Exploring Roles in the Early Childhood Community - National level

Over the past few years, my work in state government has drawn me into the world of policy and legislation. I spent about eighteen years of my adult life operating a child care center and loved my hands-on work with children. I am now interested by the policies that drive that work, and how funding can determine those policies.

The first organization I read about is the Center for Law and Social Policy, Inc. (CLASP). This non-profit organization works to improve the lives of low income families through policies. They are seeking a Policy Analyst in their Child Care and Early Education department. This person would work with others on the team to improve access to high quality care for low income children. What a perfect match. That is exactly what my capstone project is about. This job would involve researching policies on child care subsidies and analyzing data. It requires a Master's degree in public policy, or early childhood education. I would meet those qualifications and have a passion for the content of the job. However, the job is in Washington DC which I am not willing to leave my home state.

NAEYC has a job opening for a Communication & Information Education Team Specialist. This job involves working with programs and providing technical assistance in becoming NAEYC accredited. A Bachelor's degree in Communications is preferred but having early childhood education experience is a plus. Again this job is in Washington DC.

I also looked on the Zero to Three website and found a job opening as a Senior Program Associate. This job is also around technical assistance with Early Head Start programs. The job requirements are a Bachelors degree so I would have that but the location of the job is in Washington DC. I would also have to do a lot of work with technology so that may be a drawback.

All of these organizations do such great work in support of children and families. Unfortunately the types of positions I am interested in deal with legislation and policies. These jobs seem to be located in Washington DC.
http://www.clasp.org/about/jobs/policy-analyst
http://www.naeyc.org/about/jobs
http://www.zerotothree.org/about-us/careers/jobs/

Exploring Roles in the Early Childhood Community

There are so many organizations involved in early childhood that it is hard to choose which one I would want to work for. However, I was able to narrow down the list to the top three organizations that I would like to work for.

On the state level, Partnerships for Children and Families is an advocacy group that follows legislation around early childhood issues. They also travel the state speaking to early childhood professionals about advocating for themselves. I think the work around policy research would be the most interesting to me. There is always something new happening, and many changes taking place. I believe that my Master's degree would meet educational qualifications for a job in this organization. However, experience is something that I would need to earn. I would probably begin working with someone else in the organization before doing any work independently. The research work would be best for me because I do not like public speaking.

I have two dream jobs. Those would be working for Children's Defense Fund and NAEYC. I may be able to get entry level jobs working in these organizations but I am sure jobs are rarely open up. In the Children's Defense Fun, I would love to work with some of their freedom schools program. In the NAEYC organization, I would take any job that did not involve public speaking. There is a Policy and Public Affairs department that I think I would like.

All three of these organizations work with legislation and policies around early childhood education. I would be interested in those areas of work. I may have adequate education for the jobs but would need to gain more experience in public speaking.

Week 1 - Wordle

Above is my wordle with terms that describe my issues and challenges in early childhood.