Dr. Elanna S. Yalow

Dr. Elanna Yalow is Chief Executive Officer of Knowledge Universe (KU) Early Learning Programs and a member of the Board of Directors of Knowledge Universe. She also serves as Professor of Early Childhood Education at the Asian International College, an institution for higher learning and teacher education in Singapore.

In her capacity as CEO, Dr. Yalow oversees several businesses, but most prominently KinderCare Learning Centers and Knowledge Beginnings. She has over 20 years of experience with the organization, and has established strong relationships in the education sector, in thought leadership circles, and the early childhood education industry. Dr. Yalow is also responsible for the development of KU’s educational programs in the United States and for the use of best practices in education, professional development, and quality assurance across KU’s global education programs in the US, Europe and Asia, ensuring continuous improvement of KU’s global best-in-class early childhood education offerings.

Previously Dr. Yalow served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Knowledge Learning Corporation (now Knowledge Universe Education), which operates nearly 1700 early childhood education centers in 39 states, including its KinderCare Learning Centers and Knowledge Beginnings centers. She was responsible for center operations, curriculum development and training, quality assurance, marketing and business development, mergers and acquisitions, and new center development, supervising a total workforce of approximately 40,000 employees.

Prior to joining KU, Dr. Yalow served as Associate Director of IOX Assessment Associates where she served as Project Director for numerous state and national level research and development projects in both educational assessment and health education for agencies including the National Institutes of Health, Office of Disease Prevention/Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control, and numerous State Departments of Education. She also served as a lecturer at California State University, Long Beach.  

Dr. Yalow has published and presented extensively on issues related to education and health in publications including the Annual Review of Health Promotion and Education, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Educational Researcher, Handbook of Human Intelligence, Contemporary Education Review, Personnel Psychology and Curator.  She has served as a speaker at the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the Education Writers Association, Parenting Magazine’s Mom Congress, the Milken Institute Global Conference, the Hechinger Institute Seminars on Education and the Media, the World Forum on Early Care and Education and NBC’s 2011 Education Nation Summit. She has made numerous presentations on assessment and evaluation in the education and health care arenas at the American Psychological Association, Psychometric Society, National Council of Measurement in Education, and the American Educational Research Association. She is a contributing author to Education Insights, KU’s blog for parents.  http://usblog.kueducation.com/author/elanna/

Dr. Yalow holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the Stanford University School of Education, an M.B.A. from Stanford University Graduate School of Business, and a B.A. in Psychology from the State University of NY at Stony Brook, where she was Phi Beta Kappa. She serves on the Advisory Board of the National Childhood Obesity Foundation, Parenting Magazine’s Mom Congress, Busy Bees Nurseries, and the Child Development Policy Institute.  

Dr. Yalow is married and the mother of two sons.  She is the daughter of the late Dr. Rosalyn Yalow, 1977 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine.

Megan Riede

Senior Director, Education Programs

Megan Riede joined Knowledge Learning Corporation (KLC), a division of Knowledge Universe, in November 2005 as Director, Program Development, leading the development of early childhood and school-age programs for the KinderCare and Knowledge Beginnings organization. Promoted to Senior Director, Education Programs in March 2010, her responsibilities have expanded to include overseeing program development for our Children’s Creative Learning Centers and Grove School businesses. In her capacity she is responsible for the conceptualization, development, and implementation of early childhood and school-age programs serving over 150,000 children nationwide.

Riede is charged with developing innovative solutions for our core program offerings, as well as academic enrichment programs across a range of disciplines. She monitors child progress within our core offerings through the use of developmental assessments, portfolios, and standardized achievement testing. She works in partnership with our Singapore business to develop a Mandarin dual-language immersion program and supports the training of the bilingual teachers dedicated to this program. Additionally, she supports center/school operations by integrating cutting edge technology and a focus on the environment into the design of the physical space and program elements within our facilities.

Prior to joining KLC, Riede worked for four years at Leapfrog Enterprises, LLC. In her capacity, she partnered on product strategy and led the design and development of early childhood interactive books and games for the Leappad platform. She also managed the team responsible for the animation development and design for the Leapster gaming device. Prior to her work with Leapfrog, she spent six years teaching elementary school in the State of California.

Riede serves on the Program Committee for Start Making a Reader Today (SMART) and holds active membership in several accreditation and educational industry associations. She has presented on topics related to early childhood education at the National Association for the Education of Young Children National Conference and most recently was published in Scholastic’s Parent & Child magazine. As an undergraduate at The University of Arizona, she was an active member of The Honors College, graduating magna cum laude with a major in elementary education.