The CDA Advisory Committee was created to provide insights, perspectives, and best practices to the CDA community and other early childhood professionals. Established during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the members’ first-hand experiences and knowledge continue to be a cornerstone for the Council’s understanding of what is happening on the ground in centers across the country. The Committee conducts regular meetings where the members share the most pertinent information with Council CEO Dr. Calvin E. Moore, Jr.
During a recent meeting, the members shared information about what they are seeing in their areas. The Committee addressed several topics during a Q&A session with Dr. Moore.
Has enrollment increased?
One of the newest members of the Committee, Janna Rodriguez from Freeport, New York, is the owner of The Innovative Daycare Corp and a CDA holder, shared that she has been taking care of children of essential workers during the pandemic. Rodriguez assisted families in helping them keep their subsidies, and by July 2021, she was at capacity. She was fortunate that she has not lost any of the families she supports. Rodriguez also shared that she now has a waiting list for slots and refers families to other centers in the area because she believes “in the importance of supporting one another.”
Another new member of the Committee, Jerry Graham from Hampton, Virginia, currently works at the U.S. Navy’s Child and Youth Programs, said he saw a drastic reduction in enrollment during the first COVID wave but was pleased to report that since last November the classrooms have begun to fill back up. One challenge Graham is seeing is that so many early ed centers have closed in the past two years and have not reopened, and now there is a shortage in his area. He would like to encourage entrepreneurs who have a passion for the field to step up and help open centers.
What are the sentiments about the profession currently and are you seeing changes?
More people understand the value that early childhood educators bring to the economy as an essential workforce. Policymakers and influential leaders need to understand and recognize that early childhood educators need to be paid more. On several occasions during the Committee’s conversation, the topic turned to wages and the fact that many educators are significantly underpaid and do not receive health benefits. Rodriguez shared that she is working with young, talented people who want to be in the early education field but are discouraged by the fact that educators are not paid a living wage and rarely can take a weekday off, among other things.
This discussion led to the issue of staffing. It’s an uphill battle says Aaron “Buddy” Rhodes from Alexandria, Virginia, a CDA Professional Development Specialist™, and currently works at Endeavor Schools. He echoed Rodriguez’s sentiment about low pay for educators and shared that one accommodation his center is making is to provide free child care for teachers. Rhodes explained that this is a huge benefit to staff: it keeps them in the field, and the hours meet the needs of their children. He says this benefit has brought in a lot more candidates.
Graham shared that while educators want to stay in education, many centers cannot offer health benefits or retirement plans, and he has seen a mass exodus. Graham says the Navy’s Child and Youth programs have close to 600 positions in the Mid-Atlantic region but is competing with larger companies where people can earn a higher hourly wage. “We lost many of our educators during the pandemic who had to find other jobs. Not because their hearts were not in it, but because they had to feed their families and pay their mortgage.” Graham encouraged the Committee and the Council to come together to find creative ways to get people into the profession and keep them. He is worried we will not have anyone to pass the baton to and believes we need to be intentional about who we are recruiting to be sure we have good, passionate people.
“This Committee advances the early childhood education profession by providing us guidance on the most relevant things happening in our sector,” said Dr. Moore. “I am grateful for your leadership and commitment.” Dr. Moore brought up the fact that there is a growing number of children of color in their classrooms and that in the next 20 years, we could see a majority-minority in our classrooms. Dr. Moore would like to see more diversity in ECE to be sure children see themselves in their teachers.
Rodriguez spoke about her experience when preparing for her CDA. Her instructor focused on diversity and inclusion in the CDA process. She shared the importance of the children seeing role models and heroes in herself and others in ECE.
Graham talked about the importance of embedding diversity and inclusion into any curriculum we are using. Graham shared that he believes we need to support and prepare our educators to be culturally responsive and that it should be embedded in everything we do in the classroom. Graham would like to see cultural sensitivity and responsiveness training mandatory for teachers. He said that we are talking about these things now, but he believes that similar to teachers being required to be CPR certified and trained to teach children to read, we should have professional development that focuses on cultural and racial responsiveness and sensitivity in the classroom.
Charvella McKaye, from Columbus, Ohio, is an Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Development and Education at Columbus State Community College who oversees the CDA credential preparation program and says her program is looking at ways to support and prepare students to be culturally responsive educators. She works with her students to understand where they are coming from, their backgrounds, and their biases. She says those conversations can be challenging, but they are important.
Dr. Moore recognized the commitment of each member to by saying, “We need more folks like you in these positions to understand the changing dynamics. We do not want to miss an opportunity to be prepared for what is to come.”
For more information on the Committee, visit https://www.cdacouncil.org/en/cda-advisory-committee/.
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Vice President of Strategic Alliances
Elisa Shepherd is the Vice President of Strategic Alliances at the Council, where she leads initiatives to advance the Council’s mission and strategic plan through designing, managing, and executing a comprehensive stakeholder relationship strategy.
With over 25 years of experience in early childhood education (ECE), Elisa has dedicated her career to developing impactful programs, professional development opportunities, and public policies that support working families, young children, and ECE staff. Before joining the Council, Elisa held numerous roles within the childcare industry. Most recently, she served as Associate Vice President at The Learning Experience and as Senior Manager at KinderCare Education, where she influenced government affairs and public policies across 40 states.
Elisa’s commitment to leadership is reflected in her external roles on the Early Care and Education Consortium Board of Directors, the Florida Chamber Foundation Board of Trustees, and as the DEI Caucus Leader for KinderCare Education. She has been recognized as an Emerging Leader in Early Childhood by Childcare Exchange’s Leadership Initiative.
Elisa earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a focus on child development from Pennsylvania State University in State College, PA.
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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.
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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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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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