Danielle is a dedicated Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) based in Houston. With over a decade of experience, she has provided steadfast support for children and families, both at Wonders & Worries and in the Outpatient Hematology Oncology Clinic at Texas Children’s Hospital. Danielle earned her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Texas A&M University, and she furthered her education with a Master of Science in Human Development and Family Studies from Texas State University.

Beyond her professional achievements, Danielle shares a fulfilling family life with her husband and two beautiful children. Their love for the outdoors is evident in their shared activities, whether it be camping, exploring nature through hikes, or enjoying bike rides.

Whitney has been a Certified Child Life Specialist for 15 years in both Houston and Dallas. After interacting with a child life specialist during her own medical procedure as a child, she attended Baylor University and earned a bachelor’s degree in Child and Family Studies fulfilling her childhood dream of working in the field of Child Life. She has served children and their families on the inpatient oncology unit at Children's Health: Children's Medical Center Dallas prior to joining Wonders & Worries in Houston. As a proud lifelong learner, she earned a master’s degree from Texas Woman's University in early childhood education and has served as an adjunct professor in their Child Life program.
Outside of work, Whitney is a devoted mom to two school-aged children and a wife to her college sweetheart. You can find her searching for antiques, reading, walking her spaniel Rosie or cheering her kids on!

Katelyn has been a Certified Child Life Specialist since 2017. She spent the first 18 months of her career supporting patients and families in the hematology and oncology unit before transitioning to work in a per diem capacity serving patients and families around the hospital system. In 2022, Katelyn transitioned to become the first fulltime outreach child life specialist in the organization and focused her efforts in radiology, helping to reduce the use of sedation in children undergoing MRIs for the first time. In addition to her clinical role, Katelyn serves as a mentor to new child life specialists and serves as the co-chair on the Teamwork and Recognition committee for the child life department.

Ashton Magness is a CCLS from Dallas, TX. Ashton has been certified and worked at Children's Health for a little over a year and a half. She works with a team of CCLS in radiology, with her primary coverage modalities including Nuclear Medicine, Fluoroscopy, CT and Sonography. Ashton is currently excited about the work her and her team are doing to expand their Kids Can MRI program to areas such as Nuclear Medicine and CT to help reduce sedation rates. As a student, Ashton completed clinical rotations at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Clevelend, OH (Internship) and Integris Children's at Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City, OK (Practicum). She graduated from John Brown University with a B.S. in Family and Human Services and with her M.S. In Child Life Studies from Missouri State University. Along with her fellow presenter, she is a co-chair for Children's Health's child life department Teamwork and Recognition Committee. Ashton looks forward to sharing with conference attendees what has been dreamed up and provided for her teammates, how those initiatives have impacted department culture, and the importance of emphasizing relationships within a work environment.

Emily Goldstein, MS, CCLS is a current PhD student at the University of Georgia in the department of Human Development and Family Sciences. Emily’s primary research interests are focused on child life research, disability studies, and the intersection of these two areas. Emily hopes to expand the scope of research methodology in child life by imploring new theories and measurements that can complement existing child life research. Emily has been a Certified Child Life Specialist since 2019. Emily received both her bachelor’s and her master’s degrees from the University of Alabama, where she worked closely with Dr. Sherwood Burns-Nader in her Child Life and Child Development lab.

Lauren Licata, BS, CCLS is a Certified Child Life Specialist II at Children's Mercy hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. Lauren has worked in a variety of settings during her 10 years as a child life specialist; inpatient, critical care, behavioral health, emergency department, and most recently as a weekend option employee, providing services to the whole hospital. The flexibility of this role has allowed Lauren to gain experience with the behavioral health population during more acute and long-term hospitalizations, including working with the hospital wide behavioral health team to implement care plans, procedures and policies to focus on these patient's psychosocial needs. Lauren also currently serves as co-chair of the department's Comfort Specialty Committee and helped roll out the hospital-wide Comfort Promise initiative by doing staff presentations and educational trainings throughout the Children's Mercy campuses. Lauren is passionate about providing emotionally safe care to all patients and families and continues to advocate for practices that reflect this level of care.

