Honoring Children through Committed Service
Dear Colleagues,
Child care settings across the country joined in a celebration this month. On April 10-16, they broke out the balloons, blew bubbles and banged drums to honor the Week of the Young Child, now in its 50th year. It might not be a household celebration, but it should be since it recognizes the value of something that matters to families nationwide: the impact of the early years in shaping children’s development and learning. The Week of the Young Child is also a time to pay tribute to the services and programs that set them up for success in school and later in life.
This special week goes back to 1971, also the year when Evelyn Moore co-founded the National Black Child Development Institute. And this month, you’ll read about her achievements as a crusader for equity in early childhood education. As one of the first teachers in the Perry Preschool Project, Moore helped prove that young children who receive high-quality care become more productive adults. She also played a role in shaping the CDA® by ensuring it includes rigorous coursework that lets students earn college credit. “My fight was as much for the educators as for the children,” she says, “because you have more portability and opportunity if you’re a credentialed teacher.”
That makes the CDA a godsend for military spouses who want a career, despite the transient nature of life in the service. Too often, they have no choice but to opt out of the workforce, so Christy LeDuff works with Navy Child and Youth Programs to support the spouses of service members in earning the credential. “Many of our staff move every three years or so with their spouses,” she says, “and when they come to a new installation, it’s very helpful for them to have the credential. Wherever they go, the CDA allows them to have a career.”
Part of their work involves supporting military children on a mission for which they never signed up. They endure long separations from the active-duty parent, living in strange, new places, and losing the friends they leave behind. They say goodbye more often in their first few years than most people do in a lifetime. And we’re now marking the sacrifices they make. April is Month of the Military Child, when we salute these small heroes for their service in the U.S. and abroad.
It’s also Earth Day, when preschools worldwide are doing projects and joining in local events to show children how to protect our planet. Children are singing Earth Day songs, making homemade seed paper, painting with recycled objects and more as you’ll see when you read our Earth Day blog. So, learn how you can introduce concepts like recycling, pollution, planting, composting and reusing. It’s never too early for children to see that they can play a role as community members who help our planet thrive for the generations to come.
At the Council, we’re also working to make the world better for tomorrow’s children, as Dr. Moore points out when he discusses the Promise of the High School CDA. Earning a CDA not only opens doors to rewarding careers for today’s young adults; it also gives them the skills to help young children succeed tomorrow. That’s a key message whenever we mark Week of the Young Child—and the Council is committed to it all year long.
With thanks for your own deep commitment to children,
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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