learning\u2014she seeks to identify and disrupt inequitable disciplinary patterns while preparing teachers to foster relationship-driven, emotionally attuned, and culturally affirming classrooms for all students.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>May Yuan, Ph.D.,<\/strong> will be joining the Montefiore School Health Program as a Pediatric Psychologist. Her research centers on youth social-emotional and character development, including ways to foster supportive school climates to promote students\u2019 well-being. She is interested in innovative approaches to embedding social-emotional pedagogy within school and healthcare systems, reducing adverse outcomes such as bullying and suicide, and tailoring prevention programs to reflect the cultural and contextual needs of diverse communities. Her work also examines best practices in implementation and dissemination, with the goal of enhancing the equity, scalability, and sustainability of mental health interventions across school, community, and healthcare systems.<\/p>\n<p>She earned her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Rutgers University and remains affiliated with the Social Emotional and Character Lab (www.secdlab.org). She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Montefiore through the Behavioral Health Integration Program (BHIP).<\/p>\n\n          <\/li>\n        <\/ul>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/li>\n    <\/ul>\n  <\/section>\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"2023-2025-casel-weissberg-scholars\">2023-2025 CASEL Weissberg Scholars<\/h2><a class=top href=\"#top\">Back to top<\/a>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/casel.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/CASEL-Weissberg-Scholars.png?auto=compress&amp;fit=scale&amp;fm=png&amp;h=1069&amp;w=1900\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-78753\" srcset=\"https:\/\/casel.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/sites\/1\/.\/CASEL-Weissberg-Scholars.png 640w, https:\/\/casel.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/sites\/1\/.\/CASEL-Weissberg-Scholars.png 1900w, https:\/\/casel.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/sites\/1\/.\/CASEL-Weissberg-Scholars.png 300w, https:\/\/casel.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/sites\/1\/.\/CASEL-Weissberg-Scholars.png 768w, https:\/\/casel.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/sites\/1\/.\/CASEL-Weissberg-Scholars.png 1536w, https:\/\/casel.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/sites\/1\/.\/CASEL-Weissberg-Scholars.png 2048w, https:\/\/casel.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/sites\/1\/.\/CASEL-Weissberg-Scholars.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<section class=\"accordions\" id=\"accordion-3\">\n        <ul class=\"accordion-list\">\n      <li class=\"accordion-wrap accordion-wrap-faqs\">\n      <label for=\"about-3\">\n        About the 2023-2025 CASEL Weissberg Scholars\n      <\/label>\n      <input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"about-3\" class=\"js-accordion-trigger\">\n      <div class=\"accordion-outer\">\n        <ul>\n          <li>\n            <p><b>Rebecca Baelen, Ph.D<\/b>., is the Director of Research and Development at the <a href=\"https:\/\/crtwc.org\/\">Center for Reaching &amp; Teaching the Whole Child<\/a> (CRTWC) and an adjunct Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. She earned her Ph.D. in Education Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, where she helped to develop and test approaches to support both teachers\u2019 and students\u2019 adaptive mindsets and social-emotional competencies \u2013 approaches that were co-constructed with teacher educators and program staff to be contextually relevant and seamlessly integrated into existing programming and teaching practice. More specifically, her research focuses on the development, testing, and implementation of strategies to support early career teachers in their transition to teaching, ideally setting them up to thrive in the profession and equipping them with the tools to support the social- emotional development and well-being of their students. In her new role at the Center for Reaching &amp; Teaching the Whole Child, Rebecca seeks to support the integration of the Center\u2019s Social, Emotional, and Cultural Anchor Competencies Framework \u2013 a Framework that combines a focus on social-emotional learning and culturally responsive\/sustaining teaching practice \u2013 into teacher preparation and development efforts. She will also be conducting iterative research on the Framework and its implementation to improve future integration and collaborative efforts.<\/p>\n<p><b>Anabela Caetano Santos<\/b> is a postdoctoral researcher at the Distance Education and eLearning Laboratory (<a href=\"https:\/\/lead.uab.pt\/way-en\/?force-lang\">LE@D<\/a>) at the Portuguese Open University, also collaborating with <a href=\"http:\/\/isamb.medicina.ulisboa.pt\/en\/home\/\">ISAMB<\/a> and Aventura Social. She has a degree and master&#8217;s in Psychomotor Rehabilitation (University of Lisbon), a master&#8217;s in Science on Emotions (ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon) and a PhD (double degree) in Education (University of Lisbon) and in School Psychology and Human Development (University of S\u00e3o Paulo). Her research focuses on social and emotional learning, student engagement, resilience, well-being and mental health; developing and performing impact assessments of prevention programs (universal and selective interventions) for children and youth; and developing teachers&#8217; training. She has been collaborating in national and international grant-funded projects, such as RESCUR &#8211; European resilience curriculum, ENRETE \u2013 Enhancing resilience through teacher education, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.promehs.org\/\">PROMEHS<\/a> &#8211; Promoting mental health at schools, and <a href=\"https:\/\/lead.uab.pt\/way-en\/?force-lang\">WAY<\/a> \u2013 Promoting student self-regulated learning through peer observation. