The child well-being and early learning experts will strengthen CDF’s board governance and policy advocacy.
Media Contact: John Henry, JHenry@childrensdefense.org, CDF Media Relations Manager, @johnhenrydc, 708-646-7679
WASHINGTON, D.C.–Today, the national youth advocacy organization Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) announced child well-being and early learning experts Ramesh Raghavan, MD, PhD and Mariana Souto-Manning, PhD have joined its Board of Directors.
Elected to their new positions during CDF’s November annual meeting, Raghavan and Souto-Manning bring a continuum of early childhood education, children’s mental health, and public policy expertise to CDF’s governance.
Dr. Raghavan serves as a professor at the Silver School of Social Work at New York University. He is co-author of Investing in Children’s Mental Health, published by Oxford University Press in 2023, and is working on a book entitled Understanding Child Well-Being, which is under contract to be published by Edward Elgar Publishing.
Dr. Souto-Manning leads the Erikson Institute, a graduate school for early childhood education and childhood development in Chicago, as its president. She also serves as a professor of early childhood education at that institution. Her recent books include Literacy Learning for Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers: Key Practices for Educators, published in 2022, and In the Pursuit of Justice: Students’ Rights to Read and Write in Elementary School, published in 2020.
“Ramesh and Mariana share our love for children and bring valued scholarship to help drive our strategy,” said Children’s Defense Fund Board Chair Rev. Dr. Don Darius Butler. “Their commitment to promising practices and public policy for young people will enrich our deliberations and advocacy.”
Children’s Defense Fund President and Chief Executive Officer Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson said he is also excited to welcome the pair’s expertise to CDF’s board.
“I am excited to partner with Dr. Ramesh Raghavan and Dr. Mariana Souto-Manning as members of our Board of Directors,” Dr. Wilson said. “Their exemplary academic and public leadership will accelerate our work pursuing CDF’s mission of building community, so young people grow up with dignity, hope and joy.”
As they orient new members, the board enjoys continuity in leadership. Officers re-elected to serve through 2026 include:
- The Rev. Dr. Don Darius Butler, of Huntsville, Alabama, Senior Pastor of the Concord Fellowship, as Board Chair;
- W. Clay Grubb, of Charlotte, North Carolina, Chief Executive Officer of Grubb Properties returning as the Board Treasurer; and
- Dr. Deborah Jewell-Sherman, of Richmond, Virginia, Gregory R. Anrig Professor of Practice, Emerita at Harvard Graduate School of Education continuing as Board Secretary.
About the New Directors
Ramesh Raghavan, MD, Ph,D., is a professor at the Silver School of Social Work at New York University. Before coming to NYU, he was on the faculties of Rutgers University as associate dean for research, and Washington University in St. Louis. His prior appointment was as policy director for the National Child Traumatic Stress Network at its National Center co-housed at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Duke University.
He is the co-editor of Implementing Public Health Interventions in Developing Countries (IKP Centre for Technologies in Public Health, 2012), and co-author of Investing in Children’s Mental Health, published by Oxford University Press in 2023. He is working on a book titled Understanding Child Well-Being. Dr. Raghavan serves on the editorial board of Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research.
Raghavan served in the Obama Administration as senior advisor for the Administration on Children, Youth and Families in the Department of Health and Human Services. Ramesh completed medical school at Stanley Medical College, Madras, India, and a psychiatric residency at Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, India. He completed a fellowship in pediatric pain management in the Department of Pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine, then worked at the UCLA/RAND Center for Adolescent Health Promotion and earned a PhD in health services from the Fielding School of Public Health at UCLA.
Mariana Souto-Manning, Ph.D., is the fifth president of Erikson Institute, a premier institution dedicated to advancing knowledge, practice, and policy in early childhood education, child development, and family well-being. A first-generation immigrant from Brazil, Dr. Souto-Manning began her career as a public preschool teacher before earning her undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees from the University of Georgia. Her journey from educator to institutional leader underscores her lifelong dedication to building more effective, responsive, and research-driven early childhood systems. She is the author of 12 books and over 100 peer-reviewed articles, earning multiple honors, including the AERA Innovations in Research on Diversity in Teacher Education Award and an AERA Fellowship in 2023.
Before joining Erikson, Dr. Souto-Manning was a professor and director of Early Childhood Education and Teacher Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. She has held academic appointments at the University of Iceland and King’s College London and is an Honorary Research Professor at Teachers College. She has worked with research centers and universities across Australia, Brazil, Iceland, Ireland, and New Zealand. Domestically, she has led in professional organizations, including as chair of the National Council of Teachers of English Research Foundation and vice president of Division K (Teaching and Teacher Education) at the American Educational Research Association (AERA).
