Rae Pica has been an education consultant (www.raepica.com) specializing in the education of the whole child, children’s physical activity, and the mind/body connection since 1980. A former adjunct instructor with the University of New Hampshire, she is the author of 19 books, including the text Experiences in Movement and Music, in its fifth edition; the award-winning Great Games for Young Children and Jump into Literacy and, most recently, What If Everybody Understood Child Development?: Straight Talk About Improving Education and Children’s Lives.

Rae is known for her lively and informative keynotes and trainings and has shared her expertise with such groups as the Sesame Street Research Department, the Head Start Bureau, Centers for Disease Control, the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, Nickelodeon’s Blues Clues, Gymboree, Nike, and school districts and health departments throughout the country. Rae has blogged for Huffington Post, is a member of the executive committee of the Academy of Education Arts and Sciences, and serves as an expert for NBC’s Education Nation. She is also   cofounder of BAM Radio Network (www.bamradionetwork.com), the world’s largest online education radio network, where she currently hosts Studentcentricity, interviewing experts in education, child development, play research, the neurosciences, and more.