Researchers and practitioners working alongside people and communities to strengthen the conditions for human thriving.

Elizabeth M. Dowling is a Research Professor and Deputy Director of the Institute of Applied Research in Youth Development (IARYD) in the Eliot Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development at Tufts University. She received a B.A. in Psychology from Haverford College, an M.Ed. from Lesley University, and a Ph.D. from Tufts University, where she studied under Dr. Richard Lerner.

Dr. Dowling has been an educator of young children and has taught developmental science at Tufts University and Boston College. For over a decade, she served as Director of Research for the ImagineNations Group, catalyzing multi-sector partnerships and policies supporting young people in business development and employment.

At IARYD, she helps lead research–practice partnerships in positive youth development and serves as a key liaison between researchers and practitioners. She has advised the Templeton World Charity Foundation’s Global Innovations in Character Development Platform and has worked in Rwanda for close to a decade, studying peace programming, reconciliation, forgiveness, and peace.

Steinunn Gestsdóttir is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Iceland. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Iceland, an M.A. in Psychology from Boston University, and a Ph.D. in Child Development from Tufts University.

Dr. Gestsdóttir has combined an active research career with extensive academic leadership, including serving as Vice-Rector of Academic Affairs and Development at the University of Iceland from 2016 to 2025. She led the University’s strategic development and academic affairs, with particular emphasis on education, quality, and institutional development, and has served on national bodies concerned with science and research policy.

Her research focuses on developmental processes in childhood and adolescence, particularly intentional self-regulation and its relationship to positive development, academic achievement, well-being, social adjustment, and successful transitions into adulthood.

Daniel J. A. Warren is a developmental scientist, educator, and youth development researcher whose work focuses on how environments shape children’s growth, learning, and well-being. He received a B.S. in Psychology from Northeastern University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Child Development from Tufts University.

Dr. Warren began his career as a fifth-grade teacher before joining the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development at Tufts University, where he contributed to major national studies including the longitudinal 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development. From 2015 to 2019, he led testing and evaluation research at the Boy Scouts of America, now Scouting America.

He now leads research and strategic consulting at Fluent Research involving young people, families, educators, and youth-serving organizations. His work includes national studies, emerging learning technologies, and advising organizations on developmentally informed programs and products. He co-founded Home Base Learning Center and has published on positive youth development, civic engagement, school engagement, and character development.

Pamela Anderson is a Senior Research Scientist at ETR, a national health education and research nonprofit. Since 2005, she has led federally funded research focused on adolescent health and well-being, with particular attention to prevention programming and youth engagement in the design and evaluation of health education interventions.

Dr. Anderson has served as Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator on numerous federally funded projects and has published extensively on youth-centered approaches. Her current work emphasizes positive youth development and partnering with young people as collaborators in research design rather than solely as study participants.

Her work spans innovation hubs that support community organizations in developing and testing new approaches to youth health, alongside broader initiatives that build youth voice into program design and evaluation. She also mentors early-career researchers and contributes to professional committees and advisory groups.

Christina Theokas is a developmental scientist, leadership development professional, and founder of Arete Path Coaching and Consulting. She has held leadership positions in nonprofit organizations dedicated to positive youth development through applied research, federal policy, and accessible resources, tools, and training.

Her work spans research and evaluation, curriculum development, school leadership, direct service, professional learning communities, and organizational and systems change. Her research examines what promotes student learning and development, how and why it works, and the conditions that enable programs and systems to change so all students can thrive.

Dr. Theokas holds a Ph.D. in Child Development from Tufts University. She is the author of Getting It Done: Leading Academic Success in Unexpected Schools and Five Practices for Improving the Success of Latino Students: A Guide for Secondary School Leaders.

Amy Warren is an applied developmental scientist and practitioner focused on positive human development as a pathway to global flourishing. Her expertise centers on developmental transitions and the conditions that support well-being, love, and compassion, with particular attention to infancy, adolescence, and matrescence.

As a qualitative and ethnographic researcher, she uses deep listening, interviews, and observation to understand people within the contexts that shape their lives. A perinatal educator, postpartum doula, and lactation counselor, she also advises organizations advancing maternal and infant health and well-being.

Dr. Warren has conducted research at Clark University, Tufts University, the Brazelton Institute at Boston Children’s Hospital, and Tufts’ Feinstein International Center. At Fluent Research, she studies child development, education, and family well-being. She co-founded the nature-based elementary school Home Base Learning Center and is co-author of Visualizing the Lifespan and co-editor of Thriving and Spirituality Among Youth.