Change agents
The Tin Can Television Board and Advisory Team is made up of today’s most trusted and respected leaders, experts, and mentors in children’s media. They know the history, they understand the challenges of today, and they are looking ahead to the future!
Danny LaBrecque
TCTv Host | Founder and Board President
Profile
Our very own Kermit the Frog meets Mister Rogers, Danny is best known as the creator and host of the streaming preschool series, Danny Joe’s Tree House, a show that works to create healthy social-emotional habits at an early age, fostering age-appropriate conversations about complex topics that can support long-term practices for families as they grow together. He is a respected change-maker in the field of early childhood development and children’s media.
Shirel Jones
TCTv Host | In-Person Immersive Environment Specialist
Profile
Shirel is an award-winning Early Childhood Teaching Artist and the founder of Imagination Island, an immersive media universe transforming children from passive spectators into active creators. With over a decade of experience, Shirel reimagines traditional children’s programming by seamlessly embedding social-emotional and academic lessons into gentle ballet and storytelling. Her innovative approach to arts integration has led to collaborative programming within prominent institutions across Detroit’s cultural ecosystem, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Institute of Arts and Detroit Opera. She is currently developing an expansion of the Imagination Island experience into an interactive standalone museum installation.
Stan Tucker
TCTv Host | Literacy and School Partner Outreach Advisor
Profile
Stan Tucker (affectionately known as “Stan the Man”) is an American educator, children’s book author, motivational speaker, dedicated literacy advocate, and creator and host of the streaming children’s series, The Very Airy Library. Driven by a mission to inspire the next generation through reading, writing, and character development, he uses his platform to empower children to become the authors of their own life stories. He travels the country visiting schools and inspiring children to become the authors of their own stories through initiatives including Leap For Literacy, The “Read ‘n’ Roll” Bookmobile, and Share Your Story. He has helped over 200 young authors get their original books professionally illustrated and published.
Stefani Foster LaBrecque
Head of Programming and Production
Profile
With experience in creative and educational media production, project management, and organizational leadership, Stefani currently works as Creative Partner and Executive Producer for Danny Joe’s Tree House and LaBrecque Studios. She has managed academic, digital learning, research, and production environments, and formerly served as Vice President of Course Development and Project Management at 2U/edX.
Jocelyn Stevenson
Curriculum Delivery Advisor and Board Director
Profile
Jocelyn has worked in children’s media for over 40 years as a writer, creator, showrunner, producer and executive producer. Her work is informed by the conviction that content responsibly created for children can be a powerful influence that simultaneously educates, entertains, and inspires. Credits include: Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, Bob the Builder, Thomas & Friends, Barney & Friends, The Magic School Bus, The Magic School Bus Rides Again, Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock. Her current project, The Waterubas, is a duology of novels for 9-12 year olds that combines watertight science with an adventure-soaked story to saturate the imaginations of children around the world to inspire them to love and protect our planet’s water, the amazing substance that connects us all.
Sherri Hope Culver
Media/Curriculum Advisor and Board Director
Profile
Sherri is the Founder/Director of the Center for Media & Media Literacy (CMIL) at Temple University where she is Professor of Instruction in the Klein College of Media and Communication and directs the Certificate in Children’s Media. Sherri is a UNESCO chair in MIL and serves on the board of the UNESCO Global MIL Alliance. She previously served as an advisor on the PBS Kids Media Literacy Framework, TIME Studios, Fred Rogers Productions, Google Kids & Family, Prix Jeunesse, the National Association for Media Literacy Education and more! Her publications include the report, The Quality Question: Why Children’s Media Must Aim High.
Michael J. Melander
Financial/Legal Advisor and Board Treasurer
Profile
Mike is a principal attorney with the law firm of Padgitt, Padgitt & Peppey, Ltd., in Winnetka, Illinois. He has been practicing in the areas of taxation, nonprofit advisement, estate planning, probate and trust administration for over 20 years. Mike is a long-time resident of the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Chicago where he lives with his wife and two children. His favorite activity is walking his kids home from elementary school, which he tries to do every day.
Mike Gibson
Advisor and Board Secretary
Profile
Mike is the Founder of Gibson Creative Partners where he works with writers, designers, artists, and engineers to deliver creative content and custom applications to entertainment, educational, and corporate clients. He has lead development teams at Disney Interactive, National Geographic, and Firaxis Games on notable educational and entertainment titles including Disney Learning, Sid Meier’s Civilization, and Curiosityville.
Stephanie Flores-Koulish
Institutional Partnerships and Ambassador Programming Advisor
Profile
Stephanie is Professor and Program Director of Curriculum and Instruction for Social Justice at Loyola University Maryland. Her primary area of expertise and research has been within the field of Critical Media Literacy Education. She also has conducted research on identity and adoptees, education policy and practices, and critical multicultural education. She serves as board Vice President for the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE).
Erricka Bridgeford
Social Justice and Mediation Advisor
Profile
Erricka is a prominent Baltimore-based anti-violence activist, mediator, inspirational speaker, and interfaith minister. She is best known as the co-founder of the grassroots Baltimore Peace Movement, originally launched in 2017 as Baltimore Ceasefire 365. She also serves as Executive Director of the Baltimore Community Mediation Center.
In her powerful May 2018 TED Talk, originally delivered at TEDxMidAtlantic, Bridgeford challenges the fatalistic idea that gun violence in inner cities is an unsolvable problem. She is also featured in The Baltimore Documentary: The Body Politic, which highlights the critical overlap between grassroots community activism and city management. Because of her immense credibility on the ground, Mayor Brandon Scott tapped Bridgeford to co-chair his transition’s public health and safety committee.
A former classroom teacher, Bridgeford is skilled at helping young children process complex emotions. She is a regular guest on Danny Joe’s Tree House, and she is currently working with Danny Joe LaBrecque on an original children’s series, Bitsy’s Room, based on her childhood experiences. Together, they are also developing a children’s book based on the origins of the Baltimore Peace Movement.
Gary Pope
Head of Marketing and Branding
Profile
Gary is the Co-Founder of Kid Industries (UK), creating new products and services – both digital and physical, apps, websites, integrated communications campaigns, training programs, consumer immersion and just about anything else a client might need to connect with the family market.
Dr. John Brothers
Fundraising Advisor
Profile
Dr. John Brothers is the interim CEO and president of Candid, a nonprofit that connects people who want to change the world to the resources they need to do it. He previously served as president of T. Rowe Price Foundation and of T. Rowe Price Charitable.