1969 Head Start Graduation Ceremony
Why should you come to a conference? People often pose that question in our digital age. After all, there’s a wealth of free information that’s available on the web. New podcasts come out every day. And time is at a high premium for many folks, including those of us in the early childhood profession—all valid excuses for staying home. Still, there are compelling reasons why live events, like our recent Early Educators Leadership Conference, count in building the future of a field.
A big reason for going to conferences is to meet with likeminded people and industry peers. You have the chance to get together with people from a wide range of backgrounds who you probably wouldn’t encounter in the normal course of your daily work. And as you build your professional network, conferences can be a good place for reuniting with colleagues after not connecting for a while.
It’s also a place to expand your knowledge and explore solutions to problems. You’ll hear about new techniques, new research and data. You’ll learn from thought leaders who you might not have heard of before. You can chat with them one-on-one, and they might give you some tips for improving your professional practice. You can also get feedback from people who do similar work and may offer you fresh insights.
You might even meet someone—whether at a meal, exhibit hall, session or break—and make a bond that could change your professional life. These connections matter because they’re what community is all about. And community counts because it makes us feel we are all part of something bigger than ourselves.
This feeling of belonging leads to a wide range of benefits as we join forces with our peers. The members of a community have a sense of commitment to the group and believe they matter to one another. Being part of a community encourages us to share the struggles we’ve faced, the ways we’ve overcome them and how our peers can, too.
Sharing trials and triumphs stimulates growth and innovation, leading to new ideas. And one of the most conducive venues for this type of productive exchange is a conference, where attendees explore common goals, concerns and solutions. The chats that take place there can spark creative thinking and serious questioning of the status quo. So, conferences build the community’s greater good by being catalysts for change.
And change was on my mind as my turn came to address the crowd at our EELC. It’s been a running theme in my life as I made my way from a low-income home in Birmingham, AL, to my current position in Washington, DC, where I empower members of our profession. Yet at the start, I didn’t try to change anyone but myself. That seemed ambitious enough when I was a young man, a time when one in three Black men wound up in prison.
My early years were filled with constant reminders that I just wasn’t good enough and couldn’t fulfill my dreams. “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair,” as the poet Langston Hughes once recalled in his poem Mother to Son. She declares, “It’s had tacks in it/And splinters/And boards torn up/And places with no carpet on the floor.” Still, Hughes “kept a’climbin’ on/And reachin’ landins’/And turnin’ corners/And sometimes goin’ in the dark/Where there ain’t been no light.” In Hughes’ poem, the mother says to her son, “Don’t you set down on the steps/ ‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard,” and so I got up and moved forward!
I also was driven to climb my way to success, and one of the things that lit my way was earning a Child Development Associate® (CDA) Credential™. It happened almost by chance after my aunt encouraged me to serve in Head Start before finishing college, and the center I worked at gave me the support to earn a CDA®. This unforeseen turn of events led me to catch fire and build a career in ECE. The CDA helped me cast off the stigma that often surrounds men who want to teach our youngest children. It showed parents I knew what I was doing and helped me stay in the classroom for five years before mounting the career ladder to reach my current role.
Despite how far I’ve come, I remain a teacher at my core. Sometimes, I wish I were still sitting on the floor singing with a bunch of 4-year-olds. But my unexpected journey from CDA holder to Council CEO has emboldened me to be a changemaker for our profession. I’ve been able to have an impact on my fellow CDAs, many of whom converged at the EELC.
I’ve been beside them during the trials of COVID-19 in recent years. Now I’m eager to shepherd them to new triumphs, and I know that our CDAs are up to the challenge. They, too, make up a community of people who care about each other and care about what they share—the commitment to give all young children the best possible care and give our early childhood teachers the support they need, too.
But that won’t happen unless we’re all driven to fulfill our common purpose, and conferences like the one we just had are catalysts to ignite a spark that drives us to bond and build. They’re a reminder that every one of us can be a changemaker who empowers others to strive. As a community, we can use our shared sense of passion and purpose to create a better ECE system for all. Sure, we’ve had our dark days and sometimes stumbled to find our way. Still, we have turned a corner and our mission is crystal clear. As a community, we must all refuse to sit on the steps. Together, let’s climb the steps to reach success.
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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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