Tyneesha has never forgotten her first-grade teacher. “I was struggling in school,” Tyneesha recalls, “because I couldn’t see the blackboard and she was the first to realize I needed glasses.” That greatly improved Tyneesha’s performance in school, and so did the teacher’s calm, caring manner. “She always talked to me and helped me do my homework. The way she nurtured me inspired me to keep going,” Tyneesha says. And it was the first time she saw the difference a teacher can make by helping a child move to the next stage of development and growth.
“I didn’t go to kindergarten or preschool. I went right to first grade. So, I didn’t experience the early learning that’s so essential for young children,” Tyneesha explains. And her childhood struggles have increased her sense of commitment to the young Philadelphia children and families who she now serves as a teacher. Her work at Leaders of the Future Academy is the fulfillment of a dream she’s held for many years.
“I’ve had a passion for teaching since I was a little girl,” Tyneesha says. “When I was in my twenties, I helped raise my nephews and nieces and we always played school. I used to read to them, do arts and crafts with them, and make drawings with crayons. I loved it and longed to be a teacher,” Tyneesha recalls. But she couldn’t pursue her dream because she had to leave school in eighth grade. So, instead, she earned a certificate as a certified nursing assistant and found a job with the American Red Cross. Afterward, she worked at a retail store while running her own booming candle business.
“I did that for about a decade and was making good money. But four years ago, I gave it all up,” Tyneesha recalls. Her old dream of being a teacher haunted her each day because the store where she worked was two doors down from Ummi Wa Bint, a small child care center that mainly served Muslims like herself. “I would see the children every day, and one day I made the decision to pursue my passion at last. The director gave me a chance to work there, along with teaching tips and the resources to pursue my education. Within a year, I had earned my high school diploma. soon afterward I received a scholarship from West Philadelphia Action for Early Learning and began taking classes to earn my Child Development Associate® (CDA) Credential™.”
“I loved the CDA classes because they gave me everything that I needed to be a better teacher,” Tyneesha says. “The CDA program taught me the importance of partnering with parents and getting down on the floor so you could be at a young child’s level. It taught me the value of physical movement and how it stimulates the brain. It encouraged me to sing more and showed me why scribbling stimulates children’s fine motor skills—many things I was already doing. But I didn’t know why, and I didn’t know about the benefits they produced. I owe that to my CDA instructors, especially Ms. Sherilynn Kimble.”
Kimble urged Tyneesha to continue with the CDA program though she was facing some personal issues that made her think she couldn’t go on. “After I missed two or three classes, she reached out to me and said, ‘You can do it Tyneesha. Things are going to be OK’—words that gave me the motivation to go on. I even received a Rising Star Award for being the first in my class to earn a CDA.”
Along the way Tyneesha also enjoyed the support of a CDA classmate, Chavaw Bernhardt, with whom she formed a study group and a strong friendship. It turned out that Chavaw was cofounding Leaders of the Future, the center where Tyneesha now works, and was looking for qualified teaching staff. “I took advantage of the chance to work at a larger center,” she explains, “where there was more opportunity for advancement and higher pay. It was also a chance to serve a more diverse body of children than I had at Ummi Wa Bint, and that opened my eyes to new cultures and traditions.”
“I miss the children I left behind,” Tyneesha says, “and many of the parents were sad to see me go. But we still stay in touch, and one family even followed me to my new center. I’d been working with their son since he was six months old, and the mom loved how much her son trusted me and how much he was learning. He knew his colors, his ABCs and how to spell his name by time he was two years old, and now that he’s three, he’s still doing well.”
So is another little girl who Tyneesha serves at the preschool. She turned two last year and she also knows how to spell her name. Plus, she’s an expert on handwashing, Tyneesha explains. “She likes to explain all the steps to properly wash your hands: get the soap, sing the birthday song while you’re washing and get the paper towels. Then she goes home and tells her mom how to wash her hands the right way,” Tyneesha laughs.
And she attributes successes like these to the CDA training she received. “I still turn to the CDA Standards books when I’m doing my lesson plans and I use what I learned in my CDA classes in my daily work at the center. Everything I am today I owe to the CDA, so I encourage everyone to earn it. When you get a CDA, you become even better at bringing children to the next level in their growth,” she says.
Now Tyneesha is working toward the next level in her growth. “I have an experienced colleague who’s mentoring me and it’s a blessing to work with her,” Tyneesha says. She’s also begun earning an associate degree in early childhood education at the Community College of Philadelphia. She expects to complete it in two years, and someday plans to earn her bachelor’s degree as well. “My ultimate plan is to have my own center,” she says, “and when parents enroll their children with me, I want them to see a wall of degrees. I want the parents to know I have the background to educate and nurture their child.”
It will take some hard work to reach this dream, Tyneesha knows. “You have to sacrifice to work in the early childhood field and pursue your education,” she says. “But the rewards are great: seeing children’s growth, watching their eyes light up when they learn something new and parents telling you their child knows their ABCs and colors or can sing new song. That makes me happy”—and helps heal some old scars from the struggles she faced.
Tyneesha wants to give young children the early learning experiences she missed. And she has learned a lot about how to do it from the CDA instructors and seasoned teachers who’ve mentored her over the years. But her role model is still that first-grade teacher who helped her so much. “The way she was with me is the way I try to be with the children,” Tyneesha explains. And she’s always working to serve them better because she still remembers what that beloved first-grade teacher used to say:
Good, better, best,
And never let it rest.
Until your good is better,
And your better is your best.
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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.
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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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