Published by CounciLINK on January 24, 2019
CHANDLER, AZ – Melanie Alexander has more than one passion. She’s committed to both early childhood education and fashion.
For 23 years, she’s worked with kids in a wide range of settings: private preschools, child care centers and public elementary schools, besides operating her own family child care business. For the past nine years of her career, she has served as a Professional Development Specialist (PDS) and a teacher at Bashar High School here where she teaches both fashion design and all levels of early childhood education.
It’s a role that fits her like a glove since she knows the field from the bottom up. And you have to take your hat off to her for all she has achieved. She began her career with a Child Development Associate (CDA®) credential and went on to earn an associate’s and bachelor’s degree in early childhood development and leadership. She even completed a master’s degree in early childhood education, but she’s still proud of having earned her CDA many years ago. And she encourages all her students to do the same.
When she talks about her current work, it’s clear that she wears her heart on her sleeve.
“I work with individual students,” she said, “to make a difference in their lives and future careers in early childhood. I believe every student is unique and can use their special gifts to make a difference in the field of early childhood education.”
And Alexander, herself, has kept making a difference in several ways while she continues to teach. She has run the local chapter of Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, a national nonprofit career and technical student group that helps young people expand their leadership potential and develop skills for life. She has represented her school district in statewide curriculum and assessment development, helped adapt textbooks and integrated state standards into successful programs at multiple high schools.
By taking on these challenging new roles, Alexander has acted on her deep belief in the value of education.
“My ultimate goal,” she said, “is to instill in my students a desire to become lifelong learners.”
And what’s the greatest lesson she’s learned in her
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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.
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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.
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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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