Featured Presenters

The Digital Child

Warren Binford, International Children’s Rights Scholar and Advocate

This presentation provides an overview of the latest research on how digital experiences are changing children’s lives in the 21st century. It explains how and why digital technology was developed without any meaningful effort to avoid negative impact on children and youth and presents evidence that the digital technology industry is intentionally and knowingly exploiting the developmental vulnerabilities of children and youth, as well as giving unfettered access to others to exploit and abuse children as well. The presentation ends by highlighting efforts nationally, internationally, and at the state level to better protect children in the Digital Age.

Warren Binford is an international children’s rights scholar and advocate whose work focuses on tackling some of the toughest challenges children face in the 21st century including child exploitation online and tech-facilitated child abuse. She frequently works in collaboration with children’s organizations, governments, and nonprofits to build transnational, cross-disciplinary and solution-focused approaches to 21st century problems. She has published almost 100 works, given approximately 300 lectures worldwide, and received approximately 50 awards and distinctions for her work. Her media interviews have been featured in the New York Times, BBC, NPR, USA Today, Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, and many other outlets.

The Question is How

Sean Covel, Film and Television Producer

The producer of the blockbuster film Napoleon Dynamite, Sean Covel relays how of a movie producer leads diverse groups of people toward a single goal. You must align the vision of creatives, such as actors and cinematographers. You must work within tight schedules and strict budget constraints. The goal is to create an experience that entertains, educates, and enlightens. The very same is true for professionals!

The result of this presentation is fresh thinking in building teams, new methods of problem-solving and renewed excitement for conquering the challenges ahead.

Sean Covel is a Los Angeles-based Film and Television Producer who grew up in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Covel’s credits include: Beneath for Paramount Pictures, The 12 Dogs of Christmas directed by Academy Award Winner, Keith Merrill, and the iconic independent film, Napoleon Dynamite. Together, Covel’s films have won multiple awards, generated over one-quarter-billion dollars in revenue internationally and gotten nerds prom dates across the globe. He very much wishes that would’ve been the case when he was in high school.

Understanding Vulnerable Child Syndrome

Suzanne Starling, MD, Board Certified Child Abuse Pediatrician and Professor of Pediatrics

Vulnerable Child Syndrome is common in children, but often unrecognized and underdiagnosed. In this session, the participants will learn to recognize the signs of vulnerable child syndrome and see how they are similar to and different from those of medical child abuse. Management of this patient population of vulnerable children will be discussed.

Suzanne Starling has served as a leader in Child Abuse Pediatrics for more than 30 years. She is a board certified Child Abuse Pediatrician and a Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Child Abuse Pediatrics at Eastern Virginia Medical School. Dr. Starling has served as Medical Director of the child abuse programs at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Chadwick Center for Children and Families in San Diego, and the Children’s Advocacy Center at Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters in Norfolk Virginia. Presently, Dr Starling is the director of medical consulting company in San Diego. Dr Starling is a charter member of the Helfer Society, an honorary society for physician specialists in child abuse. Dr. Starling helped shape the direction of the field as a past chair of the American Board of Pediatrics’ subboard on Child Abuse Pediatrics. She has authored more than 40 journal articles and book chapters in the field. She lectures nationally and internationally for medical, investigative, and legal audiences and has provided court testimony in child abuse cases across the US.