Presenters
Photos and bios are listed alphabetically by first name. Click on any presenter’s name to skip down to their bio.
Briana Kurlinkus is a seasoned Early Childhood Specialist with over 27 years of dedicated experience in early childhood education. With a strong educational foundation and a passion for lifelong learning, Briana has worked with children from birth through school age, as well as with families and professionals across a variety of settings.
Throughout her career, Briana has served in diverse roles—including educator, program director, behavior coach, parent educator, and consultant—across both traditional and non-traditional early childhood settings. She is deeply committed to creating inclusive, nurturing, and developmentally appropriate environments that promote the mental health and social-emotional well-being of infants, young children, and their families. Grounded in trauma-informed care, reflective practice, and strong family partnerships, her work centers on supporting whole-child development through equitable, relationship-based approaches.
Briana is a respected and engaging presenter known for delivering dynamic, research-based professional development for educators and families. Her presentations focus on key topics such as: Early Childhood Neuroscience, Play-Based Learning Strategies, Empowering Connections, Supporting Diverse Family Dynamics, Trauma-Informed Practices in Early Education, Building Emotional Resilience in Young Children, Empowering Educator-Family Connections and Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Settings.
In addition to her extensive professional work, Briana is a passionate advocate for whole-child development, culturally responsive teaching, and meaningful family engagement. She currently consults with schools, childcare centers, and community organizations, offering customized training and support through collaboration and shared learning to ensure that every child, educator, and family feel recognized, respected and intentionally supported.
Delechia Johnson, MS, IMH-E®, is the Outreach and Training Lead at WI-AIMH, and has more than 30 years of extensive training and professional experience in the field of early care and education (ECE) as a master trainer in the state. She has worked in the field in various roles from a volunteer, director, educational coordinator, mentor, instructional coach, teacher and consultant. She is a professional who has been recognized as effective and impactful by her colleagues within the ECE community. Delechia has established positive relationships over the years with many ECE programs, mainly in Milwaukee and Southeast area of the state, by providing training and consultation. Delechia received her Master’s of Science in Early Childhood from Erikson Institute in 2018.
Dipesh Navsaria, MPH, MSLIS, MD, is a pediatrician working in the public interest. He blends the roles of physician, occasional children’s librarian, educator, public health professional, and child health advocate. With graduate degrees in public health, children’s librarianship, physician assistant studies, and medicine, he brings a unique combination of interests and experience together.
He is a professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine and Public Health, and a clinical professor of Human Development and Family Studies at the School of Human Ecology, both at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He has practiced primary care pediatrics in a variety of settings with special interest in underserved populations, and continues to practice in outpatient settings. He also works regionally and nationally with Reach Out and Read, as well as the American Academy of Pediatrics. In 2022, he was appointed by the White House to the National Museum and Library Services Board.
Committed to understanding how basic science can translate into busy primary-care settings via population health concepts and policy initiatives — and also be incorporated into transdisciplinary approaches across multiple sectors and schools of thought — Dr. Navsaria aims to educate the next generation of those who work with children and families in realizing how their professional roles include being involved in larger concepts of social policy and how they may affect the cognitive and socioemotional development of children for their future benefit. The various ways in which we can influence the environment around children and families — from the very micro to the most macro — to ensure they can flourish and thrive is at the heart of what he does.
Golshan Motamedi is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Before obtaining her clinical graduate degree as an MFT, Golshan spent 15 years providing childcare as a Day Camp Counselor, Primary Caregiver for Infant-K4 classrooms, and nanny. Golshan was also previously certified through the Wisconsin Child Care Registry while obtaining her BS in Psychology with a clinical concentration, helping build a foundational bridge between Golshan’s two passions: mental health and child development.
Golshan has experience working for a local non-profit in Dane Co. as a mental health professional, specializing in providing wrap-around mental health services for children and families impacted by trauma, and in a clinical group private-practice setting. Golshan is certified in Level One TheraPlay and TF-CBT, and has extensive experience working collaboratively with children, families, and systems who have been impacted by COVID-19, foster care, adoption, immigration, medical trauma, domestic violence, substance abuse, generational trauma, neurodiversity, burnout, and anxiety related to life transitions and global anxieties. Golshan has experience with facilitating brief trauma informed/focused SEL school-based groups, such as Bounce Back, CBITS and FACE-KIDS, client advocacy, as well as experience with crisis work and stabilization through Dane Co’s Rapid Response Program. In relation to her experiences with Dane Co’s Early Childhood Zones program, attending client IEPs, and consultation experience through Dane Co’s CORE program, Golshan has a deep appreciation for collaborative, reflective work that highlights the importance of respecting individual difference, and the power of supported systems.
Julia Yeary, LCSW, IMH-E® has been an advocate for children and their families since graduating from the University of Hawaii in 1980 with her master’s in social work. Much of her work has been dedicated to military families, motivated by Julia’s experience growing up as a child in a military family and raising her own children in a military family. Julia works to establish stronger support for families and their very young children experiencing stress and trauma. She provides training and consultation for communities throughout the country and has facilitated numerous webinars and distal training for multi-disciplinary professionals.
Contributions to Science from the Military Child Education Coalition in 2022. Julia is a graduate fellow of the Infant, Early Childhood, and Family Mental Health Capstone Certificate Program, University of Wisconsin, and is rostered in Trauma-Informed Child-Parent Psychotherapy. Julia has met the requirements for Infant Mental Health (IMH) Endorsement® for Culturally Sensitive, Relationship-Focused Practice Promoting Infant Mental Health as a Mentor in both Clinical and Policy. Julia is very active in the Wisconsin Alliance for Infant Mental Health (WI-AIMH) and has recently joined the WI-AIMH Board of Directors.
