Gretchen A. Pianka, MD, MPH, FAAP, is a graduate of Amherst College and a product of the University of Vermont School of Medicine and the University of Virginia Pediatric internship and residency program. She earned her master’s in public health from the University of New England. Dr. Pianka has practiced primary care pediatrics in Maine since 2004, currently caring for immigrants and children entering the foster care system. She is the author of Coaching Families for Resilience: How Pediatricians Can Support Caregivers and Prevent Burnout and lives in coastal Maine with her family.

Across her career, Makin has devoted herself to the mission of public education and has served in numerous roles as principal and innovator to bring supportive methods to help youth who have struggled. She also provides training for educators and mental health professionals and speaks at state and national conferences on topics such as restorative justice, cognitive neuroscience, dropout prevention, organizational culture, and climate.

Makin is charged with leading the state agency that administers both state education subsidy and state and federal grant programs; coordinates the authoring of the rules for Maine State education statutes passed by the Maine State Legislature; provides professional development, information, supports, and resources, as well as a system for educator credentialing; and leads many collaborative opportunities and partnerships in support of local schools and districts.

Makin grew up in Saco and graduated from Thornton Academy. She earned her B.A. in English Literature and her M.S. in School Leadership from the University of Southern Maine. She received her teacher certification from the University of New England’s Department of Education in 1996. She lives in Scarborough and enjoys spending time on the beach and with her rescue animals.

Joe Anderson is a pediatric hospitalist and is the Director of Pediatric Hospital Medicine for Central Maine Healthcare. He also serves as the chair of the advocacy committee for the Maine Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He attended medical school at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, and completed his Pediatrics residency at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, NJ.