Stephen M. Hannon, PhD

President and CEO, LENA

Dr. Stephen M. Hannon is the President and CEO of LENA and has steered LENA through its ambitious growth, leveraging a wealth of technical and leadership skills honed over a 30-year career spanning multiple industries. His experience has provided the foundation for LENA’s unique technology to be paired with programmatic impact felt across early childhood.

Webinars (4)

Family Resiliency and Early Language: Leveraging a Public Health Lens With Interactive-Talk Initiatives to Improve Child Outcomes

Recorded: Feb 26, 2020

In this webinar, medical practitioners help us understand early language development through a public health lens. How does interactive talk build family resiliency?

A skyline illustrates cities where Providence Talks will be replicated.

Providence Talks Replication: Early Childhood Innovation at the Municipal Level

Recorded: Nov 5, 2019

Providence Talks was one of the first early language initiatives implemented at the municipal level, with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies. Learn how the program is being replicated in five more cities.

Building Classroom Quality Through Language

Recorded: Jun 2, 2019

How can organizations support teachers in building classroom quality through interactive language? See where we stand and learn about the challenges and opportunities associated with increasing interactions.

Beyond the 30 Million Word Gap: A Conversation with Dr. Rachel Romeo

Recorded: Mar 29, 2018

Join LENA’s president and chief operating officer, Dr. Steve Hannon, as he hosts a conversation with Dr. Rachel Romeo, lead author on a study from Harvard and MIT that sheds light on the underlying neural mechanism that makes conversational turns so critical for brain development.

Blog Posts (8)

Amplifying conversations, transforming early childhood

By Stephen M. Hannon, PhDDecember 12, 2023

In 2023, we were thrilled to announce a generous $5 million gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. Here’s what that means for LENA’s future, and for our continued role in reshaping early childhood education.

Changing the conversation: How we’re thinking about building impact in early childhood

By Stephen M. Hannon, PhDDecember 13, 2022

By year’s end, LENA technology will have measured 20 million conversational turns on 90,000 LENA Days. But that’s only part of the story, and it’s where we go from there that we’re focusing on now.

Year in review: Looking back at progress in the midst of a pandemic

By Stephen M. Hannon, PhDDecember 8, 2020

2020 wasn’t the year we planned for. Yet, we’ve adapted, and the pivots have had impressive outcomes.

Justice starts at birth

By Stephen M. Hannon, PhDJune 8, 2020

In response to recent events, we have made a point to step back and deeply reflect in order to be both authentic and to highlight commitments on which we can and will act.

Making a difference: We reached our goal to impact 10,000 children in 2019!

By Stephen M. Hannon, PhDDecember 10, 2019

Because of our work, more than 10,000 children experienced 14 million brain-building conversational turns this year.

Infant and toddler CLASS assessment: Your questions answered!

By Stephen M. Hannon, PhDAugust 1, 2019

Teachstone’s senior research advisor discusses the state of early childhood classrooms, challenges and opportunities for growth, and answers common questions about CLASS.

It’s Time to Shine a Light on Language Isolation in Infant and Toddler Classrooms

By Stephen M. Hannon, PhDJanuary 15, 2019

New grant opportunities are making it possible to adopt data-informed strategies for ensuring that we can look forward to a time when every child’s day is filled with wonderful, nourishing conversation.

Putting a bow on 2018 and looking forward to 2019

By Stephen M. Hannon, PhDDecember 20, 2018

2018 has been an incredible year for LENA with new research, strong partnerships, and 10 million conversational turns! We’re thoroughly excited about the road ahead and all that 2019 will bring as we work toward our vision of all children entering school prepared for success.

TECHNOLOGY

PROGRAMS

RESEARCH

LAUNCH A PROGRAM

LENA for…