Who we are

Louise Derman - Sparks has worked for over 60 years on issues of diversity and social justice as: a preschool teacher at the Perry Preschool Project, a child-care center director, a human development faculty member at Pacific Oaks College, and social justice activist.

She is author and coauthor of several books, including "Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves", "Leading Anti-Bias Early Childhood Programs: A Guide to Change", "What if All the Kids are White? Anti-Bias/Multicultural Education for Young Children and Families", and of numerous articles.

Louise has presented keynote speeches, workshops and consultations throughout the United States and internationally. Now retired as a professor emerita, Louise continues to write, consult and network with anti-bias educators around the world.

Ana del Barrio Saiz is a developmental psychologist and organizational systemic consultant. Since 1995 she has been working in the Netherlands as an independent trainer and advisor on respect for diversity, equity and inclusion with educators, coaches and managers. From 2025 she is active as an ECEC and school advisor.

Ana has developed and delivered training for teachers of secondary schools in deprived urban areas; empowerment training for refugee organizations; and training and coaching for the international cooperation field. Since 2002 she has worked on professional development of ECEC educators and coaches, including one year for the national Cuna Más programme in Peru. Also she has conducted and supervised action-research projects on critical learning communities and democratic practice in childcare; and has contributed to a diversity pedagogical framework and publications linked to the CoRe-study (Competence Requirements in ECEC) and the EQF (European Quality Framework for ECEC).

Ana del Barrio Training & Consulting

Anastasia Chatzistefanou-Vafea is the director of “Schedia”-Center for Artistic and Pedagogical Training, a Greek NGO founded by a group of pedagogues and artists in 1987, with the aim of promoting social justice and equity through education and art.

Schedia has disseminated the Anti-Bias Approach in Greece, publishing the Greek edition of 'Anti-Bias Curriculum: Tools for Empowering Young Children' by Louise Derman-Sparks in 2004. It has developed models of artistic activities based on the four goals of the Anti-Bias Approach. These have been implemented in the context of the after-school centers run by the organization.

In addition, Schedia has effectuated many experiential training programs for pre-school and primary school educators on the Anti-Bias Approach through art. More than 2.000 educators have taken part in the above training workshops. The Anti-Bias book has been used as a handbook for students of the departments of Pre-school Education at two Universities in Greece (University of Ioannina and Democritus University of Thrace). As one of the founding members of the DECET network, Schedia has taken part in the dissemination of Anti-Bias Education to educators in several European countries.

Anastasia Chatzistefanou-Vafea studied Pedagogy in Athens and History of French Civilization in Paris. She has written three books and many articles on art as a means for fighting social exclusion and produced several educational materials (printed and audiovisual) regarding Anti-Bias Education through artistic expression. She has also directed a documentary on children as creators of films.

Dalvir Gill is a passionate research and education professional with over 30 years of national and international experience across seven public sector establishments including five universities. Her professional experience in education and early childhood studies includes lecturing, module, course designing, conveying and research. Her specialist academic and professional interests include diversity & inclusion, postcolonial studies, identity theories, children’s participation and rights, human rights, and social justice.

Dalvir has national and international research experience. She managed the England part of a Five Country research project, "Preschool and Immigrants in Five countries" (Tobin, et al).  This study examined the early childhood education and care (ECEC) systems of five countries, in relation to how they include the needs of children of recent immigrant families. Dalvir’s doctoral study examined perspectives of South Asian immigrant parents, and practitioners, on the construction of identity of young children during early childhood.

Kyriaki Kolliniati has worked as a Social Worker in various organizations and social welfare services in Greece, since 2012. During the last 8 years she also has been working in the field of education, in special elementary schools, in elementary schools and kindergartens of general education, as well as in KE.D.A.S.Y. (Interdisciplinary Assessment, Counseling and Support Centers), providing counseling services to children, parents and teachers. Kyriaki holds the Master’s Program (MSc) "Educational Sciences" of the School of Humanities of the Hellenic Open University (EAP).

