PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Providence Talks, an initiative founded by the City of Providence, in partnership with Brown, to improve the vocabularies of preschool children, will hold its first policy forum on Monday, Oct. 5, 2015, at 6:30 p.m. in Brown University's Stephen Robert '62 Campus Center.

The inaugural forum will include remarks by Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza and a talk by University of Chicago Professor Dana Suskind, founder and director of the Thirty Million Words Initiative and author of Thirty Million Words: Building a Child’s Brain. A panel conversation and book signing will follow Suskind’s remarks.

Suskind’s work focuses on the critical importance of early language exposure on the developing child. She is a recipient of a University of Chicago Medical Faculty Award for being a “Distinguished Leader in Program Innovation,” adviser on Hillary Clinton’s Too Small to Fail initiative, and involved in both the White House initiative on creating a pathway to ending the achievement gap and the Providence Talks Advisory Board.

The event is co-sponsored by Providence Talks and the Urban Education Policy Program at Brown University.

Providence Talks

Founded in 2013 by the City of Providence, in partnership with Brown, Providence Talks initiative aims to improve the vocabularies of preschool children by measuring and rapidly increasing the number of words spoken in their households. Providence was awarded $5 million after being named the grand-prize winner of the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Mayors Challenge, a competition to inspire American cities to generate innovative ideas that solve major challenges and improve city life.

“Providence has identified a new model of early childhood education that is direct, simple and fundamentally revolutionary,” said former New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, announcing the award.

Research shows that children growing up in low-income households hear approximately 30 million fewer words by the time they reach their fourth birthday. Former Providence Mayor Angel Taveras successfully proposed using technology to measure and increase the number of words children hear. Brown researchers will evaluate the data that comes out of the “Providence Talks” project.

Who
Jorge Elorza, mayor of Providence
Dana Suskind, University of Chicago professor and pediatric otolaryngologist who is the founder and director of the Thirty Million Words Initiative and author of Thirty Million Words: Building a Child’s Brain.

What
The inaugural policy forum for Providence Talks, an initiative founded in 2013 by the City of Providence, in partnership with Brown, to improve the vocabularies of preschool children by measuring and rapidly increasing the number of words spoken in their households.

When
Monday, Oct. 5, 2015, at 6:30 p.m.

Where
The Petteruti Lounge in the Stephen Robert '62 Campus Center, 75 Waterman St., on the Brown University campus