Dear Colleagues,
What if we hired people for skills, not the degrees they hold? More employers have posed the question in recent years as they look to fill positions. There’s been a drop in the number of folks enrolling in two- and four-year college degrees as young workers raise their brows at the time and cost involved. This ongoing trend spiked during COVID, and now the tight labor market has opened more doors to those without degrees. Still, their success on the job depends on finding cost-effective pathways to get the competence they need. And it’s crucial for early care and education, an in-demand field that makes an important impact on children and families.
Parents can’t work without child care, so there’s a growing push to expand access to the CDA®, an efficient way for rising teachers to get the professional development they need. It’s part of a broader effort to ease the child care shortage without putting the costly burden of college degrees on budding teachers. For instance, Ramsey County, Minnesota, is providing scholarships for residents to earn a CDA. In Wisconsin, a partnership between schools, the state department of workforce development and Next Door, a Milwaukee provider, is funding CDA training. The Maryland State Department of Education has partnered with the Council to give the state’s teachers financial aid for credentialing and books.
And Washington, DC, knows that quality child care is essential to economic growth, so it allows all District residents to earn the CDA free of charge, as we discuss this month. You’ll hear from leaders of the Division of Workforce Development & Lifelong Learning (WDLL) at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), where they empower the underemployed or unemployed. Many of the students UDC serves are adults with children and they’re going to school while holding a job. They face challenges like finding affordable housing and putting food on the table each day. So WDLL takes every possible step to help them overcome stumbling blocks that stop them from earning their CDA.
And talk about stumbling blocks—Ismeta Omerovic has faced more than her fair share as a survivor of the Bosnian Civil War, who taught traumatized refugee children in a basement. The ordeals she went through, as you’ll see, have made her feel for the struggling families she serves now as program director at Flance Early Learning Center in St. Louis. Her personal trials have also fueled her passion to make sure that children receive quality care. So, she urges Flance teachers to earn a CDA. “We pay for their classes and books,” she says, “because we figure it’s the best way for them to get the training they need. Not only do they do coursework, but they also dig deep inside themselves when putting together the portfolio for the credential.”
And if you’re an educator who wants to dig deep into how to build your professional skills, join the Council for ECE Practitioner Day on October 8th in Orlando. Our new event will feature sessions on how to support the whole child and embed equity in your program operations. You’ll also learn ways to reflect on your work, practice self-care and gain recognition for your contributions to our profession.
No one knows better what heroes you are than Dr. Calvin Moore, a CDA holder who’s reached the heights of our profession. In the course of his career, he’s gone from the preschool classroom to earn a Ph.D. and become Council CEO, you’ll see this month in his blog. Earning a CDA opens opportunities now and in the future, as Dr. Moore knows. So does Molly Scharninghausen, a young woman who’s earning her CDA through Next Door in Milwaukee. While studying for her credential, she’s able to work as a teacher’s aide at one of Next Door’s two child care centers. And after earning her CDA, she’ll have priority for associate teacher positions at those centers, she says looking eagerly ahead. “This definitely has opened so many doors.”
With open doors and hearts for you,
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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