SFCxUS Advisory Board

As an author, public speaker, consultant, and associate professor of public policy, Emily Cherkin, M.Ed., is deeply engaged in addressing the challenges facing education and parenting in today’s highly digitized world. She is the co-chair of Fairplay’s Screens-in-Schools advocacy group. Emily is known as The Screentime Consultant and she writes regularly at First Fish Chronicles.

Jared Cooney Horvath (PhD, MEd) is a neuroscientist, educator, and best-selling author who specializes in human learning and brain development. He is the author of six books including The Digital Delusion. Jared currently serves as Director of LME Global, an organization dedicated to bringing cutting-edge brain and behavioral science to educators, students, and communities.

Victoria Dunckley, MD, is an award-winning integrative child and adolescent psychiatrist, a nationally recognized expert on the effects of screen time on the developing nervous system, and a leading voice regarding overprescribing in children. Her groundbreaking book Reset Your Child’s Brain, describes how screen time impacts mood, focus, and behavior in children.

Richard Freed, PhD, is a psychologist and author of the books Better Than Real Life and Wired Child. Dr. Freed has devoted his career to revealing how Silicon Valley is using its secret science of persuasive design to addict kids to screens. He believes a science-based childhood focused around family, school, and the outdoors must be made available to all youth.

Karl T. Johnson, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at UNC Gillings School of Public Health. One of his primary research interests concerns the role of wireless devices and digital technologies (e.g., smartphones, AI) in adolescent development, especially but not limited to the school setting.

Andy Liddell is a career federal courts litigator and technology attorney. Andy is also a dedicated advocate for youth digital civil rights. Andy strives to create a world where technology helps people flourish, using litigation to align corporate incentives with the things people need to thrive. Andy is the co-founder of the EdTech Law Center with his wife Julie

Deb Schmill is the founder and president of the Becca Schmill Foundation, a non-profit organization started after the loss of her 18-year-old daughter, Becca, to fentanyl-laced drugs. Deb is also a co-founder of the Distraction-Free Schools Policy Project, which is an initiative that supports advocacy efforts to pass model state legislation to remove or limit device use in schools.

Jean M. Twenge, PhD, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University, is the author of more than 190 scientific publications and several books based on her research, including Ten Rules for Raising Kids in a High-Tech World, Generations, iGen, and Generation Me. Dr. Twenge frequently gives talks and seminars on generational differences and technology based on a dataset of 43 million people.