Dear Colleagues,
We’ve often discussed the value of honoring children’s backgrounds while helping them blaze new trails ahead. And that’s true for everyone since the past affects how we approach the present and what lies beyond. “It is important for all of us to appreciate where we come from and how that history has really shaped us in ways we might not fully understand,” as Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has pointed out.
Justice Sotomayor is one of the people we honor as we mark National Hispanic Heritage Month, and she shares the Council’s ideals because she is convinced that “equality among people in the United States will not occur until there is equality in the education of all our children.” Sotomayor also shares the Council’s belief in the importance of reading to young learners and has written two children’s books—Be Different, Be Brave, Be You and Shine! How to Be a Better You—which focus on the power of difference and how to help people discover their inner brilliance.
The nation’s Hispanic early childhood professionals also help children shine, and they are among the people who deserve recognition as the nation observes Hispanic Heritage Month with this year’s theme: Collective Heritage: Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future. This year also happens to be the 50th anniversary of the Child Development Associate® (CDA) Credential™, and we are honoring the past, celebrating the present, and inspiring the future. So, it’s fitting that this edition spotlights both an educator who now guides future CDAs and a prominent leader in our field who was there from the CDA’s start.
Dr. Josué Cruz was one of the first staff members of the CDA Consortium, the group tasked to develop the credential. He went on to serve on the Council’s board and became the Council’s CEO from 2007 to 2010. So, he has seen how far the CDA® has come from those early days when the Consortium began to explore models for the credential. Dr. Cruz will be discussing his role in the CDA’s advance at the Early Educators Leadership Conference in October, and you can catch up with what he had to say by tuning into The Council Table Podcast in coming months. In the meantime, read his profile to learn about some of the steps he took to spread the CDA’s reach and give it a solid place in the lives of children, families and teachers.
Dr. Cruz’s work opened career pathways for early learning professionals like Luz Quiroga, a coach for Delaware State University’s Early Childhood Innovation Center, where she helps Hispanic educators earn a CDA. Luz puts her heart into guiding the CDA candidates, as you’ll learn in this edition, since she has firsthand experience of the challenges they face. When Luz came to this country, she had a college degree in business but didn’t speak English, and the only job she could get was as a custodian in a medical supply warehouse. Yet she managed to complete her CDA, earn a college degree and advance in the early learning field. “Now I get the educators inspired,” she says, “by telling them my own story to convince them that they, too, can succeed.”
Many of the educators who Luz supports have struggles that include immigration issues, language barriers and domestic violence. They also have many strengths, as Dr. Calvin Moore tells us in his latest blog. Hispanic educators have a keen sense of calling for the early learning field and their background equips them to give Hispanic children the culturally responsive care that helps them learn best. Our Hispanic early childhood teachers play a vital role, and the Council supports them by providing all our resources in Spanish, offering webinars in Spanish and partnering with organizations that give Hispanic educators the sense of community they need. And our early learning settings need more Hispanic CDAs. They help young Hispanic learners reach their promise, and that’s a key step toward a goal the Council shares with Justice Sotomayor and progressive leaders nationwide: equality in the education of all our children.
Happy Hispanic Heritage Month,
The Council for Professional Recognition
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Vice President of Strategic Alliances
Elisa Shepherd is the Vice President of Strategic Alliances at the Council, where she leads initiatives to advance the Council’s mission and strategic plan through designing, managing, and executing a comprehensive stakeholder relationship strategy.
With over 25 years of experience in early childhood education (ECE), Elisa has dedicated her career to developing impactful programs, professional development opportunities, and public policies that support working families, young children, and ECE staff. Before joining the Council, Elisa held numerous roles within the childcare industry. Most recently, she served as Associate Vice President at The Learning Experience and as Senior Manager at KinderCare Education, where she influenced government affairs and public policies across 40 states.
Elisa’s commitment to leadership is reflected in her external roles on the Early Care and Education Consortium Board of Directors, the Florida Chamber Foundation Board of Trustees, and as the DEI Caucus Leader for KinderCare Education. She has been recognized as an Emerging Leader in Early Childhood by Childcare Exchange’s Leadership Initiative.
Elisa earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a focus on child development from Pennsylvania State University in State College, PA.
Chief Operations Officer (COO)
Andrew Davis serves as Chief Operating Officer at the Council. In this role, Andrew oversees the Programs Division, which includes the following operational functions: credentialing, growth and business development, marketing and communications, public policy and advocacy, research, innovation, and customer relations.