Alex Martin, MS, CCLS, is a certified child life specialist at Children's Mercy Hospital. Alex has been a child life specialist for over 10 years and has worked in inpatient areas, outpatient clinics, the emergency department, the child abuse clinic, and with the behavioral health population. She is currently the Parent Support Program Coordinator in the Kreamer Resource Center for families where she works with the team to create programming for parents and provide support and resources to caregivers with children in the hospital. In this role, she is also a secondary handler to one of the hospital's facility dogs and can offer facility dog visits and events as a method of support to families. She previously was the child life behavioral health program coordinator where she started the behavioral health program to provide consistent child life services to behavioral health patients admitted to the hospital. This included working with the hospital wide behavioral health team to implement care plans and procedures and policies to focus on the psychosocial needs of long term and short term behavioral health patients. Through this role, she was able to focus on emotional safety for this population and create interventions and activities to prioritize emotionally safe care for behavioral health patients.

Jessica Liles, MPS, CCLS, serves as the Director of Volunteer & Family Support for Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital. She began her career at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in 2006, after completing a dual internship in music therapy and child life. As a Certified Child Life Specialist, she provided direct clinical care in both inpatient and outpatient settings for over a decade before moving into a formal leadership role. Professionally, Jessica enjoys learning about new topics and supporting others, which led to her interest in this topic. Outside of work, Jessica enjoys spending time with her family and friends, playing Aunt Neta's card game, shopping at Costco, and snuggling with her puppies, Ike and Oakley.

Jessika Boles, PhD, CCLS is an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Department of Psychology and Human Development at Vanderbilt University, and a Certified Child Life Specialist at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Religious Studies from Rhodes College, a Master's degree in Applied Child Studies from Vanderbilt University, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Educational Psychology with a graduate certificate in Qualitative Research from the University of Memphis. She has been a practicing child life specialist for fourteen years, the first 8 of which were spent in pediatric and adolescent oncology at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, with the following years dedicated to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. Dr. Boles is known for her research on the concept of legacy as it is perceived by various stakeholders and translated into clinical practices with children and families. Additionally, as the leader of the CHILL (Children's Healthcare, Illness, Legacy, and Loss) lab at Vanderbilt University, her research brings together multidisciplinary collaborators and student researchers to study the psychosocial needs and experiences of children and families in multiple contexts: pediatric critical care, medical complexity, developmental disabilities, adverse childhood experiences, and grief and bereavement. She has held multiple posts in the Association of Child Life Professionals, and currently serves as a Research Fellow for the Association of Child Life Professionals and as a voting member of the Institutional Review Board at Vanderbilt University and Medical Center. In her spare time, she enjoys punk rock, her family's home and menagerie of pets in Montana, and spending time with her children and husband.

Sarah Daniels, PhD, CCLS, (pronouns she/her/hers) is a Certified Child Life Specialist working in a remote research role for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. She also works as an adjunct instructor teaching undergraduate and master's level courses in Human Development and Family Studies. Sarah received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Rhodes College, and both master’s and doctoral degrees in Educational Psychology and Research from the University of Memphis. Sarah’s research and quality improvement interests include projects that evaluate the feasibility, efficacy, and role of child life services in the hospital setting. More specifically, Sarah enjoys exploring trends in technology use and youth development, psychosocial aspects of adolescent and young adult oncology, and mixed methods research design. Sarah is a member of the Research Fellows for the ACLP and volunteers as a member of the Review Board for the Journal of Child Life: Psychosocial Theory and Practice.

Kathryn Cantrell, PhD, CCLS is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Human Development, Family Studies, and Counseling at Texas Woman’s University. Dr. Cantrell worked as a child life specialist for children and families with HIV at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and completed her doctorate in Counseling Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She trained as a pediatric psychologist working primarily with children with medical trauma. Using mixed methods, she researches illness disclosure, online patient communities, and racial disparities in pediatrics. Dr. Cantrell is a former executive editor of The Journal of Child Life and a current Research Fellow with the Association of Child Life Professionals.

