Dear Colleagues,
The Council, as you might know, envisions a society where all children learn and thrive with support from competent early childhood teachers. That gives us something in common with Malala Yousafazai, a Pakistani activist for education and the youngest Nobel Prize winner ever. As Malala speaks out for her cause, she insists that “change does not begin with the world as it is, but the world as it could be.” And her sense of commitment led the United Nations to mark her birthday, July 12, as Malala Day. Yet she sees the date in a different way. “Malala Day, is not just a celebration of a single birthday; it is a global movement dedicated to the right of every child,” she’s said, “to receive free, safe and quality education.”
Malala suffered for her beliefs in 2012, when a gunman targeted her on a school bus and she sustained a serious head wound for defying a Taliban ban on girls attending school. She was only 15 at the time but she became an icon of strength and persistence after surviving the attack and continuing to stand up for her beliefs. “This is a second life. This is a new life, and I want to serve,” she said despite ongoing threats to kill her. The near-fatal shot changed nothing in Malala’s life, except that “weakness, fear and hopelessness died.”
Malala’s ability to bounce back from the traumatic event made her a model of resilience, a quality Melissa Williamson strives to instill in educators at her company, At the Heart of Teaching, Learning, & Leadership. Melissa provides opportunities for professional growth and trauma-informed training, an area she knows firsthand as the daughter of an emotionally unavailable mother and as a mom who lost a young child to heart disease. Now she turns her pain into power by helping educators heal from the traumas they’ve faced, so they can help traumatized children heal, too. “The way you respond to a child’s emotions could be life-changing for them,” Melissa tells us in this edition, “and the early childhood classroom is the perfect place to help children manage feelings that hold them back from success.”
It helps children to hear their feelings expressed in songs, and they have the chance to do that when they attend one of Mr. Jeff’s live shows. He knows about both music and children’s emotions as a former rock performer who worked as a preschool teacher for several years. After switching careers, Mr. Jeff earned his CDA®, and when he’s writing songs he still draws on the notes he took while earning his credential. “For example, I have a song called ‘Relax’ that reflects self-regulation techniques I learned about from my CDA,” he says when we feature him in this edition. “Another song, ‘We Hear You,’ is about listening to children and standing up for them,” he says, “also a key lesson that’s conveyed in the CDA.”
Mr. Jeff puts these messages into songs that sound silly but serve the serious purpose of lifting children up, the mission Malala has embraced. You can also do your part to foster positive change for children by updating your skills through our CDA® Renewal Amnesty Program and by reading our blog Early Childhood Education Trends and Council Resources. It directs you to research and innovations that are reshaping our field so you can join the Council in building a better future for children and families.
This goal led a group of teen activists to come before the Human Rights Council in Geneva and plead for the right to free early childhood education, Council CEO Dr. Calvin Moore tells us as he marks Malala Day 2026. The young people pointed out that preschool is a place where children gain knowledge and crucial life skills, like how to be kind and show respect for others. When young children learn these lessons from their teachers, it gives them an early start in grasping the value of human rights and may inspire them to join the cause Malala has stood for since that dark day in 2012. “Education,” she still insists, “is the only solution” to the roadblocks we face in building a better future. “One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.”
Always ready to stand up for you,
The Council for Professional Recognition
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Vice President of Product
Mackenzie Pelland serves as Vice President of Product at the Council. In this role, she oversees the Council’s product strategy and portfolio, including credentialing programs, educational publications, professional development resources, and branded merchandise, ensuring offerings are sustainable and responsive to the evolving needs of early childhood educators and the broader early care and education field. Her work focuses on building scalable, user-centered products that strengthen quality and integrity across the Council’s credentialing, educational, and professional learning offerings.
Prior to this role, Mackenzie served as Director of ECE Observation Systems at the Council, where she oversaw the observation portion of the CDA® credentialing assessment process and led the ECE Observation Team. She also worked to support, refine, and strengthen the Professional Development Specialist community to better meet the needs of a diverse CDA® candidate population.
Before joining the Council, Mackenzie was Senior Director of Monitoring and Compliance Systems at Acelero Learning, where she led the development and execution of monitoring systems related to federal grant compliance, child care licensing, health and safety, incident management, and facilities compliance across Head Start programs nationwide. She also previously served as Program Accountability and Policy Implementation Manager at New York City’s Department of Education within the Division of Early Childhood Education.
Mackenzie is recognized as a credentialing specialist by the Institute for Credentialing Excellence. She holds a master’s degree in education policy from Teachers College, Columbia University, a Certificate in Education and Program Evaluation from Georgetown University, and a bachelor’s degree in politics and education from Occidental College.
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 Administrative Officer (CAO)
Janie Payne is the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) 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.
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 Wilmington, NC with her husband and two dogs.
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