Institute for Child Success Welcomes New Staff and Fellows

GREENVILLE, SC – ICS is very excited that Emily Carroll joined our staff as Policy Counsel this week, and that Lauren Scoggins will join the team as Director of Development on September 15.  We are also thrilled to announce that Bill Brown and Matt Ferebee have both been named as Senior Fellows.  These additions to the ICS team will continue to increase our capacity to help our youngest children thrive, and we are thrilled that they are joining us.

Emily Carroll, Ph.D., Policy Counsel 

Dr. Emily Carroll joined ICS as a full-time Policy Counsel on September 2. Originally from Sandusky, Ohio, Dr. Carroll earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Bowling Green State University and her Master of Arts degree from the University of Akron. Dr. Carroll recently completed her doctoral degree in Political Science from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Her research focused on public policy, factors that influence public policy decisions, and issues of social justice. During her time at SIUC, Dr. Carroll was awarded the inaugural Paul Simon Graduate Research Fellowship through the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute. The fellowship provided her the opportunity of working on state-wide polls, conducting focus group research, writing policy analyses, and instructing upper-level undergraduate and graduate level classes in public policy, urban politics, and intergovernmental relations.

Lauren Scoggins, Director of Development 

Lauren Scoggins joined ICS as Director of Development on September 15. Before entering professional fundraising, Lauren earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Presbyterian College. Following graduation, Lauren worked as a Deputy Field Coordinator for the SC House Democratic Caucus, and later served as a Legislative Aide to the House Minority Leader in the SC House of Representatives. After moving to the Greenville area, Lauren began working in the nonprofit development field, first with the March of Dimes and then with Pendleton Place for Children and Families.

Over the past five years+, Lauren has managed a $1.4 million fund development portfolio, successfully increasing fund development each year. Lauren brings to ICS experience running annual campaigns, soliciting major gifts, writing successful grants, engaging corporate donors, and developing comprehensive donor stewardship and donor cultivation systems. In the community, she has served as a volunteer Guardian ad Litem, and is active with the Greenville Chamber’s PULSE association, the local chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), and is a 2013 graduate of Women Leaders of the Upstate, a leadership program of Furman University.

Bill Brown, Ph.D., Senior Fellow 

Dr. William “Bill” Brown joined the faculty at the University of South Carolina in 1995 and is presently a professor in the Department of Educational Studies at the College of Education. He is also a member of both the Children’s Physical Activity Research Group (CPARG) in the Arnold School of Public Health and the USC Research Consortium on Children and Families (RCCF). In 2007, he received the Research Award for the College of Education at USC and, in 2013; he was awarded the University of South Carolina Educational Foundation Research Award for Professional Schools.

Throughout his career, Dr. Brown has held professional positions as a preschool teacher, a service coordinator and home visitor with families of young children, the director of a large early intervention program for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers as well as a consultant to private and public preschools and state agencies. He has also been an advocate for enhanced prevention and early intervention services for young children and their families. To date, he has published multiple articles and chapters and two edited books related to services for young children and their families.

Dr. Brown is a member of the ICS Research Committee and has assisted with a number of research studies, including the brief on kindergarten entry assessments and other upcoming projects. He presented at last year’s inaugural ICS South Carolina Early Childhood Research Symposium and will present at the 2014 Symposium on the CDEPP Conceptual Framework.

Matt Ferebee, Senior Fellow

Matt Ferebee, is principal and Creative Director the award-winning boutique branding and design firm, Ferebee Lane + Co. Before entering the world of advertising and marketing, Ferebee completed a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education and Psychology from Appalachian State University and a Masters Degree in Communication from Wake Forest University, where his research focused on increasing the efficacy of cause- and education-related marketing campaigns. Ferebee now works with a diverse roster of clients and brands on a broad range of design assignments. Notable among those clients and projects are high-profile brands such as BMW, Michelin, Miele and Le Creuset as well as regular collaboration with leading organizations in the healthcare, education and political sectors.

Matt has provided a wealth of assistance over the past few years, and was involved in early development of ICS’s branding, as well as the branding for the Kids Drive our Future campaign in 2012-2013.  He is currently collaborating with ICS in its ongoing Design Thinking initiative and assisting with the production of My Place in the World.

About ICS 

The Institute for Child Success is a research and policy organization that leads public and private partnerships to align and improve resources for the success of young children in South Carolina and beyond. A partnership of the Greenville Health System’s Children’s Hospital and the United Way of Greenville County, ICS supports those focused on early childhood development, healthcare, and education—all to coordinate, enhance, and improve those efforts for the maximum effect in the lives of young people. For more information: www.instituteforchildsuccess.org.