Alan Pence University of Victoria, Canada

Alan Pence is the UNESCO Chair for Early Childhood Education, Care and Development at the University of Victoria and a Full Professor in the School of Child and Youth Care, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He is the former Director of the School and has established three specialized units: the Unit for Early Years Research and Development (www.web.uvic.ca/~eyrd/); the First Nations Partnership Programs (FNPP: www.fnpp.org) for Community-Based Aboriginal Child and Youth Care Education; and the Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU: www.ecdvu.org), focusing on ECD leadership promotion and capacity building in the Majority (Developing) World. Dr. Pence is the recipient of the Canadian Bureau for International Education’s Award for Educational Leadership, the University of Victoria’s inaugural Craigdarroch Research Award for Societal Contributions, and his ECDVU program was a finalist for the internationally prestigious WISE Awards for innovation in education.