Our team has deep expertise from years of working with students, and it fuels everything we do with professionals.

Dr. Singer works with educators, schools, and school districts world-wide to develop sound methods for language and literacy instruction. For her entire career, Dr. Singer has been interested in the ways in which language and cognition interrelate to support and constrain language, learning, reading, and writing. She is particularly passionate about working with students who struggle with executive functions and written expression.

In her early career, Dr. Singer worked in hospitals, providing clinical services to preschool children with developmental disorders affecting speech, language, and hearing. She earned her Ph.D. in Communication Disorders from Emerson College, where she also served as a Clinical Instructor. In partnership with Dr. Anthony Bashir, Dr. Singer went on to develop EmPOWER™, a method for teaching expository writing, Brain Frames®, visual tools that organize language, as well as the Qualitative Writing Inventory and Me & My Writing/My Students’ Writing assessment scales. Her most recent work lead to the development of Unlocking Sentences, a unique approach to teaching sentence comprehension.

Dr. Singer’s primary research and numerous publications focus on the relationship between spoken and written language, cognition, spatial processing, and self-regulated learning. In addition to her lead role at Vivido, Dr. Singer is the CEO of Architects For Learning-Wellesley, LLC, where she directs a staff that provides education intervention, assessment, and consultation services in the Boston area.

Due to her decades-long dedication to clinical service delivery, development of new and innovative intervention methods, and evidence-based program development, continuing education, and mentorship, Dr. Singer was awarded the Certificate of Recognition for Outstanding Clinical Achievement by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association in 2023.

Jess earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, special education, and psychology, and a master’s degree in Creative Art and Learning Across the Curriculum from Lesley University. She holds certification in education (grades 1-5) and special education (grades K-8). Her experience spans working as a 4th grade teacher, literacy coach, and special educator in Ansbach, Germany; special educator at a private school in Connecticut; and special educator as well as 5th grade classroom teacher in a Massachusetts public school.

Jess joined the staff of Architects For Learning (Dr. Singer’s clinical practice) in 2007, supporting its research and development efforts.  She has since assumed a lead role in developing Vivido’s professional development programs.  Jess is a co-author of EmPOWER: Classroom Materials. She provides professional development and consultation to educators in EmPOWER, Brain Frames, and other instructional methods developed by Vivido. Jess is particularly passionate about giving teachers practical and easy-to-use teaching methods that help them get the best out of their students.  

Dr. Bashir has spent a lifetime dedicated to language and learning. He was the director of the speech-language pathology department at Boston’s Children’s Hospital for 25 years; Coordinator for Academic and Disability Services for 14 years, the Director of the Freshman Academic Studies Program for 15 years as well as Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Emerson College. In addition, he has taught in Boston College’s Lynch School of Teacher Education for over 40 years. 

Dr. Bashir is a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association — the highest honor the organization bestows. His many years in clinical practice and teaching have had widespread impact on the field with respect to our understanding of the natural history of language disorders as well as the literacy and self-advocacy needs of students who struggle with language and learning.

Along with Dr. Bonnie Singer, Dr. Bashir developed EmPOWER and Brain Frames instructional methods as well as the Qualitative Writing Inventory, and Me & My Writing/My Students’ Writing scales for assessing writing.  At Vivido, he lends his clinical and educational acumen to the development of products, programs, and presentations.

Dr. Graham has taught English and history to middle school students in Massachusetts since 2003.  She began using EmPOWER and Brain Frames in her curriculum in 2004 then went on to become a trainer in these methods for Vivido.  Upon completing her M.Ed. from the University of Massachusetts-Boston in 2007, Holly began teaching graduate courses in language education at University of Massachusetts-Boston, taking coursework in the department of linguistics and undergoing private study with Dr. Bonnie Singer and co-authoring EmPOWER: Classroom Materials.  She completed her Doctor of Education degree with a focus on Language, Literacy, and Culture at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in 2015. 

In addition to designing instruction related materials for Vivido, Dr. Graham teaches middle school English in Northampton, MA and holds a faculty appointment at Mount Holyoke College, where she teaches language and literacy courses to preservice teachers (including a course on using Brain Frames for classroom instruction).  Dr. Graham serves as an advisor to Vivido.  Her research is focused on teacher education, systemic functional linguistics, genre-based pedagogy, metalinguistic development, and instructional practices for teaching and learning.   

Emily used Brain Frames for years as a Program Education Specialist for the New England Aquarium in Boston. She developed curriculum for all ages (including early childhood and adults) and delivered science instruction to K-12 public, private, and homeschool students throughout New England and Canada. Then she took her passion for teaching to corporate America at HubSpot, fielding everything from technical software development, to marketing and sales business strategy, to “OMG HELP ME, MY HAIR’S ON FIRE!” level questions from customers.  At Vivido, Emily serves as the Technical Operations Manager.  She also is a member of the Brain Frames instructional coaching team.

Gina held numerous office management and administrative leadership positions in healthcare and education prior to joining Vivido. With many years of experience managing people and multi-faceted projects, she takes care of all of the operations needs of our office. Gina’s superpower is her warm personality and passion for making sure people have what they need at their fingertips to be at their best.