My name is

Dr. Megan Pamela Ruth Madison

and my pronouns are she and her.

I lead with courage, love & integrity.

Dr. Madison connects with a young child who points to the illustrations in Our Skin: A First Conversation about Race. Photo Credit: Adriana Alba for Children’s Aid Early Childhood

I am a scholar-activist.

As an anti-bias educator with a Ph.D. in Social Policy, I envision a world in which all children and families can thrive. Toward that vision, my personal mission is to strengthen the connections between research, activism, and practice as we work together to build comprehensive early childhood systems that are high-quality and racially equitable.

Full CV

Author

It brings me great joy to know that my scholarship has reached hundreds of thousands of children, families, and early childhood professionals around the world through First Conversations. This award-winning series of nonfiction board books #TeachTruth about race, gender, consent, bodies, love, grief, justice and disability.

Dr. Megan shares an illustration from *First Conversations* that mirrors the identities of a young reader who asked for an autograph during a neighborhood children’s book festival.

I also share my ideas through more traditional academic publications like journal articles and research reports. I appreciate opportunities to write early childhood policy.

Educator

I began my teaching career in a Head Start classroom. Now I spend most of my time supporting adult learners. I work as an adjunct professor at LIU and an independent consultant, facilitating transformative professional learning for educators and leaders with a focus on race, gender and sexuality.

Dr. Madison (Right) takes a selfie with her dissertation chair, Dr. Laurie Nsiah-Jefferson (Left) at Brandeis University.

Over the last decade, I’ve worked most closely with the following organizations:

Center for Racial Justice in Education,
New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute,
Bank Street, and
Trans formative Schools.

I am proud to have been elected to serve a second term on the Governing Board of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Organizer

Jews for Racial & Economic Justice (JFREJ) has been my political home since 2014. I completed a term serving as chair of the Board of Directors in 2024. I learned the fundamentals of community organizing from JOIN for Justice, and began to explore cultural organizing with Linke Fligl.

Megan facilitates the JFREJ general membership assembly in which the organization celebrated the completion of our participatory strategic planning process.

Moms for Liberty is a far-right extremist group that has been organizing across the country to ban my books, so I founded Aunties (and Friends) for Liberation to fight back. You can join our movement by showing up at your local school board meetings and making good trouble with Authors Against Book Bans or Public School Strong.

“I have watched Dr. Madison’s development over the years as an educator, author, and leader with awe and consider her to be one of the brightest lights of a new generation in early childhood education.”