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/anabela-caetano-santos\/\">https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/anabela-caetano-santos\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Cheyeon Ha<\/b> is a Postdoctoral Associate of the Education Collaboratory at Yale within the Yale Child Study Center.\u00a0Her research broadly focuses on children\u2019s social and emotional development and learning support for educational equity. She is particularly interested in school-based social-emotional learning (SEL) research for children with different needs for appropriate learning opportunities considering their diverse social contexts (e.g., in low-income, with cultural diversity, and special education needs). Currently, she is involved in the \u2018SEL for All\u2019 project at the Yale Child Study Center. The project aims to develop universal SEL lesson plans and\u00a0help students embrace diversity and cultivate respect for differences while simultaneously developing their social-emotional skills in\u00a0schools.\u00a0Also, Cheyeon has investigated various methodological approaches to explain the mechanisms of child development.<\/p>\n<p><b>Johari Harris, Ph.D,<\/b> is currently an Assistant Professor of Education Psychology in the Secondary and Middle Grades Department at Kennesaw State University. Her research is grounded in intersectionality, developmental psychology, and social psychology theories to examine best practices for supporting adolescents\u2019 transformative social emotional development within the school context. She also examines the roles of schools and teachers in this process, specifically how teacher practice and curriculum resources can support or hinder students\u2019 development of equity-oriented social and emotional learning competences. She has taught in K-8 schools domestically and abroad and has extensive experience in developing and implementing culturally responsive SEL curricula.<\/p>\n<p><b>Sophia Hwang, Ph.D.<\/b> is an Assistant Professor of Community Psychology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). Informed by her experience as a former high school science teacher, Dr. Hwang\u2019s research focuses on: (1) promoting students\u2019 academic, social, and emotional development; (2) improving school and afterschool contexts; and (3) supporting educators\u2019 professional development and wellness. Her research is community-based, conducted via research-practice partnerships, and leverages quasi-experimental, person-centered, or mixed methods. Dr. Hwang received her doctorate in Applied Psychology from NYU\u2019s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at UC Berkeley\u2019s Center for Prevention Research in Social Welfare.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dana Murano<\/strong> is the senior manager of the Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning Research team at ACT. She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology with a specialization in Learning, Development, and Instruction from the Graduate Center, City University of New York. During her time at ACT, she has engaged in research and development work to create and validate innovative social and emotional skill assessments for learners spanning from elementary-aged to workforce. Her research also focuses on the conceptualization of SEL, stakeholder perceptions of social and emotional skills, and the development of culturally responsive SEL materials. She also has experience working with schools and districts in co-creating and delivering professional development opportunities, family SEL programming, customized data insight sessions, and in implementation studies. Overall, her experiences have highlighted the need to create SEL solutions that meet the needs of learners, schools, and caregivers to optimize the impact of SEL.<\/p>\n\n          <\/li>\n        <\/ul>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/li>\n    <\/ul>\n  <\/section>\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"2021-2023-casel-weissberg-scholars\">2021-2023 CASEL Weissberg Scholars<\/h2><a class=top href=\"#top\">Back to top<\/a>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1611\" height=\"696\" src=\"https:\/\/casel.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-14-at-2.51.23-PM.png?auto=compress&amp;fit=scale&amp;fm=png&amp;h=276&amp;w=640\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-68134\" srcset=\"https:\/\/casel.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/sites\/1\/.\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-14-at-2.51.23-PM.png 640w, https:\/\/casel.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/sites\/1\/.\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-14-at-2.51.23-PM.png 1900w, https:\/\/casel.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/sites\/1\/.\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-14-at-2.51.23-PM.png 300w, https:\/\/casel.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/sites\/1\/.\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-14-at-2.51.23-PM.png 768w, https:\/\/casel.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/sites\/1\/.\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-14-at-2.51.23-PM.png 1536w, https:\/\/casel.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/sites\/1\/.\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-14-at-2.51.23-PM.png 2048w, https:\/\/casel.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/sites\/1\/.