Carime came to Nebraska from Mexico 24 years ago to build a future. It was a challenge because she had to leave her family behind, learn a new language and leap over several bureaucratic hurdles to stay here and hold a job. Yet she has managed to thrive after spending 14 years working in a plant that processed meat. In 2017, she opened Karime Child Care with aid from Rural Prosperity Nebraska’s Latino Small Business Program. Her family child care home broke new ground as the first bilingual day care in Grand Island, a city in central Nebraska. And Carime set a second precedent in ECE by becoming the first bilingual provider in the state to earn a Child Development Associate® (CDA) Credential™.
She learned about the CDA® in 2020, when the pandemic forced her flourishing business to close its doors for some time. “I came across an announcement on Facebook,” she recalls, “about CDA training through the Early Learning Connection in Omaha, NE. I wanted to advance my skills and earn more as an ECE provider, so I filled out all the information required to sign up. Soon I received all the books and materials I needed to do my CDA® Professional Portfolio. The Nebraska Department of Education paid for all of it since the state has one of the nation’s biggest shortages of the child care families need.”
The gap is even greater for Hispanic families who want quality bilingual child care, Carime points out. “Few Spanish-speaking providers have a license because all the licensing documents are in English.” And while the CDA materials are in Spanish, there’s an added requirement that stops many of the providers from working toward their CDA. “You need to have a high school diploma or GED,” she explains, “to hold your CDA, and most Spanish-speaking providers in my area, unlike me, have not graduated from high school. And yet another roadblock is that there aren’t many bilingual PD Specialists in the state,” Carime says, “so I had to wait two months to get my observation.”
The wait was worth it, Carime says, “because earning a CDA helped me reach a new level as an early childhood professional. And it made me understand what it means to educate children instead of just serving as a babysitter for them. Besides, earning a CDA qualified me to take many other types of courses to develop in my field. I believe you should never stop learning, so I’ve taken over 300 hours of training, most recently a ‘whole body’ course on self-care and building a sense of community with parents. So, I’ve continued to advance my skills. Sure, it’s a lot of work, but I’ve implemented everything I’ve learned from my CDA and other trainings in the classroom. That makes it easier to work with the children and get them ready for school.”
Carime’s expertise puts her in high demand, and she has a long wait list for her day care. “Having a CDA is a guarantee to parents that I will give their children good, quality child care,” she says. “I know the right toys and routines that will help children grow and take advantage of opportunities to learn.” Her language skills are also a selling point, Carime explains, since she offers everything in her program in both English and Spanish. “We mostly speak Spanish because the parents don’t want their children to forget the language, and that doesn’t lead to any problems after the children leave my program. When they get to kindergarten, they also learn English very fast.”
But that didn’t seem to be in the cards for two young Guatemalan boys, whose parents begged Carime to accept them in her day care after a long wait for spots. “The boys were two- and three- years old, and neither of them talked,” Carime recalls. “Instead, they were crying all the time, and it was clear that the parents needed my help. So, I accepted the two boys, and after a few weeks I realized they both were autistic and required early intervention. The parents didn’t know what autism was, but they believed me. So, I helped them find an organization that would give the brothers the services that they needed. Now they’re both learning to speak, and the older boy is doing fine in school.”
Carime made a difference for that family, and she’s made a positive impact on the lives of many other immigrant families. “When the families come here,” she says, “they face many of the same challenges as I did: learning the language, filling out many forms, figuring out the best place to live, and finding out where to send their children to school. Sometimes, they don’t know where to find help, so I give them advice. And I have the training to assist them with the issues they face.”
The community has recognized the value of the work she does by giving her several awards. The Center for Rural Affairs named her the 2021 Entrepreneurial Woman. The Nebraska Early Childhood Collaborative has honored her twice as Provider of the Month. This March she made the news as an Early Childhood Champion for her services to the families and children of Grand Island. And all the praise gives Carime a platform to talk about what really matters to her. “I want to show other bilingual providers,” she says, “that they can succeed and make an impact, too.”
So, Carime is giving her ideas and time to increase the ranks of bilingual professionals in Nebraska. “I’m a member of the Nebraska Early Childhood Workforce Leadership Cadre, a project of the Buffett Early Childhood Institute, which brings together ECE professionals who explore ways to boost the quality and quantity of educators in the state. And I am also part of the campaign We Care for Kids, or Por Todos los Niños, a collaboration between state and community organizations to ensure that all Nebraska families have access to quality early childhood education for their children.”
That depends on having enough qualified teachers, so Carime also volunteers in a support group for Hispanic providers who want to get training or become licensed. She has put together a manual with step-by-step instructions in Spanish on obtaining a license in Nebraska and she has become certified to provide Safe with You training to Hispanic providers. In addition, she encourages other bilingual providers to invest the time and effort it takes to earn a CDA. She knows this will help the providers move their careers ahead and make a major impact on the state. “When we invest in helping children thrive,” she says, “we build thriving families and that leads communities to also thrive.”
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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.
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.
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.
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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