The Congressional Hispanic Caucus recently issued a stirring plea to Congress on behalf of our country’s migrant workers. “The coronavirus health crisis has presented our nation with challenges unlike any we have seen in our lifetime,” the caucus wrote. “During this crisis, our frontline farmworkers are laboring every day to put food on America’s dinner table,” so “it has never been more important to include protections for these vital members of our communities.”
To meet the needs of the workers, who are mainly Hispanic, the caucus asked lawmakers to provide financial assistance, safer working conditions, and more access to health care. It also called on Congress to “support the child care needs of farmworkers by expanding the eligibility for child care programs, along with additional funding and flexibility for the Migrant and Seasonal Head Start program.”
This vibrant program meets pressing needs because the typical migrant family has long hours and works under harsh conditions that include stifling heat and exposure to pesticides, according to Cleofas Rodriguez, Jr., Executive Director of the National Migrant & Seasonal Head Start Association. Migrant families must sometimes make harsh choices about child care, he explained, such as leaving young children in the care of an older sibling, leaving them alone in a vehicle, or sometimes bringing them along to work.
So Migrant Head Start is a life changer for families. “Our program is committed to ensuring that their youngest kids have a safe early learning environment,” said Rodriguez, whose parents once worked in the fields. It also meets children where they are by teaching kids in their own language and taking a multicultural approach that produces results.
I’ve seen the impact the program makes because I often served Hispanic families in Head Start before joining the Council for Professional Recognition. I find myself thinking of them as we mark Hispanic Heritage Month this fall. I’m reminded of how hard they work and how much they want their youngest children to succeed.
Many of the parents are like Lety, a mom of five who picks lettuce and peppers in New Jersey—and says she loves the program. “There are different classes, they learn numbers, their ABCs, all kinds of things. It was important to me that they wouldn’t fall behind once they started regular school.” And that matters to her because her dream is for her kids to someday become teachers, lawyers or doctors. She wants them to have “un trabajo mejor que el mío,” a job that is better than mine.
Lety had to put her dream on hold when nearly all Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs closed for a time during the pandemic. This put an added strain on agricultural workers, who are especially vulnerable to the virus and often excluded from stimulus relief. So, the programs did their best to support migrant families from afar by providing food, books and learning materials in their children’s home language.
The challenges faced by these families is a special concern for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. It has also looked beyond its wheelhouse to worry about the well-being of other vulnerable groups. This summer, it partnered with the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus to promote child care assistance in the next COVID-19 package. In a joint letter, the leaders of the Congressional Tri-Caucus urged the Senate to “make substantial investments in the early childhood sector.” And the Council supports their plea. We know that quality care and education give all children the head start they need.
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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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