Kimberley L. Chandler
Kimberley L. Chandler, Ph.D., is the Director of Academics and Student Life at the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth in Baltimore, Maryland, where she supervises the preparation of professional learning materials and curriculum development for online and face-to-face courses. Her professional background includes teaching gifted students in a variety of settings, serving as a central office administrator supervising school district gifted education/enrichment programs and managing federal grants, and providing professional development training for teachers and administrators nationally and internationally.
Kimberley is the co-editor (with Jaime Castellano) of the 2022 book Identifying and Serving Diverse Gifted Learners: Meeting the Needs of Special Populations in Gifted Education. She has also served as the editor and contributing author of many curriculum materials from the Center for Gifted Education at William and Mary. She has served as Guest Editor of Journal for the Education of the Gifted (JEG) for special issues focusing on international issues in gifted education and learning resources.
Kimberley is currently the National Correspondent for the USA for ECHA. She previously served as the USA Delegate for the WCGTC from 2011 to 2013.
Susan Corwith
Dr. Susan Corwith is Director of the Center for Talent Development (CTD) at Northwestern University and an Assistant Professor in the School of Education and Social Policy. With expertise in talent development models and related programming, Dr. Corwith focuses on the design, implementation, and evaluation of high-quality, inclusive services for advanced learners. Her scholarship includes publications on gifted programming standards, academic acceleration, assessment, and the attributes of effective talent development programs and services.
In her leadership role at CTD, Dr. Corwith has collaborated with schools, organizations, and educational leaders across the globe to design gifted education programs, develop talent development frameworks, and deliver professional learning experiences that support educators in identifying and nurturing potential. Her international work reflects a commitment to culturally informed and responsive practices and the integration of talent development within diverse educational systems.
Dr. Corwith has been a member of both the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) in the United States and the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children for several years and has presented on multiple occasions at the World Conference. She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, with a focus on curriculum and programming for advanced learners.
Cynthia Geary
Dr. Cynthia Geary holds a doctorate in Philosophy of Education with a specialization in students with special needs. She studied abroad at the University of Kent in Canterbury, England while completing her undergraduate degree, and returned to Oxford University in 2024. She served in the United States Peace Corps for two and a half years, working in Maternal and Childhood health in Honduras, Central America. Returning stateside, she taught in a monolingual Spanish K-12 urban, public classroom for eight years before accepting an invitation to China as a Foreign Expert teaching English to students at the Hebei Institute of Technology in Shijiazhuang, China. The international experiences fueled her interest in culture and diversity in American education.
Dr. Geary has taught in Southern California Teacher Education programs for 26 years, settling in at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona as an assistant professor, and Multiple Subject Coordinator. Her research areas include culturally and linguistically diverse population, and gifted youth. She delights in instructing and researching the intersectionality of these interests. She is dedicated to preparing future teachers to cultivate the curiosity and wonder of gifted and talented K-12 youth.
Jennifer Groman
Dr. Jennifer Groman is an Associate Professor at Ashland University, Director of the Talent Development Program, and Chair of the Doctoral Studies and Advanced Programs Department. She has been in gifted education since 1996, teaching in K-8 as a Gifted Intervention Specialist until 2005, moving into Arts Administration until 2007, and has worked at the Ohio Department of Education as a Gifted Specialist with an Ohio Javits Grant.
She received her BS in Education at Bowling Green State University (Ohio), her MEd at Ashland University (Ohio), an MATP (Masters of Arts in Transpersonal Psychology) at Sofia University (California), and her PhD at the University of Akron (Ohio). Her dissertation was on crisis and critical incidents in teachers and teacher burnout and recovery.
Her areas of special interest and research include creativity and creativity training, bullying in gifted children, creativity and underachievement, and supporting teachers to avoid burnout.
She lives with her husband and a few cats in Wooster, Ohio. She is a singer/songwriter with 4 self-produced CDs of big band and original music, is aa guitar player, an avid reader (especially anything about Jane Austen), is a knitter, and loves to travel.
April Michele
I am an educator and nonprofit leader dedicated to ensuring gifted and talented students have the tools to shape a better future. As Executive Director of Future Problem Solving, I lead a global educational nonprofit that equips students in more than 30 U.S. states and over 11 countries with the creativity and critical thinking skills needed to tackle complex, real-world challenges.
My journey began in the classroom, where I taught gifted learners for 13 years, earned National Board Certification, and completed a Master’s degree in Gifted Education from the University of South Florida. These experiences cemented my belief that advanced learners thrive when they are empowered to think deeply, collaborate, and innovate.
Since joining Future Problem Solving in 2012, I have led initiatives that expand access to high-level problem solving, develop forward-thinking curriculum, and grow our International Conference, now attracting more than 2,300 participants annually. I work to ensure that students don’t just excel academically — they learn to become ethical, creative leaders prepared to address the world’s most pressing issues.
As a delegate for the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children, I would bring a global perspective on nurturing creativity and critical thinking, paired with a proven record of building programs that scale internationally. I am ready to collaborate, share best practices, and advocate for innovative approaches that prepare gifted students to think boldly, lead confidently, and change the world.
Nielsen Pereira
Nielsen Pereira (PhD) is an associate professor of Gifted, Creative, and Talented Studies at Purdue University and Director of Purdue’s Gifted Education Research & Resource Institute (GER2I). His research interests include conceptual, contextual, and measurement issues in the identification of gifted and talented populations; design and assessment of learning in varied gifted and talented education contexts; and understanding gifted and talented student experiences in talent development programs in and out of school. He has received research grants from the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, the American Psychological Foundation, and Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. He has received awards from the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), including the 2018 Hollingworth Award and the 2020 Early Scholar Award, from the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Research on Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent special interest group (2019 Pathbreaker Award), and from the Mensa Education & Research Foundation (2016 Award for Excellence in Research). He served as Associate Editor for Gifted and Talented International (2015-2022) and has also served on the World Conference Academic Committee (2019 and 2021). He has also served in leadership positions within NAGC and AERA, including Chair of NAGC’s Special Populations Network and Program Chair for AERA’s Division D: Measurement and Research Methodologies. He is a regular presenter in national and international educational research conferences, and presented at the World Conference in 2009, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023, and 2025.