# Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University: Leveraging the power of science in pursuit of better, more equitable outcomes for young children facing adversity > Learn about our mission to leverage the power of science in pursuit of better, more equitable outcomes for young children facing adversity\. Generated by Yoast SEO v27.9, this is an llms.txt file, meant for consumption by LLMs. ## Pages - [National Scientific Council on the Developing Child  ](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/our-approach/councils/national-scientific-council/) - [Center Happenings](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/news-insights/center-happenings/): Read about our latest milestones, projects, happenings, and more\. - [Founding Director](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/founding-director/) - [Homepage](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/homepage/): Our mission is to leverage the power of science in pursuit of better, more equitable outcomes for young children facing adversity\. - [Events](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/center-events/): Find information on upcoming events, access webinar recordings, and more\. ## Events - [Strengthening Stability: Actionable Strategies to Support Young Children and Caregivers](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/event/webinar/strategies-support-stability-children-caregivers/): Join our live conversation exploring how stability across multiple domains shapes healthy development for young children and their caregivers\. ## In the News - [Rhode Island must continue investing in the mental health of its youngest children](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/in-the-news/rhode-island-must-continue-investing-in-the-mental-health-of-its-youngest-children/) - [The Science of Mattering with Dr\. Lindsey Burghardt](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/in-the-news/the-science-of-mattering-with-dr-lindsey-burghardt/) - [Stephanie M\. Jones ’92 Named Head of Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/in-the-news/stephanie-m-jones-92-named-head-of-harvard-universitys-center-on-the-developing-child/) - [Stability Can Have Long\-Lasting Effects on Childhood Development](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/in-the-news/stability-can-have-long-lasting-effects-on-childhood-development/) - [Want to raise successful kids? Harvard research says it all comes down to 1 simple word](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/in-the-news/want-to-raise-successful-kids-harvard-research-says-it-all-comes-down-to-1-simple-word/) ## Key Concepts - [Developmental Environments](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/key-concept/developmental-environments/) - [Serve and Return](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/key-concept/serve-and-return/): Learn how these interactions form a critical part of a child’s environment of relationships and impact development and lifelong health\. - [Brain Architecture](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/key-concept/brain-architecture/): Learn how early experiences shape brain architecture—and all our developing biological systems—which provide the foundation for all future learning, behavior, and health\. - [Lifelong Health and Well\-being  ](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/key-concept/lifelong-health/): Learn more about how these systems adapt to children’s developmental environments—for better or worse—with potential lifelong impacts on health and well\-being\. - [Timing and Critical Periods](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/key-concept/timing-and-critical-periods/) ## People - [Aaliyah Maxwell, PhD](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/people/aaliyah-maxwell/): \

Senior Fellow\ Dr\. Aaliyah Maxwell, a Fellow at the Center, is the Vice President of Policy and Advocacy at NWEA\. Aaliyah is a bilingual executive leader with expertise from early childhood through higher education\. Her experience includes program evaluation and evidence\-based programs; data collection and disaggregation; family and community engagement support strategies; and policy development and implementation at the local, state, and national level\. - [Jack P\. Shonkoff, MD](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/people/jack-shonkoff/): Jack P\. Shonkoff, M\.D\., is the Julius B\. Richmond FAMRI Professor of Child Health and Development at the Harvard T\.H\. Chan School of Public Health and the Harvard Graduate School of Education; Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital; Research Staff at Massachusetts General Hospital; and Founding Director of the university\-wide Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University\. - [Cindy Martell](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/people/cindy-martell/): Cindy Martell joined the Center in March 2013 and currently serves as the Executive Coordinator to Dr\. Jack Shonkoff\. In this role, Cindy skillfully manages Jack’s administrative duties plus is also responsible for assisting the Center’s leadership team as needed\. Cindy is the office manager for the Center and ensures the smooth operation of the Center\. - [Melanie Berry, PsyD](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/people/melanie-berry/) - [Stephanie M\. Jones, PhD](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/people/stephanie-jones/): Gerald S\. Lesser Professor in Early Childhood Development, Harvard Graduate School of Education Faculty Director, Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative Faculty Co\-Chair, Early Childhood Concentration Director of EASEL Lab ## Press Releases - [Example Press Release](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/press-releases/example-press-release/) ## Resource Guides - [A Guide to Developmental Environments](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resource-guides/a-guide-to-developmental-environments/): Learn how the conditions in places where children live, learn, play, and grow shape their developing brains and other biological systems, with implications for lifelong health and well\-being\. - [A Guide to Stability](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resource-guides/a-guide-to-stability/): Explore how stability shapes early childhood development and find strategies to create, maintain, and restore stable developmental environments for children and their caregivers\.  - [A Guide to Executive Function](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resource-guides/guide-executive-function/): Executive function skills help us plan, focus attention, switch gears, and juggle tasks\. Learn how to enhance and develop these core skills for lifelong health and well\-being\. - [A Guide to Mental Health](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resource-guides/guide-mental-health/): Learn how early experiences shape the architecture of the developing brain and lay the foundations for mental health across the lifespan\. - [A Guide to Individual Differences](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resource-guides/guide-individual-differences/): Learn how a better understanding of individual variation in early childhood can help us design policies and programs that achieve greater impacts at scale\. ## Resources - [Children's Emotional Development Is Built into the Architecture of Their Brains](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/working-paper/childrens-emotional-development-is-built-into-the-architecture-of-their-brains/) - [Policy Q\&A: The Importance of Providing Stability—and Play—for Young Children Experiencing Homelessness ](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/policy-insights/importance-of-stability-and-play-children-experiencing-homelessness/): Kate Barrand of Horizons for Homeless Children discusses how housing instability affects young children—and how programs and policies can buffer against the impacts\. - [At a Glance: Water and Early Childhood Development](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/handouts-tools/water-and-early-childhood-development/): Learn how water affects early childhood development—and find practical, actionable solutions that you can apply to support children and caregivers in your community\.  - [InBrief \|  Air Quality Affects Early Childhood Development and Health ](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbriefs/inbrief-air-quality-affects-early-childhood-development/): Read key takeaways on how air quality affects young children’s health and development and find effective strategies to improve indoor air quality\. - [InBrief \| A Cascade of Impacts: The Many Ways Water Affects Child Development](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbriefs/water-affects-child-development-inbrief/) ## Categories - [Uncategorized](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/category/uncategorized/) ## Event Types - [Upcoming Webinar](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/event-type/webinar/) ## Languages - [English](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/language/en/) - [Spanish](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/language/es/) - [Japanese](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/language/ja/) - [Portuguese](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/language/pt/) - [Slovak](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/language/sk/) ## Person Types - [Affiliated Faculty](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/person-type/affiliated-faculty/) - [Staff](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/person-type/staff/) - [Center Fellows and Senior Fellows](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/person-type/center-fellows-and-senior-fellows/) - [JPB](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/person-type/jpb/) - [National Scientific Council](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/person-type/national-scientific-council/) ## Resource Types - [Video](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resource-type/videos/) - [Podcast](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resource-type/podcasts/) - [InBrief](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resource-type/inbriefs/) - [Working Paper](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resource-type/working-paper/) - [Webinar](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resource-type/webinars/) ## Topics - [Developmental Environments](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/topic/developmental-environments/) - [Brain Architecture](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/topic/brain-architecture/) - [Lifelong Health and Wellbeing](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/topic/lifelong-health/) - [Toxic Stress](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/topic/toxic-stress/) - [Resilience](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/topic/resilience/) ## Optional - [Sitemap index](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/sitemap_index.xml)