Dear Colleagues,
Did you know that a famed economist once put a dollar amount on the value of a good teacher? And “the numbers are astounding,” exclaimed Eric Hanushek, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University. “A teacher at the 85th percentile of skills, compared with an average teacher, can raise a student’s lifetime earnings by over $20,000. So, a good teacher with 20 students would produce $400,000 more than an average teacher for each year in which she helps students progress. And that would add up to about a trillion dollars a year, Hanushek projected. “These gains to individuals and society seem large enough that we might consider more fundamental changes to the way we run our schools,” he pointed out. “We need to pay much more attention to ensuring that there is an effective teacher in every classroom”—a call to action to keep in mind as we marked Teacher Appreciation Week this month.
And we should honor our early educators in this yearly celebration of the impact that teachers make. “Teachers are key drivers of the economic future,” according to Daniel Silva, president of the Rio Grande Valley Partnership, a nonprofit that fosters collaboration among businesses in Texas. “College and career readiness start with a strong early childhood education,” which sets the stage for future success in school. “Students earn more when they learn, and teacher training affects earnings,” Silva said at a recent forum called It Pays to Attract and Retain Strong Teachers. “Research shows that students will earn more money when they’re taught by teachers who complete a high-quality educator training program with a significant in-classroom training component”—like the Child Development Associate® (CDA) Credential™.
Both the economy and young learners lose out when teachers face roadblocks to earning a CDA®. And that’s the case for many educators in the Rio Grande Valley and nationwide, as the Council’s own Usma Mohamed points out in a recent study. Fortunately, some educators are stepping up to guide CDA candidates through the credentialing process, and we spotlight their efforts in this edition.
Fatima Hamad is a mentor with Early Childhood Networks (ECN) in New Mexico, where she draws on her many years of experience to guide CDA candidates to success. “It can be challenging when you have a family, you have a full-time job, and you have to work on your CDA,” she admits. “So, I tell candidates to get organized, finish one part of the CDA at a time, and always reflect on their final goal.”
For Liliana Vazquez Diaz, another ECN mentor, that goal was to make her family child care program “perfect,” as she tells us this month. By the time she went for the CDA, Liliana had two daughters and seven years of experience running her program, but the credential still opened her eyes to new ways of serving young children. Liliana wants to give them everything she can, so she identifies with The Giving Tree, Shel Silverstein’s moving book about a tree who gives everything she has for the love of a little boy.
The Council also loves our early childhood teachers, so we want to give you something to widen your career options. Our upcoming Birth to Five CDA® Credential will give educators the flexibility to serve more than one age group of children, and you can learn about it this month. Then read our concept paper on the Child Development Professional™ (CDP), an advanced lead teacher credential that we are now exploring.
We envision the CDP as another promising way to move the early learning workforce ahead, our ongoing goal, and one we share with many members of the business community, as Dr. Calvin Moore tells us in his latest blog, A Job No One Sees. The early childhood field has long been an invisible workforce, but business leaders nationwide have begun to see that it is an engine of the economy that serves the public good by letting parents work, helping children advance and boosting the GDP. “What’s good for our early childhood teachers,” as Dr. Moore points out, “is good for the country, too.”
With our appreciation for 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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