Dear Colleagues,
Charlie Brown’s dinner proves to be a real turkey in the 1973 TV classic, Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. “I can’t cook Thanksgiving dinner. All I can make is cold cereal and maybe toast,” Charlie frets. Yet he decides to host his friends for the holiday after learning that one of them, Peppermint Patty, is going to be alone. Linus, who’s Charlie’s best friend, enlists Snoopy and Woodstock to help, and they all try to do their best. Snoopy sets up a ping pong table and chairs. Charlie, Snoopy, Woodstock and Linus then prepare a meal that’s far from what Patty had in mind. “What’s this? A piece of toast? A pretzel stick? Popcorn? What blockhead cooked all this?” she exclaims.
And you can understand her sense of consternation. For many folks, Thanksgiving is all about food. “What we’re really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving?” quipped American humorist Erma Bombeck. “Thanksgiving without turkey is like Fourth of July with no apple pie or Friday without two pizzas,” Joey pointed out in an episode of Friends. And writer Nora Ephron shared Joey’s fond regard for the traditional Thanksgiving meal. “The turkey. The sweet potatoes. The stuffing. The pumpkin pie. Is there anything else we all can agree so vehemently about? I don’t think so.”
But think again. There are other ways to celebrate Thanksgiving. In Barbados, the Crop Over Festival includes singing, dancing, drinking and a competition to climb up a greased pole. Brazilians begin their Day of Giving Thanks with a church ceremony and end it with a carnival in the streets. In northern India, people mark the harvest with a bonfire to reignite the return to longer days. In Liberia, a nation founded by freed slaves, people use the day to show gratitude for their liberation. The Chinese hold a mid-autumn moon festival in which they light paper lanterns and eat mooncakes with family and friends. So, Thanksgiving traditions worldwide range from hearty feasts to sharing heartfelt blessings. Yet the spirit is the same. Thanksgiving is a chance to spend time with loved ones reflecting on what’s important, something children should understand in our diverse nation. Telling them about these different traditions promotes inclusion, and inclusion matters to the educators we feature in this month’s edition.
Dr. Sarah Vanover speaks out for all children as the policy and research director of Kentucky Youth Advocates and author of Including All Children: Transitioning to an Inclusive Early Learning Program. Her new book comes from a personal space as the mother of a 10-year-old boy born with autism. It was hard to find supportive learning environments for him, as she explains, since teachers in most child care programs don’t have the training needed to help special needs children advance.
And Mary Olvera knows firsthand the challenges that parents face when they have special needs kids. Her son was born disabled, and she struggled to advance his growth while building a career. She might have given up on her education and goals without a caring mentor who saw her promise. The encouragement Mary received inspired her to go from working in a sock factory to serving as education program administrator/CTE coordinator in the North Carolina Community College System, where she helps rising teachers earn their CDA.
People like Mary have helped the Council reach a milestone, awarding our millionth CDA, as Dr. Moore points out in his blog, A Million Reasons to Give Thanks. Council staff just marked the occasion at our headquarters in Washington, DC, where we showed our gratitude for the achievement and toasted Jada Vargas, the Native teen who is the millionth person to earn our valued credential. No, we didn’t dine on turkey and all the trimmings, but our gathering expressed the true meaning of Thanksgiving, as Marcie, one of Charlie Brown’s friends, explained at his dinner. “Thanksgiving is more than eating, Chuck. We should just be thankful for being together. I think that’s what they mean by Thanksgiving.”
Happy Thanksgiving,
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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