Dr. Ilana Dvorin Friedman is the Director of Early Childhood Advocacy and Strategy at the Jewish United Fund (JUF) in Chicago. Her professional and research interests include early childhood Jewish education, child care advocacy, and social justice and critical pedagogies. For more than thirteen years, Ilana has been an adjunct instructor and child development consultant teaching courses at a variety of academic institutions and providing professional development for early childhood professionals. Ilana holds a PhD in Child Development, having completed her dissertation on gender beliefs of teachers in Orthodox Jewish early childhood programs. She lives in Skokie, Illinois with her husband and five children.