Join Us NOW To Save Our Children
AI For Good
Tools For Parents And Caregivers
Music & Edutainment
Fun Ways to Lifelong Learning
Founder & Chairman
Sam Beard
"Edutainment Music is one of the most powerful tools we have to reach hearts and shape minds. In two years with the Carnegie Hall Lullaby Project in Kitui County, Kenya, GIFT has impacted 65,000 under-resourced mothers with newborns using music. With TV, radio and PSA's, Stellar Mengele has reached four million +. The President of Kenya recognized Stellar as one Kenya's Top 30 Most Influential Citizens. With initial steps taken in 2024-25, GIFT CONNECT will take Edutainment Music across the USA by 2030."
Think Big! Yes We Can!
Six Loving Habits
Science Proven
Six Habits. One Foundation. Parents With Love.
Early learning isn't built in classrooms — it's built in living rooms, kitchens and bedtime routines with parents. The "Loving Habits" make learning joyful, natural, and powerful.
Speak
Talk to your baby all the time. Every word grows their brain.
Sing
Songs build language, rhythm, emotion... and trust.
Read
Reading together boosts imagination, vocabulary, and connection.
Play
Free play builds creativity, problem-solving and resilience.
Count
Early math teaches pattern recognition and logic.
Serve & Return
Respond to your baby's cues. Baby responds to your actions. Connection is the core of learning.
Legacy Of Literacy
Breaking the Cycles of Trauma and Poverty
Too many families are trapped in cycles of poverty, trauma, and adversity, often stretching back generations. These cycles impact brain development, school readiness, and emotional well-being.
At GIFT CONNECT, we believe parents are not the problem.
They are the solution.
Our trauma-informed approach empowers parents and caregivers with:
- •Healing tools for emotional resilience and generational recovery
- •Early development practices rooted in neuroscience
- •Leadership training to help caregivers become champions in their homes and communities
The impact: Stronger parents. Healthier children. Smarter communities.
Breaking the cycle isn't a dream. It's a plan — and it starts in the first 1,000 days.
Advisory Council
In 2024, GIFT CONNECT (GC) had the honor to invite and engage 21 top-level USA and global early childhood development leaders, experts and scientists to help guide GC and collaborate to be transformational in impact.
Sam Beard
Founder
Over 50 years in public service. Began work with Senator Robert Kennedy. Created and ran programs with 8 Presidents of the U.S., including 6 initiatives. Each initiative changed over 50 million lives. Created the Jefferson Awards with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Senator Robert Taft, Jr.
David Bray
Principal, LeadDoAdapt Ventures, Inc.
Loomis Innovation Council Member & Distinguished Fellow, Henry S. Stimson Center, Business Executives for National Security.
Dave Dennis
President Emeritus
President Emeritus of Specialty Contractors & Associates in Gulfport. Dennis has been in leadership positions with many professional and civic organizations. He is Chair of the Board of the Children's Foundation of Mississippi and was a significant leader in creating the Mississippi Miracle.
Bill Milliken
Founder & Chairman, Communities in Schools
One of America's largest non-profits impacting underserved youth from kindergarten through grade 12.
Donna Norton
Executive VP & Chief Advancement & Strategy Officer, MomsRising
Founding Member. Norton is an innovator and strategic manager with more than 20 years of experience working on women's rights and gender equality on a variety of policy challenges. Norton has one million activists and will help guide GC.
Sarah Rittling
Executive Director, First Five Years Fund
A major bipartisan leadership organization in America working to raise federal funding for early childhood development.
Mark Sadovnick
Managing Partner, 5th Element Group
A leading, global collaborative organization for over 6 years. One major initiative is AI for Good and he is committed to help guide and advocate for GC's AI initiative.
Eric Sapp
Founder & President, Public Democracy, Inc.
Entrepreneur. A nationally-recognized leader in the global "Data for Good" movement. Pioneered breakthroughs in AI and empathy-based machine learning. Non-resident Senior Fellow at Atlantic Council.
Maria Snyder
Artist, Eco-Entrepreneur, Author & Designer
Founder Eco Boys and Girls. She is committed to this and ECD. In recent years, Maria has focused her many creative talents on raising environmental awareness and positively impacting how boys and girls see and connect with the earth.
Jose Antonio Tijerino
President & CEO, Hispanic Heritage Foundation
A national nonprofit focused on education, workforce, social impact, and culture through innovative leadership. (38 cities across America with important Hispanic populations.) Executive Producer, Hispanic Heritage Awards at the Kennedy Center.
Cindy Minton Walker
Early Childhood Development Leader
Over 30 years pioneering and leading the fight for Early Childhood Development. Began as a major leader in South Carolina, and then moved to Mississippi where she served as project director South MS PreK4Wards and helped build "The Mississippi Miracle."
Rebecca Kelley
Executive VP of Advocacy & Community Development, Waterford.org
$70 Million non-profit operating in 70+ communities nationwide.
Terry Lierman
Former Staff Director, US Senate Committee on Appropriations
Chief of Staff to the US House Majority Leader, a long-time advocate for medical research, and candidates for Congressional and presidential offices.
Dr. Suzanne Mayo
Professor, Grambling State University
Early Childhood Development Professor in Louisiana. Special focus Birth to 3. Plus, hands-on training of underserved mothers building empowerment and working with newborns and toddlers. Long-term Black leader at the highest levels with leading Black organizations across America.
Matthew Melmed
Executive Director, ZERO TO THREE
One of America's science-based and proven ECD leaders for over 40 years.
Libby Doggett, PhD
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary, USDOE
Leveraging 40+ years of leadership honed through work in schools, Head Start, and childcare Libby has worked to improve the well-being of children in Texas. She serves on numerous national, state, and local boards that impact the quality of life of our nation's youngest children.
Kathy Eldon
Author, Film Producer, Journalist
Inspired by the life of her son Dan Eldon, Kathy founded Creative Visions Foundation and Creative Visions Productions which for over 20 years have leveraged the power of Media and the Arts to ignite positive social change.
Dr. Cyndie Hatcher, MD, MPH
Board Certified Pediatrician
Former attending physician at Boston Medical Center. Lead the team-based care pilot program innovating improved care delivery models for children. With Dr. Barry Zuckerman and WGBH created "Small Moments, Big Impact," a phone app and online tool that helps improve empathy and attachment within the mother-baby dyad.
Bawa Jain
Founder President, The Centre for Responsible Leadership
Bawa Jain served as Secretary General, World Council of Religious Leaders and in 2000, led the United Nations' Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders.
Carolyn Wall
Senior Media Executive
Over thirty years of experience as a Senior Media Executive in publishing, broadcasting, branding, and strategic content marketing. Her former roles include VP/GM of New York TV flagship Fox5; Publisher of New York Magazine; EVP of Murdoch Magazines, and US President of Narrowstep, a broadband TV company based in the UK.
Kathryn Way
Early Childhood Development Expert
Over 30 years of experience in early childhood development. Represented Delaware Governor Mike Castle to the National Governor's Association. NGA created a breakthrough "first 60 months" report in the 1980's. Special Assistance to President Bill Clinton for Early Childhood Development.
Dr. Barry Zuckerman
Professor & Chair Emeritus, Boston University Medicine
Department of Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center. Co-Founder: HealthLeads (Healthy Steps). Co-Founder: Reach Out & Read. Co-Founder and Co-Director: "Small Moments, Big Impact"