Former President Barack Obama often talked about what it means to be a good father. And he spoke from his experience raising two daughters, Malia and Sasha. “What I’ve realized is that life doesn’t count for much unless you’re willing to do your small part to leave our children—all our children—a better world. Any fool can have a child. That doesn’t make you a father. It’s the courage to raise a child that makes you a father.”
It also takes effort, as Obama admitted. “It’s a wonderful thing if you are married and living in a home with your children, but don’t just sit in the house and watch SportsCenter all weekend long. That’s why so many children are growing up in front of the television. As fathers and parents, we’ve got to spend more time with our children, and help them with their homework and replace the video game or the remote control with a book once in a while.”
How dads interact with their kids makes a big difference, as we often stress when discussing boys. And we should also pay more attention to the impact fathers make in how they choose to raise their girls. Fathers don’t exactly play the same role as moms in daughters’ lives, as psychologists have pointed out. Their style of communication is usually more candid and direct than moms. Fathers also help girls to become independent by giving them more room to take risks, as Obama did by supporting his girls’ involvement in sports. “When girls jump and fall down,” he said, “it is wonderful to have a dad create a safe space for daughters to actually fail—not just learn about failure theoretically—and celebrate the learning that follows.” Letting them make mistakes, “helps them develop the grit that comes through trial, perseverance and reflection.”
Fathers also shape the way daughters perform when it comes to money, men and mental health, says Linda Nielsen, a professor of education psychology at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. Women with good dads outperform their peers in terms of the “3Ms,” she explains, because they have a sense of feeling loved that helps them balance security with risk. And that leads them to achieve greater long-term success than girls without engaged dads.
Daughters who have solid bonds with their fathers tend to get better grades. They are also more likely to graduate college and enter STEM professions because of the confidence they’ve gained from their dads. They’re more willing to take on career challenges like becoming entrepreneurs, but this sense of daring doesn’t lead them in the wrong direction. Women who have strong relationships with their dads may take fewer risks when it comes to damaging activities like drinking to excess, taking recreational drugs, and engaging in unsafe sexual behavior.
Women are also less likely to have destructive relationships as adults if they have loving bonds with their dads from an early age. When they enter the real world, they aren’t desperate for attention, attachment or love to fill a hole in their hearts. Instead, they have enough confidence to hold high expectations for potential partners. And this sense of self-esteem also makes them less dependent on the approval or validation of others.
In addition, women often enjoy better mental health if they had strong bonds with fathers during the early years of life. Before the age of four, we develop lifelong responses to stress as chemicals in the brain determine how we control our moods, motivations and fears. During this formative time, it’s often rough housing with dads, jumping off couches or being tossed in the air that sets our lifelong ability to face roadblocks and regulate our feelings. Women tend to be more resilient if they’ve had physically and emotionally present dads who were actively involved in their lives.
By actively involved, I’m not referring to a second-long conversation when a father asks a daughter how her day went, and she responds with one word. A father should show interest in his daughter’s activities and hobbies. For example, he might take her to coin shows if she’s interested in collecting coins. Or he might become his daughter’s biggest cheerleader and fan if she enjoys playing sports. A dad should show he’s interested in his daughter’s life by becoming part of it.
I deliberately did that with my own two girls because I wanted to make sure they were always getting a full dose of Dad, a tonic to ensure their happiness and health. When they were infants, I would put them on my lap and read the newspaper out loud to them. As they grew older, my girls and I would read interesting books together. I would show up all the time at their school for parent-teacher meetings and extracurricular events. In addition, I did anything else I thought would help them be productive in life. And it all worked because years later, they’re both great girls with persistence and grit.
I can see the direct impact I made on them because they followed my example by becoming avid readers and students. At the same time, they have a sense of independence because they’re pursuing their own dreams. My older daughter is a social worker and the younger one wants to work in the field of criminal justice. While they didn’t choose early childhood education as their careers, they are interested in fields that help the community, just like education.
They want to give back, and I’m getting something back, too, as I watch them bloom and strive to build a better world. So, I can identify with how Obama talked about his girls as he, too, watched them grow up. “They are wonderful girls. They are smart and funny. But most importantly, they’re kind,” he said. And they’ve had an impact on him, as Obama explained in a speech he made on Father’s Day. “I’m inspired by the love people have for their children,” he said. “And I’m inspired by my own children, how full they make my heart. They make me want to work to make the world a little bit better. And they make me want to be a better man.”
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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.
Andrew Davis
Chief Operations Officer (COO)
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.
Janice Bigelow
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
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.
Janie Payne
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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