Keynote Speaker:

Marti Erickson, Ph.D.

Having served as the founding Director of the University of Minnesota's groundbreaking Children, Youth & Family Consortium (1991 to 2003), Marti Erickson now directs the Irving B. Harris Programs in the U of M’s Center for Early Education and Development and co-chairs the President’s Initiative on Children, Youth & Families. A developmental psychologist and professor in both Child Psychology and Family Social Science, Marti specializes in parent-child attachment, child abuse prevention, and children’s mental health. In all of her work, she strives to link research, practice and policy for the well-being of children and families.

In 1986, with colleague Byron Egeland, Marti developed STEEP (Steps Toward Effective, Enjoyable Parenting), a preventive intervention program for parents and infants. Since then, Marti has conducted major research on the impact of STEEP and related strategies on high-risk families in the U.S., Germany and Australia. Marti also was co-investigator with Bill Doherty on the Parenting Together Project, an intervention study to promote father involvement, and she was principal investigator on the Motherhood Study, a recent national study of mothers’ needs, concerns, values and experiences. Building on her research and intervention work, Marti speaks and consults extensively throughout the U.S. and abroad.

Marti's publications include many scholarly articles and book chapters, a weekly parenting column “Growing Concerns,” and the book Infants, Toddlers & Families:  A Framework for Support and Intervention (Erickson & Kurz-Riemer, 1999 & 2002). Since 1995, Marti has appeared regularly as the child and family expert on KARE-TV’s (NBC) Today Show and Sunrise Show.  She and her daughter also are co-hosts of a weekly radio show, “Good Enough Moms,” which airs every Sunday, 2 – 4 pm on FM 107 in the Twin Cities (and via webcast at www.fm1071.com).

Marti has served on the boards of various local and national organizations, including in recent years the National Council on Family Relations, Prevent Child Abuse America, the Children & Nature Network, and the National Institute on Media and the Family. From 1994 to 2001 Marti worked closely with Vice President Al Gore and his wife Tipper to coordinate their innovative family policy initiative, Family Re-Union.

Over the years Marti has been honored by numerous state and national organizations, including the Minnesota Psychological Association (Outstanding Contribution to Psychology Award, 2003; Distinguished Scholar, 2007), the Minnesota School Psychologists Association (Distinguished Best Practices Award, 2003), and the Minnesota Council on Family Relations (Friend of the Family Award, 2007). But Marti says her most important credential (and greatest joy) is being the mother of Ryan and Erin, now young adults, and the grandmother of three.