Dear Colleagues,
We, as members of the early learning community, know the power of collaboration and cooperation to move our profession ahead. We also know it’s important to pass on these values to children when they are young. And that was the point of Work Together Wednesday, part of this month’s Week of the Young Child (WOYC). “When children work together, they experience teamwork, improve their abilities to work toward a common goal and develop their social skills,” according to the National Association for the Education of Young Children, which sponsors WOYC. Working together also “builds a sense of community,” as NAEYC points out. And it urges our early childhood teachers to draw on their own sense of community by working together to advocate for their field and the families who they serve.
Advocacy has become a focus for the Council, and it played a prominent role at our Early Educators Leadership Conference last year, where our speakers included NAEYC CEO Michelle Kang. She noted that “NAEYC and the Council are powerful forces for positive change. Arm in arm, we can stand up on behalf of ECE.” So, we should unite to do right, as Council CEO Dr. Calvin Moore agreed. “Together we can create a world in which all children have the quality early childhood education they deserve.” And this month, we feature two members of our community, who’ve already answered this call to arms.
Educators have the power to make change, insists Laura McCarty, president of the Northern Virginia Association for the Education of Young Children (NVAEYC). She’s also a former special education teacher, who once thought she couldn’t make an impact beyond her school walls. But she changed her mind after attending NVAEYC’s Advocacy Leadership Training Program, where she found a community of people who emboldened her to find her voice. And now she guides other educators on how to convince their elected officials to make policies that meet the real needs of the early learning field. “When you walk into a lawmaker’s office, you have to be concise, cohesive and coherent,” Laura advises them. “And one of the best ways for educators to get their points across is to tell their personal stories.”
So, Lindsey Ramsey must cause quite a stir when she tells lawmakers how she rose from a single mom at 16 to become executive director of the Shady Lane School, a Pittsburgh program founded by Mr. Rogers. She attributes much of her success to the sense of sisterhood she found while earning her CDA® with other young early childhood teachers, whom she now supports by serving on Pennsylvania’s Early Learning Commission where she joins in the search for new ways to support our profession.
Our educators deserve more credit because “they’re the workforce behind the workforce,” Lindsey explains. And when she speaks on their behalf, she likes to quote something Mr. Rogers once said: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” And educators can be a source of help to the many scared children who are victims of neglect and abuse, Vilma Williams writes as she marks National Child Abuse Prevention Month by showing how educators can promote children’s safety, resilience and healing.
But victims of child abuse are hardly the only young children who need emotional healing in the wake of the pandemic. Years of preschool closures, lockdowns and cancelled playdates have led to a crisis in social skills, Dr. Moore writes in his new blog. Many young children don’t know how to manage their emotions and make friends, as the research has shown. The unprecedented public health crisis has led to unprecedented levels of disruptive behavior in the classroom, with long-term implications. Social and emotional learning is crucial for success in school and life, so Dr. Moore urges us to keep looking for ways to ramp up our children’s social skills. Sure, it will take resources and time, but our children can learn to connect better with others. And we, as educators, can help. We must encourage children to work together on Wednesday and every other day of the week.
Looking ahead to working more with you,
The Council for Professional Recognition
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Vice President of Strategic Alliances
Elisa Shepherd is the Vice President of Strategic Alliances at the Council, where she leads initiatives to advance the Council’s mission and strategic plan through designing, managing, and executing a comprehensive stakeholder relationship strategy.
With over 25 years of experience in early childhood education (ECE), Elisa has dedicated her career to developing impactful programs, professional development opportunities, and public policies that support working families, young children, and ECE staff. Before joining the Council, Elisa held numerous roles within the childcare industry. Most recently, she served as Associate Vice President at The Learning Experience and as Senior Manager at KinderCare Education, where she influenced government affairs and public policies across 40 states.
Elisa’s commitment to leadership is reflected in her external roles on the Early Care and Education Consortium Board of Directors, the Florida Chamber Foundation Board of Trustees, and as the DEI Caucus Leader for KinderCare Education. She has been recognized as an Emerging Leader in Early Childhood by Childcare Exchange’s Leadership Initiative.
Elisa earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a focus on child development from Pennsylvania State University in State College, PA.
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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