Andrew has over 20 years of experience in the early care and education field. Most recently, Andrew served as Senior Vice President of Partnership and Engagement with Acelero Learning and Shine Early Learning, where he led the expansion of state and community-based partnerships to produce more equitable systems of service delivery, improved programmatic quality, and greater outcomes for communities, children and families. Prior to that, he served as Director of Early Learning at Follett School Solutions.
Andrew earned his MBA from the University of Baltimore and Towson University and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland – University College.
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Jan Bigelow serves as Chief Financial Officer at the Council and has been with the organization since February of 2022.
Jan has more than 30 years in accounting and finance experience, including public accounting, for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. She has held management-level positions with BDO Seidman, Kiplinger Washington Editors, Pew Center for Global Climate Change, Communities In Schools, B’nai B’rith Youth Organization and American Humane. Since 2003, Jan has worked exclusively in the non-profit sector where she has been a passionate advocate in improving business operations in order to further the mission of her employers.
Jan holds a CPA from the State of Virginia and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lycoming College. She resides in Alexandria VA with her husband and dog.
Vice President of People and Culture
Janie Payne is the Vice President of People and Culture for the Council for Professional Recognition. Janie is responsible for envisioning, developing, and executing initiatives that strategically manage talent and culture to align people strategies with the overarching business vision of the Council. Janie is responsible for driving organizational excellence through strategic talent practices, orchestrating workforce planning, talent acquisition, performance management as well as a myriad of other Human Resources Programs. She is accountable for driving effectiveness by shaping organizational structure for optimal efficiency. Janie oversees strategies that foster a healthy culture to include embedding diversity, equity, and inclusion into all aspects of the organization.
In Janie’s prior role, she was the Vice President of Administration at Equal Justice Works, where she was responsible for leading human resources, financial operations, facilities management, and information technology. She was also accountable for developing and implementing Equal Justice Works Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategy focused on attracting diverse, mission-oriented talent and creating an inclusive and equitable workplace environment. With more than fifteen years of private, federal, and not-for-profit experience, Janie is known for her intuitive skill in administration management, human resources management, designing and leading complex system change, diversity and inclusion, and social justice reform efforts.
Before joining Equal Justice Works, Janie was the Vice President of Human Resources and Chief Diversity Officer for Global Communities, where she was responsible for the design, implementation, and management of integrated HR and diversity strategies. Her work impacted employees in over twenty-two countries. She was responsible for the effective management of different cultural, legal, regulatory, and economic systems for both domestic and international employees. Prior to Global Communities, Janie enjoyed a ten-year career with the federal government. As a member of the Senior Executive Service, she held key strategic human resources positions with multiple cabinet-level agencies and served as an advisor and senior coach to leaders across the federal sector. In these roles, she received recognition from management, industry publications, peers, and staff for driving the creation and execution of programs that created an engaged and productive workforce.
Janie began her career with Verizon Communications (formerly Bell Atlantic), where she held numerous roles of increasing responsibility, where she directed a diversity program that resulted in significant improvement in diversity profile measures. Janie was also a faculty member for the company’s Black Managers Workshop, a training program designed to provide managers of color with the skills needed to overcome barriers to their success that were encountered because of race. She initiated a company-wide effort to establish team-based systems and structures to impact corporate bottom line results which was recognized by the Department of Labor. Janie was one of the first African American women to be featured on the cover of Human Resources Executive magazine.
Janie received her M.A. in Organization Development from American University. She holds numerous professional development certificates in Human Capital Management and Change Management, including a Diversity and Inclusion in Human Resources certificate from Cornell University. She completed the year-long Maryland Equity and Inclusion Leadership Program sponsored by The Schaefer Center for Public Policy and The Maryland Commission on Civil Rights. She is a trained mediator and Certified Professional Coach. She is a graduate of Leadership America, former board chair of the NTL Institute and currently co-steward of the organization’s social justice community of practice, and a member of The Society for Human Resource Management. Additionally, Janie is the Board Chairperson for the Special Education Citizens Advisory Council for Prince Georges County where she is active in developing partnerships that facilitate discussion between parents, families, educators, community leaders, and the PG County school administration to enhance services for students with disabilities which is her passion. She and her husband Randolph reside in Fort Washington Maryland.
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