\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-14-at-2.51.23-PM.png 1611w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1611px) 100vw, 1611px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<section class=\"accordions\" id=\"accordion-4\">\n        <ul class=\"accordion-list\">\n      <li class=\"accordion-wrap accordion-wrap-faqs\">\n      <label for=\"about-4\">\n        About the 2021-2023 CASEL Weissberg Scholars\n      <\/label>\n      <input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"about-4\" class=\"js-accordion-trigger\">\n      <div class=\"accordion-outer\">\n        <ul>\n          <li>\n            <p><b>Pilar Alamos <\/b>is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Virginia\u2019s School of Education and Human Development, and an incoming Assistant Professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile\u2019s School of Education. Pilar\u2019s research focuses on the kinds of teacher-child interactions and relationships that matter for young children\u2019s social and emotional development in early childhood education settings. Pilar conducts applied research and is interested in testing out and strengthening interventions, practices, and policies that will create more opportunities for equitable and high-quality teacher-child interactions and relationships. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/pilar-alamos\/\"><span class=\"s1\">https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/pilar-alamos\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Dr. Ross C. Anderson<\/b> is co-founder and principal investigator at Creative Engagement Lab, associate scientist at Oregon Research Institute, and lecturer at the University of Oregon. He is one of the inaugural CASEL Weissberg Scholars and has led and contributed to numerous grant-funded projects, including the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.artcorelearning.org\/\"><span class=\"s1\">ArtCore project<\/span><\/a>, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.makespaceproject.org\"><span class=\"s1\">makeSPACE project<\/span><\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/journalisticlearning.org\/\"><span class=\"s1\">Journalistic Learning Initiative <\/span><\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/407856677\"><span class=\"s1\">My STEM Story project<\/span><\/a>. He specializes in the design and research of dynamic, interactive online professional development in creative and interdisciplinary teaching and learning. His research focuses on agentic, artistic, and creative development for educators and their adolescent students in K-12 as the primary drivers of holistic flourishing in education across different stages of human development. He has published more than 40 journal articles and book chapters with numerous collaborators from around the world, which can be found at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.creativeengagementlab.com\/\"><span class=\"s2\">www.creativeengagementlab.com<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><b>Josefina Ba\u00f1ales<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Community and Prevention Research Area at the University of Illinois, Chicago (UIC). Dr. Ba\u00f1ales infuses her personal experiences as a Mexican American woman who is a first-generation high school, college, and doctoral student from the Southwest side of Chicago with her community-engaged research with youth of color in schools and community organizations. Her research examines how youth develop beliefs, feelings, and actions that challenge racism (i.e., youth critical racial consciousness development). In collaboration with youth, schools, parents, and community organizations, she co-creates opportunities that facilitate youths\u2019 critical racial consciousness development. Dr. Ba\u00f1ales loves hot black coffee, singing, and walking at a very leisurely pace.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Summer S. Braun<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and affiliated with the Center for Youth Development and Intervention at the University of Alabama. <\/span>She leads the <a href=\"https:\/\/witylab.ua.edu\/\">Well-Being Interventions for Teachers and Youth (WITY) Lab<\/a> at the University of Alabama.\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She earned her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies at The Pennsylvania State University, where her training motivated her to consider development in context. Her research centers on schools as a particularly important context for children\u2019s development. Her program of research focuses on understanding the associations between teachers\u2019 occupational health and well-being and their students\u2019 social, emotional, and behavioral development using a variety of methodological approaches. Her work bridges research and practice by studying interventions designed to support the health and well-being of teachers and students, such as mindfulness-based wellness programs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Marisa Crowder <\/b>is a senior researcher at McREL International, working in partnership with educators in K-12 and higher education systems in Hawai\u2018i and U.S.- affiliated countries and territories in the Pacific region. Marisa has led projects in Hawai\u2018i and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands that aim to deepen educators\u2019 understanding of ways they can implement SEL in a manner that fits their local context. Her career began at the Washoe County School District (WCSD) where Marisa supported the development of the WCSD Social-Emotional Competency Assessment (WCSD-SECA) and investigated how its dimensional structure varies across student subpopulations. Marisa\u2019s experiences have highlighted a need to develop resources that empower educators to create or adapt effective SEL programs, practices, and assessments that are culturally relevant for their students. To address this, Marisa\u2019s research interests center on identifying promising practices that support culturally relevant SEL across multiple cultural contexts, and for all learners. