Jefra Rees

Jefra Rees is a project manager and junior research scientist at the Literacy, Technology and Culture Lab at New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development. Jefra brings in over two decades of professional experiences and a broad knowledge and skill set pertaining to child development, family systems, early education, and working with children and families in stressful contexts. As a direct service provider within the realms of early childhood intervention, addiction recovery, and early childhood education, she has witnessed successes and limitations of both home-based and community-based programs. Coming from a foundation of therapeutic play and social-emotional learning, her goal is to build on that knowledge base to improve the long-term educational outcomes of young children. As an active member of the UN NGO Committee on the Family, her other passions include: unstructured and risky play, early literacy and children’s accessibility to culturally meaningful books, and advocating for vulnerable children. Jefra is looking forward to advancing her career as a researcher as she begins her doctoral program in Teaching and Learning.