Khari Garvin is the director of the Office of Head Start (OHS) at the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). He has more than 20 years of national, state, and local experience designing and leading systems serving children and families in low-income communities. Before joining the Biden-Harris administration, Garvin served as the president and CEO of the United Way of Greater Greensboro in North Carolina, leading the mission to end generational poverty in the Greensboro metro area.

Garvin has modeled service at every level of Head Start programming. He served as the executive director for a large, multi-state Head Start grant recipient serving children in rural communities across five states in the Southern, Southeastern, Midwestern, and Great Plains regions of the U.S. As the director of North Carolina’s Head Start Collaboration Office, he convened 55 affiliate grant recipient organizations — including public school systems, community action agencies, county governments, and private nonprofits — that served over 28,000 children and families in all 100 counties.

Garvin is a proud alumnus of the National Head Start Fellowships program, where he worked at OHS. He previously served as a Head Start program manager in Illinois and as assistant Head Start/Early Head Start director at a program in North Carolina. Garvin holds a degree in psychology from Emory University and a master’s degree in education from Southern Illinois University.

Recapturing the Art of Connection Relationships are a cornerstone of life. They make us feel connected and give us a sense of belonging. They also help us better understand ourselves and others. Forging, building, and sustaining relationships isn’t always easy. That is why developing relationships with colleagues, clients, family, and ourselves takes time, effort, and intentionality. Organizations whose core values foster respectful and trustworthy relationships create mentally healthy environments that become a “Destination Workplace” that brings opportunity and fulfillment for all who work there. This 60-minute content-rich interactive keynote is the ideal message for the Head Start Region 9 Conference. Research shows that people who are more socially connected to family, colleagues, or their community are happier, physically healthier, and live longer. Our human-centered approach will reinforce the need for employee engagement, cocreating an inclusive climate, and unwinding bias in our relationships.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• The power of relational connections

• Everyone has a story to tell; what’s yours?

• Building bridges of understanding through active listening

• Embracing the gift of time

Read More About Avery and Brian Baker

Tommy Sheridan is the Deputy Director for the National Head Start Association (NHSA) in Alexandria, VA where he has worked since June 2009. In this role, Tommy plays a significant role in strategizing, developing, and implementing the Head Start community’s vision for the future of Head Start and early learning with a specific focus on ensuring all vulnerable children and families have access to Head Start’s comprehensive model of support for the whole child, family, and community. Tommy also works with the Head Start community to lobby, advocate, educate, and inform Congress, the White House, and the Federal Administration about the realities facing Head Start and early learning. During his tenure at NHSA, annual funding for Head Start has increased nearly 40% and Head Start has become seen as a rare bipartisan program with deep support from all ends of the political spectrum. Prior to his career at NHSA, Tommy worked in the Minnesota State Senate, on several political campaigns, and as a sales manager. Tommy received an Honors Bachelor of Arts from Saint Louis University and a Masters of Public Administration from George Washington University with a specific focus on social policy leadership.