Published by Grand Rapids Business Journal on March 22, 2022
Written by Jim Heath
When I was responsible for the Instruments Division at Stryker, the West Michigan-based Fortune 500 company, I knew we had to continually invest in our sales representatives. They must be on top of the latest technology and medical advancements. After all, they have patients and surgeons counting on our products. Stryker’s representatives need to ensure that the equipment performs at the highest level in the operating room.
After I retired and had more time for community engagement, I saw the need for high quality early education and the role business could play in supporting it. I especially felt this was true when I got involved with KC Ready 4s, a Kalamazoo County nonprofit that works to increase the quality of pre-K in our community, regardless of the family’s finances. What could be more fun than helping kids get a great start in life?
Kristyn Buhl-Lepisto, the organization’s executive director, quickly helped me realize that what we called day care when my kids were young is as focused on quality training and improvement as I was in my professional life.
Buhl-Lepisto and her colleagues understand that this is occurring because we’re always discovering more about how the brain develops. Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child reports that an estimated 1 million new neural connections form every second in the first years of life. The saying “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” also is true — it’s easier and less costly to form strong brain circuits during those early years than it is to try later.
I’ve seen the value early childhood educators bring to their roles when they have this kind of insight — when they understand how children benefit from what’s called the serve-and-return interaction between them, parents and other caregivers.
As an organization that supports and advocates for high-quality practices in the classroom, KC Ready 4s encourages its partner teachers to attain the Child Development Associate® (CDA) credential from the nonprofit Council for Professional Recognition.
Recipients learn how to create a safe and healthy learning environment; support children’s social and emotional development; and build productive relationships with families. These competencies are critical to educators who are new to the field.
Approximately 32,000 early childhood educators in our state and nearly 1 million in the U.S. have earned a CDA over the credential’s 45-year history. CDA-holders have knowledge of how to put the CDA Competency Standards into practice and an understanding of why those standards help children move with success from one developmental stage to another.
I’m so impressed with this credentialing process that I’ve joined the Council as a board member.
As we recover from the pandemic, we know we’re dealing with a loss of educators. KC Ready 4s reports that over 55% of programs say that staffing is their greatest challenge. It responded, in part, by providing a gratitude bonus to teachers at their partnering programs to assist with wages. Another initiative, Thriving Teachers — Thriving Children, offers health and wellness benefits such as free counseling and access to telemedicine through an employee-assistance program.
Some may say the answer to our early education staffing issue is just to lower the standards and let anyone who passes a background check fill a spot. That’s exactly the wrong direction. We certainly would never be able to get away with that in the medical equipment field — the quality always must be high, even if there are worker shortages or delayed parts.
Now is the time to rethink how we encourage and support the certifications, pay and benefits we offer early childhood educators. We believe our approach is a great fit for our West Michigan community and we challenge others to step up with their ideas at this critical time.
Jim Heath is a principal at 3L Coaching LLC in Richland, MI and is board treasurer of 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.
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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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