Joan Lombardi is a research professor at the Public Policy Institute and Department of Psychology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC; and the director of The Children's Project. Through The Children's Project, she serves as an advisor to a number of foundations and policy initiatives and helps create innovative projects with a wide variety of national and international organizations. Dr. Lombardi has served as the deputy assistant secretary for External Affairs in the Administration for Children and Families, United States Department of Health and Human Services, and as the first director of the Child Care Bureau. In 2004, Dr. Lombardi launched the Global Leaders for Young Children program in partnership with The World Forum Foundation, which is currently providing leadership support to nineteen early education leaders from eight countries. In addition, she has served as a senior fellow with The Global Fund for Children in Washington, DC. Dr. Lombardi is the author of Time to Care: Redesigning Child Care to Promote Education, Support and Build Communities, and co-editor of A Beacon of Hope: The Promise of Early Head Start for American's Youngest Children. She received a Ph.D. in human development education from the University of Maryland, College Park.