Dear Colleagues,
How can you go straight from high school to a rewarding career? It helps to pick a field, like early childhood education, where there’s high demand for a qualified workforce. With the right training and skills, you can make a lifelong impact on young learners in their most formative years. You’ll also get to ignite an inner spark that inspires children to do their best. That can be a great source of gratification. And with greater focus on the value of ECE for young children, educators can look forward to a wide range of careers, including advocacy, research or training the next generation of teachers.
A CDA® can open these avenues for students, as we note in a recent blog where high school teachers weighed in on the credential. “I think the CDA is a great opportunity for students to start their career path,” said Mary Matthews, a Utah teacher whose school offers the credential. And instructors like her can enhance their programs with the forthcoming Child Development Associate® (CDA) Handbook for High School: A Guide to Advocacy and Implementation.
Our new handbook provides administrators and teachers with step-by-step instructions for developing a CDA program and tips to ensure the long-term strength of an existing program. It’s “incredibly helpful,” enthused Baylie D. Williams, a Texas instructor who got a sneak peek at the handbook. She especially liked the section on accommodating special-needs students, which shows the Council’s commitment to equity and inclusion.
They’re values that matter to Emily Hoff, an early childhood educator who we profile this month. She earned her CDA in high school and is now taking college courses with the long-term goal of working with special-needs kids and helping them reach their potential. “Disability,” she says, “shouldn’t define a person.”
Nor should their gender when it comes to a choice of career, according to Paige Hassel, a high school teacher who welcomes young men to her ECE program. Several barriers and biases block men from entering and staying in our profession. But we can break them down if we reach men in their high school years. That’s what we heard from men this month when we marked 45 years of the CDA. Our virtual celebration included a special panel of men, who chimed in on the challenges they faced and how they overcame them.
“The Council wants to keep this conversation going to capture the interest of young men and show that the ECE field is wide open to them,” says our CEO, Dr. Calvin Moore. We think our new handbook can help clear a path for young folks to enter our profession—whether they’re women or men. If you’re a high school administrator or teacher, you play a key role in guiding them. So, we hope you’re interested in getting more information on our handbook or how to bring the CDA to your school. Please let us know by completing a brief questionnaire.
There’s no question that we can help build a more skilled, inclusive workforce by giving students the chance to earn a CDA in high school. The credential can inspire students to find a path in life early on. They, in turn, will know how to inspire young learners. And high school teachers will gain something, too. They’ll have the reward of forming the next generation in our field.
With gratitude, as always, for the reward of serving you,
The Council for Professional Recognition
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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.
Chief Operations Officer
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
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.
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