Brittany Wittenberg Camp, PhD, CCLS, CFLE is a Program Development Coordinator for the Child Life and Therapeutic Arts Program at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. In this role, Brittany is developing, implementing, and evaluating the adaptive care program throughout the Phoenix Children’s network, and providing clinical leadership to the outpatient child life team. Brittany completed her PhD, MA, and BS in Human Development and Family Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin. Brittany practiced as a child life specialist at Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas and worked in academia as an assistant professor at Missouri State University and Louisiana State University, where she helped develop and grow the child life programs at both universities. Brittany’s research interests include academic and research preparation of child life students; healthcare professionals' perception of the CCLS role; and the impact of child life services on children, their families, and healthcare providers. Brittany has published in the The Journal of Child Life: Psychosocial Theory and Practice, Journal of Interprofessional Care, Pediatric Dental Journal, Family Relations, Child Abuse and Neglect, and Journal of Child and Family Studies. In 2015, Brittany completed the inaugural ACLP Leadership Academy and has since served on various ACLP committees, including Scientific Advancement of Professional Practice, Awards, and Research and Scholarship.

Mary Ann began her career as a CCLS with the Adaptive Care Team and Behavior Safety Team at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. After relocating from Cincinnati, Mary Ann spent two additional years as a child life specialist in hematology/oncology before transitioning to her current role as a clinical research coordinator at the Vanderbilt Center for Asthma Research. Mary Ann holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from St. Mary's College of Maryland and a Master of Education in Applied Child Studies from Vanderbilt University. Mary Ann's interests in disability advocacy and neurodiversity-affirming practice stem from both professional and personal experience. She has previously presented on these topics at the regional Southeastern Association of Child Life Professionals and written about them in the ACLP Bulletin.

Kerri Birkett is a Certified Child Life Specialist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital working with the Adaptive Care Team. Her work includes facilitating and providing direct support for patients with neurodevelopmental and behavioral disorders by providing individualized education, preparation, procedural support, and therapeutic play. Kerri earned her Bachelors of Arts in Health Promotion from the University of Iowa and Masters of Science in Health Science at Northern Kentucky University. Kerri is a handler to Cincinnati’s first hospital facility dog, incorporating the use of animal-assisted therapy in her daily practice. Kerri is a graduate of the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) program and holds a certification in Therapeutic Crisis Intervention. Kerri has publications through Pediatrics and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and served as a subject matter expert for Hospital Pediatrics. Outside of her clinical work, Kerri enjoys spending time with her family and pack of dogs, hiking, baking, and happy hour with friends.

Briana Keller is a research assistant at Vanderbilt University. Her research interests include needs of siblings of children with chronic illness, and psychosocial care for children and families experiencing stigmatized grief. She has previously presented at conferences including the American Academy of Pediatrics, and published in journals such as Journal of Advanced Nursing and the Journal of Child Life. Briana holds a master's degree in Child Studies and will be beginning her PhD studies in the fall.

Mashal Kara is a Certified Child Life Specialist at the Texas Children’s Hospital Main Campus Cancer & Hematology Outpatient Clinic. She primarily works with patients/families diagnosed with Leukemia/Lymphoma/Histiocytosis . Mashal completed her masters in Child Life at Texas Woman’s University and her child life internship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. She previously worked as a teacher for Fort Worth ISD through Teach for America and completed her masters in Teaching at Texas Wesleyan University.

I have been a Certified Child Life Specialist for over three years, and currently work at Children's Hospital Colorado on the General Medicine Unit. I earned my bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Family Sciences with a concentration in Child Development from the University of Arkansas. Upon graduating, I completed my first practicum at Children's Mercy in Overland Park, Kansas. I then continued my education at Texas State University, where I received my master's degree in Human Development and Family Sciences with a concentration in Child Life. While working on my master's, I completed a second practicum at Wonders and Worries, a nonprofit organization based in Austin, Texas, that provides professional support for children through a parent's illness. There, I observed and lead both individual and group sessions focused on illness education, coping and feelings. With my master’s in hand, I completed my internship at Children's Memorial Hospital in Houston, Texas. I stayed in Houston, where I worked PRN in the Emergency Department Children's Memorial Hospital, before accepting my first full-time position at Texas Children's Hospital on the Pulmonary, Endocrine and Adolescent Medicine Unit and where I became an integral member of our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team.

Kayla earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Communication from Murray State University in 2016, followed by her Master of Public Health from the University of Memphis in 2021. She completed her internship at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in the fall of 2017 and began working in the Outpatient Center at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in January 2018. She is currently a Child Life Specialist III and is the student program coordinator. Kayla continues to works as a Certified Child Life Specialist in the Outpatient Center, covering a variety of clinics, including the Orthopedic Clinics, Surgery Clinics, Urology Clinics, and Maternal Fetal Center.