Meet the Speakers
Keynote Speakers
Dr Emma Goodall
Director Strategic Translational Research
Department of Premier and Cabinet
South Australia
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Dr Emma Goodall
Dr Emma Goodall was the inaugural Director of South Australia’s Office for Autism which sits within the Department for Premier and Cabinet, delivering a state autism charter and practical outcomes for autistic individuals in South Australia. Now the Director, Strategic Translational Research, Emma is applying research to policy to ensure effective changes are made. Emma has worked extensively in the areas of autism, education, research and public policy and teacher training across Australia, New Zealand, the UK and mainland Europe.
Emma is an autistic researcher, author, educator and parent of an autistic adult. She has a passion for using translation research to support policy and practice across the lifespan and a particular passion for the use of interoception strategies to support emotional wellbeing. Previously Emma was a National Manager in a Federal autism and education project, Manager Disability and Complex Needs for the SA Department for Education, as well as sitting on a number of executive committees and leading a national research project.
Dr Junlei Li
Co-Chair, Human Development and Education; Saul Zaentz Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education
Harvard University Graduate School of Education
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Dr Junlei Li
Junlei Li, Ph.D. is the Program Chair of the Human Development and Education and the Saul Zaentz Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education. As a developmental psychologist, his research and practice focus on supporting the helpers – those who serve children and families on the frontlines of education and social services. Studying orphanages, child care, schools, youth programs, he co-develops the “Simple Interactions” approach (www.simpleinteractions.org) to help affirm what ordinary people do extraordinarily well with children in everyday moments. His work is significantly inspired by the pioneering work of Fred Rogers when he served as the Co-Director and Rita M. McGinley Chair for Early Learning and Children’s Media at the Fred Rogers Center.
Brenda Matthews
Co-Founder/Indigenous Director
Learning Circle Australia
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Brenda Matthews
Brenda Matthews is a proud Wiradjuri woman living with her husband, Mark, in Bundjalung country, Queensland.
Brenda co-directed the feature documentary The Last Daughter, which was released in Australian cinemas and on Netflix in mid-2023 and on ABC in 2024 to excellent reviews and critical acclaim. The film is based on her beautifully penned book of the same title, and was also released in 2023 to excellent reviews.
Brenda’s journey from being part of the stolen generation to becoming a Mother, Grandmother, Author, Speaker, Film Director, Storyteller and Co-Founder/Director of Learning Circle is an inspiring testament to the power of healing and reconciliation.
Her remarkable story, as eloquently portrayed in her debut book and Netflix documentary feature film, “The Last Daughter,” encapsulates heartbreak, love, forgiveness, hope and bringing the Country together.
Martha J. Holden
Co-Director, Residential Child Care Project, Cornell University
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Martha J. Holden
Martha J. Holden, Director of the Residential Child Care Project at Cornell University, is the author of the book, CARE: Creating Conditions for Change, a program model for residential child caring organizations and the lead developer of the Therapeutic Crisis Intervention System (TCI). Ms. Holden provides technical assistance to agencies to implement CARE in residential child caring agencies, juvenile justice programs, schools, and child welfare organizations throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Spain, and Taiwan. Previously Ms. Holden served as an administrator overseeing the day-to-day operations of a residential treatment agency for adolescents. Ms. Holden has been studying how to improve the quality of care for children in out of home placements through training, technical assistance, writing, influencing organizational culture, and changing systems throughout her career
Prof Jorge Fernández del Valle
Director of the Child and Family Research Group, University of Oviedo, Spain
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Professor Jorge Fernández del Valle
Jorge Fernández del Valle is Full Professor of Psychosocial Intervention at the University of Oviedo (Spain) and he is the Director of the Child and Family Research Group (Grupo de Investigación en Familia e Infancia-GIFI). His research focuses on programme evaluation in residential and foster care and needs assessments of particular groups, such as unaccompanied migrant young people or children in residential care suffering from mental health problems. As a result of this research activity, he has designed and implemented a Recording and Assessment System for Residential Child Care (SERAR) that is implemented in nine Autonomous Communities in Spain. He has also coordinated the publication of the National Standards of Quality for Child Residential Care, ordered by the Spanish Ministry of Health and Social Services in 2013. Prof. del Valle is author/co-author/editor of 15 books and nearly 100 peer review papers and book chapters in the field of child welfare.
Prof Lisa Holmes
Professor of Applied Social Science, School of Education and Social Work, University of Sussex
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Professor Lisa Holmes
Lisa joined the University of Sussex in 2022 as Professor in Applied Social Science. Lisa started her academic career in 2000, as a research assistant, based in the Centre for Child and Family Research at Loughborough University. Between 2013 and 2017 she was the Director of the research centre and led a large portfolio of research and evaluation projects focused on children’s social care. Lisa then led the Rees Centre at the University of Oxford between 2017 and 2022.
Lisa has published a range of books, journal articles and project evaluation reports. Along with her colleagues, Professor James Whittaker and Professor Jorge F del Valle, Lisa is co-chair of the International Work Group for Therapeutic Residential Care. In late 2017, along with colleagues at UCL and the University of Oxford, Lisa established the Children’s Social Care Data User Group (https://cscdug.co.uk/). The group provides a forum to share expertise and learning between all users and potential users (academic, practice and policy) of children’s social care data.
Lisa first started her career in children’s social care as an outreach worker in the early 1990s, followed by three
