About the Presenters

Dr. Shai Fuxman, a behavioral health expert and Senior Research Scientist for Education Development Center (EDC), leads initiatives promoting the positive development of youth. He has extensive experience in social and emotional learning (SEL), school-based, trauma-informed care, and substance misuse prevention. He also has expertise in program evaluation, cultural competence, and quantitative and qualitative research.

Through his leadership of the EDC-implemented Massachusetts Social, Emotional, and Behavior Academy, Dr. Fuxman provides training and coaching to help the state’s schools and districts promote students’ SEL and mental health well-being using a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) approach. As a Prevention Solutions@EDC Training and Technical Assistance Specialist, he supports state agencies and community-based organizations to implement and evaluate effective substance misuse prevention programs. Fluent in Spanish, Hebrew, and English, Dr. Fuxman holds an M.Ed. and an Ed.D. in human development and psychology from Harvard University.

Kristi Goff is the District Lead MTSS Coordinator for Valdosta City Schools. A champion for students who face obstacles in finding success in their education experience, she is passionate about finding ways to help students overcome and be victorious. With over 25 years of experience in education, Kristi has supported students as a classroom teacher, intervention specialist, and now offers support across her district in her current role. Kristi is inspired daily by her husband and their two children. Outside of family time, Kristi enjoys her time outdoors whether on the coast, in her backyard, or in the deer stand.

About the Moderator

Jessica Berlinski is the Director of PreK-12 Education for Ripple Effects, an innovative social-change enterprise focused on leveraging personalized SEL to improve students’ behavior and academics and achieve educational equity. She brings over a decade of experience leading organizations dedicated to supporting the “whole child” through academic and SEL tools and programs to her work. Jessica co-founded and served as Chief Impact Officer of SEL tech start-ups, If You Can and Centervention (formerly Personalized Learning Games). In these roles, she commercialized the first evidence-based SEL assessment and learning game for K-12, and the first SEL iPad game for the consumer marketplace. Previously, she served as Managing Director of GameDesk, a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded non-profit focused on innovative learning models, and as National Director of Character Counts. Jessica speaks on technology and SEL at education and social-change conferences nationally, and her work has been featured on National Public Radio, and in Forbes and Newsweek. She graduated from Northwestern University with a B.A. in philosophy.