Setting Early Childhood Education Career Goals
SPONSORED BLOG The task of sitting down and writing out all of your early childhood education career goals can feel daunting. Where should you start? How far in the future should you plan? And, once...
Early learning is being noticed more than ever before. Our educators are now deemed essential. The media is doubling down on coverage of the field and exploring where it might be headed. Across the country, people with backgrounds in ECE policy, practice and research are joining panels to share their thoughts on the current state of our profession. The long-term lack of investment in the field, taxing working conditions fueled by meager wages, turnover that’s reached an alarming high and new opportunities on the horizon are all topics that have come up a lot since the start of the pandemic. And they’re still coming up as the Council hits the road during conference season this fall.
As usual, folks have been flocking to online and live events for the ECE field. They want to learn from the experts. They enjoy a sense of community as they come together. And they want to connect what speakers are saying with what’s going on in their own lives. And the communication doesn’t just go one way. As a speaker, I’ve enjoyed connecting with our early childhood teachers at recent events and discussing issues that touch a special part of my heart.
One is getting early childhood teachers to actively advocate for our field. It’s time for ECE professionals to meet the moment, as I urged in a keynote address to the Ohio Child Care Resource and Referral Association Early Childhood Education Summit. Congress is now considering legislation that would include measures to fund universal preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds, extend the child tax credit, increase wages for child care workers and mandate paid family leave—all measures that would move our nation ahead. If we’re going to spend money on anything, let’s spend it on our children and the adults who give them support and care.
Head Start puts everything it has toward meeting the needs of both children and their family members. I know this first hand because I served as a regional program manager for the Office of Head Start before taking on my current role as CEO of the Council. So, it was a homecoming in some ways to be the keynote speaker at the Region IV Head Start Association Early Head Start Institute in Tampa, a city where child care was hard hit by COVID. The Tampa child care industry is facing a crisis, so I tried to encourage attendees by reminding them that this is not just a job, it’s an assignment. When you’re on assignment, you’ve got to stay the course.
And one of the things that keeps us on course is our commitment to equity in education. That’s one of my greatest concerns as Council CEO. So, I was delighted to speak on equity and my hopes and dreams for African American children at the National Black Child Development Institute Virtual Conference. For more than 50 years, NBCDI has been at the forefront of engaging leaders, policymakers, professionals and parents around vital, timely issues that directly affect Black children, along with their families. But I also reflect on leaders who have come back to the Council like Michelle Brown, Council Executive Vice President of Programs, and practitioners like Amber Jones, a pre-K lead teacher who will be joining Michelle and me at the Bright Start International Conference to discuss ways to build responsive programs for young children.
Events like this also give me and my colleagues at the Council a chance to hear directly from early educators of all kinds—assistant teachers, lead teachers, program directors and more. I want to connect with you while we work together to rebuild our field. As we meet the moment, we need to invest in an ECE system that works for everyone: children, families—and our early childhood teachers.
I heard about the challenges you face when I had the privilege to speak in Tampa. Attendees told me, “If you think I’m essential, pay me a living wage,” or “It’s all right being noticed, but I’m trying to live over here.” And I know many more of you feel the same way. Your ordeals have touched me in a special part of my heart, and I want to help you overcome them. So, let’s connect in the coming months as the Council and I continue on the road.
SPONSORED BLOG The task of sitting down and writing out all of your early childhood education career goals can feel daunting. Where should you start? How far in the future should you plan? And, once...
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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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