Junlei Li

As Co-Director of the Fred Rogers Center and Rita M. McGinley Professor of Psychology and Human Development at Saint Vincent College, Junlei Li seeks to understand and apply Fred Rogers’ philosophy and approach to serve children and their helpers. The center looks for and communicates what is “simple and deep” and matters most in service of children and their families. With their many partners and students, the center strives to enhance the quality of human relationships surrounding children, promote children's “growing on the inside”, and give positive meaning to the use of technology in children’s learning and growing. Across all of their projects, the center believe that real and lasting change start with finding what ordinary people do extraordinarily well with children in everyday moments. The center respects, honors, and supports all of children’s helpers – parents, caregivers, teachers, and neighbors. Junlei has had the opportunity to learn from children’s helpers across many diverse and low-resource developmental settings, including orphanages, child care, classrooms, and community programs. He has also helped to spread the “simple and deep” message as a keynote speaker and workshop facilitator in dozens of national, state-wide, and international conferences for early childhood, K-12 education, and child/youth/family development.