In addition, she has received certifications in training programs of the University of Athens (NKUA) and the University of the Aegean with the subject "Theatre in Education: Pedagogical Method and Artistic Creation", "Intercultural and Inclusive Education" and "Use of Art in Education".

Since 2015 Kyriaki has been working for “Schedia”-Center for Artistic and Pedagogical Training, as a social worker and as an animator of artistic and theatrical activities in socio-pedagogical intervention programs. In these programs she has been using the Anti-Bias Approach and Art as effective methodological tools with the aim of combating the social exclusion of children and adolescents who belong to vulnerable social groups, and ensuring children's equal access to education and their social well-being.

From 2021 until 2023 Kyriaki participated in the core group meetings and online conferences organized by the European Network “DECET”, and in 2024 became the coordinator of  the STAND UP - International Network for Equity & Social Justice in ECEC Practice.

As a social worker, mediator, supervisor and anti-bias trainer, Gabriele has experience in various fields of social work. She comes from a non-academic family and has been living in Berlin, Germany for many years in a transcultural family (Muslim/Black) with an adult son and attaches great importance to reflecting on her white, ableised positioning.

Gabriele worked for a long time as a permanent member of staff at the Kinderwelten specialist centre and now works as a freelance speaker on the Anti-Bias Approach, primarily with educational groups from day-care centers and primary schools. She was an active member of the DECET network and she is now part of the STAND UP network. She specializes in teamwork and collaboration with parents, classism, transcultural families, anti-Muslim racism, critical whiteness, discrimination-sensitive children's books and play materials.

She has published various publications, such as: Gabriele Koné und Katrin Macha: “Die Puppe sieht aus wie ich!” (Fehlende) Vielfalt in Spielmaterialien. In: Volker Mehringer/Wiebke Waburg (eds.) (2020):  Spielzeug, Spiele und Spielen. Aktuelle Studien und Konzepte. Springer. Wiesbaden. Gabriele Koné und Paula Humborg: Spiegel, Fenster und die Glasschiebetür. In: Erika Schulze (2022): Diversität im Kinderbuch: Wie Vielfalt (nicht) vermittelt wird. Kohlhammer. Stuttgart.

Colette has more than 30 years’ experience in the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector in both national and international contexts. She is interested in transformative and emancipatory practice in education and society. She has advocated for a comprehensive Diversity, Equality and Social Justice approach in ECEC policy, training and practice, introducing the Anti-Bias Approach to the Irish ECEC sector. She is a board member of Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre and was a steering committee member of the international Reconceptualising Early Childhood Education (RECE) network from 2019-2024.

She is a founding member of the European Diversity in Early Childhood Education and Training (DECET) Network. Colette currently lectures on the Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) ECEC degree programme. She has developed and delivered EDI training nationally and has written and published primarily on social justice, diversity, equality and Traveller issues. Colette was recently awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in the Centre for Indian Education, in Arizona State University.

Mathias Urban, PhD, is Desmond Chair of Early Childhood Education, and Director of the Early Childhood Research Centre (ECRC) at Dublin City University, Ireland. He works on questions of integrated early childhood systems, diversity and equality, social justice, and professionalism in diverse socio-cultural contexts. Mathias is the lead author of the 2018 (Argentina), 2019 (Japan), 2020 (Saudi Arabia), 2021 (Italy), 2022 (Indonesia), and Brazil (2024) G20/T20 early childhood development, education and care policy briefs. He is a member of the European Commission expert working group on Early Childhood Education and Care, of the Global Advocacy Group with the global Right to Education initiative, and a board member of the Think Tank for Action on Social Change (TASC).

Petra Wagner, born 1958, educationalist, lives and works in Berlin/ Germany. She is cofounder of Kinderwelten, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to develop and disseminate Anti-Bias Education with young children and adults in Germany. Director of Kinderwelten from 2000 until 2025, manager of several projects, regional and federal. Author of numerous publications.

Key issues: Young children and diversity and anti-discrimination, democracy and social justice, multilingual education, organizational development and structural change. Since 2025 consultant for Kinderwelten.