Dr. Karen Hill-Scott is a child development expert whose beginnings as a pre-school teacher evolved into a wide-ranging career that blends university teaching, research, consulting, and public service. She co-founded Crystal Stairs, one of California's largest non-profit child development agencies, teaches at the UCLA School of Public Policy and the UCLA School of Management, contributes to child development policy through consulting and public service, and is currently President of her own consulting firm.

Hill-Scott's career in public service and public policy consulting have included chairing the California School Readiness Master plan, for the state Senate Joint Committee, Co-chairing the Universal Pre-School Task Force for the California Department of Education and serving on the National Pre-Kindergarten Committee for the Education Commission of the States.

Hill-Scott's consulting practice has two divisions: children's media and public policy/ early education consulting.

In the children's media area, Hill-Scott is a leading consultant to the industry has provided content consulting on more than 1000 episodes of produced children's television. She is the chief consultant to NBC/Discovery Kids, and is also currently consulting to Nickelodeon, the Disney Channel and the Jim Henson Company. Her series credits include, Blue's Clues, Gullah Gullah, Allegra's Window, Reading Rainbow, Saved by the Bell, City Guys, Just Deal, Hang Time, The Proud Family and NBA Inside Stuff. Across the board the shows she works on have won the Humanitas, Apple, Gracie, Prism, and EMMY Awards.

In the early education area, Hill-Scott has worked with corporations and organizations on innovations in early education. She is the principal consultant for the TRW work-family programs and developed the on-site child development center for the company. As a result of these efforts, TRW has been on the Working Mother's list of 100 Best Companies for the past 10 years. Hill-Scott has also provided design consulting for the Westside Children's Center, St. John's Health Center, The MTA-Gateway Center, the Century Freeway Projects, and the LA Community Redevelopment Agency.

Hill-Scott is very engaged in the design and implementation of universal preschool for four year old children in California. Most recently, she was the lead consultant for the Los Angeles County Universal Preschool Master Plan, funded by First 5 LA. Soon, she will be working on developing plans for statewide technical assistance for the implementation of preschool in every county in California. She gives several keynote addresses a year to local and national groups, mostly on early childhood and family issues. She is generally regarded as a dynamic, engaging presenter who mixes hard theory and facts with humor and a down-to-earth approach.

Hill-Scott's academic career has focused on child development, public policy, program management and evaluation and family functioning. Her recent publications include book chapters in The Handbook of Children's Television, and Managing Quality in Child Development Programs, and several technical reports on child care management and inter-agency collaboration. She is completing a chapter on program evaluation for a book on Program Management for Head Start Directors. As chair of the California School Readiness Work Group and the Universal Pre-school Task Force, Hill-Scott was substantially involved in the writing of the published reports: The California School Readiness Master Plan (The California Senate Joint Committee, 2002) and Ready to Learn: Universal Pre-school in California (California Department of Education, 1999).

Hill-Scott has received several awards for outstanding service to the Los Angeles community, including the Proven Achievers Award from KJLH and the Walt Disney Company, the John Harvard Award for Community Service, the SCLC-Rosa Parks Award for Social Justice, a Woman of the Year Award from the County Commission on the Status of Women, a Woman of History Award from KCET Television, a Woman of the Year Award from the Santa Monica YWCA, an Inspirational Woman of the Year from NAWBO-LA, and the Tom Bradley Alumnus of the Year Award from UCLA.

Dr. Karen Hill-Scott received her M.A. and Ed.D. Degrees from UCLA, where she received Danforth and Chancellor's Fellowships and was named Outstanding Graduate Student for the School of Education. A resident of Los Angeles, she is married to T.V. Scott, an ophthalmologist, and has four children.

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