Full Circle Moments

This picture represents a full circle moment 18 years in the making.

In spring 2008, Linda Chappel took a chance on me and hired me for my first role in child care resource and referral work at what was then Child Care Services Association (now Early Years). I started out managing grants and special projects, including recruiting and training members for an AmeriCorps program to provide release time and enhanced ratios for early educators on T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Scholarships. A few years in, I was promoted to oversee a child care scholarship program that blended county, state, and private dollars. (Side note: For anyone who knows how much I love an Excel spreadsheet, this is where it all started!) I spent a decade managing the program and consider myself privileged to have been a part of the team Linda assembled to usher in Durham County's universal prekindergarten program. Over the 13 years I worked for her, she taught me so much. And it's because of her trust and our shared work that I was able to make my way into national policy work.

This past spring, when I'd been working for two years in early education policy at the national level for The Hunt Institute, my team hosted 16 state legislators from California to Maine for an Early Childhood Policy Academy at Duke's Sanford School of Public Policy in collaboration with the Center for Child and Family Policy. I had found in that role that I loved working with state policymakers who want to craft thoughtful early childhood policy that lifts up the children and families in their states, and I especially liked our small cohort model and the depth of study, peer learning, and relationship building that model allows for.

Because we were lucky enough to get to host this particular event at Duke, I had the opportunity to invite Linda to share with the assembled legislators how Durham's universal pre-k program came to be and how it exemplifies a strong braided funding model supporting high quality, expanded access, and pay parity with K-12 schools for early educators. This was a really proud moment, and I felt lucky to count Linda among the mentors who've supported my growth and made a positive difference in my life and career. I made sure to tell her so.