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/marisa-crowder\/\"><span class=\"s1\">https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/marisa-crowder\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Jerome Graham<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is an Assistant Professor of K-12 Educational Administration at Michigan State University. His research interests focus broadly on the interaction of race and class in educational policy and practice. Specifically, Jerome uses mixed-methods research designs to evaluate the effects of education reforms that target minoritized students and the mechanisms that drive such reforms. His current research background emphasizes how schools can provide constructive school climates for students, which facilitate the process by which they develop cognitive and socio-emotional skills to improve their short- and long-term outcomes. His theoretical orientation is psychosociological, in that Jerome&#8217;s research agenda focuses not only on persons&#8217; individual development (academic, emotional, and otherwise) but also on the social structures that influence their development.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Casta Guillaume<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Ph.D.,<\/span><b> <\/b>serves as Director of Research, Learning, and Evaluation at the National Equity Project. Her action-oriented approach to research privileges intergenerational connections. She applies an intersectional feminist lens and community based research methodologies to develop strategy and research-practice partnership models that support both young peoples\u2019 and adults\u2019 social emotional and socio-political development.<\/p>\n<p><b>Julia Mahfouz<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Leadership for Educational Organizations program, School of Education and Human Development at the University of Colorado-Denver. Her research explores the social, emotional, and cultural dynamics of educational settings placing specific emphasis on Adult SEL, specifically school administrators, and the integration of systemic SEL into principal preparation programs. Thus, she has implemented mindfulness and SEL-based professional development programs to understand how such programs can improve principal wellbeing and leadership. She has also investigated how preparation programs and certification standards can be strengthened to enhance effective leadership by supporting principals to deepen their social and emotional competencies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Christina Mondi-Rago <\/b>holds a\u00a0Ph.D. in Developmental and Clinical Psychology from the University of Minnesota. She is an Attending Psychologist and Lead Researcher at the Brazelton Touchpoints Center (Division of Developmental Medicine, Boston Children\u2019s Hospital) Her research focuses on the assessment and promotion of socio-emotional learning and mental health starting in early childhood, with an emphasis on populations affected by poverty and trauma. She is particularly interested in the role that early care and education programs can play in promoting lifelong wellbeing. She also provides mental health consultation and outpatient psychological services to children and families in the community.\u00a0<span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brazeltontouchpoints.org\/about\/who-we-are\/entry\/mondi-rago\/\">https:\/\/www.brazeltontouchpoints.org\/about\/who-we-are\/entry\/mondi-rago\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Danielle Hatchimonji<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is an Assistant Research Scientist at Nemours Children&#8217;s Health, a health system spanning the Delaware Valley and Florida. She received her PhD in Psychology from Rutgers University and remains affiliated with the Social-Emotional and Character Development Lab (www.secdlab.org). She researches how schools and healthcare systems can advance equity and promote social-emotional and character development for all children toward the ultimate goal of creating a more just and equitable world.\u202f\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n          <\/li>\n        <\/ul>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/li>\n    <\/ul>\n  <\/section>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CASEL leads the CASEL Weissberg Scholars program to inspire the next generation of innovators who will strengthen the vision of social and emotional learning (SEL). The program provides educational and professional development and creates a collaborative community of early career scholars who are eager to make a difference with SEL. Inquiries? Please send questions to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3870,"featured_media":68134,"parent":64296,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[194],"class_list":["post-66913","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/casel.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/66913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/casel.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/casel.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casel.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3870"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casel.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66913"}],"version-history":[{"count":105,"href":"https:\/\/casel.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/66913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82042,"href":"https:\/\/casel.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/66913\/revisions\/82042"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casel.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/64296"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casel.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/casel.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casel.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}