The ECD Team

Mary Eming Young Lead Early Child Development Specialist

Mary Eming Young is the Lead Early Child Development Specialist in the Human Development Network. She oversees and coordinates the World Bank's work and projects on Early Child Development (EDC). She is a Pediatrician and Public Health Specialist. She received her B.S. and M.D. from the University of Wisconsin and her DrPH from Johns Hopkins University.  Dr. Young is Board Certified by the American Academy of Pediatrics and by the American Academy of Preventive Medicine.  She was in clinical practice prior to joining the World Bank full time in 1989.  Her operational experience includes health sector reform, maternal child health and child development projects in all regions, including Asia (China), Africa (Ghana, Kenya, Uganda), Eastern Europe and Central Asia (Poland, Hungary, Georgia, Macedonia), Middle East (Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Egypt), and South America and the Caribbean (Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, Jamaica).  She is the Bank's primary advocate for young children's well-being and development.  Dr. Young's recent publications and edited works include:  Investing in Young Children, Early Child Development:  Investing in the Future, From Early Child Development to Human Development.

Erika Dunkelberg has over 7 years of professional experience in early child development.  She joined the World Bank ECD team in October 2002. Her work has focused on parenting education, monitoring and evaluation of ECD programs, ECD and HIVAIDS, and the linkages between ECD and youth. Ms. Dunkelberg works closely with the team leader, Mary E. Young, to assist World Bank staff in operations and provide inputs for project implementation and supervision. Her operational experience includes Peru, Macedonia, Dominican Republic, Tanzania, and Indonesia.   She manages the early child development knowledge base website for the use of field practitioners and agencies interested in the subject.  Ms. Dunkelberg holds a B.A. in clinical psychology from Catholic University, Peru and M.Ed. from Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Marie Madeleine Ndaw (also called Mado), a Senegalese national, joined the Bank in 1996. She worked at the Senegal World Bank Country office for seven years, before joining in August 2003 the Human Development Network for Education (HDNED) at the World Bank Group Headquarters. In HDNED, she worked for Girls’ Education, Post Conflicting countries and Early Childhood Development teams. She is now supporting the Early Childhood Development Team in the daily tasks related to the ECD HIV/AIDS Initiative and monitoring Trustfunds. While based in the Senegal World Bank Country Office, Marie Madeleine assisted many Bank staff on Human Development projects and MAP related activities. Before joining the World Bank Group, Marie Madeleine was working for the Christian Children’s Fund where she supervised four of CCF’s projects. Recently, Mado went to Senegal to assist with all logistical arrangements for the ECD Strategic Choices workshop.