Dear Colleagues,
May Day is a great holiday to enjoy with young children by taking them to a park to pick wild flowers, making a daisy chain, filling a May Day basket with flowers for family and friends and singing songs like Circle Around the Ring to the Right. May Day also kicks off a month of celebration that honors many folks who contribute to our children’s lives. Mother’s Day takes place in May, along with National Provider Appreciation Day and Teacher Appreciation Week. May is the time when many young learners spend their last day in preschool before going to kindergarten in the fall. They can thank qualified teachers, like those who earn a CDA®, for getting them ready for the schooling to come. And new CDAs often enter the early childhood field in May since that’s when many high schoolers graduate with the CDA®.
This month, we profile one of the high school students who has earned this valued credential. Taylor Greer pursued her CDA® in the past two years while working at Corry Alliance Childcare in Pennsylvania. Taylor tries to prepare the children she serves by helping them become the best people they can be. “So, we talk a lot about kindness, loving others, helping others,” Taylor says. And she’s good at imparting these life lessons to kids though she’s only 18. “I have a fair amount of practice working with children since I have several younger siblings who are close in age,” she says, “and I helped my mom bring them up. So, I’ve always had a motherly side, and I’m extending it to nurture other people’s young children.”
So are some of the moms who Salina Washington guides as Child Development Associate®/Professional Development Support Specialist for Alabama. It’s a role that puts many miles on her car as she connects with CDA® candidates statewide, including a young Head Start employee who contended with several moves and two sick children while earning her CDA®. And Salina can identify with candidates like her because she also was a working mom while earning her CDA®. “I feel their pain,” she says, “when they tell me it’s hard finding time to do the work needed to earn the credential. Their journey to the CDA® was my journey, too. So, supporting them is personal for me.”
Salina knows where these moms are coming from, and Sarah Menkedick has a similar sense of empathy for the mothers she describes in Ordinary Insanity: Fear and the Silent Crisis of Motherhood in America. Read our review of her book to see how today’s risk culture and a long tradition of selfless, single-minded motherhood has crippled the lives of moms who reach for the elusive ideal of a “zero-risk child.” Too many moms endure constant stress as they fret about everything from hurting their child while sleepwalking at night, to a child smothering from wearing a hoodie, to the chance of a burglar breaking in and putting their baby in a microwave oven. Menkedick was one of these frantic moms until receiving help and realizing that “a mother needs to reclaim herself, to find space in which to breathe and grow.” A mother’s affirmation of her own needs and desires is essential to having an authentic relationship with her child.
But finding that breathing space can be hard for moms who are professionals in ECE, as Dr. Moore tells us in his blog, The Many Faces of Moms. Educators and moms are two sides of the same coin since a mother is a teacher at home and a teacher is a mother at school. It’s tough for one person to fill two such essential roles at once. And Dr. Moore has seen what it takes since his mom taught at Head Start when he was a small boy. Mothers like this can feel anxious and torn as they strive to give their best to children in the classroom and to those they care for at home. These mom-teachers play the mother of all roles, and they deserve extra appreciation this May.
With all our appreciation,
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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