Emily believes “disability shouldn’t define a person.” She passes on the message at Children of America in Southampton, PA, where she’s an assistant toddler teacher. “I teach my students about diversity, acceptance and inclusion every day because it matters every day,” she says. And she knows how to get the lesson across. “I read them books about children with special needs. We do crafts that apply to the topic. I teach them baby sign language, which is used by many children with special needs. And I encourage the mainstream children in my class to engage with those who are disabled or developmentally behind.”
And she’s succeeded in getting the message across. “The little kids have been very open,” she says, especially a toddler named Rebecca who befriended two disabled boys. “Rebecca would often hug Matthew and John, she always wanted to play with them, and she would move her chair so she could sit beside them in class.” It was intriguing to see Rebecca in action, Emily marveled. “It was as if she was watching the lead teacher and me and copying what we did.”
You couldn’t pick a better role model to follow than Emily herself, who’s shown a strong commitment to helping folks of all abilities and all ages. She taught tap and ballet to two- and three-year old children at a dance school. She was a student volunteer in a dementia unit, where she assisted the recreational therapists, did some cleaning and performed clerical duties. She helped with events held by the Autism Cares Foundation, and she volunteered for Horizons, a special needs group run by a local church. In addition, she belonged to the Buddy Club at Lower Moreland High School for four years and served as its president during her junior and senior years. “We helped students who were developmentally disabled to learn life skills, assisted in their classroom, ate lunch with them, went with them on field trips and made them know they weren’t alone,” Emily says.
The friendships she formed through the Buddy Club gave her a sense of passion for inclusion and inspired her long-term goal to work with young, special needs children. But first, she felt she needed a strong foundation in early childhood education, so she decided to get her Child Development Associate® (CDA) credential.
“My school didn’t have the program, so I became the first Lower Moreland student to go out of the district to take a course,” she says. “I worked out a plan with my school to be bused to Upper Moreland High School every day to take their two-year child development course. It allowed me to gain all the class credits and hours of experience needed to earn my CDA, and I was ready to work with young children right after graduation.”
Since then, she’s gained more experience and expertise in working with children of different ability levels. “At Children of America,” she says, “we work as a group in a way that lets us accommodate each child’s individual needs. We take turns when we do crafts and play games, or I’ll work one on one with a child. Some of the kids are on the autism spectrum, so I try to bring their interests into what I do to help them stay engaged. And whatever level a child’s at, I remain upbeat and praise them for doing a good job. I also encourage the other children to cheer them on.”
And there has been good cause to congratulate the special needs kids. “I’ve seen them gain self-confidence and self-esteem as they improve their developmental skills,” Emily says. “It’s especially rewarding to watch them pick up language skills and learn new words,” she explains, and seeing them progress has inspired her to do even more to support them.
She’s now getting her associate degree in early childhood education at Bucks County Community College and plans to get her bachelor’s degree in special education. Then she wants to pursue her dream career of being a life skills teacher. It’s a demanding job that requires you to help children learn to carry out the everyday, essential tasks of life: getting dressed, performing bathroom routines, communicating with people and much more. Succeeding at the job involves endless repetition, so the teacher needs to be very patient and committed. But Emily has the special sense of passion it takes to help all children reach their promise.
She shares her convictions in a special needs blog where she pleads for more diversity and inclusion in the ECE classroom. “Special needs children are different in some ways,” she says, “but they also have a lot in common with mainstream children. They like the same clothes, the same toys, the same food as other children. And they can do a lot of the same things. They just have a harder time succeeding.”
But isn’t that true of us all? “Everyone has to struggle with certain activities and parts of life,” as Emily points out. So, she urges us to focus on what all children share, not the differences that divide them. “Special needs children can do more than you think.”
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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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