Erika Christakis, MPH, MA, M.Ed.

Erika Christakis, MPH, MA, M.Ed. is an early childhood educator and New York Times bestselling author of The Importance of Being Little: What Young Children Really Need from Grownups. A former faculty member of the Yale Child Study Center, she has written widely about child development from preschool through the college years. Ms. Christakis is an honors graduate of Harvard College, where she majored in anthropology, and holds master’s degrees in public health, communication, and early childhood education. She is a Massachusetts and Vermont-certified teacher (pre-k through 2nd grade) as well as a licensed preschool director. For two years, she wrote a TIME.com Ideas column and her work has been featured in a number of other venues, including The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, CNN.com, Nightline, Salon, and NPR.