“Parenting in a Digital World” [DigCitSummit 2017]

Parenting in a Digital World

Panel “Parenting in a Digital World” Hear from experts on how to parent in a digital world. How to help your kids connect with technology and not fall into the traps of technology. Carolina Allen, Gabi Jubran, Deanna Lambson, Kristen Jenson, Felicia Rateliff, and Ethan Fausett.

Carolina Allen

Born in Rio Grand do Sul Brazil, Carolina and her family immigrated to the U.S where she later earned a BS degree in Philosophy from the University of Utah. She has a great appreciation for diverse cultures, ethnicities, and religious world views, which she learned first from her parents and five siblings.

As the founder and CEO of the Maternal Feminist organization, Big Ocean Women, she and her team have had the opportunity to participate in various local, national, and international conferences (Women of the Mountains Conference, World Congress of families, and the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, United Nations Habitat 3) where they have shared the Big Ocean culture and philosophy with others.

She is a grassroots organizer and believes in the power of many voices working together to grow the good. She loves to engage with others in meaningful dialogue and discussion and has lead and participated in many thriving community cooperatives. As a fluent trilingual, she has taught classes in Portuguese, Spanish, as well as Civic Engagement and philosophy. She and her husband are homeschool enthusiasts and parents to six budding artists, athletes, and young scholars. She is an avid soccer fan and had a brief career as a semi-professional player.

Gabi Jubran

Gabi is the Founder/Executive Director of a pre-launch non-profit called HAPPI (Helping Awesome Parents Parent Intentionally). Their mission is to educate, inspire and empower parents to connect with themselves and their local communities to ensure future generations of HAPPIness. 

The vision all originally stemmed from watching his niece engage with an iPad before the age of 2. He noticed how quickly she became proficient on it and all too often saw her consuming sponsored content on YouTube for toys, candy/chocolate and even makeup. Once he noticed this, he knew something had to change but ultimately realized this problem is merely a symptom of much larger systemic issues. He decided it was much more important to educate parents on the importance of practicing self care and cultivating attention by using technology mindfully to create more space for them to be present with themselves, their kids and their local communities.

Before working on HAPPI, Gabi spent 5 years in the tech industry of Silicon Valley. He was born and raised in the Bay Area which has largely contributed to his affinity for technology. Gabi firmly believes that technology plays a huge role in creating a more equitable and inclusive society but we need the technology to be design with a human-centered approach. 

Deanna Lambson

Deanna Lambson has lots of experience teaching kids as an elementary school teacher, mother of 6, and PTA volunteer for over 23 years. Deanna developed a fun and empowering White Ribbon Week program for her kids’ school. “I’ve Got the Power!” quickly spread to other schools, was endorsed by the Utah State PTA and used nationally. She has since published “Let’s Get Real”, “Be a Media Detective!” and “Brain Power!” Each week-long program helps parents teach Internet safety and media literacy in a positive and empowering way. Deanna loves helping parents find reassuring ways to talk to kids. Deanna is the founder of whiteribbonweek.org. She and her husband Don live with their children and 3 fainting goats in Sandy, UT.

Kristen Jenson

Kristen is the founder of Protect Young Minds™ and best-selling author of Good Pictures Bad Pictures: Porn-Proofing Today’s Young Kids and Good Pictures Bad Pictures Jr.: A Simple Plan to Protect Young Minds. She serves on the Prevention Task Force of the National Coalition on Sexual Exploitation. She received her bachelor’s degree in English Literature and her master’s degree in Organizational Communication. Kristen grew up in both Wyoming and Massachusetts, is the mother of three awesome children, and currently lives with her husband in beautiful Washington State.

Felicia Rateliff

At the time of this panel, Felicia was the Senior Program Manager at iKeepSafe, a non-profit specializing in student data privacy compliance, and host of the NICE National K12 Cybersecurity Education Conference.

Prior to working with iKeepSafe, Felicia served as the US Marketing Manager for Impero Software, an international education technology company, where she was instrumental in developing the US version of their online safety monitoring keyword library. She was the catalyst of the Impero Software and Digital Citizenship Summit partnership, and coordinator of their joint publication “Digital Citizenship: A Holistic Primer.”

Before entering the education technology marketing field, she was a Career and Technical Education Graphic Arts instructor for eight  years, an adult CTE trainer and mentor, a SkillsUSA National Judge, and Missouri ACTE officer.

In addition to her professional experience in education, CTE, digital citizenship and data privacy, she has raised four now-adult daughters through ever changing technological landscape, which lends to first-hand knowledge of education technology.

Felicia holds an MBA with Marketing emphasis, lifetime Missouri Secondary and Postsecondary Teaching Certifications in Graphic Arts, Graphic Communications and Illustration, and is currently completing an MSM in Organizational Leadership and Change Management. Felicia resides in Mid-Missouri with her husband and trusty dog Chubbs. When not working, she enjoys yoga, hiking, and studying natural human movement.

Ethan Fausett

Ethan Fausett did a lot of things growing up.  At the age of 16 he graduated high school and started college.  He also was a member of the planning committee for the World Congress of Families IX.  Ethan was an intern for a lobbyist group at the Utah state capitol for three years.  When he was 18 he was elected as a state delegate for his political party and got a job working in the political sphere.

However, through all of that he had a secret which brought him tremendous shame and depression.  Though he didn’t let anyone see it he struggled with an addiction.  Right before he turned 19 he made the choice to open up and get help.  Now Ethan is almost 20, preparing to serve a mission for his church, and spends his time finding ways to uplift the world around him.

Ethan is a trained Lionheart Mentoring speaker and mentor through which he works with youth to overcome obstacles and achieve dreams. His goal in life is to help people know that they are loved and that they can overcome any of their trials.  And he wants to do that in any way he can, big or small.