Our History
First Three Years was founded in 2001 by Ayala Hanen Manolson in memory of her husband William Benjamin Manolson, who was an entrepreneur and mentor to many young people. Ayala’s generous donation of start-up funding and housing were instrumental in moving First Three Years from dream to reality. She assumed the role of Chair of the Board of Directors from 2000-2003 and continues to support the organization in her role as honorary life-time member.

Ayala, a speech therapist by profession, revolutionized the world of speech and language intervention in the 1980’s by involving parents and caregivers in early communication programs for language-delayed children. She founded the internationally renowned Hanen Centre and is the creator and original author of "It Takes Two To Talk" and "You Make the Difference in Helping Your Child Learn" - two widely used parenting programs. In founding First Three Years, Ayala continued her vision of strengthening the early parent-child relationship — the critical foundation on which every other mental skill can flourish.

Ayala recently received the honour of Distinguished Alumni Award for Professional Leadership from McGill's School of Communication Sciences and Disorders.


Ayala Hanen Manolson
Founder, First Three Years
The charitable agency First Three Years operates with a mission to optimize healthy child development in infancy (0-3). It was initiated as an off-shoot of the internationally acclaimed Hanen Centre in Toronto, renowned for its parent training for children with language delays.

Prior to working at First Three Years, the two principle staff, Claire Watson and Barbara MacKay Ward, collaborated with Ayala on the internationally-acclaimed Hanen Parent Programs – “It Takes Two to Talk” and “You Make the Difference in Helping Your Child Learn.” Their experiences with these and other programs, led them to realize that there was a need for a prevention program that would focus exclusively on supporting the parent-infant relationship. At that time, new research showed that attachment had a direct impact on the development of the brain. In fact, secure attachment and positive interaction with adults and peers were identified as key factors in school readiness.

Claire and Barb took attachment theory and parent-infant communication theory along with the most effective and researched elements of their previous programs to create Make the Connection (MTC).