Dear Colleagues,
Every day our classrooms and our communities become more diverse. “We have become, not a melting pot, but a beautiful mosaic,” as Jimmy Carter once said, “different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.” Accepting all the ways we are unique will make the world a more peaceful place. And that was important as we marked 20 years since the attacks of 9/11, a crisis that put the spotlight on what divides us. As memories of the event came back, early childhood teachers had a key role to play in teaching young children that we can all be neighbors.
In a moving blog, Dr. Calvin Moore brings us the thoughts of some who lived through that tragic day. One is an early childhood teacher who brought children to safety. Another is a young man who was a child when the Twin Towers crashed to the ground. “Fortunately, I had a wonderful teacher,” he recalled, “who taught us that one group of people doesn’t represent an entire race or religion. People of all races and religions have the ability to do bad things and good things, too.”
This message still matters, so we must keep teaching children to find what joins us and value what sets us apart. “In diversity, there is beauty and there is strength,” Maya Angelou pointed out. And you’ll see what this means as we mark Hispanic Heritage Month by featuring a caring professional who provides home visiting services to immigrant families in Washington, DC.
Gisela Hurtdo urges us to take a strengths-based approach when we serve newcomers to our nation. Some are political refugees. Others have fled gang violence, she says. “Imagine the trauma they went through to get here. They left everything behind, and some of them faced life-and-death situations. Not everybody can do that.” So, these families deserve respect, as we stress in our CDA textbook, Essentials for Working with Young Children.
Essentials explores ways culture shapes family dynamics, something to keep in mind as we work with immigrant families whose traditions may differ from our own. Effective partnerships require both educators and parents to treat each other as equals, confer on important decisions about a child, and respect each other’s opinions whatever differences there might be.
The value of these tips crosses over to countries around the globe. And they’ve made the CDA a big success in China, as you’ll see in our profile of Jing Zhao Cesarone, who’s brought the credential to China. “The CDA,” she explains, “accommodates different cultures and also allows our early childhood teachers to bring their own personal input to the classroom.”
With Cesarone’s support, the CDA is shaping the future of early learning in China, and next month you can learn more about how we’re Building Strong Futures for children here in the U.S. So, don’t miss our Virtual Experience on October 6-8 featuring a diverse body of speakers. The event will take place during our Early Educators Leadership Conference, a time when we honor what brings us together: a shared mission to serve young children. And part of that mission is to inspire our youngsters to be tolerant in their classrooms and in their communities worldwide. Diversity is one of the things we all have in common. We should celebrate it every day.
With all our respect,
The Council for Professional Recognition
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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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