Kadija Johnston, LCSW, is a clinical social worker who has been a practitioner in the field of infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) since 1985. Her now nearly 40 year career in the infant mental health field began as a teacher/therapist and mental health consultant at the Early Childhood Mental Health Program.
Ms. Johnston is currently an independent consultant to several states and many programs across the country and internationally, assisting them in developing and implementing diversity and equity informed infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) clinical programs. She is an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Child and Human Development where she is contributing her expertise and experience in early childhood mental health consultation to two national TA centers. Ms. Johnston is the past Director of the Infant- Parent Program at the University of California, San Francisco, where she pioneered an approach to IECMH Consultation which now serves as a model for other organizations, locally, nationally, and internationally. Ms. Johnston is active in several national early childhood mental health organizations, including being a founding member of the Reflective Supervision Collaborative and RAINE, a Southwest Human Development sponsored group of national experts advancing practice, policy and research in ECMH Consultation. She writes and lectures nationally on infant and early childhood mental health related topics. In addition to numerous articles, she co-authored the book Mental Health Consultation in Child Care: Transforming Relationships With Directors, Staff, and Families.
In the final phase of her professional journey, Kadija is committed, and devoting energy to authentically instilling equity, diversity, and inclusion principles and transformational healing practices in all her endeavors. To this end, she is co-facilitating communities of practice and providing webinars directed at the intersection of equity and early childhood clinical practice. She is a national workshop facilitator on the Diversity Informed Tenets for Work with Infant, Children and Families.
Lana Shklyar Nenide, MS, is the Executive Director at WI-AIMH—a state-wide nonprofit agency charged with supporting social and emotional wellness of infants and young children in the context of their family, community, and culture. She holds a master’s degree in educational psychology from the University of Wisconsin, is a graduate of the Napa Infant-Parent Mental Health Post Graduate Certificate Program, and holds Infant Mental Health Endorsement at the Policy designation.
Lana joined WI-AIMH in 2006 to oversee professional development efforts of the agency. Lana is a member of the Fussy Baby Network and provides training and consultation on the FAN framework. Lana has been a faculty at the Wisconsin Infant, Early Childhood, and Family Mental Health Capstone Certificate program, and is appointed to serve on the Governor’s Early Childhood Advisory Council. Lana is a ZERO TO THREE Academy fellow and 2020 recipient of the Pyramid Model Champion Award.
Lana has been dedicated to finding ways to meaningfully integrate mental health approach and the Pyramid Model framework. She led a team of experts to produce an edited volume titled “Uniting Infant Mental Health and the Pyramid Model: Connecting Principles and Practices to Improve Outcomes” published by Brookes in 2025.
Linda Hall is the Director at Wisconsin Office of Children’s Mental Health. The well-being of children and increased support for families have been the primary focus of her career in health and mental health policy. She has pursued this agenda at the National Governors’ Association, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau, Kids Forward, and as Executive Director of the Wisconsin Association of Family & Children’s Agencies. Since being appointed by Governor Evers in 2019 to lead the Wisconsin Office of Children’s Mental Health, she has had the privilege of collaborating with state and mental health leaders, youth with lived experience, and parent partners to improve the children’s mental health system and highlight what we all can do to support the well-being of children.
Myra McNair (she/her) is an Executive Director, Psychotherapist, Trauma Specialist, Hypnotherapist, and LMFT. She is the visionary founder and owner of Anesis Therapy. Since opening the clinic in 2016 as the sole therapist, Myra's passion for providing culturally sensitive services has helped it grow into a dynamic team of over 50 dedicated staff members. Her uniquely empathetic and strength-based therapeutic approach focuses on potential and possibility, honoring each client's inherent wisdom and generational strengths rather than deficits or pathology.
Myra's vision for her clients and the mental health field aligns closely with Sankofa, a West African symbol emphasizing the importance of learning from the past to build a stronger future. This concept informs her therapeutic work, guiding clients to understand their histories to shape their present and future and pass on understanding and healing to succeeding generations.
Myra leads by example in fostering growth in the mental health field. She nurtures the next generation of professionals through robust clinical internships at Anesis. Additionally, she serves as an Adjunct Professor for the Marriage and Family Therapy Program at Edgewood College, her alma mater, and mentors in the UW Infant Mental Health Program, from which she also graduated.
Embracing reflective supervision with her team and fostering an inclusive environment, Myra incorporates a variety of therapeutic modalities into her practice. Along with a strong foundation in psychoanalytic and narrative therapies, she employs EMDR therapy, Hypnotherapy, TF-CBT, Child Parent Psychotherapy, and Brainspotting to tailor her approach to her clients' needs. Beyond her clinical and teaching roles, Myra serves the community through her participation on the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce Board and the Dane County Community Justice Council, helping to shape local business and justice initiatives.
Her pioneering work has earned multiple accolades, including the NAMI Dane County 2020 Mental Health Trailblazer award, the Black Chamber of Commerce 2020 Eagle Award, and the Wisconsin Alliance on Infant Mental Health Spirit Award. In 2022, Myra was recognized as one of Brava Magazine's "Women 2 Watch," in Business Magazine's "40 under 40," and as a Health Innovator in the 2017 "M List." With her unwavering commitment to service, education, and innovation, Myra McNair continues to pave the way for a more inclusive, compassionate, and culturally sensitive mental health field.