Dona Matthews has been teaching, writing, counseling, consulting, and conducting research on giftedness-related issues since 1985. She holds an M.Ed. in Counseling Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Special Education (Gifted), both from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT).

She has worked in many capacities to support high-level development in diverse populations, including doing academic research and publishing; consulting to parent, education, and government organizations; teaching at the University of Toronto, Ryerson Polytechnic University, the University of British Columbia, and Hunter College; initiating and directing an extracurricular program for academically gifted children at the University of Toronto Schools; and conducting a busy private practice doing psychoeducational assessment and counseling.

In September of 2003, she moved to New York, where she was Director of the Center for Gifted Studies and Education at Hunter College of the City University of New York.

In the fall of 2007, Dona moved back to Toronto, where she is a lecturer at St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, engaged in several writing projects, and working with families and schools on issues relating to gifted education. She is a co-editor, with Frances Degen Horowitz and Rena Subotnik, of The Development of Giftedness and Talent Across the Life Span and with Tom Balchin and Barry Hymer of The Routledge International Companion to Gifted Education.

 

Joanne Foster holds an M.Ed. in Special Education and Adaptive Instruction, and an Ed.D in Human Development and Applied Psychology, both from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT). She has worked in the field of education since 1975 and has taken on various responsibilities, including classroom teacher at different grade levels; gifted education teacher; gifted program coordinator; resource consultant; professional development leader; community liaison in giftedness issues; and university lecturer.

Currently, Dr. Foster teaches courses in Educational Psychology as well as Gifted Education in the Initial Teacher Education Program at OISE/UT. She is also a Gifted Education Consultant, and works helping teachers across the province fine-tune their programming for exceptional learners. She is a frequent guest lecturer for the Association for Bright Children (ABC) and other educational organizations, serves on a number of special needs committees within the Toronto area and for the University of Toronto, and addresses educators and parents at conferences and targeted learning sessions across North America, focusing on topics pertaining to high-level development and giftedness.

Joanne has written numerous articles pertaining to gifted-related matters for peer-reviewed journals and other publications. Current projects include many upcoming professional and parent-oriented presentations, and a book for parents about procrastination tendencies and low productivity among children.