Frances Carlson is a former early childhood education program administrator. She worked for 20 years for a variety of programs, including the Department of the Army, Internal Revenue Service, Wachovia Bank (now Wells Fargo), Sheltering Arms, Turner Broadcasting Systems (via Bright Horizons Family Solutions), and the Technical College System of Georgia/Chattahoochee Technical College. While working as the center administrator, she successfully led four programs through the process of NAEYC program accreditation. In 2002, she began a higher education career where she taught Early Childhood Care and Education to students pursuing associate degrees at Chattahoochee Technical College. While working in that position, she successfully led the program through the NAEYC Commission on the Accreditation of Early Childhood Higher Education Programs associate degree accreditation where it was the first accredited associate degree program in Georgia. After teaching adults for fourteen years, Carlson returned to administration where she began a position as Associate Dean of Professional Services and Design in 2016. She worked in that position until her retirement in January 2024. She has authored two books Essential Touch (NAEYC, 2006) and Big Body Play (NAEYC, 2011) as well as articles in a variety of early childhood education publications, including Young Children, Teaching Young Children, Exchange Press, Child Care Bridges , and Interactions.

She has also directed and produced two DVDs An Afternoon with the Experts: Dan Gartrell on GUIDANCE (2014) and Expect Male Involvement: Recruiting and Retaining Men in Early Childhood Education (2009). She has presented at various association conferences, including those hosted by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the Professional Development Institute (PDI), the Southern Early Childhood Association (SECA), and the Georgia Association for the Education of Young Children (GAEYC). She has also presented keynotes and training across the country and the world. http://www.bigbodyplay.com/.