Dear Colleagues,
We need to build more pathways to growth and success in the early childhood profession—and we need to act now, before more children lose the chance for the quality early learning they deserve. We have nowhere near enough teachers, and more are leaving early childhood classrooms each day. To fill the need for this vital workforce in the past, we mainly relied on institutions of higher ed to graduate qualified teachers. But college programs can’t scale up fast enough to fill the demand and are way beyond the financial means of many who want to work with young children. So how can we meet these aspiring teachers where they are at an auspicious time? “This is our moment to reimagine education,” as U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona recently pointed out in a vision for education in America.
His words strike a chord here at the Council, where we’re now taking steps to reimagine our Child Development Associate®(CDA) Credential™. Our goal is to bring more equity to the credentialing process by increasing access to the CDA® for a wider, more diverse range of teachers. And in the spirit of inclusion, this month we’ll be talking about a part of the early childhood workforce that seldom gets the attention and opportunities it should.
“Nannies make up a really underserved part of the early childhood field in terms of professional growth,” says Danielle McLellan-Bujnak when we profile her in this edition. “We know little about nannies,” she says. “The scholarly work on nannies is slim and tends to include nannies as an aside to another issue. This makes nannies a marginalized group within the somewhat marginalized early childhood workforce.” So, Danielle is giving nannies the chance to develop and learn by teaching a course that combines pedagogical theory with practical tips geared to their concerns. After teaching hundreds of nannies, as Danielle explains, “I’ve learned that nannies have a tremendous desire for information that’s directly related to the real-life context in which they work.”
That’s also the beauty of the CDA as it combines theory with practice. And earning a CDA in high school can open doors early on, as it did for Kyle Wendalowski, as you’ll learn this month. At age 22, he owns an early learning center, even though he struggled in school. “I’m not the best test taker,” he admits, “so I liked the fact that the CDA is not based completely on a written test. Sure, there is an exam, but the observation part of the credentialing process gave me the confidence I needed by showing me how I was doing in the classroom.” This performance-based approach set Kyle on the path to success and you can learn how to give young folks this chance at our webinar on Preparing Students for Child Care Careers.
More high schoolers are earning their CDA as part of the growing interest in career and technical education, Dr. Moore tells us in his new blog. This trend reflects a change in public views as Americans become more concerned with preparing students for careers than for college. Attendance in CTE programs has also soared due to the shift in focus from vocational programs, like auto mechanics, cosmetology and home economics, to a wide range of hot careers: health care, cybersecurity, robotics and ECE. Programs like these give students a route to be job ready and reach students who have trouble connecting academics to their goals. Bringing real-world experiences to students like this can make coursework more relevant, increase their likelihood of graduation and even going on to college.
“Imagine a high school,” Cardona pointed out in his vision of education, “in which every single student is energized, excited and engaged in powerful learning that connects them to their communities, nurtures their career aspirations and provides them with a head start on college.” That’s the promise of CTE, as he explained. It guides students in “making informed choices about the classes they want to take, setting career goals and deciding what pathways to pursue.”
Here’s to reaching your own goals in 2024,
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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