Published by CounciLINK on December 19, 2019
“Cancer changed everything in my life,” Cindy Basse says. “I was diagnosed with colon cancer when I was 34 and working as a retail manager after earning a bachelor’s in music. While recovering from surgery, I had a revelation,” she recalls. “I decided I wanted to stop taking people’s money and do something for others.”
Her mother was a teacher, and Cindy decided to follow in her footsteps by providing children with early care and education. So, she went to Bright Horizons in Seattle and told the director she was passionate about early childhood education though she had no formal training in the field. The director believed in Cindy and gave her a job as a floater with health insurance, now a rare benefit in the field.
And since then Cindy’s career has soared. She went on to become a teacher for twos, a toddler lead teacher, an assistant director, a director and finally a regional manager for Bright Horizons in New York City. While there, she launched her own business as a certified early childhood education trainer and taught numerous Child Development Associate® (CDA) credential courses. “I was very serious about giving CDA students everything I thought was important,” she says, “because the CDA is the best first step to building a career in ECE.”
She also took steps to build her own credentials in the field. She earned her master’s degree through the University of North Dakota and enrolled in a doctoral program in early education
at Walden University before moving to Michigan six years ago to take care of her mom. Walden’s mission is social change, and it’s Cindy’s, too, in the graduate courses she now teaches at Northern Michigan University in Marquette. “I try to empower my students to find their voices and stand up for what they believe in and deserve.”
Most Michigan educators don’t get benefits, as Cindy did while working at Bright Horizons. And she realizes how privileged she was when she sees their plight as a Professional Development Specialist in the northern part of the state. The hardships they face hit especially close to home because Cindy’s niece, Mackenzie, is an early childhood educator who was diagnosed with brain cancer and doesn’t have the health insurance she needs.
“It breaks my heart to see how much Mackenzie cares about the children she serves and not see her get what every human being deserves,” Cindy says. It’s even more poignant because Mackenzie doesn’t just think of herself despite how sick she is. “While she was in the hospital getting radiation and chemo, she often cried for the children who are waiting for her return,” Cindy explains. “Those children are her life.”
Mackenzie is pushing to get back to work though the doctor has told her to hold off a bit. In the meantime, Cindy is encouraging her to earn a CDA and plans to help her prepare for the exam. “Hopefully, she CDA will give her the revelation I had after surgery that you can make early education a lifelong career,” Cindy says. “Perhaps the CDA can be the glimmer in a dark place that helps he find her vocation.”
It can also light the way for educators who’ve already been in the field for decades. “In my role as a PD Specialist,” Cindy says, “I’ve worked with providers who have been teaching for 35 years. And one of them is Donna, a home provider in her sixties who had talked a long time about getting her CDA.
Everyone said it would never happen, but Cindy put in the effort and time to help Donna succeed. “I talked to her about children’s reactions to different things and helped her prepare her home for the observation visit by making a cozy reading corner and an infant area with a mirror and pillows. I also helped her get her portfolio ready, and we met at Starbucks every Saturday for eight months to get it finished.”
Donna finally got her CDA and it has helped her grow in her work, as Cindy is thrilled to see. “When I first met her, she said, ‘I’m just a day care provider.'” Now she has a new sense of confidence and competence as a professional in her field. “What matters is having someone believe in you,” Cindy says. And she filled this role though she doesn’t give herself kudos for how she contributed to Donna’s life. “I’m just a little match that lights the spark. My experiences only happened because I had people who believed in me and started a fire in me.”
As Cindy reflects on her on her work as a PD Specialist she’s reminded of the value of personal bonds. “I’m thinking about the knots that can’t be broken between CDA candidates and us and why every thread of those knots must stay intact. We’re empowering our teachers and hopefully we’re giving them the confidence to achieve their goals.”
As leaders in the early childhood field, “we also shouldn’t forget about the real-life things that show injustice to teachers,” Cindy says. She’s seen the hardships that Mackenzie, and countless other educators have faced because they don’t get the benefits they deserve. And the issue of equity for educators is increasingly on her mind as she completes the last course for her Ph.D. It’s called Leadership, Advocacy and Improvement.
These words took on new meaning for her at the Early Educators Leadership Conference held by the Council for Professional Recognition this fall. At the conference, Dr. Valora Washington, Council CEO, spoke about the gap between the reality of early childhood education and her vision of what it should be. As Washington urged attendees to advocate for their profession, Cindy’s thoughts turned to Mackenzie, Donna and the many committed educators like them throughout the country.
The spark that flared in Cindy while she was sick has now become a lasting flame. She hopes to turn the revelation she had after getting cancer into a crusade for educators nationwide. “I’m working to get beyond my four walls and think about what educators really deserve,” she says. “My mission is to help others by promoting change.”
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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.
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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.
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 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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