About
Every Child
Our History
Every Child was “born” in April 2017 to a group of individuals with a strong desire to disseminate information about best practices in early childhood pedagogy and inclusive didactics. In October 2017, parents, professionals, educators, and concerned community members were invited to the first Annual EVERY CHILD Conference or professional development workshop on early learning research findings and developmentally oriented teaching strategies that support early learning. This first conference created momentum and EVERY CHILD, a not for profit organization was formed.
Our Work
Every Child conducts research and educational programs on the implementation of naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions in early education.
Board of Directors
President
Dr Cynthia Zierhut-Ursu, Ph.D
Dr. Cynthia Zierhut-Ursu is a licensed clinical psychologist (PSY 19810) with over 20 years experience working with young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their families. After her early training at the University of California, Los Angeles she spent more than a decade at the University of California, Davis, MIND Institute. Cynthia managed several treatment studies and the training program for the Early Start Denver Model. Her career shifted dramatically to community based work after spending more than a year at La Trobe University in Australia with Dr. Dissanayake and Dr. Vivanti in the program that produced the first randomized control trial of the Group Early Start Denver Model. She subsequently founded Early Days Autism Center, Incorporated in 2015, a community based treatment program in Sacramento and the Bay Area to equip educators to utilize the GESDM in preschool settings. She is also the president of Every Child
Every Child’s mission is to equip early education communities to include children with Autism Spectrum Disorder through training, funding, research and dissemination of effective practices that support inclusion. Dr. Zierhut Ursu supervises a research program in collaboration with the University of Salerno, Italy using implementation science to improve the dissemination of the GESDM strategies inside inclusive settings. This work along with other esteemed research projects are shared in the Annual Every Child Conference organized and supported by Every Child and the Com.it.es, San Francisco.
Vice President
Irene Russo, Ph.D
Dr. Russo is one of the founders of Every Child. She holds a PhD in Special Education and is an MFT Intern. She is from Italy and has moved to the US for more than a decade. Her background is in Clinical Psychology and she is a Certified ESDM therapist. Irene, has joined the team of Dr. Zierhut in 2015 as clinical supervisor and parent coach at Early Days Autism Center. She has supported the dissemination of the ESDM and G-ESDM since the beginning of her career, offering presentations and services to spread the model in the US and Europe. For Every Child non for profit, Irene serves as Vice President. Together with Dr. Zierhut, they are leading the development of international collaborations to further investigate the dissemination and implementation of the G-ESDM in child care centers and preschools. Every year, Irene is part of the scientific committee for Every Child Conference. Her role for this event is to bridge the best practices from american education research with the italian pedagogical and inclusion tradition. Her long-term goal is to expand the implementation of G-ESDM by studying professional development pathways for preschool teachers within inclusive education settings.
Treasurer
Emmanuel Ursu
Emmanuel Ursu holds a Bachelors of Science in Urban and Regional Planning from Cal Poly Pomona and has over 20 years of planning and community development experience serving a wide variety of California cities. As a former Planning Director, he has extensive experience successfully processing development applications ranging from simple projects to complex development proposals in challenging environments. His experience includes coastal and hillside communities, urban environments, and suburban and semi-rural communities.
For Every Child, Emmanuel brings his pragmatic and thoughtful approach expertise in seeking common objectives in a collaborative manner to a new arena. His role as treasurer leans heavily on his experience managing complex budgets whilst providing transparency.